Thesis (MPhil (Modern Foreign Languages))--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Available dictionaries involving Afrikaans and German do not satisfactorily deal with collocations. Therefore, this study recommends a theoretically grounded design of a user interface for an electronic dictionary of German collocations for foreign language learners of German whose first language or mother tongue is Afrikaans. In order to be able to do so, a set of requirements is drawn up, upon which the electronic collocations dictionary will be based. On the one hand these requirements give consideration to lexicographic factors relevant to the envisaged dictionary; on the other hand a theoretical basis for the presentation of the electronic dictionary according to usability principles and standards is established. The underlying definition of collocations will be discussed as one of the lexicographic factors constituting the learner dictionary of collocations. Being primarily aimed at Afrikaans speaking foreign language learners of German, their usage situation plays an important role. At an intermediate language learning level topics to be conversed about become increasingly complex. As collocations offer adequate means of expressing these increasingly complex ideas, the learners’ need of collocational knowledge increases, even more with regard to the language production than to the language reception. As collocations are not dealt with adequately in available dictionaries involving Afrikaans and German, there is a definite demand for an adequate dictionary for this user group. The envisaged learner dictionary’s function and type will be determined accordingly. In addition to the lexicographic factors underpinning the design of the user interface, international usability standards DIN EN ISO 9241 (amongst others) and practical recommendations for user interface design by Jakob Nielsen (amongst others) are discussed. This discussion makes provision for the theoretically grounded presentation of the envisaged electronic dictionary of German collocations in line with usability standards. Finally, giving consideration to the set of lexicographic and usability requirements drawn up, a user interface design is recommended for the electronic dictionary for foreign language learners of German whose first language or mother tongue is Afrikaans. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die Afrikaans / Duitse woordeboeke wat tans beskikbaar is, bied nie genoegsame inligting oor kollokasies nie. Dus word in hierdie studie’n teoreties gebaseerde voorstel vir ’n gebruikerskoppelvlak vir ’n elektroniese woordeboek om Duitse kollokasies op te soek, gemaak. Dié woordeboek is gemik op individue wie se eerste taal of moedertaal Afrikaans is, en wat Duits as ’n vreemde taal aanleer. Om voorstelle vir die aanbieding van so ‘n woordeboek te kan maak, word ’n stel vereistes aanbeveel waarop die elektroniese kollokasie-woordeboek gebaseer sal word. Aan die een kant neem hierdie vereistes die leksikografiese faktore in ag, wat relevant is tot die beoogde woordeboek en aan die ander kant word daar ’n teoretiese basis gelê vir die aanbieding van die elektroniese woordeboek volgens gebruikersvriendelike beginsels en standaarde. Die onderliggende definisie van kollokasies word bespreek as een van die leksikografiese faktore wat die opstel van ‘n kollokasie-woordeboek beïnvloed. Omdat dit primêr gemik is op Afrikaanssprekendes wat Duits as ’n vreemde taal aanleer, speel hul gebruiksituasie ’n belangrike rol. Op ’n intermediêre taalvaardigheidsvlak is die onderwerpe waaroor gepraat en wat bespreek word, heelwat meer kompleks en kollokasies bied die moontlikheid om hierdie toenemende komplekse idees uit te druk. Leerders se behoefte aan ‘n grondiger kennis van kollokasies vir taalproduksie, en minder vir taalresepsie, neem dus aansienlik toe. Die Afrikaans / Duitse woordeboeke wat tans beskikbaar is, gee egter nie genoegsame inligting oor kollokasies nie. Daar is dus ’n definitiewe leemte aan ’n woordeboek wat in hierdie gebruikersgroep se behoefte sal voorsien. Die beoogde leerderwoordeboek se funksie en soort word hiervolgens bepaal. Bykomend tot die leksikografiese faktore wat dien as basis vir die ontwerp van die gebruikerskoppelvlak, word internasionale gebruikersvriendelike standaarde soos byvoorbeeld die norm DIN EN ISO 9241 en praktiese aanbevelings vir die ontwerp van ’n gebruikerskoppelvlak deur byvoorbeeld Jakob Nielsen bespreek. Hierdie bespreking maak voorsiening vir die teoreties gefundeerde aanbieding