In contemporary UK preschool, technological resources have become a standard feature of the environment. This has prompted widespread discussion around the appropriateness of technologies in preschools and for some time concerns were raised that technology is socially detrimental for children. These concerns have since been challenged as it has been argued that they are unsubstantiated and not evidence-based. Yet despite this realisation, few studies have been conducted about children’s social interaction around technologies in order to contribute to this debate. Furthermore, negative concerns have largely been attributed to the technological artefacts themselves and the cultural and wider preschool context is often overlooked. In the 1980s, research on the ecological preschool environment in relation to children’s social behaviours was widely available but similar studies situated in contemporary technology-rich preschool environments is limited. Thus, a body of literature to inform the technology debate in relation to social interaction is restricted. This study provides an empirical foundation to begin exploring 3 to 5 year old children’s social interactions in technology-rich local authority preschools by: identifying the observable child-child interactions as children engage with technology in preschools; exploring the preschool characteristics which may contribute to these interactions; and exploring the role that technologies play in contributing to these interactions. The study adopts an inclusive definition of technology and addresses a broad range of resources, providing a new perspective on the role of technologies in education and in relation to social interactions. These areas of interest were addressed using four qualitative methods: observation, activity mapping, researcher-led games with children and interviews with practitioners. Following the nine-month data collection phase and iterative thematic analysis, two key findings emerged from the data. Firstly, children’s social interactions during technological activities in preschool were complex and multifaceted with few discernible patterns emerging. Secondly, the wider preschool context made a large contribution to the contingent and divergent interactions observed, diluting claims that technological artefacts alone influence children’s social interactions.

The overall theme of this thesis is the study of incorporating gamification design approaches in the creation of mobile educational software. The research presented in this thesis focuses on the design and testing of software created to teach introductory computer science and literacy concepts to postsecondary and adult learners. A study testing the relative effectiveness and subjective user enjoyment of different interfaces for a mobile game is also included in this thesis, as the results of the study led to the primary research objectives investigated in further studies. Our primary research objective was to investigate whether using gamification design approaches to mobile educational software could result in student engagement and learning. Our central hypothesis is that gamification design approaches can be used to create engaging and educationally effective mobile educational software. Our secondary research objective is to determine how mobile educational software can be made more or less engaging and educationally effective through gamification design approaches, by trying different approaches, testing the resulting applications, and reporting the findings. Three studies were conducted based on these objectives, one study to teach various computer science concepts to students in a first year computer science course with iPad applications, and two studies which used iPad applications to teach punctuation and homonyms, and improve reading comprehension. The studies document the design of the applications, and provide analysis and conclusions based on the results of testing. Through the results of these studies we affirm our hypothesis. We make design suggestions for software creators, such as providing corrective feedback to the user. We discuss common themes that emerged across the studies, including how to best use educational software. Finally, as avenues for future work, we suggest investigating the impromptu social effects of using tablet software in a classroom, and the development of a usability testing platform. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / The overall theme of this thesis is the study of how gamification can be used to make mobile educational software engaging and effective as a learning tool. The research presented in this thesis focuses on the design and testing of software intended to teach introductory computer science and literacy concepts. The hypothesis guiding this work is that mobile educational software can be made engaging and educationally effective by incorporating game design elements. Through four studies we affirm our hypothesis, and document the relative success of various gamification techniques in different contexts. We make design suggestions for software creators, such as providing corrective feedback to the user. We discuss common themes that emerged across the studies, including how to best use educational software. Finally, as avenues for future work, we suggest investigating the impromptu social effects of using tablet software in a classroom, and the development of a usability testing platform.

The topic of this work is to verify appreciation of stereoskopy projection, description of its principle and forming interactive pictures of prisms and spatial situations by the use of stereoskopy projection. This aid should simplify teaaching process of stereometry at secondary schools, bodies at primary schools and mainly help to improve spatial imagination. Focus of the aid is to help pupils and students to see and to understand all key principles of geometry.

Thesis (M.Tech. (Information Technology, Faculty of Applied and Computer Sciences))--Vaal University of Technology, 2006 / The sole purpose of a test is to make a measurement. Assessment is very much a process of measurement, whether the outcome is used for baseline, diagnostic, formative or summative purposes. When measurement is taken, in whatever form, a score is obtained. The score that is obtained forms the important part of assessment, because this score determines the outcome of the assessment, the decisions that are to be made regarding the student’s progress, curriculum changes and the evaluation of a course as a whole. Although a score is obtained from a test, the analysis thereof is frequently much neglected. The use of computers in education is not a new concept. The first computer application goes back a long way when computers were first used to do psychological testing. It then became clear that computers can be applied to more fields in education, especially in the field of testing. In the early days real progress was slow, since computers were expensive and were only used in large companies. However, the scenario has changed with the widespread availability of personal computers that has enabled educators to focus on the appropriate role of computerisation in the development, administration, scoring and interpretation of tests. The main objective of this study is to show the major advantage of using computers as a comprehensive assessment tool and to demonstrate the ability to construct and ‘bank’ test items to subsequently produce a standardised test. An added advantage was the computer’s ability to administer tests to students and manage student progress records. The research findings indicate that a Comprehensive Computer-Assisted Assessment Tool (CCAT) has the potential to contribute to the enhancement of assessment and that it can enable educators to prepare valid, reliable and fair test items which were more difficult and time-consuming without technology.

This work is about the acquaintance with the possibilities and manipulation of CAD program Rhinoceros and its usage in lessons. First of all the work is focused on descriptive geometry and its imagination in space. It is also about the assessment of advantages and disadvantages of chosen program in lessons.

This heuristic and inductive study proposes a philosophy and models for a humanizing role for higher education in the computer age. The university's traditional role stands the risk of serious erosion through increasing emphasis on technological programs, particularly in the computer areas. The pressures from inside and outside the university threaten to produce increasing numbers of what have been termed "highly educated barbarians." Because computerization offers to be a pervasive and widely-felt influence on society, the university must see that its graduates—both the producers and the consumers of computerization—become humane, liberally educated persons; they must have technical excellence and also an understanding of the "system Man." The study calls for an enhanced new curriculum fostering a "new mind" for the computer age, encompassing quality of both technique and humanity in its students.

No description available.