The increasing amount of learning tools developed in the virtual room enables more flexible learning; it can be personalized and reduce distance barriers. But researchers search to find design guidelines and user needs that relates to these learning tools. This thesis follows that path and researches the usability and learning potential of virtual learning environments (VLEs) which applies spaced repetition. A case study was performed in order to implement the extensive theoretical research regarding usability, e-learning and learning. The results generated improvement recommendations to the company of the case studied VLE. This thesis contributes to the research field by using usability aspects and learning perspectives as tools to analyze VLEs in general, as well as on a specific VLE.

Many higher education institutions (HEIs) around the world are investing in the implementation of different Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) to support the teaching and learning process. However, there is a lack of detailed guidelines or a practical framework for the VLE system implementation without which an effective VLE system implementation framework, many of the full potential of VLE system cannot be realised objectives and benefits remain underachieved. A small number of frameworks specific for VLE system implementation are reported in the literature; however, these are not comprehensive in terms of covering the entire end-to-end implementation, do not consider all the key elements of a VLE system implementation and are far from integrated. Moreover, a practice-based framework that considers various organisational, pedagogical, and technological aspects and covers the entire end-to-end implementation, is not available in the current literature, and there is no complete set of guidelines to be used by HEIs to support and manage an effective VLE system implementation. Therefore, further research is needed for investigating various key elements and for identifying aspects of a good-practice framework for the implementation of VLE systems in HEIs. Particularly, an integrated good-practice framework that is comprehensive and integrates elements from existing literature and current practices or case studies would be a significant and useful contribution to this field, which highlights the importance of this study. Hence, research into investigating a good-practice VLE system implementation framework is important, and this thesis builds and presents a good-practice-in-context framework for the implementation and use of VLE systems in HEIs. This is done through identifying and exploring the key elements that build-up such a comprehensive practice-based framework for VLE system implementation through literature and good practices by considering various pedagogical, technical, and organisational aspects. These key elements include stages, processes, critical success factors (CSFs) considered, challenges (CLG) faced, associated risks, stakeholders (SHs) involved, and various tools, technologies, and methods, integrated with the VLE system. The key elements provide a deeper understanding of the fundamental issues and success factors underlying the successful implementation and sustainability of a VLE system. Initially, a conceptual framework was developed encapsulating various key elements of a VLE system implementation framework based on an extensive literature review and an analysis of existing frameworks and models, encapsulating various key elements of a VLE system implementation framework, where the elements were integrated and mapped with each other highlighting and depicting interrelations and interactions among them. The conceptual framework was validated by empirical data from the two case studies (of HEIs, at local and national level) to propose a refined, novel, and practice-based framework for VLE system implementation in HEIs, which also contains mappings to Technology Enhance Learning (TEL) strategy components. Thus, the proposed good-practice-in-context framework can be used as a tool to assist or guide HEIs to implement VLE system successfully. Finally, the proposed framework could lead to a successful VLE system implementation and it could also serve as an effective approach that not only facilitates enhancement in the learning and teaching experience, but also fosters end-user engagement and supports flexibility and customization according to the end-user needs of HEIs.

The Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) is a form of e-learning environment that is becoming widely adopted in higher educational institutions and universities. The term “Tracking” in relation to an e-learning context is the learner’s observation process of any possible interaction with learning activities. Learning activities are a collection of objects designed within e-learning environments to support learners in better understanding and fulfilling the learning objectives during the learning process. A tracking tool is an essential tool fixed within e- learning environments. Most current VLEs (e.g. MOODLE and Blackboard) have utilized similar tracking functions, which aim at recording statistical data for each learner. The current e-learning environments are unable to track individual learning activities where the tracked information can be used to support and guide learners. In this thesis, we propose a policy-based runtime tracking system. Such a tracking system is implemented as an integral part of an e-learning environment (e.g. MOODLE). Our proposed approach does the following: 1) keeps track of and captures the learning activity events and learner interaction events within a learning activity; 2) enforces a set of policies at runtime that specify how to manage the learning activities and the way the learners behave during them; and 3) provides the learners with supportive feedback in a timely manner. We present a computational model which defines the behaviour of the system’s components and describes the tracking mechanism applied in our proposed approach. We designed architecture for our proposed approach with respect to the computational model. We present learning activity policies based on the ECA model to be enforced at runtime; this is done in response to the captured events about either the learning activities or the interactions of learners within the learning activities. A policy-based enforcement mechanism is proposed where learning activity policies are specified to support and guide learners to achieve the learning objective and thus to meet such requirements. Finally, we present a case study based on a current e-learning environment to evaluate our approach.