van die beoogde elektroniese woordeboek van Duitse kollokasies wat in pas is met gebruikstandaarde. Laastens word daar op grond van die lys van leksikografiese en gebruikersbehoeftes wat opgestel is, ’n ontwerp van ‘n gebruikerskoppelvlak aanbeveel vir die elektroniese woordeboek vir leerders wie se eerste taal of moedertaal Afrikaans is en wat Duits as ’n vreemde taal aanleer. / GERMAN SUMMARY: Derzeit zur Verfügung stehende Wörterbücher mit Afrikaans und Deutsch behandeln Kollokationen auf ungenügende Weise. Daher wird in der vorliegenden Arbeit eine theoretisch begründete Gestaltung einer Benutzeroberfläche eines elektronischen Wörterbuches deutscher Kollokationen für afrikaans-sprechende Lerner des Faches Deutsch als Fremdsprache vorgeschlagen. Hierzu werden die nötigen Anforderungen erarbeitet, auf die das elektronische Kollokationswörterbuch aufbauen soll. Die Anforderungen werden einerseits aufgrund von lexikografischen Faktoren ermittelt, andererseits wird die theoretische Grundlage für eine gebrauchstaugliche Präsentation des elektronischen Wörterbuches erörtert. Die lexikografischen Faktoren, welche die Konzipierung eines Kollokationslernerwörterbuches beeinflussen, schließen den Kollokationsbegriff ein, welcher dem Wörterbuch zugrunde liegen wird. Des weiteren spielt die primäre Benutzergruppe des anvisierten Wörterbuches bei der Konzipierung eine entscheidende Rolle. Die Wörterbuchfunktion und der Wörterbuchtyp werden daher anhand des Bedarfs des afrikaans-sprechenden Lerners des Faches Deutsch als Fremdsprache mittleren Sprachniveaus ermittelt. Dieser Bedarf ist in der korrekten Verwendung von deutschen Kollokationen in der Sprachproduktion und weniger in ihrem Verständnis während der Sprachrezeption begründet. Die Notwendigkeit, diesen Bedarf zu decken, ergibt sich aus dem unbefriedigenden Umgang mit Kollokationen in den beiden Wörterbüchern, die dem afrikaans-sprechenden Lerner des Faches Deutsch als Fremdsprache derzeit zur Verfügung stehen. Aufgrund des elektronischen Mediums des anvisierten Wörterbuches, werden unter anderem internationale Gestaltungsgrundsätze der Norm DIN EN ISO 9241 sowie praktische Empfehlungen zur Gestaltung von Bildschirmpräsentationen von unter anderem Jakob Nielsen diskutiert. Aufgrund dieser Diskussion wird schlussendlich unter Berücksichtigung und Zusammenführung der erarbeiteten Anforderungen eine Gestaltung einer Benutzeroberfläche eines elektronischen Wörterbuches deutscher Kollokationen für afrikaans-sprechende Lerner des Faches Deutsch als Fremdsprache vorgeschlagen.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis explores the effect on learning Chinese characters for learners of Chinese as foreign language through implementing the unique properties of the Chinese script in a prototype spaced repetition system. Both Chinese radicals and the spacing effect have the potential to positively influence the recall ability of students in learning Chinese characters, however the interaction between the spacing effect and Chinese radicals in spaced repetition system, such as Anki and Mnemosyne, had not been tested. An experimental spaced repetition system prototype was designed and developed to investigate these interactions. Two groups of students learning Chinese as a foreign language at the University of Stellenbosch studied the same list of Chinese characters in which there were both massed and spaced characters present. One group had additional information on Chinese radicals on the flashcard. The students were given an immediate post-test to test their recall of the meaning and pronunciation of the Chinese characters. The results showed a positive trend for the spacing effect in which students had higher scores for spaced characters, but the recall ability between the two groups of students did not change regardless of whether there was information on Chinese radicals or not. The results were surprising considering the potential positive impact of Chinese radicals on recall. The thesis concludes that the presentation of information on Chinese radicals in a spaced repetition system does not necessarily improve the recall ability of the students. The impact of explicit instruction on the role of Chinese radicals in Chinese characters and the ability of the student to apply this knowledge should be considered for future research. