Thesis advisor: Joseph Pedulla / The most recent reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the No Child Left Behind Act, focuses on the continued importance of teacher professional development. There are a great deal of challenges involved with delivering high-quality teacher professional development to all teachers, however, such as time, geography, and available resources. Online professional development is emerging in the literature as a viable alternative to traditional face-to-face online professional development. With the recent emergence of such a trend, however, very little research had been conducted on the quality of the individuals providing the online PD to teachers. The aim of this study was to examine one online facilitator-training program which was designed to train facilitators in the skills and best practices associated with delivering high quality PD to teachers across eight states. Using survey data collected over a two-year period, this dissertation explored the relationship between facilitator trainee ratings of training workshop quality and teacher outcomes of interest through a set of five regression equations. While only three of the relationships were found to be statistically significant, all provided valuable insight nonetheless. Specifically, the significant contributions include; a better insight into the relationship between training facilitators to deliver PD specifically in an online format and teacher perception of course quality, a series of tools to measure this relationship with other facilitator training programs in the future and, a contribution to the sparse literature currently available on this topic. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation.

Chen Yun. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 92-100). / Abstracts in English and Chinese; appendix in Chinese. / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Prologue --- p.1 / Chapter Chapter 2： --- "Internet, J-blog, and the Public Sphere..…" --- p.4 / Chapter 2.1. --- The Public Sphere： from West to East --- p.4 / Chapter 2.2. --- Internet and the Public Sphere --- p.8 / Chapter 2.3. --- A Brief History of blog and its Development in China --- p.11 / Chapter 2.4. --- Blogs and the Public Sphere --- p.14 / Chapter 2.5. --- Blogs and Journalism --- p.18 / Chapter 2.6. --- Media and Journalism in China --- p.22 / Chapter 2.7. --- Identity and Public Sphere --- p.26 / Chapter Chapter 3： --- Research Question and Research Methods --- p.30 / Chapter 3.1. --- Research Scope and the Selected Sample --- p.30 / Chapter 3.2. --- A Single Case Study of Anti blog --- p.31 / Chapter 3.3. --- Research Questions: --- p.35 / Chapter 3.4. --- Qualitative methods： --- p.37 / Chapter 3.5. --- Quantitative method： --- p.39 / Chapter Chapter 4： --- Findings --- p.40 / Chapter 4.1 --- Anti blog as alternative public sphere --- p.40 / Chapter 4.2 --- Identity and authority construction of Anti blog --- p.66 / Chapter 4.3. --- The Personalization of j-blog： empowerment and its discontent --- p.76 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- "Discussion： Internet, public sphere and identity construction" --- p.78 / Appendix --- p.90 / Bibliography --- p.92

This thesis investigates the relationship between identity and discourse in a networked collaborative environment in order to explore the following question: <br /> Is the construction of a common identity taking place? <br /><br /> The research question draws on the socio-cultural theory and, in particular, on the view according to which the development of a common identity is an important dimension of learning. More specifically, the thesis builds upon recent criticism attracted by the sociocultural notion of ―Community of Practice‖ for its inadequate account of the relationship between identity, language and practice, both in traditional and computer-mediated settings. The empirical section of the thesis reports a study which applies the concept of recognition work developed by James Gee to the discursive dynamics identified in a ―discussion room‖ of an Italian online community of young psychologists and psychology students. In the study, discourse analysis was carried out on 20 online discussions and on 23 semi-structured interviews. <br /><br /> The findings demonstrate that the notion of recognition work can be used to study how identities are constructed and negotiated through discourse, and provide an additional insight into the role of computer-mediated communication in the relationship between identity and learning. The findings also have theoretical implications, raising the question as to whether the emphasis on communities of practice has exhausted its possible contributions to a socio-cultural theory of learning. Additionally, the thesis also considers the implications for the design of virtual learning environments that try to foster collaborative learning through networked discourse.

Internet measurements have previously been done mostly from research labs and universities. The number of home users is growing rapidly and we need a good way to measure their network performance. This thesis focuses on building a web application that allows users to check what their network is like for online activities they are interested in. The application has minimal impediment to use by only requiring a Web browser. A list of online activities we offer users to choose from includes browsing web site categories such as news or social networks, having voice and video conferences, playing online games and other activities.

