This study focuses on the theme of technology-based Indigenous language revitalization and maintenance efforts by looking at new developments in mobile technology and how they are used within Indigenous communities for language learning and teaching. I assessed four mobile apps through the use of an evaluation rubric, online user reviews, and developer consultations. The findings from the assessments were then used to determine what essential themes are important when developing an effective and successful language application model (Appendix C), with the intention of developing a user-friendly template for use by other Indigenous communities. Three essential elements were found to be common among the four language applications assessed: (1) successful integration of interactive and digital media that provides a purposeful learning environment for the user; (2) accuracy and testing of both media and the user-interface, and; (3) successful usability and functionality of the mobile platform.

Mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones are quite common in this day. The author of this thesis wanted to know how common these mobile devices are in the building industry and how they are used and what potential an app could have. The author thus conducted an investigation on this matter, mainly in the form of interviews. Answers given by the interviews were then used as a basis to survey the usage of mobile devices and the usage of different kinds of apps. An investigation of different apps with the potential to be used by professionals in the building industry has been carried through. Apps which manage such things as scanning documents, measuring distances and handle communication. A further more advanced study of a floor plan making app, called MagicPlan has also been done. The equipment that were used were Samsung Galaxy S2, Apple iPad , Samsung Note 10.1 Tablet, Leica Disto, Leica Scanstation C10, Canon Pixma MP270. The results of the examination show that the usages of mobile devices are widely spread in the building industry, however, seldom to its full potential. The results also indicates that the tested apps likely can be used by professionals in some cases.

The mobile application market is becoming increasingly fragmented with the availability of multiple mobile platforms that differ in development procedures. Developers are forced to choose to support only some platforms and specific devices due to limited development resources. To address these challenges, numerous tools have been created to aid developers in building cross-platform applications, however, there is no metric to evaluate the quality of these tools. This thesis introduces a framework for evaluating the features, performance and discuss development experience of existing and future cross-platform development tools. The framework is implemented by benchmarking several tools and the results identify a disparity in the features and performance. This research is carried out in collaboration with industrial partner Desire2Learn, through an NSERC Engage Grant. / NSERC, Desire2Learn

In this thesis, we focused on two problems in mobile application development: contextualization and large-scale testing. We identified the limitations of current contextualization and testing solutions. On one hand, advanced-remote-computing- based mobilization does not provide context awareness to the mobile applications it mobilized, so we presented contextify to provide context awareness to them without rewriting the applications or changing their source code. Evaluation results and user surveys showed that contextify-contextualized applications reduce users' time and effort to complete tasks. On the other hand, current mobile application testing solutions cannot conduct tests at the UI level and in a large-scale manner simultaneously, so we presented and implemented automated cloud computing (ACT) to achieve this goal. Evaluation results showed that ACT can support a large number of users and it is stable, cost-efficiency as well as time-efficiency.