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die huidige tesis ondersoek die leer van Chinese karakters deur leerders van Chinees as ‘n vreemde taal deur die unieke eienskappe van die Chinese skrif in ‘n prototipe gespasieërde herhalings sisteem te implementeer. Beide Chinese radikale en die spasiërings effek kan potensieël 'n positiewe invloed hê in die vermoë van studente om Chinese karakters te onthou, maar die interaksie tussen die spasiërings effek en Chinese radikale in gespasieërde herhalings sisteme, soos Anki en Mnemosyne, was tot dusver onbekend. ‘n Eksperimentele gespasieërde herhalings sisteem prototipe was geskep om hierdie interaksie te ondersoek. Twee groepe studente van Chinees as vreemde taal by die Universiteit van Stellenbosch het dieselfde lys karakters gestudeer, waaronder gespasieërde en nie-gespasieërde karakters tuis was. Die twee groepe het verskil deurdat een groep ekstra informasie oor Chinese radikale gehad het op die voorkant van 'n flitskaart. Die studente het dadelik daarna ‘n toets ontvang waar hul die betekenis en uitspraak van die Chinese karakters moes onthou. Die resultate het ‘n positiewe neiging getoon vir die spasiërings effek waar studente hoër punte ontvang het vir gespasieërde karakters, maar die vermoë om die karakters te onthou het nie verskil tussen die twee groepe nie. Die resultate was ‘n verassing juis omdat daar ‘n potensieël positiewe invloed kan onstaan deur die impak van Chinese radikale. Die tesis het gevind dat slegs om informasie oor Chinese radikale te wys in ‘n gespasieërde herhalings sisteem nie noodwendig die vermoë van die student om Chinese karakters te onthou verbeter nie. Die impak van eksplisiete instruksie oor die rol wat Chinese radikale in Chinese karakters speel en die vermoë van die student om hierdie kennis toe te pas hoort verder ondersoek te word.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study is an addition to the growing body of research on the relevance of mobile assisted learning (MALL) or m-learning. Grounded in a sound theoretical framework and informed by practice, it identifies the importance of literacy as a liberating skill, as well as the groundbreaking impact and potential of mobile technologies to enhance literacy levels in developing countries. The ubiquity of mobile devices worldwide, and specifically in South Africa, coupled with the educational needs arising from overcrowded classrooms, and a dearth of resources and textbooks in rural South Africa, led to the conception of this study. The objective was to ascertain the viability of incorporating web- and mobile technology based instruction to enhance the English literacy levels of Grade 8 (Senior Phase) students within the South African rural context. The study showed that there was a significant improvement in the participants’ reading comprehension, visual comprehension and writing skills. The encouraging results of this study indicate that web-based mobile instruction can indeed improve the literacy levels of learners from remote and disadvantaged communities. The implications of these findings for literacy development and emerging literacy development in rural communities are discussed in the final chapter of this thesis. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie lewer ‘n bydrae tot die groeiende navorsingsliggaam oor die invloed en moontlikhede van web-en mobiele tegnologiegebaseerde instruksie op die Engelse geletterdheidsvlak van Graad 8 (Seniorfase) leerders in die Suid-Afrikaanse landelike konteks. Die teoretiese basis van die studie word aangevul deur die praktiese toepassing daarvan. Die toenemende beskikbaarheid van mobiele en sellulêre toestelle wêreldwyd en spesifiek in Suid-Afrika, tesame met die opvoedkundige behoeftes wat ontstaan as ‘n uitvloeisel van oorvol klaskamers en die gebrek aan opvoedkundige hulpbronne en veral handboeke in landelike Suid- Afrika, het aan hierdie studie gestalte gegee. Die belangrikheid van geletterdheid as ‘n bemagtigingsvaardigheid, en die baanbrekersimpak en potensiaal van mobiele tegnologie om die geletterdheidsvlak van mense in Afrika en spesifiek Suid-Afrika te verbeter, word bespreek. Hierdie studie het bewys dat daar ‘n beduidende verbetering in die begriplees-, visuele begriplees- en skryfvaardighede van die deelnemers teweeggebring is. Die inspirerende uitslae van hierdie studie dui aan dat web-gebaseerde, mobiele instruksie en intervensie beslis die geletterdheidsvlak van leerders kan verbeter wat hulle in afgeleë, landelike of benadeelde gemeenskappe of omstandighede bevind. Die omvang en implikasies wat hierdie bevindinge vir geletterdheidsontwikkeling –en verbetering, asook vir ontluikende geletterdheidsonderrig inhou, word in die slothoofstuk van hierdie tesis bespreek.