Submitted by FERNANDA DA SILVA VON PORSTER (fdsvporster@univates.br) on 2016-09-06T19:18:18Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) 2015NeivaAlthaus.pdf: 1823558 bytes, checksum: 5f38e400a4caeb025e3347c0ea11b140 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ana Paula Lisboa Monteiro (monteiro@univates.br) on 2016-09-12T17:48:56Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) 2015NeivaAlthaus.pdf: 1823558 bytes, checksum: 5f38e400a4caeb025e3347c0ea11b140 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-12T17:48:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) 2015NeivaAlthaus.pdf: 1823558 bytes, checksum: 5f38e400a4caeb025e3347c0ea11b140 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-09 / A intervenção desenvolvida, investigada e relatada nessa dissertação propõe uma prática que relaciona a resolução de problemas com as tecnologias, desenvolvida em três escolas do Vale do Taquari, nas aulas de Matemática. Ao longo dos cinco encontros buscamos compreender “Como o uso de ferramentas tecnológicas pode potencializar a resolução de problemas matemáticos?”. O principal objetivo deste estudo é promover a integração da resolução de problemas nas aulas de Matemática, com a utilização pedagógica de recursos tecnológicos para favorecer a aprendizagem da Matemática. A pesquisa foi aplicada a alunos do 6.º ano do Ensino Fundamental de três escolas estaduais do Vale do Taquari/RS - Brasil. Para tanto, foi baseada em referencias sobre resolução de problemas e jogos computacionais, dispostos em uma plataforma Moodle. A abordagem metodológica foi embasada em estudo de caso qualitativo para a análise da contribuição das tecnologias no processo de ensino da matemática. Para a coleta de dados, as sessões foram gravadas e transcritas para posterior análise. Além da observação, se recolheu todas as produções dos alunos e se aplicou um pequeno questionário em cada problema para verificar qual a contribuição do jogo na resolução do problema. Ao concluir a pesquisa, pode ser verificado que os estudantes recorreram aos aplicativos disponíveis no computador e conhecidos por eles para a criação de uma estratégia para resolver os problemas que lhes foram propostos. / The intervention developed, investigated and reported in this dissertation proposes a practice that connects problems resolution with technologies, developed in three schools of Vale do Taquari, in Mathematics classes. Along the five meetings we aimed to understand “How the use of technological tools can enhance the resolution of mathematical problems?”. The main goal of this study is to promote the integration between the problems resolution in Mathematics classes with the pedagogical utilization of technological resources, in order to foster learning of Mathematics. The research was applied to 6th year students of elementary school from three state schools of Vale do Taquari/RS – Brazil. Therefore, it was based on references about problems resolution and computer games, arranged in a Moodle Platform. The methodological approach was grounded on a qualitative case study for the analysis of the contribution of technologies in the Mathematics teaching process. In order to collect data, the meetings were recorded, and a short questionnaire was applied in every problem to verify how the game contributed in the resolution of the problem. By completing the survey, it can be verified that the students resorted to the applications available on the computer and know to them for creating a strategy to solve the problems which they have been proposed.