Šio magistrinio darbo tikslas – analizuojant literatūros šaltinius bei naudojant empirinius tyrimo metodus išanalizuoti ir įvertinti mobiliųjų aplikacijų ir žaidimų išmaniesiems įrenginiams plėtros galimybes Lietuvos rinkoje. Literatūros šaltinių analizė atskleidė, jog mobilusis verslas gali būti apibūdinamas kaip mobiliųjų informacinių technologijų ir telekomunikacijų panaudojimas siekiant išlikti, gerinti ir plėtoti egzistuojančius verslo procesus ir ryšius arba vystyti naujus verslo segmentus. Programėlių rinkoje vyksta sparti plėtra ir augimas. Vyksta arši kova dėl išmaniųjų telefonų rinkos dalies tarp technologinių kompanijų. Palyginus su pasaulinėmis tendencijomis, Lietuva dar yra pačioje pradžioje, turi labai ribotą lietuviškų programėlių skaičių. Lietuvoje yra pakankamai IT specialistų, tik nedidelė jų dalis specializuojasi mokomųjų žaidimų ir stimuliatorių kūrime. Buvo atliktas struktūrizuotas interviu apklausus šešis žinomų programinės įrangos gamintojų IT specialistus. Magistrinio darbo tyrimo pagrindą sudarė kiekybinis tyrimas, naudojant anketinę apklausą Internetu. Anketinio tyrimo metu buvo apklausta 113 respondentų iš Lietuvos. Šio tyrimo tikslas buvo apklausti gyventojus, išanalizuoti Lietuvos mobiliųjų aplikacijų ir žaidimų išmaniesiems telefonams vartotojų poreikius ir požiūrius į Lietuvoje sukurtų produktų plėtros galimybes Lietuvos ir pasaulio mobiliųjų aplikacijų rinkose. Tyrimo metu gauti rezultatai parodė, kokiais išmaniaisiais mobiliais įrenginiais ir... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The master goal – the analysis of literary sources and the use of empirical research methods to analyze and evaluate mobile applications and games for smart devices development opportunities in the Lithuanian market. Literary analysis revealed that the mobile business can be described as a mobile information and communication technologies usage in order to maintain, improve and develop the existing business processes and relationships or develop new business segments. Gadget market is undergoing rapid expansion and growth. Fierce battle for smartphone market share among technology companies. Compared with global trends, Lithuania is still at the very beginning, a very limited number of Lithuanian applets. Lithuania is enough IT professionals, only a small part of the specialized educational games and pacemaker development. Structured interview was conducted interviews with six well-known software vendors IT professionals. The master's thesis research was based on a quantitative study using a questionnaire survey on the Internet. Questionnaire survey questioned 113 respondents from Lithuania. This study was designed to examine the population, to analyze the Lithuanian mobile apps and games for smartphones users' needs and attitudes in Lithuania created by the development of products for the Lithuanian and world markets for mobile applications. The study results showed what smart mobile devices and operating systems which is mainly used for respondents what kind of games... [to full text]

tLess than half of all adults meet the federal exercise recommendations (CDC, 2010) and college-aged adults may be more vulnerable to the consequences of physical inactivity with about two-thirds of college students leading sedentary lifestyles (Harvey-Berino, Pope, Gold, et al., 2012; Tully & Cupples, 2011). Mobile apps provide an efficient way to track physical activity and electronic prompts can enhance mobile apps by reminding individuals to participate. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a mobile app and electronic prompts sent via Twitter for promoting exercise motivation and adherence in sedentary university students. The hypotheses tested were: (a) a significantly greater percentage of participants in the treatment group would progress through the stages-of-change (SOC) from pre- to post-program compared to the control group, and (b) the treatment group would demonstrate significantly greater exercise adherence than the control group. Thirteen participants followed an 8-week running program on a mobile app. The control group (n = 8) followed the running program while the treatment group (n = 5) also received electronic prompts sent via Twitter to remind participants to exercise. The SOC modified four stage algorithm was used pre- and post-program to assess exercise motivation. Exercise adherence was measured by total number of completed workouts out of the 24 prescribed. A significantly greater number of participants in the control group progressed at least one stage from pre- to post-program compared to participants in the treatment group, χ2 = 6.9, p = 0.008. Additionally, participants in the control group reported a greater number of completed workouts (M = 12.5, SD = 7.6) compared to the participants in the treatment group (M = 3.6, SD = 4.0). These findings suggest that while the mobile app may be beneficial for promoting exercise motivation and adherence, the electronic prompts sent via Twitter appeared to have no effect. Further studies are needed to determine the most effective way to use Twitter to increase exercise motivation and adherence of sedentary university students.

Together with a research group from Mälardalen University’s department of Health, Care and Social Welfare, a prototype for an iPad app was created that aims to solves some of the current issues in healthcare for toddlers. The prototype would then be used by the research group to test with toddlers and examine whether the toddlers’ knowledge of basic medical treatments was increased. Due to varying linguistic backgrounds and abilities, the iPad had to be completely free of words, communicating only through sounds, images and animation. In this study, a research question was developed: What design aspects of illustrations and animations make them identifiable and ensure basic usability in an interactive iPad app that does not contain any written or spoken words for children between the ages 3 and 5? In order to find the answers to this question, an expert review was conducted, relevant design principles were studied to learn more about usability guidelines and animation for children, a prototype was created and iterative participatory tests were conducted with children of the same age as the target audience. These methods showed that there is a lack of usability guidelines when it comes to designing usability for a young audience. However, the usage of an expert review method prior to creating an app proved to be an effective way to see different design strategies in action and evaluate them. The participatory tests indicated that the usage of two different gestures is challenging for young children, and that instructions for these two gestures have to be different from one another.

