This study addresses an individual's performance, relating it to eyesight changes due to the aging of the individual and to color computer screens used for computer-based-instruction not designed specifically for older students. This study determines how existing research in gerontology, human-computer interface, and color use in visual graphics can be applied to the design of computer screen displays containing color text and backgrounds and how various color combinations will affect performance by adult learners forty years of age and older. The results of this research provide software developers and instructional designers guidelines to use when designing computer screen displays for use in instructional computing settings involving older adults.

Two main subjects, ellipsometry and computer screen photo-assisted techniques (CSPT), form the main line in this thesis. Ellipsometry is an optical technique based on the detection of polarization changes of light upon interaction with a sample. As most optical detection techniques it is non-intrusive and an additional advantage is its high surface sensitivity: thickness resolution in the order of pm can in principle be achieved. Therefore, ellipsometry is widely used as a technique for determination of optical constants and layer thickness for thin-layer structures. Lately ellipsometry has also been proposed for sensing applications, utilizing the detection of changes in the properties of thin layers. One application is described in this thesis concerning the detection of volatile organic solvents in gas phase using modified porous silicon layers, fabricated by electrochemical etching of silicon to create nm-sized pores. This greatly increases the surface area, promoting gas detection because the number of adsorption sites increases. Other applications of ellipsometry discussed in this thesis are based on combination with CSPT. CSPT is a way to exploit existing optical techniques for use in low-cost applications. In CSPT the computer screen itself is used as a (programmable) light source for optical measurements. For detection a web camera can be used and the whole measurement platform is formed by the computer. Since computers are available almost everywhere, this is a promising way to create optical measurement techniques for widespread use, for example in home-diagnostics. Since the only thing that needs to be added is a sample holder governing the physical or chemical process and directing the light, the cost can be kept very low. First, the use of CSPT for the measurement of fluorescence is described. Fluorescence is used in many detection applications, usually by chemically attaching a fluorescent marker molecule to a suitable species in the process and monitoring the fluorescent emission. The detection of fluorescence is shown to be possible using CSPT, first in a cuvette-based setup, then using a custom designed micro array. In the latter, polarizers were used for contrast enhancement, which in turn led to the implementation of an existing idea to test CSPT for ellipsometry measurements. In a first demonstration, involving thickness measurement of silicon dioxide on silicon, a thickness resolution in the order of nm was already achieved. After improvement of the system, gradients in protein layers could be detected, opening the door toward biosensor applications. Some further development will be needed to make the CSPT applications described here ready for the market, but the results so far are certainly promising.

O uso de tecnologias de comunicação e informação e o consequente crescimento de cursos de graduação a distância conduzem à necessidade de compreensão dos processos de letramento. Este estudo apresenta a análise de uma nova perspectiva de letramento - ou letramentos -, neste caso, as práticas de oralidade, leitura e escrita de alunas-professoras de um curso de Pedagogia na modalidade a distância. Entendemos este como um processo contínuo, observável na produção textual e analisado no contexto dialógico da produção acadêmica. Constatamos, pois, que as demandas reais promovem o desenvolvimento de diversas competências e habilidades, gerando mudanças significativas no estado ou na condição dos letramentos. As conquistas nos âmbitos da oralidade, escrita e leitura transcendem o espaço acadêmico, ao se materializarem, de modo qualificado, nas práticas profissionais e na vida pessoal. A metodologia adotada no estudo foi a netnografia, que privilegia a imersão do pesquisador na comunidade e permite analisar os significados das produções dos sujeitos em suporte digital. Trabalhamos com duas perspectivas: (1) geral, que considera os eventos e as práticas coletivas; e (2) particular, que se detém na análise das trajetórias singulares dos sujeitos. Os letramentos são analisados na produção acadêmica, a partir do estado ou da condição inicial de cada sujeito em foco, acompanhando-se as mudanças por um período de cinco semestres de curso. No âmbito geral, o estudo demonstra que as alunas-professoras desenvolveram potencialidades em termos de autoria, edição e distribuição de textos no suporte digital. Em termos individuais, pode-se afirmar que o desenvolvimento de habilidades adquiridas na modalidade a distância foi incorporado às ações acadêmicas e educativas por meio de novas metodologias de ensino-aprendizagem, em relação a que a tecnologia de informação e comunicação desempenha papel cada vez mais importante, alterando a performance de letramento dos envolvidos não apenas nas práticas de suporte digital como também naquelas que envolvem as habilidades orais e o letramento alfabético. / The use of technologies of communication and information and the consequent growth of undergraduate distance education courses brings with it the necessity of the understanding of teaching literacy. This study presents an analisis of a new perspective of literacy - or literacies - of the teaching of literacy, in this case the practice of speaking, reading and writing by student-teachers of a course of Pedagogy within studying from a distance. We understand this to be a continuous