Depuis de nombreuses années, l'intégration des nouvelles technologies de l'information et de la communication (NTIC) fait l'objet d'études diverses dans le milieu scolaire, variant de leur utilisation comme outil pédagogique en salle de classe à leur «impact» sur l'enseignement et sur l'apprentissage. Si les NTIC se sont taillées une place dans les pratiques pédagogiques à l'élémentaire et au secondaire, la question a été tout autre au niveau universitaire. Cette recherche se veut d'être un regard sur les représentations des professeurs enseignant à distance en faisant appel aux médias interactifs et numériques à l'université. Dès l'abord, nous proposons l'hypothèse que les NTIC nous interpellent à restructurer nos façons de faire. La problématique et le cadre théorique permettent un regard rapide sur les NTIC, qui appellent à un nouvel ordre sociétal. Nous nous tournons ensuite vers le milieu universitaire où leur présence bouleverse les repères spatiotemporels en usage. Afin de mieux comprendre les enjeux, nous nous tournons vers la formation à distance qui, en raison de son historique et du fait qu'elle est hautement tributaire des médias, possède une feuille de route incontournable à ce sujet. Ce survol permet ainsi de mieux arrimer les questions entourant l'enseignement et l'apprentissage médiatisés sur la scène universitaire et la façon dont les professeurs se les représentent. Cette composante théorique se termine sur la représentation proposée par le triangle pédagogique et sur la vision paradigmatique qui a cours chez grand nombre d'auteurs. Pour répondre aux questions que nous posons en matière de représentations sociales, puis, par ricochet, des changements que suscitent les NTIC en enseignement et en apprentissage, nous avons procédé par entretien semi-dirigé, ce qui a permis la collecte de données dialogiques auprès de professeurs enseignant à distance et faisant appel aux nouveaux médias. La recherche s'inscrit ainsi dans une démarche interprétative. L'analyse des données recueillies fait ressortir, non seulement ce que représentent l'enseignement et l'apprentissage pour des professeurs, mais également leur posture à l'égard de la formation à distance et de l'intégration des NTIC sur la scène universitaire. L'imagerie qui se dessine, tissée à même leurs discours individuels, relève de l'ordre du collectif. La trame esquissée permet de revoir les limites de la vision paradigmatique ainsi que de mieux comprendre comment les propos des répondants se traduisent dans la vision du triangle pédagogique. Ce faisant, il est possible de jeter un nouveau regard sur les relations qui se tissent entre professeur, étudiant et savoir. Ces relations sont largement tributaires de trois grands thèmes: la pensée critique comme visée de l'enseignement et de l'apprentissage, l'importance de l'interaction réciproque dans la construction du savoir, et la vulnérabilité des professeurs face aux NTIC.

L'objectif principal de cette recherche etait d'identifier les facteurs du controle du processus d'enseignement a distance par audioteleconference. Pour atteindre cet objectif, nous avons examine les perceptions des educateurs qui enseignent par audioteleconference du controle de processus d'enseignement pendant la transaction educative. Peu d'ecrits en education a distance ont aborde la situation d'enseignement par teleconference. Les auteurs sont divises quant a la place qui revient a l'educateur en enseignement a distance. Garrison et Baynton (1987) proposent un modele dans lequel l'educateur est reintegre et qui est fonde sur la notion de controle du processus d'enseignement-apprentissage a distance. Ce modele a ete teste empiriquement par Baynton (1989) cependant seuls les facteurs relatifs au controle de l'etudiant sont examines. Pour identifier les facteurs de controle du processus d'enseignement par audioteleconference, la methode de comparaison constante de Glaser et Strauss (1967) a ete appliquee. Huit professeurs qui ont enseigne par audioteleconference a l'Universite de Calgary et de l'Alberta ont ete interviewes et rencontres a nouveau pour verifier la plausibilite des categories saturees. Les resultats indiquent que le controle du processus d'enseignement par audioteleconference est fonction de trois facteurs-contingence, competence et confort. Le niveau de confort fluctue selon l'equilibre qui existe entre, d'une part, la nature et le nombre des contingences auxquelles l'educateur est expose et, d'autre part, la nature et le degre de competence que celui-ci reussit a demontrer. Le controle du processus d'enseignement par audioteleconference est percu a travers le niveau de confort ressenti pendant la transaction educative. L'etude apporte de nouvelles dimensions au construit du controle percu du processus d'education a distance de Garrison et Baynton (1987). Elle vient aussi preciser les liens qui existent entre ces dimensions. Elle suggere l'existance d'une dimension psychoaffective du controle par l'intervention du facteur confort dans l'appreciation du degre de controle percu. Ainsi l'etude vient clarifier la notion de controle percu dans un contexte educationnel. La contribution de l'etude se situe egalement dans l'emergence de la technologie comme contingence fondamentale pendant la transaction educative qui s'effectue a distance et dans une meilleure comprehension de la notion de competence de l'educateur. L'etude devrait sensibiliser les educateurs qui enseignent par audioteleconference a la nature des contingences avec lesquelles ils devront composer pendant la transaction. Elle devrait servir a developper des techniques d'enseignement qui sont appropriees a l'audioteleconference. L'etude a mis en evidence l'importance de reduire l'effet des contingences pour l'educateur et, par consequent, de lui offrir un soutien institutionnel adequat. Des programmes de formation s'averent essentiels pour familiariser les educateurs avec cette technologie. Cette recherche exploratoire annonce d'autres etudes sur la nature du controle percu pendant la transaction educative que celle-ci s'opere a distance et/ou face a face.

