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Author(s): Shanna L. Burke [sup.1] , Tan Li [sup.2] , Adrienne Grudzien [sup.1] , Stephanie Garcia [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.65456.34, 0000 0001 2110 1845, School of Social Work, Robert [...], This study evaluated the measurable impact of the use of virtual interactive training agents (ViTA) as a way to practice interviewing and gain confidence in responding to questions asked during job interviews. Of the total participants (n = 153), the majority were male (72.55%) with an average age of 21.71 years old (SD = 3.14 years). Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs; 64.71%) and intellectual disability (40%) were the most frequently reported diagnoses. Using a within-subjects repeated measures design, the repeated measures linear regression analysis found that the average self-efficacy score increased by 0.31 (p = 0.002), and statistically significant increases were found in all three subscales. Further development of virtual reality interventions like ViTA, that improve outcomes for adults with ASDs and other developmental disabilities, is warranted.

THE INTERACTIVE DOCUMENTARY, Still barely emergent, has attracted both enthusiasm and analysis. Despite the cautions of Lev Manovich against the inexactitude of the term 'interactive' (since all art at some [...]

As we all know, online communication and information technologies are reshaping today's education and work environments by changing the ways information is exchanged and retrieved. For digital natives (individuals born [...]

The integration of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) into education has been considered an important enabling tool for educational change and reform. ICT has a very strong effect on education and provides enormous tools for enhancing teaching and learning. ICT tools are provided to teachers without considering their attitudes toward its use. The purpose of this study was to examine Jordanian teachers' attitudes toward the use of the interactive white board (IWB) as a new tool of ICT in education, and to examine the relationship between teachers' attitudes and four variables which are related to teachers' personal characteristics. The sample of the study consisted of 177 male and female teachers. To analyze the data, descriptive statistics, independent T-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used. The findings indicated that teachers have positive attitudes toward using IWB. Keywords: teachers, attitudes, IWB using, INTRODUCTION Globalization and technological change have created a new global economy 'powered by technology, fueled by information and driven by knowledge' Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been touted as [...]

The purpose of this work is to examine using interactive videoconferencing (JVC) to provide preservice teachers with a model of exemplary reading instruction to transfer their learning and implement effective reading instruction. The program was facilitated by university professors and carried out though frequent interactions between preservice teachers and a number of master teachers employed in public school classrooms. The program's success was based upon the extent to which JVC was considered helpful to preservice teachers attempting to link theory to practice. Data from this program evaluation suggest that, when using JVC technology to prepare new teachers to become more effective reading teachers, teacher candidates expressed improvements in both their ability to, and confidence for, providing better reading instruction. Based on this program evaluation, we the researchers postulate that JVC may be a powerful tool for helping prepare new teachers to meet the many challenges inherent in teaching today. (Keywords: preservice teachers, technology, learning), In an effort to meet the challenge of graduating candidates who are underprepared to meet the challenges in today's schools (Haberman, 2005), higher-education institutions are searching for new ways to [...]

Mediated interaction has become a feature of everyday life, used routinely to communicate and maintain contacts, yet sociological analysis of mediated communication is relatively undeveloped. This article argues that new mediated communication channels merit detailed sociological analysis, and that interactional differences between media have been overlooked. Goffman explicitly restricted his interaction order to face-to-face interaction. The article adapts some of Goffman's interactional concepts for synchronous mediated interaction, but argues that his situational focus is less relevant to asynchronous media. The theoretical approach developed is illustrated and supported by qualitative research on mobile phones, which fortuitously afford both synchronous and asynchronous communication. The study suggests that although the distinction between synchronous and asynchronous interaction is important, it is not technologically determined, but shaped by interactional norms. KEY WORDS Goffman / interaction order/mediated communication / mobile phones / new media / SMS / synchrony

Bell Laboratories Research China is developing an interactive multimedia advertising system using content networking. The initial phase of the advertising system has been completed and an advertising prototype has been developed.

Mutagenesis screens and analysis of mutant phenotypes are one of the most powerful approaches for the study of genetics. Yet genetics students often have difficulty understanding the experimental procedures and breeding crosses required in mutagenesis screens and linking mutant phenotypes to molecular defects. Performing these experiments themselves often aids students in understanding the methodology. However, there are limitations to performing genetics experiments in a student laboratory. For example, the generation time of laboratory model organisms is considerable, and a laboratory exercise that involves many rounds of breeding or analysis of many mutants is not often feasible. Additionally, the cost of running a laboratory practical, along with safety considerations for particular reagents or protocols, often dictates the experiments that students can perform. To provide an alternative to a traditional laboratory module, we have used Scenario-Based-Learning Interactive (SBLi) software to develop a virtual laboratory to support a second year undergraduate course entitled 'Genetic Analysis.' This resource allows students to proceed through the steps of a genetics experiment, without the time, cost, or safety constraints of a traditional laboratory exercise.