This study attempted to combine the benefits of multimedia learning, adaptive interfaces, and learning style theory by constructing a novel e-learning environment. The environment was designed to accommodate individual learning styles while students progressed through a computer programming course. Despite the benefits of individualised instruction and a growing worldwide e-learning market, there is a paucity of guidance on how to effectively accommodate learning styles in an online environment. Several existing learning-style adaptive environments base their behaviour on an initial assessment of the learner's profile, which is then assumed to remain stable. Consequently, these environments rarely offer the learner choices between different versions of content. However, these choices could cater for flexible learning styles, promote cognitive flexibility, and increase learner control. The first research question underlying the project asked how learning styles could be accommodated in an adaptive e-learning environment. The second question asked whether a dynamically adaptive environment that provides the learner with a choice of media experiences is more beneficial than a statically adapted environment. To answer these questions, an adaptive e-learning environment named iWeaver was created and experimentally evaluated. iWeaver was based on an introductory course in Java programming and offered learning content as style-specific media experiences, assisted by additional learning tools. These experiences and tools were based on the perceptual and information processing dimension of an adapted version of the Dunn and Dunn learning styles model. An experimental evaluation of iWeaver was conducted with 63 multimedia students. The analysis investigated the effect of having a choice of multiple media experiences (compared to having just one static media experience) on learning gain, enjoyment, perceived progress, and motivation. In addition to these quantitative measurements, learners provided qualitative feedback at the end of each lesson. Data from 27 participants were sufficiently complete to be analysed. For the data analysis, participants were divided into two groups of high and low interest in programming and Java, then into two groups of high and low experience with computers and the Internet. Both group comparisons revealed statistically significant differences for the effect of choice. Having a choice of media experiences proved beneficial for learners with low experience but detrimental for learners with high experience or interest. These findings suggest that the effect of choice appears to be strongly influenced by the learner's background. It is hypothesised that encouraging a more active learner role in educational systems would expand the positive influence of choice to a wider range of learners. The study has contributed some weight to the argument that for certain groups of learners, it is more beneficial to view learning style as a flexible, rather than a stable construct. As a practical implication, it seems advisable to collect data on prior experience, interest, and the initial learning style distribution of the target audience before developing environments comparable to iWeaver. [See http://www.adaptive-learning.net/research/media.htm for media files associated with this thesis.]