Para ver la viabilidad del siguiente proyecto denominado PuppyTel, se realizó una investigación de mercado a través de diferentes canales de comunicación; y, en base a la información encontrada pudimos detectar que existe una demanda insatisfecha de personas que buscan encontrar una mayor variedad de productos y precios para el cuidado de sus mascotas. Por ello, realizamos el siguiente proyecto, el cual contiene un análisis del plan de marketing, operaciones, recursos humanos y financiero, que nos sirven para poner en marcha nuestra idea de negocio PuppyTel, la misma que, ofrecerá la mayor variedad de productos y precios para mascotas de manera online, dando la posibilidad de encontrar desde un juguete hasta pasta dental, pasando por placas de identificación o casas para las mascotas; los cuales, serán importados de USA, China, Francia, Alemania o fabricados en Perú; sin dejar de lado el abanico de precios para darle al cliente la facilidad de elegir desde algo muy económico hasta algo más premium. Finalmente, según la investigación realizada, el proyecto generará un retorno de 61% como mínimo para los inversionistas, con un periodo de recuperación de la inversión de 2.09 años y una rentabilidad del proyecto de 1.95 veces la inversión inicial. Por ello, creemos que PuppyTel es una idea de negocio rentable con un gran potencial de ventas y crecimiento constante. / To see the viability of the next project called PuppyTel, a market research was carried out through different communication channels; and, based on the information found, we were able to detect that there is an unmet demand from people seeking to find a greater variety of products and prices for the care of their pets. For this reason we carry out the following project, which contains an analysis of the marketing plan, operations, human resources and finance plan, which help us to implement our PuppyTel business idea, which will offer the widest variety of products and prices for pets online, giving the possibility to find from a toy to toothpaste, through identification plates or houses for pets, imported from the USA, China, France, Germany or manufactured in Peru; without leaving aside the range of prices to give the customer the ease of choosing from something very economical to something more premium. Finally, the project will generate a minimum return of 61% for investors, with a payback period of 2.09 years and a project return of 1.95 times the initial investment. Therefore, we believe that PuppyTel is a profitable business idea with great sales potential and constant growth. / Trabajo de investigación

Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo identificar e analisar os elementos associados às experiências de compra online que influenciam a satisfação dos e-consumidores em compras de alto e baixo envolvimento no comércio eletrônico. Para atingir o objetivo proposto, foi realizado um levantamento de campo, cuja amostra foi composta por 720 e-consumidores. Adotou-se o processo de amostragem por cotas, utilizando-se como critério para composição dos estratos da amostra a distribuição etária da população do estudo. Para análise dos dados referentes a compras de alto envolvimento, utilizou-se a Modelagem de Equações Estruturais. Por outro lado, para análise dos dados referentes a compras de baixo envolvimento, utilizaram-se a Análise Fatorial Exploratória e a Análise de Regressão Múltipla. A partir da análise estatística dos dados referentes a compras de alto envolvimento, constatou-se que existem alguns atributos das experiências de compra online que influenciam diretamente a esatisfação (conveniência associada ao website, políticas de trocas e devoluções da empresa e qualidade do serviço de entrega), enquanto outros influenciam o estado de fluxo online (inovação percebida no website, preços e estética do website), que, por sua vez, influencia a esatisfação. Adicionalmente, foram identificados dois atributos que influenciam tanto o fluxo online quanto a e-satisfação (confiabilidade atribuída ao website e variedade de produtos disponíveis para venda no website). Complementarmente, a partir da análise estatística dos dados referentes a compras de baixo envolvimento, constatou-se que três atributos das experiências de compra online influenciam positivamente a e-satisfação, sendo eles a qualidade do serviço de entrega, as informações disponíveis no website e a estrutura de atendimento ao cliente do website. Constatou-se também que a inovação associada ao website influencia negativamente a e-satisfação em compras de baixo envolvimento. / This research aims to identify and analyze the factors associated with online shopping experiences that influence e-satisfaction in high and low involvement purchases. To reach that goal, we conducted a field survey, whose sample consisted of 720 e- consumers. We adopted quotas sampling, using as criteria for the composition of the sample strata age distribution of the study population. To analyze the data for high-involvement purchases, we used the Structural Equation Modeling. On the other hand, for the analysis of data for purchases of low involvement, we used the Exploratory Factor Analysis and Multiple Regression Analysis. From the statistical analysis of the data for high-involvement purchases, it was found that there are some attributes of online shopping experiences that directly influence the satisfaction (convenience associated with the website, exchanges and returns policies of the company and quality of service delivery), while others influence the state of flow online (perceived innovation on the website, price and aesthetics of the website), which, in turn, influences e-satisfaction. Additionally, we identified two attributes that influence both flow online and e-satisfaction (reliability attributed to the website and variety of products available for sale on the website). In addition, from the statistical analysis of data for purchases of low involvement, it was found that three attributes of online shopping experiences positively influence e-satisfaction: quality of service delivery, information available on the website and website structure of customer attendance. It was also found that innovation associated with the website negatively influences e-satisfaction in purchases of low involvement.

