Norliza Katuk

Experience beyond knowledge: Pragmatic e-learning systems design with learning experience

With the growing demand in e-learning system, traditional e-learning systems have dramatically evolved to provide more adaptive ways of learning, in terms of learning objectives, courses, individual learning processes, and so on. This paper reports on differences in learning experience from the learners perspectives when using an adaptive e-learning system, where the learners knowledge or skill level is used to configure the learning path. Central to this study is the evaluation of a dynamic content sequencing system (DCSS), with empirical outcomes being interpreted using Csikszentmihalyis flow theory (i.e., Flow, Boredom, and Anxiety). A total of 80 participants carried out a one-way between-subject study controlled by the type of e-learning system (i.e., the DCSS vs. the non-DCSS). The results indicated that the lower or medium achievers gained certain benefits from the DCSS, whilst the high achievers in learning performance might suffer from boredom when using the DCSS. These contrasting findings can be suggested as a pragmatic design guideline for developing more engaging computer-based learning systems for unsupervised learning situations.

Flood Pattern Detection Using Sliding Window Technique

Patterns could be discovered from historical data and can be used to recommend decisions suitable for a typical situation in the past. In this study, the sliding window technique was used to discover flood patterns that relate hydrological data consisting of river water levels and rainfall measurements. Unique flood occurrence patterns were obtained at each location. Based on the discovered flood occurrence patterns, mathematical flood prediction models were formulated by employing the regression technique. Experimental results showed that the mathematical flood prediction models were able to produce good prediction on the flood occurrences. Results from this study proved that sliding window technique was able to detect patterns from temporal data. It is also considered a sound approach to adopt in predicting the flood occurrence patterns as it requires no prior knowledge as compared to other approaches when dealing with temporal data.

Web‐based support system for flood response operation in Malaysia

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the utilization of a web-based support system for flood response operation in Malaysia. The system is intentionally designed to improve process and data management towards providing prompt and effective response to victims. Design/methodology/approach – The implementation of the research adopted the knowledge acquisition method for implementing expert systems in organizations. The methodology consists of four phases of activities which are planning for knowledge acquisition, knowledge extraction, knowledge analysis, and knowledge verification. Findings – The findings include the architecture of the web-based support system for flood response operation which is presented in the form of conceptual and software models. The architecture of web-based support systems for flood response operation can assist the flood management related agencies in managing and maintaining data related to floods. It also allows them to monitor the current situation of flood-related matters.Practical implications – Web-based support systems for flood response operation is expected to improve the overall aspect of flood response operation by providing electronic features which facilitate the flood response process and data management. In future, expert systems for flood response operations is one of the enhancements to the current architecture.Originality/value – This paper presents the architecture of a web-based support system for flood response operation in Malaysia. The proposed architecture is beneficial for the flood management related agencies in order to plan further improvements in the current procedure for flood response.

Can Single Sign-on Improve Password Management? A Focus Group Study

This article presents a research concerning password management and single sign-on for accessing Internet applications. Many Internet applications require users to subscribe to their services and authenticate themselves through the use of login credentials. The number of such applications is increasing exponentially, which caused ineffective login credential management among users. This study was conducted with two objectives (i) to identify how users manage their usernames and passwords and (ii) to examine whether users see the benefits of single sign-on. To achieve these objectives, a focus group interview was conducted on students from a local university. The results of the study suggested that the students did not practise proper password management. Further, it suggested that single sign-on may not be the immediate solution to improve the students’ password management.

Enhancing Competence and Autonomy in Computer-Based Instruction Using a Skill-Challenge Balancing Strategy.

The present study aims to show if a skill-challenge balancing (SCB) instruction strategy can assist learners to motivationally engage in computer-based learning. Csikszentmihalyis flow theory (self-control, curiosity, focus of attention, and intrinsic interest) was applied to an account of the optimal learning experience in SCB-based learning activities. Two empirical studies were carried out, where a group of learners were taught “Computer Networks” as part of a statutory curriculum at a tertiary institution. The empirical results suggested that a degree of self-control to compensate for the fully automatic SCB instruction strategy (i.e., competence and autonomy) would be of a greater value for learning motivation enhancement in adaptive computer-based learning systems.