Παρόλο που το υπερκείμενο ως τρόπος δόμησης πληροφορίας τυγχάνει ευρείας αποδοχής, μέχρι σήμερα τα Συστήματα Υπερκειμένου (ΣΥ) δεν έχουν καταφέρει να προσφέρουν τη λειτουργικότητά τους στο ευρύ κοινό σε ικανοποιητικό βαθμό. Οι σχεδιαστικές προσεγγίσεις των ΣΥ αλλά και η αδυναμία υποστήριξης των προγραμματιστών ξένων εφαρμογών για τη χρήση των υπηρεσιών υπερκειμένου οδήγησαν σε μία δυσμενή κατάσταση όσο αφορά στην αποδοτική παροχή υπηρεσιών υπερκειμένου. Το πρόβλημα αυτό ανέδειξε την αναγκαιότητα για την επαναπροσέγγιση των σχεδιαστικών αρχών των ΣΥ έχοντας ως βασική προτεραιότητα τη δημιουργία και την εύκολη παροχή υπηρεσιών υπερκειμένου στο ευρύ κοινό. Η παρούσα διατριβή πραγματεύεται τη δημιουργία ενός πλαισίου για την παροχή υπηρεσιών υπερκειμένου σε ξένα συστήματα αλλά και την υποστήριξη της ανάπτυξης εφαρμογών διαδικτύου βασισμένες σε υπηρεσίες υπερκειμένου. Η υιοθέτηση της Αρχιτεκτονικής Προσανατολιζόμενης σε Υπηρεσίες – ΑΠΥ στο σχεδιασμό των ΣΥ αποτέλεσε την προτεινόμενη προσέγγιση της διατριβής. Η ανάπτυξη συστημάτων υπερκειμένου βασισμένα σε αρχές της ΑΠΥ αλλά και η παροχή υπηρεσιών υπερκειμένου στο διαδίκτυο με χρήση παγκοσμίων προτύπων επιχειρούν να διευκολύνουν την εκμετάλλευση της λειτουργικότητας των ΣΥ από χρήστες και από άλλα συστήματα. Έχοντας ως παράδειγμα υπάρχοντα ΑΣΥ αλλά και συστήματα υπερμέσων βασισμένα σε ψηφίδες (ΑΣΥ-ΒΨ) - όπως ο Callimachus - μελετήθηκε και χρησιμοποιήθηκε η τεχνική των Web Services έτσι ώστε να είναι δυνατή η παροχή στο διαδίκτυο υπηρεσιών υπερμέσων διαφόρων λειτουργικών πεδίων (ταξινομίες, χωρική αναπαράσταση, πλοήγηση κ.α.) από υπάρχοντα συστήματα. Σημείο αναφοράς της εφαρμογής της προτεινόμενης τεχνικής υπήρξε το σύστημα Babylon. Το Babylon είναι ένα σύστημα παροχής υπηρεσιών ταξινόμησης, το οποίο σχεδιάστηκε και κατασκευάστηκε ως ψηφίδα του συστήματος Callimachus και κατόπιν μετεξελίχθηκε σε αυτόνομη υπηρεσία παγκόσμιου ιστού (Web Service). Επιπλέον, αναπτύχθηκε ένα σύστημα υποστήριξης συνεργασίας και λήψης αποφάσεων βασισμένο σε τεχνολογίες συστημάτων χωρικού υπερκειμένου και υπερκειμένου υποστήριξης επιχειρηματολογίας. Η ανάπτυξη έγινε εξ’ολοκλήρου βασισμένη στις αρχές της αρχιτεκτονικής προσανατολιζόμενης σε υπηρεσίες και η εκμετάλλευση των υπηρεσιών του είναι δυνατή τόσο μέσω του παγκοσμίου ιστού όσο και από εξωτερικές εφαρμογές χρησιμοποιώντας εξειδικευμένα Web Services. Τέλος, μελετήθηκε η δυνατότητα ανακάλυψης και αναζήτησης των υπηρεσιών υπερμέσων μέσα από ένα ολοκληρωμένο πλαίσιο υποστήριξης ανάπτυξης εφαρμογών που χρησιμοποιούν υπηρεσίες υπερκειμένου. Με την εφαρμογή της προτεινόμενης προσέγγισης και την αξιολόγηση της χρήσης των συστημάτων παράχθηκαν θετικά συμπεράσματα όσο αφορά στην αξιοποίηση των ΑΠΥ σε συστήματα υπερμέσων και με τον τρόπο αυτό τεκμηριώθηκε η χρησιμότητα της συνολικής προσέγγισης. / Although hypertext is considered as a widely accepted mean for information structuring, the provision of hypertext-related services has not yet reached a satisfactory level. Both the design principles of hypertext systems and the lack of developer support for the exploitation of hypermedia services lead to a low level of provision of the hypertext functionality from the world. This problem has highlighted the need for re-approaching the design principles of HSs under a different perspective in which the creation and the provision of a hypermedia service are crucial issues. This thesis focuses on the development of a framework aiming at both the provision of hypermedia service and the web application development support using hypermedia functionality. The adoption of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) in the design of Hypermedia Systems (OHS) constitutes the main approach against the particular issue. The SOA based implementation of HSs together with the the provision of hypermedia services to the Internet through universal standards try to aid the exploitation of the hypermedia functionality from an open set of both users and systems. The OHSs together with the Component Based – OHSs (CB-OHSs) like Callimachus were the leading paradigm in this approach in which the web-service technique was both studied and adopted in order to provide to the Internet hypermedia services based on different hypermedia fields (taxonomic, spatial, navigational etc) provided by existing systems. The case study of this approach regards the Babylon system. It is a hypertext system designed to provide taxonomic services in the context of the entire Callimachus system as a single component. The Babylon system was later transformed to a taxonomic internet based service using the Web Service standards. Furthermore, a collaboration and decision making support tool based on spatial and argumentation support technologies was also implemented. The development was entirely based on SOA thus the provided services are available both from users or applications of the world wide web and 3rd party (external) applications by using the Web Services protocols. Finally, a study which concerns capabilities of discovering and searching of the hypermedia services has also taken place. The evaluation of the proposed approach extracted many positive conclusions regarding the utilization of SOA in the area of hypermedia systems.

