This article describes some of the key affordances for learning of the generic class of handheld computers known variously as smartphones, palmtops, and thumbtops--using the Apple iPhone 3G as one of the most mature exemplars of this class--based on the authors' experiences with and reflections about the device over a period of a year. An argument…

In the field of automation technology, research and development for industrial applications has increased rapidly in recent years. Therefore, industrial automation and control education is a very important element of the industrialization process in developing countries, such as Turkey, which needs to keep abreast for the latest developments in…

As e-resource systems and web coordinator for Southern Oregon University, the author is deeply involved with the university library's website. In the latest revision of this website, the author knew she needed to jazz it up a little. With screen real estate on the main page at a premium, the author hoped to use a tabbed box and an accordion-style…

Using touch screens presents a number of usability and accessibility challenges for blind people. Most touch screen-based user interfaces are optimized for visual interaction, and are therefore difficult or impossible to use without vision. This dissertation presents an approach to redesigning gesture-based user interfaces to enable blind people…

This paper describes My Science Tutor (MyST), an intelligent tutoring system designed to improve science learning by students in 3rd, 4th and 5th grades (7 to 11 years old) through conversational dialogs with a virtual science tutor. In our study, individual students engage in spoken dialogs with the virtual tutor Marni during 15 to 20 minute…

This article summarizes the author's dissertation regarding search strategies of millennial undergraduate students in Web and library online information retrieval systems. Millennials bring a unique set of search characteristics and strategies to their research since they have never known a world without the Web. Through the use of search engines,…

Mobile technology is one of several currents that upset the relatively placid world of admitting, enrolling, advising, serving, and graduating students. The authors have been involved with technology since they began in the profession. Technology is not really new to them. But with mobile technology, "so much" is new--indeed, foreign--to many…

There has been an increasing interest in employing decision-theoretic framework for learner modeling and provision of pedagogical support in Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs). Much of the existing learner modeling research work focuses on identifying appropriate learner properties. Little attention, however, has been given to leverage Dynamic…

Usability and accessibility have become increasingly important in computing curricula. This article briefly reviews how these concepts may be included in existing courses. The authors conducted a survey of student attitudes toward these issues at the start and end of a usability engineering course that included a group project with an…

LOCO-Analyst is a learning analytics tool we developed to provide educators with feedback on students learning activities and performance. Evaluation of the first version of the tool led to the enhancement of the tool's data visualization, user interface, and supported feedback types. The second evaluation of the improved tool allowed us to see…

In spite of the goodwill and best efforts of software engineers and usability professionals, systems continue to be built and released with glaring usability flaws that are costly and difficult to fix after the system has been built. Although user interface (UI) designers, be they usability or design experts, communicate usability requirements to…

The plethora of different subfields in intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) are often difficult to integrate theoretically when analyzing how to design an intelligent tutor. Important principles of design are claimed by many subfields, including but not limited to: design, human-computer interaction, perceptual psychology, cognitive psychology,…

Tangible user interfaces (TUIs) embed computer technology in graspable objects. This study assessed the potential of Topobo, a construction toy with programmable movement, to support social interaction in children with Autistic Spectrum Conditions (ASC). Groups of either typically developing (TD) children or those with ASC had group play sessions…

Mobile devices offer much potential to support older adults (age 65+). However, older adults have been relatively slow to adopt mobile devices. Although much ongoing HCI research has examined usability problems to address this issue, little work has looked at whether existing graphical icons are harder to use for this population compared with…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a user interface for web lectures for engaging with other users while working with video based learning content. The application allows its users to ask questions about the content and to get answers from those users that currently online are more familiar with it. The filtering is based on the…