The use of technology-supported teaching and learning in higher education has moved from a position of peripheral interest a few years ago to become a fundamental ingredient in the experience of many if not most students today. A major part of that change has been wrought by the widespread introduction and use of ‘virtual learning environments’ (VLEs). A defining characteristic of VLEs is that they combine a variety of tools and resources into a single integrated system. To use a VLE is not just to employ a single intervention but to change the very fabric of the students’ experience of study and the university. Despite this, much of the literature on VLEs has concentrated on producing typologies by listing and comparing system functions, describing small scale and short duration applications or providing speculative theories and predictions. Little attention has so far been paid to analysing what effects a VLE’s use has on the participants and the context of use, particularly across a large group of users and over a substantial period of time. This work presents the evaluation of a VLE developed and used to support undergraduate medical education at the University of Edinburgh since 1999. This system is called ‘EEMeC’ and was developed specifically within and in support of its context of use. EEMeC provides a large number of features and functions to many different kinds of user, it has evolved continuously since it was introduced and it has had a significant impact on teaching and learning in the undergraduate medical degree programme (MBChB). In such circumstances evaluation methodologies that depend on controls and single variables are nether applicable or practical. In order to approach the task of evaluating such a complex entity a multi-modal evaluation framework has been developed based on taking a series of metaphor-informed perspectives derived from the organisational theories of Gareth Morgan(Morgan 1997). The framework takes seven approaches to evaluation of EEMeC covering a range of quantitative and qualitative methodologies. These are combined in a dialectical analysis of EEMeC from these different evaluation perspectives. This work provides a detailed and multi-faceted account of a VLE-in-use and the ways in which it interacts with its user community in its context of use. Furthermore, the method of taking different metaphor-based evaluation perspectives of a complex problem space is presented as a viable approach for studying and evaluating similar learning support systems. The evaluation framework that has been developed would be particularly useful to those practitioners who have a pressing and practical need for meaningful evaluation techniques to inform and shape how complex systems such as VLEs are deployed and used. As such, this work can provide insights not just into EEMeC, but into the way VLEs are changing the environments and contexts in which they are used across the tertiary sector as a whole.

Atualmente estão disponíveis na web vários Ambientes Virtuais de Aprendizagem (AVAs) que apóiam o ensino tradicional e a distância, porém ainda são poucas as investigações dedicadas a analisar a utilização e a aceitação desses ambientes por parte dos alunos. Neste trabalho o AVA denominado Cursos on-Line (CoL), desenvolvido e coordenado pelo LARC (Laboratório de Arquitetura e Redes de Computadores do Departamento de Computação e Sistemas Digitais da Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo), foi adaptado para aplicação em uma disciplina de comunicação científica, oferecida aos ingressantes de um curso de graduação em química da Universidade de São Paulo. Dentre as facilidades nele disponíveis estão: módulos com descrições textuais dos tópicos discutidos na disciplina, links para bases de dados eletrônicas, fórum de discussão, sistema de mensagem, glossário, chat e um banco de dados de questões para teste. O uso e a aceitação do AVA pelos estudantes foram investigados com base nos fundamentos do Modelo de Aceitação de Tecnologia. Participaram, voluntariamente, como sujeitos da pesquisa o docente da disciplina, dois estagiários do Programa de Aperfeiçoamento de Ensino da Universidade de São Paulo e 61 alunos. A navegação de cada um deles foi monitorada e as mensagens postadas no fórum foram automaticamente arquivadas no servidor do ambiente e analisadas com base no modelo de Henri. No decorrer do semestre o AVA foi acessado 989 vezes e 705 mensagens foram postadas no fórum. O AVA ampliou a comunicação e as oportunidades de ensino no curso. Os resultados indicam que a interface gráfica do ambiente, associada à exibição de vários conteúdos e ferramentas, são fatores críticos na aceitação do AVA. / Currently there are several Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) available on the web to support traditional and distance learning, but still there are a few investigations devoted to study the use and acceptance of such environments by the students. In this work, the VLE named Cursos on-Line (CoL), developed and coordinated by the LARC (Laboratório de Arquitetura e Redes de Computadores do Departamento de Computação e Sistemas Digitais da Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo), was adapted to be applied in a scientific communication course offered to freshman students in an undergraduate chemistry course at the University of São Paulo. The VLE included the following elements: content modules with textual descriptions of the concepts discussed in the course, links to the web that provide access to the major electronic databases, online forum, message system, glossary, chat, and a database of homework questions. The use and acceptance of the VLE by the students were investigated based on the concepts of Technology Acceptance Model. The professor responsible for the course, two teaching assistants, and 61 undergraduate chemistry students participated as subjects in the research. All navigation for each subject was recorded and the messages to the online forum were automatically archived by the list host computer. Throughout the study, the messages were analyzed based on a model of qualitative criteria for content analysis on online discussion developed by Henri. Along the semester, the VLE was accessed 989 times and a total of 705 messages were posted to the forum. The VLE expanded communication and teaching opportunities in the course. The findings of the study suggest that the appeal of the user interface, the presence of appropriate search options and the availability of sufficient relevant information are critical factors of the VLE\'s acceptance.

