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This thesis provides an introduction to an advance in technology-aided instruction. Most of the research in this area has focused on PowerPoint® based applications or white board-centered electronic ink applications with the capability of broadcasting slides, ink annotations and so forth, used for presentation or classroom lectures. But these tools lack the capability of annotating on any kind of applications with active content playing (a movie or a simulation, for instance) in the background. Additional useful, but currently unavailable functionality would include the capability of broadcasting the presentation information, which can further consist of lecture slides, ink annotations, video of the desktop screen activity, or any other application program that might be used to demonstrate a concept or illuminate an idea. Therefore, the current research attempts to provide these facilities with a new tool, WriteOn. WriteOn improves both the presentation of information and the interactivity in classroom instruction, because it gives the instructor the ability to ink annotate on any application by using a virtual transparency surface, called electronic vellum or simply eVellum, which in effect resides on top of all desktop window applications. The instructor can enable the vellum at any point during the lecture and write on it to draw diagrams, make notes, emphasize points, or otherwise elucidate the presentation content. The instructor can also pierce the eVellum in order to switch to different applications, modify an applications parameters or operating values, or otherwise manipulate an operating program as part of a classroom demonstration or discussion. These features allow the instructor to demonstrate the dynamic operation of any application, which is an improvement on a static PowerPoint display of a program's operation. With WriteOn, the instructor can save the ink annotations along with desktop screen activity over an interval of time as a movie file and later make this file available to students. Alternatively, the instructor can transmit to the students the presentation information along with ink annotations in real-time so that the students can make their own notes on top of information being produced by the instructor. Thus the tool can be used to enhance the interactive lecturing process and help students to develop good note-taking processes and habits. WriteOn is also capable of saving the voice of the instructor, provided there is an audio device attached to the instructor's Tablet PC. However, broadcasting the instructor's voice is not yet fully supported. The WriteOn tool was developed using Microsoft's technologies: Windows Media Encoder® and DirectShow of DirectX®, as well as Microsoft's ConferenceXP API to achieve streaming of the presentation information. The first chapter explains the need for computer tools used for effective teaching purposes. The second chapter presents the architectural and technical details of WriteOn. Chapter three describes the architecture of the WriteOn tool. Chapters four through six explain the major software components of the system and also give the pros and cons of the DirectShow and Windows Media Encoder technologies. The seventh chapter provides an explanation of the usage of the tool by instructors and students. The eighth chapter presents the experiences of the instructors and students using the WriteOn tool in the classroom and concludes with a discussion of future work in this area. The Appendix V provides a developers guide for those who might like to expand on this open source code. / Master of Science

Lärare använder IKT i olika utsträckning i verksamheten och de har olika kompetens när det gäller hur verktygen ska användas (Skolverket 2009). Kompetens och kunskapssyn är två begrepp som är nära förbundna. Lärarens kunskapssyn påverkar hur verktygen används i verksamheten och kompetensen påverkar om läraren kan använda verktygen på rätt sätt för att skapa möjligheter till lärande. I uppsatsen studeras lärarens kunskapssyn och hur den påverkar undervisningen med IKT.    Frågeställningar:     Hur kommer kunskapssyner till uttryck i lärarens undervisning med IKT?   I uppsatsen görs en litteraturstudie av ett urval av studier som tolkats utifrån hur syner på kunskap kommer till uttryck genom lärarens undervisning med IKT. Det finns verktyg och metoder som bygger på sociokulturellt lärande, t.ex. CSCL verktyg och Write to Learn metoden, verktyg som bygger på behaviorism, CAI, och verktyg eller metoder som bygger på den pragmatiska kunskapssynen, utforskande av kunskap genom Inquiry. I resultaten framgår att kunskapssynerna kommer till uttryck med IKT verktyg och metoder när behavioristiska verktyg används i verksamheten men i mindre omfattning när verktyg och metoder som bygger på andra kunskapssyner används. Ett par faktorer framkommer i resultaten som påverkar om kunskapssynerna kommer till uttryck. Dessa faktorer är lärarens kompetens och förmåga att använda digitala verktyg.

The key to understanding a program is recognizing familiar algorithmic fragments and data structures in it. Automating this recognition process will make it easier to perform many tasks which require program understanding, e.g., maintenance, modification, and debugging. This report describes a recognition system, called the Recognizer, which automatically identifies occurrences of stereotyped computational fragments and data structures in programs. The Recognizer is able to identify these familiar fragments and structures, even though they may be expressed in a wide range of syntactic forms. It does so systematically and efficiently by using a parsing technique. Two important advances have made this possible. The first is a language-independent graphical representation for programs and programming structures which canonicalizes many syntactic features of programs. The second is an efficient graph parsing algorithm.