process, which can be observed in the textual production and analysed in the dialogical context of the academical production. We therefore state that existing demands create the development of diverse skills and abilities, causing significant changes in the state of the condition of literacy as they materialize. The conquests in the scope of speaking, writing and reading transcend academic space in a qualifying manner, in their professional practices and in their personal life. The methodology used in this study was netnography, which permits the immersion of the researcher into the community and thus allows an analysis of the meanings of the production of the subject in digital support. We work with two perspectives: (1) general, which takes into consideration events and collective practices; and (2) private, which takes time to analyse the unique trajectory of the subjects. The literates are analysed for academical production, starting from the state or condition of every subject under observation and all changes are kept under study for a period of a 5 semester course. In the general scope the study illustrates that student-teachers developed potentialities in terms of authorship, editing and distribution of texts for digital support. In individual terms it can be affirmed that the development for abilities acquired in the distance- learning mode were incorporated into academic and educaional activities by means of new methodology of student-teacher learning in relation to which information communication technology has a role which is daily becoming more important, altering the carrying out of the literacy of those involved not only in the practice of digital support, but also in those which involve oral abilities and alphabetical literacy.

O uso de tecnologias de comunicação e informação e o consequente crescimento de cursos de graduação a distância conduzem à necessidade de compreensão dos processos de letramento. Este estudo apresenta a análise de uma nova perspectiva de letramento - ou letramentos -, neste caso, as práticas de oralidade, leitura e escrita de alunas-professoras de um curso de Pedagogia na modalidade a distância. Entendemos este como um processo contínuo, observável na produção textual e analisado no contexto dialógico da produção acadêmica. Constatamos, pois, que as demandas reais promovem o desenvolvimento de diversas competências e habilidades, gerando mudanças significativas no estado ou na condição dos letramentos. As conquistas nos âmbitos da oralidade, escrita e leitura transcendem o espaço acadêmico, ao se materializarem, de modo qualificado, nas práticas profissionais e na vida pessoal. A metodologia adotada no estudo foi a netnografia, que privilegia a imersão do pesquisador na comunidade e permite analisar os significados das produções dos sujeitos em suporte digital. Trabalhamos com duas perspectivas: (1) geral, que considera os eventos e as práticas coletivas; e (2) particular, que se detém na análise das trajetórias singulares dos sujeitos. Os letramentos são analisados na produção acadêmica, a partir do estado ou da condição inicial de cada sujeito em foco, acompanhando-se as mudanças por um período de cinco semestres de curso. No âmbito geral, o estudo demonstra que as alunas-professoras desenvolveram potencialidades em termos de autoria, edição e distribuição de textos no suporte digital. Em termos individuais, pode-se afirmar que o desenvolvimento de habilidades adquiridas na modalidade a distância foi incorporado às ações acadêmicas e educativas por meio de novas metodologias de ensino-aprendizagem, em relação a que a tecnologia de informação e comunicação desempenha papel cada vez mais importante, alterando a performance de letramento dos envolvidos não apenas nas práticas de suporte digital como também naquelas que envolvem as habilidades orais e o letramento alfabético. / The use of technologies of communication and information and the consequent growth of undergraduate distance education courses brings with it the necessity of the understanding of teaching literacy. This study presents an analisis of a new perspective of literacy - or literacies - of the teaching of literacy, in this case the practice of speaking, reading and writing by student-teachers of a course of Pedagogy within studying from a distance. We understand this to be a continuous process, which can be observed in the textual production and analysed in the dialogical context of the academical production. We therefore state that existing demands create the development of diverse skills and abilities, causing significant changes in the state of the condition of literacy as they materialize. The conquests in the scope of speaking, writing and reading transcend academic space in a qualifying manner, in their professional practices and in their personal life. The methodology used in this study was netnography, which permits the immersion of the researcher into the community and thus allows an analysis of the meanings of the production of the subject in digital support. We work with two perspectives: (1) general, which takes into consideration events and collective practices; and (2) private, which takes time to analyse the unique trajectory of the subjects. The literates are analysed for academical production, starting from the state or condition of every subject under observation and all changes are kept under study for a period of a 5 semester course. In the general scope the study illustrates that student-teachers developed potentialities in terms of authorship, editing and distribution of texts for digital support. In individual terms it can be affirmed that the development for abilities acquired in the distance- learning mode were incorporated into academic and educaional activities by means of new methodology of student-teacher learning in relation to which information communication technology has a role which is daily becoming more important, altering the carrying out of the literacy of those involved not only in the practice of digital support, but also in those which involve oral abilities and alphabetical literacy.