The Peng-Robinson equation of state (PR EOS) is incorporated with the infinite linear association model and the monomer-dimer association model as well as two different sets of mixing rules to result in four different forms of equations of state. The reformulated PR EOS have been used to represent the vapor pressures and liquid densities of pure associating compounds. The vapor pressure and liquid density values calculated by means of the reformulated PR EOS are in good agreement with the experimental data in the literature.<p>The application of the reformulated PR EOS could be extended to represent the VLE behavior of associating systems. The capabilities of different association-incorporated EOS are compared with the Hong-Hu equation, the AMH equation and the Wilson equation, respectively. The results show that, in general, the reformulated PR EOS are superior to the Wilson equation for all tested systems with the exception of alkanol-hydrocarbon systems and at least as good as the Hong-Hu equation, the AMH equation, although the number of tested systems from Hong and Hu and Nan et al. are less than the one from the present work.<p>The excess molar enthalpies of the ethanol-n-hexane and the ethanol-cyclohexane systems at 298.15 K were measured in an LKB 2107 microcalorimeter and compared with the experimental data in the literature. Additionally, new excess molar enthalpy data, measured at 298.15 K, have been reported for the ethanol-n-hexane-cyclohexane ternary system in the present work. Smooth representations of the results are described and used to construct contours of constant enthalpy on a Roozeboom diagram. The reasonable estimates of the excess enthalpies of the three constituent-binary mixtures can be obtained from both the Liebermann-Fried model and the Flory theory. <p>Finally, an attempt has been made to represent, simultaneously, both VLE and excess enthalpy behavior of the ethanol-n-hexane and ethanol-cyclohexane systems by using the Wilson equation and one of the reformulated PR EOS. Both the reformulated PR EOS and the Wilson equation could be extended to predict the ethanol-n-hexane-cyclohexane ternary system at 298.15 K with the binary interaction parameters determined from the experimental VLE data of the three constituent-binary mixtures. The calculated results show that the reformulated PR EOS is better than or as good as the Wilson equation in predicting the excess enthalpies of selected binary and ternary systems involving one associating species. However, quantitative discrepancies with the experimental data are observed.

The Peng-Robinson equation of state (PR EOS) is incorporated with the infinite linear association model and the monomer-dimer association model as well as two different sets of mixing rules to result in four different forms of equations of state. The reformulated PR EOS have been used to represent the vapor pressures and liquid densities of pure associating compounds. The vapor pressure and liquid density values calculated by means of the reformulated PR EOS are in good agreement with the experimental data in the literature.<p>The application of the reformulated PR EOS could be extended to represent the VLE behavior of associating systems. The capabilities of different association-incorporated EOS are compared with the Hong-Hu equation, the AMH equation and the Wilson equation, respectively. The results show that, in general, the reformulated PR EOS are superior to the Wilson equation for all tested systems with the exception of alkanol-hydrocarbon systems and at least as good as the Hong-Hu equation, the AMH equation, although the number of tested systems from Hong and Hu and Nan et al. are less than the one from the present work.<p>The excess molar enthalpies of the ethanol-n-hexane and the ethanol-cyclohexane systems at 298.15 K were measured in an LKB 2107 microcalorimeter and compared with the experimental data in the literature. Additionally, new excess molar enthalpy data, measured at 298.15 K, have been reported for the ethanol-n-hexane-cyclohexane ternary system in the present work. Smooth representations of the results are described and used to construct contours of constant enthalpy on a Roozeboom diagram. The reasonable estimates of the excess enthalpies of the three constituent-binary mixtures can be obtained from both the Liebermann-Fried model and the Flory theory. <p>Finally, an attempt has been made to represent, simultaneously, both VLE and excess enthalpy behavior of the ethanol-n-hexane and ethanol-cyclohexane systems by using the Wilson equation and one of the reformulated PR EOS. Both the reformulated PR EOS and the Wilson equation could be extended to predict the ethanol-n-hexane-cyclohexane ternary system at 298.15 K with the binary interaction parameters determined from the experimental VLE data of the three constituent-binary mixtures. The calculated results show that the reformulated PR EOS is better than or as good as the Wilson equation in predicting the excess enthalpies of selected binary and ternary systems involving one associating species. However, quantitative discrepancies with the experimental data are observed.