Cette these decrit un systeme informatise d'aide aux presentations et aux assistances lors d'exposes magistraux et presente ses fonctionnalites. Elle introduit un systeme utilisant les blocs-notes stylo et un ensemble d'outils logiciels pour ameliorer la communication entre les professeurs et les etudiants. Les outils logiciels permettent aux professeurs d'interagir efficacement avec les etudiants durant les cours et aident les etudiants a prendre des notes pertinentes. Le systeme peut etre employe dans une classe traditionnelle, lors d'enseignement a distance ou dans un environnement de teleconference. Pour cette these, les outils logiciels lorsque referes comme un tout, seront designes comme Class Tool.

The parade of new technologies is relentless. Are newer learning paradigms, such as sociocultural perspectives, reflected in the design and delivery of e-learning experiences? Studying the triad of stakeholders involved in a workplace e-learning experience---learners, adult educators, and software developers---I explored how technology, workplace context, and assumptions about learning influence collective meaning making. The setting for this qualitative case study was a multi-national organization using a sophisticated web-based technology. Multiple data collection methods helped construct a multifaceted understanding of teaching and learning in the virtual synchronous classroom (VSC). The findings point to the gap between contemporary learning research and the use of e-learning technologies, highlighting that the human and contextual dimensions ultimately define the nature of the learning. Through communities of practice, sociocultural perspectives allow us to envision how the VSC could shape more dynamic learning that extends beyond the walls of a classroom---physical or virtual.

Cette recherche theorique a pour objet la construction d'une matrice de prise de decision qui pourrait servir d'outil d'elaboration de didacticiel. Cette matrice de prise de decision sera formulee a partir d'une analyse des differents parametres d'elaboration de plateau de formation et de la selection d'un modele portant sur l'appropriation du savoir. Plusieurs auteurs d'etudes empiriques et theoriques sont repertories afin de determiner les parametres d'elaborations qui nous ont semble necessaires a la construction de la matrice de prise de decision. Le modele de l'orientation epistemique de Rancourt (1990) a ete utilise comme base fondamentale d'un modele decrivant les modes (noetique (intuitif), empirique et rationnel) d'appropriation du savoir de l'apprenant. Les descripteurs de conviction afferents au modele de l'appropriation du savoir sont definis afin de circonscrire le vocabulaire utilise a travers les recommandations des strategies d'elaboration de didacticiel. Enfin, la matrice de prise de decision est elaboree en trois tableaux comportant les parametres d'elaboration et des recommandations sous-jacentes relatives aux modes d'appropriation du savoir. Cette matrice servira en tant qu'outil de travail ou comme un ensemble de criteres-guides pour quiconque elabore un plateau de formation sous forme de didacticiel et base sur les modes d'appropriation du savoir.

The academic environment has been witnessing the rise of a new form of teaching and transferring knowledge; that is telelearning via the Internet. A certain number of problem areas are still facing telelearning practitioners, which should be worked an and resolved soon, if most of the expectations of a universal effective and successful telelearning environment are to be realized. Some of these issues include Internet security, copyrights of digital material, and accreditation of on-line degrees and programs. This thesis includes four parts. Part I includes a description of a variety of synchronous and asynchronous Internet tools, as well as their advantages and drawbacks. In part II, some case studies of Internet-based telelearning applications are described, in addition to a discussion of the results of two investigations about the current implementations of the Internet tools within a telelearning setting. Part III provides an analysis of the different economics of telelearning which comprises costs related to both: the students and the institution. Finally, in part IV a number of Internet issues relating to telelearning were examined. These include: security and policy issues such as copyright of on-line material, accreditation of on-line degrees and virtual institutions, on-line academic fraud, and evaluation of the Web's material.

A novel design for an active point ranging and tracking instrument intended for large work volume applications, is presented in this thesis. The proposed instrument employs two tracking stations at a known baseline distance in order to triangulate on, and dynamically track a pulsed infrared target A prototype instrument, consisting of a single target tracking station and modulated target, has been built and tested. Each target tracking station is composed of a gimbaled mirror optic deflection system and an infrared sensitive camera. The angular resolving capability of the target tracking station is approximately 0.1 degrees when locked on a static target. The target tracking station is able to follow a target moving at a maximum speed of 4.9 meters per second at a distance of 1 meter. Results of static and dynamic testing performed on separate components of the prototype instrument, and on the complete target tracking station are presented. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Electrical and Computer Engineering, Department of / Graduate