Background Pregnant women and the very young are among those most susceptible to foodborne infections and at high risk of a severe outcome from foodborne infections. Objective To determine if interactive multimedia is a more effective method than pamphlets for delivering food safety education to Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) clients. Design A randomized controlled trial of WIC clients was conducted. Self-reported food safety practices were compared between pre- and postintervention questionnaires completed [greater than or equal to] 2 months after the intervention. Subjects/setting Pregnant WIC clients or female caregivers (usually mothers) of WIC clients who were 18 years of age or older and able to speak and read English were recruited from an inner-city WIC clinic. Intervention Participants were randomized to receive food safety pamphlets or complete an interactive multimedia food safety education program on a computer kiosk. Main outcome measures Change from pre- to postintervention food safety scores. Statistical analyses performed A mean food safety score was determined for each participant for the pre- and postintervention questionnaires. The scores were used in a two-group repeated measures analysis of variance. Results Of the 394 participants, 255 (64.7%) completed the postintervention questionnaire. Satisfaction with the program was high especially among those with no education beyond high school. When considering a repeated measures analysis of variance model with the two fixed between-subject effects of group and age, a larger improvement in score in the interactive multimedia group than in the pamphlet group (P=0.005) was found, but the size of the group effect was small (partial [[eta].sup.2] = 0.033). Women aged 35 years or older in the interactive multimedia group had the largest increase in score. Conclusions The interactive multimedia was well-accepted and resulted in improved self-reported food safety practices, suggesting that interactive multimedia is an effective option for food safety education in WIC clinics.

Organizations continue to use technology to train and share information. This study focused specifically on how trainers and trainees interact in the mediated Web conference training context. Using the rhetorical and relational goal theory of instructional communication, this 2 x 2 experimental study tested the effects of trainer-controlled and trainee-controlled interactivity on instructional outcomes that benefit trainers and trainees. It was hypothesized that trainer and trainee-initiated and controlled interactivity would enhance trainee learning (HI) and satisfaction with the Web conference training program (H2). These hypotheses were not supported. It was also hypothesized that trainercontrolled interactivity would enhance trainee perceptions of the trainer's credibility (H3). This hypothesis was supported with the caring dimension of credibility being most impacted when trainers allowed their trainees to interact with one another. Keywords: Web Conferencing; Training; Rhetorical and Relational Goal Theory of Instructional Communication; Organizational Communication; Interactivity; Credibility; Web-Based Learning

The author investigates the relation between music and dance choreography with computer- assisted 'interactive dancer'. Implication of this investigation for artists is discussed.

In this paper, an interactive method for ranking multiple-attribute items from user's feedback using a feedforward neural network (NN) has been presented. The task of ranking multiple-attribute items is relevant in different tasks of e-commerce including request for quotes (RFQ), negotiations, personalized catalogs, profiling, and customer modeling. Often, a linear parametric function is used to model the overall value function considering known individual attribute value functions, and the parameters of the linear function are estimated by linear programming (LP). In this paper, we propose an NN-based active learning method for evaluating and ranking the multiple-attribute items (or bids in RFQ) without imposing the restriction of linear dependence between the attribute value functions. Use of an NN also relaxes the constraint of known parametric form of individual attribute value functions, which is usually assumed in LP-based methods. A suitable objective error measure is defined in this context, and correspondingly, a feedforward NN is trained to obtain the ranking of the item set (or bids). Effectiveness of the method is validated on real-life data sets. Index Terms--Active learning, feedforward neural networks, ranking multiple-attribute items, value function.

A study examines the significance of computational humor in computational linguistics. It is applied to develop human-computer interaction and interactive entertainment.

The application of artificial intelligence and human-computer interface in digital entertainment is discussed.

The problems faced by high school teachers in teaching mathematical problem solving skills to students, and two interactive computer programs that will be useful to tackle this problem are presented.

Improving teaching economics and learning of students through the usage of wireless interactive teaching system is presented.

Consider a source, [{[X.sub.i], [Y.sub.i]}.sup.[infinity].sub.i=1] a, producing independent copies of a pair of jointly distributed random variables (RVs). The {[X.sub.i]} part of the process is observed at some location, say A, and is supposed to be reproduced at a different location, say B, where the {[Y.sub.i]} part of the process is observed. Similarly, {[Y.sub.i]} should be reproduced at location A. The communication between the two locations is carried out across two memoryless channels in K iterative bi-directional rounds. In each round, the source components are reconstructed at the other locations based on the information exchanged in all previous rounds and the source component known at that location, and it is desired to find the amount of information that should be exchanged between the two locations in each round, so that the distortions incurred (in each round) will not exceed given thresholds. Our setting extends the results of Steinberg and Merhav as well as Kaspi, combining the notion of successive refinement with this of two-way interactive communication. We first derive a single-letter characterization of achievable rates for a pure source-coding problem with successive refinement. Then, for a joint source-channel coding setting, we prove a separation theorem, asserting that in the limit of long blocks, no optimality is lost by first applying lossy (two-way) successive-refinement source coding, regardless of the channels, and then applying good channel codes to each one of the resulting bitstreams, regardless of the source. Index Terms--Channel capacity, joint source-channel coding, source coding, successive refinement, two-way communication.

Based on a case study of the online component of a Computing Mathematics module at a local polytechnic in Singapore, this article provides a descriptive account of the development and […]