Atualmente estão disponíveis na web vários Ambientes Virtuais de Aprendizagem (AVAs) que apóiam o ensino tradicional e a distância, porém ainda são poucas as investigações dedicadas a analisar a utilização e a aceitação desses ambientes por parte dos alunos. Neste trabalho o AVA denominado Cursos on-Line (CoL), desenvolvido e coordenado pelo LARC (Laboratório de Arquitetura e Redes de Computadores do Departamento de Computação e Sistemas Digitais da Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo), foi adaptado para aplicação em uma disciplina de comunicação científica, oferecida aos ingressantes de um curso de graduação em química da Universidade de São Paulo. Dentre as facilidades nele disponíveis estão: módulos com descrições textuais dos tópicos discutidos na disciplina, links para bases de dados eletrônicas, fórum de discussão, sistema de mensagem, glossário, chat e um banco de dados de questões para teste. O uso e a aceitação do AVA pelos estudantes foram investigados com base nos fundamentos do Modelo de Aceitação de Tecnologia. Participaram, voluntariamente, como sujeitos da pesquisa o docente da disciplina, dois estagiários do Programa de Aperfeiçoamento de Ensino da Universidade de São Paulo e 61 alunos. A navegação de cada um deles foi monitorada e as mensagens postadas no fórum foram automaticamente arquivadas no servidor do ambiente e analisadas com base no modelo de Henri. No decorrer do semestre o AVA foi acessado 989 vezes e 705 mensagens foram postadas no fórum. O AVA ampliou a comunicação e as oportunidades de ensino no curso. Os resultados indicam que a interface gráfica do ambiente, associada à exibição de vários conteúdos e ferramentas, são fatores críticos na aceitação do AVA. / Currently there are several Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) available on the web to support traditional and distance learning, but still there are a few investigations devoted to study the use and acceptance of such environments by the students. In this work, the VLE named Cursos on-Line (CoL), developed and coordinated by the LARC (Laboratório de Arquitetura e Redes de Computadores do Departamento de Computação e Sistemas Digitais da Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo), was adapted to be applied in a scientific communication course offered to freshman students in an undergraduate chemistry course at the University of São Paulo. The VLE included the following elements: content modules with textual descriptions of the concepts discussed in the course, links to the web that provide access to the major electronic databases, online forum, message system, glossary, chat, and a database of homework questions. The use and acceptance of the VLE by the students were investigated based on the concepts of Technology Acceptance Model. The professor responsible for the course, two teaching assistants, and 61 undergraduate chemistry students participated as subjects in the research. All navigation for each subject was recorded and the messages to the online forum were automatically archived by the list host computer. Throughout the study, the messages were analyzed based on a model of qualitative criteria for content analysis on online discussion developed by Henri. Along the semester, the VLE was accessed 989 times and a total of 705 messages were posted to the forum. The VLE expanded communication and teaching opportunities in the course. The findings of the study suggest that the appeal of the user interface, the presence of appropriate search options and the availability of sufficient relevant information are critical factors of the VLE\'s acceptance.

Yes / With the advancement of technology, significant changes have been introduced into the learning and teaching environment. The importance of enhancing the interest of learners is an on-going challenge for educators of all levels. In this respect, teaching and learning practices are adapting to students¿ exposure to technological and social trends. In this presentation, a case study of using technology to enhance the learners¿ environment for engineering-based subjects in higher education is presented. The approach consists of delivering interactive materials through a Virtual Learning Environment and integrating web application technologies to enhance the learners¿ experience. Due to the vast subject areas in engineering and the variety of content of each subject, a general methodology is first identified and adopted. This consists of stages that show the progress from initial development to deployment of the materials, followed by evaluation of the module and further improvements carried out on the module based on qualitative evaluation. The evaluation process consists of the application of electronic surveys for feedback on the distance learning module. In addition, monitoring of the students¿ usage of the materials is also carried out. The presentation concludes with the presentation of the initial results from a current e-learning module.

Duomenų „surinkimas“ – tai procesai, skirti tam tikros informacijos, apie dominančią objektinę sritį, kaupimui. Tokių duomenų „apdorojimo“ sąvoka apima jų filtravimą, priežiūrą, saugojimą, analizę ir pan. Kriterijai pagal kuriuos duomenys yra renkami, taip pat metodika ir filtravimas juos padaro specifiniais arba „paskirstytais“. Paskirstytų duomenų surinkimo ir apdorojimo sąvoka yra gana plati ir apima ne tik elementariausius Web klausimynus ar testus, bet ir dideles sistemas, skirtas analizuoti ir apdoroti struktūrizuoto (pvz.: XML) duomenų srauto informaciją, prireikus ją konvertuoti, saugoti ir adaptuoti. / Term WIKI defines ideas and basis for data collection and management, necessary and mandatory methods required to ensure quality of collectible data. The purpose of this master work is analysis of existing solutions of data collecting and analysis systems in order to create a new unique WIKI community based system for price and other information (related to products on the market) analysis. System target – build up user manageable knowledge base for recognition of changes in the market, fast, easy and cheapest products information withdraw. It gives an overview of the best data collection approaches structure, techniques and logic, data analysis and collection methods (based on the system target), also proposes created model and defines means and tools, for model creation and realization.