A Multiple Attribute Decision Making for Improving Information Security Control Assessment

Information security control assessment provides a comprehensive control analysis approach to assist an organization in measuring the effectiveness of its current and planned security controls.ISO/IEC 27005 is a risk management framework that can manage and treat risks in organizations.However, ISO/IEC 27005 does not define a clear guideline on how to select and prioritize information security control despite the need for an efficient security analysis method.The ISO 27005 framework mostly depends on subjective judgment and qualitative approaches for security control analysis.This paper aims to improve the ISC analysis method by proposing the concept of multiple attribute decision making to provide clear guidelines in solving these issues.Order performance by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) method was utilized to determine the critical vulnerable controls on the basis of different evaluation criteria.We argue that evaluating ISC by using TOPSIS leads to a cost-effective analysis and an efficient assessment in terms of testing and selecting ISCs in organizations.

Autonomous notification and situation reporting for flood disaster management

Failed management in emergency response effort due to inefficient and ineffective operation influences the adoption of information and communication technology specifically the Internet technology and World Wide Web. Timeliness,rapid response and efficient information dissemination are crucial in emergency management. This paper proposes a software design architecture taking advantage of the intelligent agent technology to facilitate autonomous notification and auto generates situation report. The adoption of agent technology has made it possible to produce scheduled report with standardized format that can reduce duplications and redundancies of information.

Towards designing effective security messages: Persuasive password guidelines

The current state of information security compliance in workplaces is deteriorating. In many cases human factors were attributed as the cause of the problem. Humans are well known as the weakest link in the security chain. Commonly, end-users will depend on security messages when confronted with security-related decision making. Most of the time, end-users will try their best to make sense of unclear instructions in order to cope with situations. This indicates the way security messages are presented is of utmost importance. However, research focusing on designing effective security messages is quite limited. This paper presents research in progress, towards designing effective security messages focusing on passwords guidelines. Our initial review indicated the lack of persuasive elements in the current password guidelines may lead to unmotivated behaviour of producing good (strong) passwords. This paper also includes initial results obtained from pilot study which reveal promising results supporting the usage of persuasion strategies to improve the current state information security compliance.

Security of social network credentials for accessing course portal: Users’ experience

Social login (SL) has recently emerged as a solution for single sign-on (SSO) within the web and mobile environments. It allows users to use their existing social network credentials (SNC) to login to third party web applications without the need to create a new identity in the intended applications’ database. Although it has been used by many web application providers, its’ applicability in accessing learning materials is not yet fully investigated. Hence, this research aims to explore users’ (i.e., instructors’ and students’) perception and experience on the security of SL for accessing learning contents. A course portal was developed for students at a higher learning institution and it provides two types of user authentications (i) traditional user authentication, and (ii) SL facility. Users comprised instructors and students evaluated the login facility of the course portal through a controlled lab experimental study following the within-subject design. The participants provided their feedback in term...

A user preference study of authentication mechanisms for mobile learning applications

Many application providers enforce users to register and create credentials to use their applications. The registration process usually requires the users to fill in personal information in which it is a time-consuming process. Additionally, it also increases the number of usernames and passwords that users need to remember which leads to password fatigue. Social login is a way to address this problem. With the benefits that social login could offer, this study aims to examine the user’s preference towards authentication mechanisms used for mobile learning applications. An experimental study was conducted using a mobile learning application named LANGKAWI ISLANDS. Forty participants participated in this study on a voluntary basis and used the traditional social login on LANGKAWI ISLANDS. Sign up/in time using both mechanisms is recorded. Then, the participants stated their preference for the authentication mechanisms. The result suggests that authentication process of LANGKAWI ISLANDS is much faster using social login and more favored by the participants.