O uso de tecnologias de comunicação e informação e o consequente crescimento de cursos de graduação a distância conduzem à necessidade de compreensão dos processos de letramento. Este estudo apresenta a análise de uma nova perspectiva de letramento - ou letramentos -, neste caso, as práticas de oralidade, leitura e escrita de alunas-professoras de um curso de Pedagogia na modalidade a distância. Entendemos este como um processo contínuo, observável na produção textual e analisado no contexto dialógico da produção acadêmica. Constatamos, pois, que as demandas reais promovem o desenvolvimento de diversas competências e habilidades, gerando mudanças significativas no estado ou na condição dos letramentos. As conquistas nos âmbitos da oralidade, escrita e leitura transcendem o espaço acadêmico, ao se materializarem, de modo qualificado, nas práticas profissionais e na vida pessoal. A metodologia adotada no estudo foi a netnografia, que privilegia a imersão do pesquisador na comunidade e permite analisar os significados das produções dos sujeitos em suporte digital. Trabalhamos com duas perspectivas: (1) geral, que considera os eventos e as práticas coletivas; e (2) particular, que se detém na análise das trajetórias singulares dos sujeitos. Os letramentos são analisados na produção acadêmica, a partir do estado ou da condição inicial de cada sujeito em foco, acompanhando-se as mudanças por um período de cinco semestres de curso. No âmbito geral, o estudo demonstra que as alunas-professoras desenvolveram potencialidades em termos de autoria, edição e distribuição de textos no suporte digital. Em termos individuais, pode-se afirmar que o desenvolvimento de habilidades adquiridas na modalidade a distância foi incorporado às ações acadêmicas e educativas por meio de novas metodologias de ensino-aprendizagem, em relação a que a tecnologia de informação e comunicação desempenha papel cada vez mais importante, alterando a performance de letramento dos envolvidos não apenas nas práticas de suporte digital como também naquelas que envolvem as habilidades orais e o letramento alfabético. / The use of technologies of communication and information and the consequent growth of undergraduate distance education courses brings with it the necessity of the understanding of teaching literacy. This study presents an analisis of a new perspective of literacy - or literacies - of the teaching of literacy, in this case the practice of speaking, reading and writing by student-teachers of a course of Pedagogy within studying from a distance. We understand this to be a continuous process, which can be observed in the textual production and analysed in the dialogical context of the academical production. We therefore state that existing demands create the development of diverse skills and abilities, causing significant changes in the state of the condition of literacy as they materialize. The conquests in the scope of speaking, writing and reading transcend academic space in a qualifying manner, in their professional practices and in their personal life. The methodology used in this study was netnography, which permits the immersion of the researcher into the community and thus allows an analysis of the meanings of the production of the subject in digital support. We work with two perspectives: (1) general, which takes into consideration events and collective practices; and (2) private, which takes time to analyse the unique trajectory of the subjects. The literates are analysed for academical production, starting from the state or condition of every subject under observation and all changes are kept under study for a period of a 5 semester course. In the general scope the study illustrates that student-teachers developed potentialities in terms of authorship, editing and distribution of texts for digital support. In individual terms it can be affirmed that the development for abilities acquired in the distance- learning mode were incorporated into academic and educaional activities by means of new methodology of student-teacher learning in relation to which information communication technology has a role which is daily becoming more important, altering the carrying out of the literacy of those involved not only in the practice of digital support, but also in those which involve oral abilities and alphabetical literacy.