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2018-03-12T18:07:31Z No. of bitstreams: 1 marcoaureliofreeszjunior.pdf: 20328090 bytes, checksum: 7633f57ccc559ade49b11d6db5026d22 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2018-03-12T18:09:30Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 marcoaureliofreeszjunior.pdf: 20328090 bytes, checksum: 7633f57ccc559ade49b11d6db5026d22 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-03-12T18:09:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 marcoaureliofreeszjunior.pdf: 20328090 bytes, checksum: 7633f57ccc559ade49b11d6db5026d22 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-08-25 / Em meio à diversidade de veículos de comunicação atuais, as mídias Out-of-Home vêm desempenhando um papel de destaque tanto em espaços públicos quanto privados, ao permitir a difusão de informações de cunho coletivo a um grande número de pessoas. No que diz respeito à autoria de conteúdos multimídia nesse meio, grande parte do ferramental existente ou faz uso de linguagens de domínios distintos, ou faz uso de abstrações gráficas que facilitam a autoria, porém, utilizam-se de linguagens para representação hiper/multimídia com conceitos distantes aos utilizados nessas abstrações. Portanto, a representação desses documentos se torna complexa, fazendo uso ainda de linguagens de scripts que são elegíveis aos autores não-programadores e de difícil extração automatizada de informações. Com o foco nessa etapa, este trabalho elabora um modelo conceitual hipermídia com entidades de alto nível de abstração que busca se aproximar dos conceitos encontrados na indústria audiovisual, tais como cenas, trilhas e mídias. A partir desse modelo é criada uma linguagem declarativa em XML, utilizada para representar o conteúdo multimídia e, como consequência, permitir sua autoria textual. Essa linguagem procura tratar questões relativas às disposições espaciais, sincronização dos objetos de mídias, adaptação de conteúdos, além da interatividade e algumas de suas múltiplas modalidades de interação, como gestos e voz. Como resultado, alguns casos de uso são tratados por meio da criação de conteúdos DOOH utilizando-se da linguagem multimídia proposta e, em seguida, uma execução em um player de prova de conceito é realizada. Além disso, o trabalho propõe um pré-processamento específico, aplicado a cada instância do modelo, com o objetivo de otimizar a transmissão do conteúdo em arquiteturas broadcast e multicast, como IPTV. Esse pré-processamento aborda a renderização sucessiva de partes determinísticas da instância, de modo a facilitar o sincronismo do conteúdo entre terminais, reduzir a carga de processamento nestes e reduzir o uso de recursos da rede. / Among the variety of current social communication vehicles, Digital Out-of Home (DOOH) media have been playing a remarkable role in both public and private spaces, by allowing for the rapid dissemination of collective information to a large number of people. Regarding multimedia content authoring for this vehicle, much of the existing toolkits either makes use of languages from other domains or makes use of graphic abstracti ons that ease the authoring process, but making use of hyper/multimedia representation languages with distant concepts to those used in these abstractions. Therefore, docu ment representation becomes complex, sometimes makes use of scripting languages, and therefore is illegible by authors and even difficult for automated information extraction. Focusing on this step, this paper develops a conceptual hypermedia model with high-level entities of abstraction which seek to approach the concepts found in the audiovisual in dustry, such as scenes, tracks and media. From that model a XML declarative language is created, used to represent the multimedia content and, as a result, allow its textual authorship. This language seeks to deal with matters relating to spatial arrangements, synchronizing media objects, content adaptation, in addition to the interactivity and some of its multiple modalities of interaction, gesture and voice. As a result, some use cases are handled by creating DOOH content using the proposed multimedia language, and then an execution in a proof-of-concept player is performed. In addition, this paper proposes an improvement applied to the STorML instance with the aim to optimize the transmis sion of content in broadcast and multicast architectures, such as IPTV. This improvement covers subsequent rendering of deterministic parts of the instance to facilitate content timing between terminals, reducing the processing in the terminals and decreasing the use of network resources.