Zhu, Yi. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 136-148). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgement --- p.vi / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Overview --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Motivations of Detecting Commercial Intention --- p.4 / Chapter 1.3 --- Problem Definition for Commercial Intention Detection --- p.6 / Chapter 1.4 --- Contributions --- p.8 / Chapter 1.5 --- Thesis Organization --- p.9 / Chapter 2 --- Literature Review --- p.12 / Chapter 2.1 --- Twitter and Tweets Analysis --- p.13 / Chapter 2.2 --- Intention Detection --- p.17 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- User Intention Mining --- p.17 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Commercial Intention Mining --- p.18 / Chapter 2.3 --- Similar Task: Opinion Mining --- p.18 / Chapter 2.4 --- NLP Techniques for Commercial Intention Detection --- p.20 / Chapter 2.4.1 --- Words Semantic Similarity --- p.21 / Chapter 2.4.2 --- Short Text Similarity --- p.25 / Chapter 2.5 --- Hierarchical Classification --- p.26 / Chapter 2.5.1 --- Hierarchical Classifiers Overview --- p.26 / Chapter 2.5.2 --- Construction of Hierarchy --- p.27 / Chapter 2.5.3 --- Taxonomy of Hierarchical Classification --- p.28 / Chapter 3 --- System Overview --- p.31 / Chapter 3.1 --- Feasibility of Commercial Intention Detection --- p.31 / Chapter 3.2 --- System Design and Architecture --- p.33 / Chapter 3.3 --- Components of READ-MIND --- p.35 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Preprocessing --- p.35 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- Centroid Word Locator --- p.37 / Chapter 3.3.3 --- Commercial Intention Detector --- p.38 / Chapter 3.3.4 --- Tweet Classifier --- p.40 / Chapter 3.3.5 --- Advertisement Mapping --- p.41 / Chapter 3.4 --- System Work Flow --- p.42 / Chapter 3.4.1 --- System Dataflow and Controlflow --- p.42 / Chapter 3.4.2 --- User Interface --- p.42 / Chapter 3.5 --- System Speed Up --- p.43 / Chapter 3.6 --- Summary --- p.45 / Chapter 4 --- Natural Language Processing on Tweets --- p.46 / Chapter 4.1 --- NLP Techniques in READ-MIND --- p.46 / Chapter 4.2 --- Centroid Word Locator --- p.47 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Centroid Word --- p.47 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Locating Centroid Word --- p.48 / Chapter 4.2.3 --- Centroid Word Pair --- p.50 / Chapter 4.2.4 --- Locating Centroid Word Pair --- p.54 / Chapter 4.3 --- Semantic Relatedness Between Tweets --- p.59 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Relatedness with a Words Set --- p.60 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Relatedness between Tweets --- p.62 / Chapter 4.3.3 --- Words Similarity --- p.63 / Chapter 4.4 --- Summary --- p.65 / Chapter 5 --- Tweets Classification --- p.66 / Chapter 5.1 --- Two Stages of Tweets Classification --- p.66 / Chapter 5.2 --- Commercial Intention Detector --- p.68 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- Intuitive Method --- p.68 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- Binary Classification --- p.70 / Chapter 5.3 --- Tweet Categorization --- p.72 / Chapter 5.3.1 --- Build Hierarchical Classifier --- p.73 / Chapter 5.3.2 --- Hierarchical Classification --- p.81 / Chapter 5.4 --- Summary --- p.83 / Chapter 6 --- Empirical Study --- p.84 / Chapter 6.1 --- Objective of Empirical Study --- p.84 / Chapter 6.2 --- Experiment Setup and Evaluation Methodology --- p.85 / Chapter 6.2.1 --- Simulation Environment --- p.85 / Chapter 6.2.2 --- Tweets Data Set --- p.86 / Chapter 6.2.3 --- Labeling Process --- p.87 / Chapter 6.2.4 --- Evaluation Methodology --- p.88 / Chapter 6.3 --- Compare Algorithms in Components --- p.90 / Chapter 6.3.1 --- Centroid Word VS. Centroid Word Pair --- p.91 / Chapter 6.3.2 --- Semantic Similarity Comparison --- p.92 / Chapter 6.3.3 --- Methods in Commercial Intention Detector --- p.93 / Chapter 6.3.4 --- Structure of Hierarchy --- p.94 / Chapter 6.3.5 --- Training Source of Tweets Classifier --- p.95 / Chapter 6.3.6 --- Summary --- p.96 / Chapter 6.4 --- Parameter Settings Comparison --- p.97 / Chapter 6.4.1 --- Impact of Varying Parameters --- p.97 / Chapter 6.4.2 --- Discussion on Parameter Setting --- p.98 / Chapter 6.5 --- Comparison of READ-MIND and Baseline Method --- p.100 / Chapter 6.6 --- Time Cost Analysis --- p.101 / Chapter 6.6.1 --- Time Cost to Process Tweets --- p.101 / Chapter 6.6.2 --- Comparison with Baseline --- p.102 / Chapter 6.6.3 --- Analysis on Real-Time Property --- p.103 / Chapter 6.7 --- TCI Categories Comparison --- p.106 / Chapter 6.7.1 --- Results for Different TCIs --- p.106 / Chapter 6.7.2 --- Comparison of Different TCIs --- p.107 / Chapter 6.8 --- Summary --- p.108 / Chapter 7 --- Conclusion --- p.109 / Chapter 7.1 --- Conclusion --- p.109 / Chapter 7.2 --- Future Work --- p.111 / Chapter A --- List of Abbreviations --- p.112 / Chapter B --- List of Symbols --- p.114 / Chapter C --- Proof --- p.117 / Chapter D --- System Work Flow --- p.120 / Chapter E --- Algorithms --- p.123 / Chapter F --- Detailed Experimental Results --- p.129 / Bibliography --- p.136