Ce mémoire est une description et une analyse de la mise en scène dans trois films screenlife – Unfriended (Leo Gabriadze, 2014), Unfriended: Dark Web (Stephen Susco, 2018) et Searching (Aneesh Chaganty, 2018) – qui est principalement défini par les interfaces utilisateur graphiques (IUG) affichées dans les représentations des enregistrements d'écran d'ordinateur par lesquels ces films sont définis. Le but de cette étude était de découvrir – en utilisant la recherche sur les IUG par Lev Manovich et Anne Friedberg – comment la nature modulaire des médias numériques – vidéo, photo et texte – positionnés à l'intérieur de chaque IUG permet de transposer certaines conventions cinématographiques, techniques de narration et de roman policier sur les IUG. La recherche révèle qu'en raison des IUG (associées au système d'exploitation et à des applications), certaines traditions narratives ont été présentées de manière multiple, simultanée et superposée dans la mise en scène, par opposition à la manière singulière et séquentielle que les films ont généralement représenté le temps et l'espace en montrant un plan à la fois. Le premier chapitre raconte l'histoire du film screenlife et comment il a connu plusieurs itérations en raison de ce qui avait pu être affiché dans les IUG à différentes périodes entre 2002 et 2018, notamment les types d'appels vidéo, de sites Web et de médias sociaux. Le deuxième chapitre propose une mise en scène screenlife qui divise l'espace de l'écran en trois niveaux pour articuler comment les traditions cinématographiques et narratives ont été transposées dans Unfriended, Unfriended: Dark Web et Searching. Le troisième chapitre est une continuation de ce processus, mais avec un accent sur les techniques de roman policier, les indices et les fausses pistes, présents dans chacun de ces trois films screenlife. La description et l'analyse confirment que ces traditions de mystification sont également transposées dans les IUG de manière multiple, simultanée et superposée à partir de la manière singulière et séquentielle dont elles ont été présentées dans les romans policiers et les films policiers traditionnellement tournés. / This master’s thesis is a description and analysis of the mise en scène in three screenlife films – Unfriended (Leo Gabriadze, 2014), Unfriended: Dark Web (Stephen Susco, 2018) and Searching (Aneesh Chaganty, 2018) – that is primarily defined by the graphical user interfaces (GUIs) displayed within the representations of computer screen recordings these films (and this format) are defined by. The purpose of this study was to find out – using the research into GUIs by Lev Manovich and Anne Friedberg as a framework to interpret the space within a computer screen – how the modular nature of individual digital media – video, photo and text – positioned within each GUI permit certain cinematic conventions, storytelling and mystery fiction techniques to be transposed onto a computer screen’s interfaces (GUIs). The research reveals that due to the GUIs (associated with the computer’s operating system and its various applications) certain narrative traditions have been presented in a multiple, simultaneous and overlapping way within the mise en scène as opposed to the singular and sequential manner that films have typically represented time and space by showing one shot, one spatio-temporality, within the frame at a time. The first chapter recounts the history of the screenlife film and how it has had several iterations because of what had been possible to display within GUIs at various periods between 2002 and 2018, notably the types of video calls, websites and social media. The second chapter proposes a screenlife mise en scène that divides the screen space into three levels to articulate how cinematic and narrative traditions have been transposed into Unfriended, Unfriended: Dark Web and Searching. The third chapter is a continuation of this process, but with a focus on mystery fiction techniques, clues and red herrings, present in each of these three screenlife films. The description and analysis confirms that these mystification traditions are also transposed into the GUIs in a multiple, simultaneous and overlapping way from the singular and sequential manner that they have been presented in detective novels and traditionally shot mystery genre films.