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Is There an App for That? The Usage of Mobile Technology for the Purposes of Teaching Health Education in Grade 4 and 5. Wahid Khan. Master of Arts. Curriculum, Teaching and Learning. University of Toronto. Year of Convocation: 2014. The use of mobile devices in elementary schools has steadily increased in the last few years. These mobile devices harness many tools that can help teachers teach classroom material and help students become better students academically. The research question was “How can mobile devices be used to teach health education?” Research was conducted in a grade 4 and 5 classroom to see which mobile apps worked best among teachers and students in conveying health education. Anecdotal notes and daily journaling over a two-month period documented how the students enjoyed playing games and also how engaged they were when they subsequently used the devices for non-gaming purposes. It is still unknown how well these apps conveyed messages of health. How the mobile apps are being used in the classroom and the content inside the mobile apps largely dictates the messages they can convey to the students.

Denna magisteruppsats undersöker vilka strategier homosexuella män och kvinnor använder för att möta andra homosexuella. Genom att använda kvalitativ semi-strukturerad intervju som metod och samtala med 3 män födda innan år 1952, samt ytterligare 3 män och 3 kvinnor födda mellan 1979-1989, visar det sig att informanterna har och använder strategier på olika sätt. Informanterna upplever att samhället är heteronormativt och därför har processen att ”komma ut” varit en betydelsefull del i deras liv och det är i denna process av sitt identitetsbildande som strategier blir särskilt märkbara för dem själva. Resultatet framhäver att strategierna skiljer sig beroende på vilken tid i samhället de används i. Innan 1979, då homosexualitet ansågs vara en sjukdom, krävdes andra strategier. Då användes specifika mötesplatser, symboler och signaler för att locka till sig ”rätt” personer. Numera när homosexualitet är samhälleligt accepterad behövs ändå särskilda strategier användas för att undvika att bli utsatt för våld. Internet och appar används som mötesarena utöver gayklubbarna. Särskilda mötesplatser, kläder, språk och signaler i form av exempelvis gester kvarstår i det fysiska rummet, men har förändrats över tid. Slutsatserna som dragits är att det finns behov av att använda strategier för att dölja sin homosexualitet samtidigt som den framhävs för rätt personer, men att de strategier som används förändras i takt med samhällets förändring. Symboler som används för 10 år sedan behöver inte innebära samma sak idag, men i stor grad har internet och appar ersatt behovet av att använda sig av symboler. / This master thesis examines what strategies homosexual men and women use to meet other homosexuals. By using the method of qualitative semi-structured interview and talking with 3 men born before 1952 as well as 3 men and 3 women born between 1979 and 1989, the result shows the informants have and uses strategies in different ways. The informants experience that society is heteronormative and therefor the process of “coming out” have been a meaningful part of their life. It is in this process of their forming of identity strategies become especially noticeable to themselves. The result highlights that strategies varies depending on what time in society they are used. Before 1979 when homosexuality was considered a disease certain strategies were needed. At the time certain meeting places, symbols and signals were used to attract the “right” people. Nowadays when homosexuality is accepted by society certain strategies are still used to avoid being exposed to violence. In addition to gay clubs, internet and apps are used as meeting places. Certain meeting places, clothes, language and signals in the form of for examples gestures remain within the physical room but have changed over time. The conclusion which have been drawn is that there is a need to use strategies to hide ones homosexuality while at the same time highlight it for the right people but that the strategies varies with the changing of society. Symbols used ten years ago does not necessarily mean the same thing to day and internet and apps have replaced the need for usage of symbols to a higher degree.