The authors outline the important role that actual and (mainly) potential intermodular dependencies play in the maintenance phase of a software product. They discuss the problem with reference to Pascal systems and they show how reverse engineering and static code analysis enable the identification of the actual and potential intermodular data flow and relationships. Some constraints are proposed to prevent an uncontrollable proliferation of data binding among modules and their reciprocal calls. To achieve the consistency of the programs with respect to the adopted constraints, the intermodular dependency knowledge, as produced by reverse engineering, is used to restructure both data and module declarations.< >
An active index consists of a network of index cells. This paper demonstrates the application of active index to the management of e-learning activities in e-learning courses. An e-learning system is a distributed intelligence system where the instructors and students are intelligent human beings.
What we want to demonstrate is how to augment human intelligence by an active index. Further research will demonstrate how sensors, mobile communications and search engines can be incorporated into the distributed intelligence system for e-learning.
This paper presents the results achieved in four years of activity within the NERD? project, which was created by IBM Italy and La Sapienza University of Rome and is carried on in collaboration with several universities and schools, in Italy. The long-term objective of the project is bridging the gender gap in the so-called STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) starting from the secondary education. Specifically, we refer to the experience conducted in the field of informatics and computer engineering by the Federico II University of Naples, which empowered the original educational model of the NERD? project, introducing collaboration issues within a smart learning community. This involved people from industry, university and secondary schools, including both teachers and students at all the levels.
Multimedia Software Engineering (MSE) is a new frontier for both Software Engineering (SE) and Visual Languages (VL). In fact multimedia software engineering can be considered as the discipline for systematic specification, design, substitution and verification of visual patterns. Visual Languages contribute to MSE such concepts as: Visual notation for software specification, design and verification flow charts, ER diagrams, Petri Nets, UML visualization, visual programming languages etc. Multimedia Software Engineering and Software Engineering are like two sides of the same coin. On the one hand we can apply software engineering principles to the design of multimedia systems. On the other hand we can apply multimedia technologies to the software engineering practice. In this paper we concentrate on the first of these possibilities. One of the promising application areas for Multimedia Software Engineering is Distance Learning. One aim of this paper is to demonstrate how it is possible to design and to implement complex multimedia software systems for Distance Learning using a Teleaction Object transformer based on XML technology applying a Component-Based Multimedia Software Engineering approach. The paper shows a complete process of dataflow transformation that represents TAO in different ways (text, TAOML, etc.) and at different levels of abstraction. A component-based tool architecture is also discussed.The use of an XML-based approach in the Distance Learning field has other advantages as well. It facilitates reuse of the teaching resources by using metadata. Standards for representing multimedia distance learning materials are currently evolving. Such standards are necessary in order to allow a representation which is independent of hardware and software platforms so that this material can be examined, for example, in a web browser or so that it may be reused.
Multimedia software engineering (MSE) is a new frontier for both software engineering (SE) and visual languages (VL). In fact, multimedia software engineering can be considered as the discipline for systematic specification, design, substitution, and verification of visual patterns. Visual languages contribute to MSE such concepts as: Visual notation for software specification, design, and verification flow charts, ER diagrams, Petri nets, UML visualization, visual programming languages, etc. Multimedia software engineering and software engineering are like two sides of the same coin. On the one hand, we can apply software engineering principles to the design of multimedia systems. On the other hand, we can apply multimedia technologies to the software engineering practice. In this chapter, we concentrate on the first of these possibilities. One of the promising application areas for multimedia software engineering is distance learning. One aim of this chapter is to demonstrate how it is possible to design and to implement complex multimedia software systems for distance learning using a tele-action object transformer based on XML technology applying a component-based multimedia software engineering approach. The chapter shows a complete process of dataflow transformation that represents TAO in different ways (text, TAOML, etc.) and at different levels of abstraction. The transformation process is a reversible one. A component-based tool architecture is also discussed. We also show the first experiments conducted jointly using the TAOML_T tool. The use of an XML-based approach in the distance learning field has other advantages as well. It facilitates reuse of the teaching resources produced in preceding decades by universities, schools, research institutions, and companies by using metadata. The evolution of the technologies and methodologies underlying the Internet has provided the means to transport this material. On the other hand, standards for representing multimedia distance learning materials are currently evolving. Such standards are necessary in order to allow a representation which is independent of hardware and software platforms so that this material can be examined, for example, in a Web browser or so that it may be reused in whole or in part in other chapters of a book or sections of a course distinct from that for which it was originally developed. Initial experiments in reuse of distance learning carried out at the University of Naples, Kent State University, and Cleveland State University are described. The authors have also developed a collaboration environment through which the resources can be visualized and exchanged.
Cooperative learning is a paradigm of collaboration aimed to reach a common goal. The trend of using social networks and social media to deliver and exchange knowledge let us believe that collaboration skills must be strongly fostered to empower users to learn together and from each other, particularly in academia, to support the educational challenges of this century. In this paper we discuss the primary needs of a modern educational system and we present the ETCplus project, a model of cooperation which has as primary focus the students’ cooperation in an academic environment. Two distinct experiments in ETCplus project which involved cooperative learning and people from two international universities are discussed. The first experiment describes a system in a free environment that is left to evolve autonomously. The second experiment presents a system in a controlled environment that uses accelerator to speed up the learning process. The process of collaboration was designed on top of a shared smart platform. Post questionnaires gathered the students’ feedback and the metric for the evaluation of the collaboration were also given. The observation shows that cooperative learning produces better results when consonance and resonance are reached. The paper discusses the weakness and the strength of the ETCplus project.