Thesis (M.B.A.) - Carleton University, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 110-115). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

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The assignment for this thesis is called {\crqq}The Suggestion Of Working Lists For Teaching Algebraic Terms With The Support Of A Computer For Pri- mary Schools{\crqq}. The thesis is divided into four main chapters. In the first chapter I was focused on the support of a computer at a primary school, and with the theoretical issues connected with this topic. In the second part I created a manual for teachers for the program I created. The third part consists of the program itself (A computer game called Mathhill for teaching the algebraic terms at primary schools). The program consists of four individual parts. The whole program is set as a winter scene from the mountains. A menu comes up first, which is the link to the other games. The pupils choose from the links according to what they want, or according to the matter being studied. All games are animated in the same way; the only difference is the subject and the assignments that the pupils solve. Pupils fulfil the individual assignments and according to the success of their results they continue up the mountain. If the result is wrong the program does not let them go further until they get it correct. With most of the assignments pupils can use the help in the upper right corner. One link in the program doesn{\crq}t fulfil a function of the game, this link differs from the others. This one directs us to an animation of algebraic formula, which leads us to a winter mountain chalet, the equipment of which directs us into the individual animation. The first part is a computer game called {\crqq}Repetition{\crqq}; the pupils re- peat operations with numerical terms and they freshen up on the word alge- braic expression. The second part is a computer game called {\crqq}Counting With Expressions{\crqq}; pupils count examples for simplification, adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing of the expressions. The last game part is called {\crqq}Slashed Expressions{\crqq}, where the pupils work in the same way until they re- ach the top of the mountain. These games are divided; therefore the teachers can use them separately. The games are equipped with the help section in case the pupils need it. The last part of the program consists of the animation of the algebraic formula. In this part I animated the individual geometrical constructions of algebraic formula that children learn at primary school. The animation can serve to support the lessons. In the last part of my work I tested the CD at a primary school and I documented and evaluated the results.

abstract: Many students in the United States are graduating from high school without the math skills they need to be considered college ready. For many of these graduates, who find themselves starting their higher education at a community college, remedial math can become an insurmountable barrier that ends their aspirations for a degree or certificate. Some students must take as many as four remedial courses before they are considered college ready. Studies report that between 60% and 70% of students placed into remedial math classes either do not successfully complete the sequence of required courses or avoid taking math altogether and therefore never graduate (Bailey, Jeong, & Cho, 2010). This study compared three low-level freshman math classes in one Arizona high school. The purpose of this study was to implement an innovative learning intervention to find out if there was a causal relationship between the addition of technology with instruction in a blended learning environment and performance in math. The intervention measured growth (pre- and posttest) and grade-level achievement (district-provided benchmark test) in three Foundations of Algebra classes. The three classes ranged on a continuum with the use of technology and personalized instruction. Additionally, focus groups were conducted to better understand the challenges this population of students face when learning math. The changes in classroom practices showed no statistical significance on the student outcomes achieved. Students in a blended online environment learned the Foundations of Algebra concepts similarly to their counterparts in a traditional, face-to-face learning environment. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Administration and Supervision 2013

This study investigated the effectiveness of two methods of instruction, Teacher-Based Instruction (TBI) versus Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL), in improving undergraduate Arab learners' English reading ability in the three aspects of speed, comprehension and vocabulary knowledge. The Experimental Pre-test/Post-test Treatment Group Design was implemented in both experiments carried out in this study. Two samples of 100 and 150 students for Experiments I & II, respectively, were randomly chosen from two higher education institutions in the Arab world. Each sample was divided into two groups depending on learners' pre-instruction preferences for TBI or CALL methods. After eight weeks of instruction using one method, the students of the two groups exchanged instructional methods for another period of eight weeks. In both cases the learners attended three 90- minute reading lectures per week. Quantitative and qualitative data analysis showed that CALL was significantly more effective than TBI for improving the learners' reading ability in the three aspects targeted. Results showed that CALL was more effective due to different reasons: learners were more motivated to read and they enjoyed reading; CALL made learners' reading progress visible to them through immediate feedback; it fostered learner autonomy and their desire to be in control of the program and it offered the learners a large number of different reading activities to work on. Learners' suggestions for improving CALL were mainly related to increasing the time they can use CALL programs in learning to read. Findings of the study should encourage higher education institutions especially in the Arab world to take considerable steps towards utilising computers in instruction. Even at school level this utilisation should be considered, but further research should be carried out with learners at different age levels and in different regions in the Arab world.

Background: Learning preference refers to how individuals choose to approach learning situations. Computer-aided instruction (CAI) permits the adaptation of educational content to individual student learning strategies. Methods: To determine if learning preference and computer attitude influence the acquisition of knowledge using CAI materials, a prototype CAI program was developed that incorporated differing learning exercises. Students (n = 180) completed Rezler's Learning Preference Inventory (LPI) and a computer attitude survey (CAS). The LPI uses three sets of paired scales to characterize learning preference and choice of learning situation. The CAS assesses student attitudes toward computers in general (CAS-G), as well as the educational use of computers (CAS-E). After finishing the program students completed a program attitude survey (CAS-P). Immediate comprehension was assessed by pretests and posttests incorporated into the program. Retention was assessed by a repeat of the posttest 4 to 6 weeks after initial program review. Results: Scores (mean ± SEM) on the pretest, posttest, and late posttest were 38.1% ± 1.35%, 70.9% ± 1.24%, and 62.5% ± 1.44%, respectively. There was no correlation between students' learning preferences or computer attitude and test performance. Conclusions: The data indicate that CAI provides a means of delivering educational content that results in an increase in knowledge that is not correlated with computer attitudes or learning preferences.