Cognitive radio is a new concept of reusing licensed spectrum in an unlicensed manner. Cognitive radio is motivated by recent measurements of spectrum utilization, showing unused resources in frequency, time and space. The spectrum must be sensed to detect primary user signals, in order to allow cognitive radios in a primary system. In this thesis we study some topics in spectrum sensing for cognitive radio. The fundamental problem of spectrum sensing is to discriminate samples that contain only noise from samples that contain a very weak signal embedded in noise. We derive detectors that exploit known structures of the signal, for the cases of an OFDM modulated signal and an orthogonal space-time block coded signal. We derive optimal detectors, in the Neyman-Pearson sense, for a few different cases when all parameters are known. Moreover we study detection when the parameters, such as noise variance, are unknown. We propose solutions the problem of unknown parameters. We also study system aspects of cognitive radio. More specifically, we investigate spectrum reuse of geographical spectrum holes in a frequency planned primary network. System performance is measured in terms of the achievable rate for the cognitive radio system. Simulation results show that a substantial sum-rate could be achieved if the cognitive radios communicate over small distances. However, the spectrum hole gets saturated quite fast, due to interference caused by the cognitive radios.

With growing concern for rising fuel prices, peak oil, global warming and climate change in the last few decades, efforts have been made to address and alleviate the possible problems resulting from these threats. Within the transport sector these efforts have been made largely with respect to fuel efficiency of vehicles and alternative fuels. However one aspect not addressed to any great extent is the construction of the transportation infrastructure such as roads and railroads although it is known that this process consumes a lot of energy and causes emissions of greenhouse gases.The main idea behind this thesis is to formulate an energy model in order to assess energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in road construction projects. The scope of the thesis focuses on what is called the earthworks which includes the mass hauls, cutting, filling and crushing of materials. The process of forming the energy model was lead with the help of the following research questions:RQ 1: How can earthworks be optimized in a road construction project?RQ 2: How can energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of earthworks be assessed with the data available in the planning stage?RQ 3: What is the relationship between energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in road construction projects?The proposed energy model helps understanding the energy use in earthworks processes and is complemented with equations for calculating the corresponding energy use. Implementing the model in road projects requires a bill of mass quantities, a mass haul plan and a production plan. Knowledge about the location and project is helpful for further improving the accuracy of assessments when implementing the model.. In the model the energy use of earthworks is divided into three categories of machines or vehicles namely hauling vehicles, off-road mobile machines and crushing plants. Each category requires different methods for assessing their energy use.The application of the earthworks energy model is analyzed using a case study, based on two road projects in the city of Kiruna in Sweden. The source of crushed aggregates for the base course and subbase of the roads are compared. One alternative is to use nearby sources of gangue which is a by-product of the mining industry. This material can be crushed by a mobile crushing plant next to the road line. The other alternative is to buy these products from LKAB, the local mining corporation which also runs a stationary crushing plant located further away from the road projects. The first alternative will mean shorter mass hauls but might require its mobile crushing plant to run by a diesel electric generator instead of electricity from the grid. The latter issue turns out to be of crucial importance when the earthworks energy model is applied to the case study. In short, unless the energy source of the crushing of aggregates is electricity then the second alternative pays off even if the hauls are longer.One conclusion from the case study is that crushing of aggregates is a very energy consuming activity. Therefore it is an activity worth paying close attention to in order to improve the accuracy of its energy consumption. The fuel consumption of mass hauls is another aspect. It is not so well known how much the fuel consumption can differ between articulated haulers and trucks with trailers under given circumstances. They are designed for different types of conditions and hauling distances but there is an area where these uses overlap and within this area it is important to be able to establish which type of vehicle is the most energy efficient.The earthworks energy model is by no means complete. It is possible to expand it to involve more activities in road construction projects as well as increasing the detail. One way to increase the detailing in the energy evaluation is to connect it closer to the production planning and the implementation and use as a module in a planning software such as DynaRoad, which was used in the case study of this thesis. While increased detail and improved accuracy is important, what’s perhaps more important is to make the model more user friendly in order to spread its use to a wider audience. / Validerat; 20130611 (ysko)

This research evaluates complexity of proper security implementation in embedded devices that possess additional challenge of constrained operational environment – e.g. limited memory, limited processing power and limited energy consumption. Term complexity express ability (or lack of) to implement appropriate security mechanisms, without need for hardware design changes or time-consuming software modifications.Actual security requirements are analysed according to ISO/IEC 27001:2013 standard and implemented in publicly available open-source embedded devices and prototypes created during this research. Implementation outcomes are evaluated against previously listed complexity attributes.Second analysis is performed on data gathered through resource measurements during security requirement implementation and additional experiments. It will attempt to identify relation between additional instructions processing (program code execution) against energy consumption.Important part of this research consists of practical experiments that are performed with both open-source and commercial hardware. Device operation is tested with applied security measures and without them. Energy consumption is measured 100 to 25000 times per second depending on each case. The results give an insight on what is required for security implementation on embedded devices and what are the implications. / <p>Validerat; 20140620 (global_studentproject_submitter)</p>