facilitated the licensing of music to the benefits of right holders and commercial users alike. In the online realm, however, the rationale of the collective administration of copyright has been challenged and its functioning re-configured. At a moment in time where the Internet has made the cross-border distribution of recorded music easier than ever, right holders are yet to find licensing solutions appropriate for multi- territorial online uses. This, in turn, slows down the uptake of legal online music services and prevents the realisation of the Digital Single Market, pursued within the EU. The European Commission has intervened twice, first in 2005 in the form of a non-binding Recommendation, and later in 2008, when it held that the collecting societies' practice of restricting their activities to their respective domestic territory was anti-competitive. Arguably, the contradictory effects of EU action have exacerbated rather than remedied the existing difficulties that cross-border online music services face in clearing the necessary authors' rights. This thesis proposes to re-contextualise this problem around cultural diversity, which is a recurring buzzword in the ongoing debates and which EU institutions are legally obliged to promote and to respect. Despite this seeming acknowledgment of the concept, no sound legal analysis of its scope or its implications for the field of online music has yet been proposed. Pursuing such analysis, this thesis first examines the meaning of cultural diversity under EU law to submit an understanding of it as intercultural pluralism. It then assesses the boundaries of the EU obligation to promote cultural diversity in view of the goals of the UNESCO Convention on the Promotion and Protection of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. An analysis of the relationship between the two sets of norms suggests interpreting the EU mandate of promoting cultural diversity in light of the scope of the international obligations wherever EU action affects cultural creations. Applied to the context of online music, this novel interpretation implies that cultural diversity is promoted if all groups within the EU (a) have the ability to express their cultural identity through online music; and (b) are in a position to access online music expressing different cultures from within and outside the EU. Cultural diversity thus calls for the licensing regime to be reorganised so that online music services may, in a simple and effective way, clear the rights necessary for the online use of the entire available EU repertoire as well as a diverse foreign and, ideally, the entire worldwide repertoire. Finally, this thesis assesses the current online licensing mechanisms in a practical application of these findings, testing the commonly raised argument that collective rights management promotes cultural diversity and investigating, in parallel, whether the practical consequences of the EU interventions have promoted the diversity of online music.

Tese de mestrado. Engenharia Informática. Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 2009