[pt] Ajuste elástico é a técnica de modificar a duração de exibição de um objeto de mídia. Este trabalho propõe algoritmos de ajuste elástico que funcionam em tempo de exibição para fluxos de áudio comprimidos, com aplicabilidade principal em cenários onde não existe interferência do usuário como, por exemplo, a manutenção da consistência temporal de um documento hipermídia. Os algoritmos de ajuste de áudio são propostos, desenvolvidos e integrados a algoritmos de ajuste de vídeo. Além disso, um algoritmo de resincronização é proposto, e implementado, para preservar o sincronismo intermídia durante a realização de ajuste em fluxos de sistemas MPEG-2. A união dos algoritmos implementados com o desenvolvimento da integração a exibidores de conteúdo deu origem à ferramenta de ajuste, capaz de ser facilmente utilizada por aplicações que precisam solicitar ajuste elástico em fluxos de mídia comprimidos. Como exemplo, a ferramenta de ajuste foi integrada a ferramentas de exibição de um formatador hipermídia. Os algoritmos propostos podem ajustar a duração de áudio em até 10% mantendo a qualidade da percepção do áudio dentro de limites aceitáveis, conforme demonstrado através de medidas de qualidade que também são apresentadas neste trabalho. / [en] Timescale is a technique used to modify media-object playing duration. This work proposes timescale algorithms, to be performed on-the- fly, for compressed audio streams. The focus is situations where there is no user interference as, for example, the temporal consistency maintenance of a hypermedia document. The algorithms are proposed, developed and integrated to video timescale algorithms. Furthermore, a resynchronization algorithm is also proposed, and implemented, in order to maintain inter-media synchronization in MPEG-2 system streams. The timescale tool is composed by the aforementioned algorithms and their integration to content rendering tools. The proposed solution can be easily used in applications that need timescale compressed media streams. As an example, the adjustment tool was integrated to a hypermedia formatter. The proposed algorithms can adjust audio durations up to 10%, maintaining the audio perceptual quality within acceptable limits, as observed through quality measurements also described in this work.

This thesis describes my artistic practice as essentially project-based, site-responsive and hypermediating. Hypermediacy—i.e. the tendency of certain media or objects to keep their various constituents separate from their structure—is to be understood as opaque, juxtaposed and after a recurring contiguity with different kinds of interfaces. Accordingly, and within the context of the various projects that constitute this thesis, it is demonstrated how, in response to the particular places I work and to the various people I collaborate with, different kinds of materials and methodologies are incorporated in broader hybrids that are mediated (interfaced) in miscellaneous ways to this way result in original works of art. Materials and methodologies are shown to be intertwined and interdependent with each other as well as with the different ways in which they are interfaced, which accounts for an explicitly projectbased, rather than artwork-based, approach which, on its turn, de-emphasises the finished artefact in favour of process, performance, research and exploration. Projects are, then, shown to be explicitly site- or situation- responsive, as they are not implementations of preexistent ideas, but rather emerge as my original response to the particular sites, materials, people and the various other constituents that are involved in their very production. Interfaces to such hybrids as well as their very material and methodological elements are also shown to be hyper-mediated. It is finally argued that such an approach essentially accelerates multi-perspectivalism in that a project may spawn a number of diverse, typically medium-specific and/or site-specific, artworks that all exemplify different qualities which are congenital to the particular nature of each project.

[pt] Esta pesquisa investiga a possibilidade da construção de estímulos à conduta ativa dos usuários de sítios web. Diante do fato de que produtos hipermidiáticos necessitam do encadeamento de ações de seus usuários para que possam cumprir seu desígnio comunicacional, esta dissertação argumenta que tais produtos podem ter configurados, em si próprios, os elementos que estimulam, orientam e conectam entre si as ações de seus usuários. Para tanto, esta dissertação empreende reflexão teórica a partir de novas abordagens da relação entre o produto de design e o seu usuário - abordagens que se fundamentam nos conceitos de design de experiência e design de emoção, compreendidos, nesta pesquisa, sobretudo enquanto reflexo de novas demandas na prática e na teoria do design contemporâneo. A idéia de engajamento é desenvolvida enquanto tradução da dinâmica da interatividade e implica questões acerca de motivação, estranhamento e envolvimento. Projetos que buscam estimular a ação do público podem ser identificados nos percursos históricos da Arte e do Design. Destes projetos, emergem padrões que, por sua vez, podem ser observados em projetos de sítios web. Os principais aspectos destes padrões são categorizados enquanto elementos conceituais visando orientar a dinâmica do engajamento em hipermídia. / [en] This research investigates the possibility of designing active behaviour stimuli for websites users. Since hypermedia need the users actions chain to communicate, this dissertation argues that hypermedia products can be configurated to carry, within themselves, the elements that stimulate, guide and interconnect the users actions. This dissertation reflects upon new approaches of the relation between the design product and its user - approaches that are based in the concepts of experience design and emotional design, which are understood, within this research, primarily as consequence of new demands of the contemporary design practice and theory. The idea of engagement is developed as translation of interactivity dynamics and requires topics on motivation, strangement and involvement. Projects that stimulate the audience action can be identified in the histories of Art and Design. From these projects, this research recognized patterns that can also be recognized in websites. The main aspects of these patterns are categorized as conceptual elements that envisage to orient the engagement dynamics within hypermedia.

A presente pesquisa propõe um estudo de uma trajetória de Produção Partilhada do Conhecimento, com foco em relações comunidade-universidade, mais especificamente em duas comunidades indígenas brasileiras, onde foram desenvolvidos trabalhos de campo: Aldeia Sangradouro (Tsö\'rehipãri), da etnia xavante, Aldeia Fontoura (Btõiry), da etnia karajá, além da Escola de Comunicações e Artes (ECA) da Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Durante a pesquisa nessas comunidades, foram realizados produtos e registros audiovisuais, com dois interlocutores locais, Divino Tserewahú, entre os xavantes, e Juanahu Iny, entre os karajás, assim como a participação dos mesmos em atividades no contexto acadêmico. Os diários de partilha trazem fotos dos diversos autores que participaram dos percursos e os relatos etnográficos das atividades com as distintas comunidades. Para a contextualização e problematização do processo de realização, partir-se-á dos conceitos de Produção Partilhada do Conhecimento, Cotidiano, Senso Comum e Hipermídia como aportes teóricos aptos à investigação de novas possibilidades de produção de conhecimento em Comunicação Digital. / This research proposes a study of one trajectory of Shared Production of Knowledge, focusing on community-university relations, specifically in two Brazilian indigenous communities, which were developed fieldwork: Sangradouro village (Tsö\'rehipãri), ethnicity Xavante, Fontoura village (Btõiry), ethnicity Karaja, and the School of Communication and Arts (ECA) at the University of São Paulo (USP). During the research in these communities were made products and audiovisual recordings, with two local interlocutors, Divino Tserewahú among the Xavante, and Juanahu Iny among Karajá, as well as their participation in activities in the academic context. The daily of sharing brings photos from the various authors who participated of the routes and the ethnographic narration of the activities with the different communities. For contextualize and problematize the process of realization, we bring the concepts of Production Sharing Knowledge, Quotidian, Common Sense and Hypermedia as a theoretical framework suitable for investigating new possibilities of knowledge production in Digital Communication.