Sameer Verma

Utilizing Internet technologies to support learning: an empirical analysis

The Internet has evolved into a universal platform to communicate and share information. It has profoundly impacted the way in which we organize, work, and learn. This paper proposes and evaluates a unifying framework that utilizes two Internet technologies, Web-based pull technology and push technology, in supporting classroom-based learning. We developed two fully operational education support systems based on the framework for two different types of courses. One system supports courses requiring extensive interactions, both communication and transfer of data files, among the course instructor, individual students, and student teams working on group projects. The other system supports courses requiring moderate interactions. One hundred and eighty-one students in eight classes across three semesters used and evaluated these systems. The study found that the systems supported learning by providing critical course information, study material, and assignments conveniently, timely, and in usable formats. The systems were user friendly and increased student productivity. The students were satisfied with the systems and found the systems useful. In addition, the study found that the system support for highly interactive courses was better than that for less interactive courses on all dimensions of system support.

The Effectiveness of Decisional Guidance: An Empirical Evaluation

Decisional guidance is defined as how a decision support system (DSS) influences its users as they structure and execute the decision-making process. It is assumed that decisional guidance has profound effects on decision making, but these effects are understudied and empirically unproven. This paper describes an empirical, laboratory-experiment-based evaluation of the effectiveness of deliberate decisional guidance and its four types. We developed and used a comprehensive model consisting of four evaluation criteria: decision quality, user satisfaction, user learning, and decision-making efficiency. On these criteria, we compared decisional guidance versus no guidance, informative versus suggestive decisional guidance, and predefined versus dynamic decisional guidance. We found that deliberate decisional guidance was more effective on all four criteria; suggestive guidance was more effective in improving decision quality and user satisfaction, and informative guidance was more effective in user learning about the problem domain, whereas dynamic guidance was more effective than predefined guidance in improving decision quality and user learning; and both suggestive guidance and dynamic guidance reduced the decision time.

Adaptive decision support systems

Abstract The effectiveness of decision support systems (DSS) is enhanced through dynamic adaptation of support to the needs of the decision maker, to the problem, and to the decision context. We define this enhanced DSS as adaptive decision support systems (ADSS) and propose its architecture. In an ADSS, the decision maker controls the decision process. However, the system monitors the process to match support to the needs. The proposed architecture evolves from the traditional DSS models and includes an additional intelligent‘Adaptation’ component. The ‘Adaptation’ component workd with the data, model, and interface components to provide adaptive support. The architecture also integrates enhancements proposed in the past research. In this paper, we have illustrated the proposed architecture with two examples, a prototype system, and results from a preliminary empirical investigations

Open Source Software Adoption in ASEAN Member Countries

This paper investigates the extent to which open source software is being adopted for Web hosts within member countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) , and provides a partial explanation. We explain how open source software adoption decisions are influenced by macro-level or environmental influences (e.g. government policy, open source community). We use proxies based on empirical data collection to provide insight into the degree of open source software adoption which has already occurred. Software tools were developed to analyze Web host software on the public Internet within each ASEAN countrys country-level domain. Other empirical indicators include Linux user group (LUG) existence and activity. The study found that government open source policies do not appear to be consistent factor among those ASEAN countries with the highest degree of open source software adoption. Other environmental factors appear to be more influential at this point in time

ActiveBook: a framework for optimizing Internet technologies in education

This paper describes several problems with the current Internet technologies and the way they are currently utilized in education and proposes an innovative solution. First, the paper discusses an activity matrix that maps learning activities involved in business education along two dimensions: level of monitoring and level of interaction. The paper then proposes a unifying framework that utilizes emerging Internet technologies to support these learning activities. The framework goes beyond a simple piece of software at the client level to provide a complete solution with the student client, the instructor client and the server level software. Furthermore, the paper describes the architecture, features and specific technologies used in an actual education support system developed from the framework.

A framework for information access in rural and remote communities

Access to information is predicated on the access to a digital infrastructure. However, access to electricity and the Internet remain elusive for a significant percentage of the worlds population, let alone a sustainable access in ones local language, local context, and relating to local culture. This paper examines the issues of resource constraints, and proposes a framework to classify them. It then proceeds to utilize this framework to look at three different case studies of implementations of offline Internet access in Madagascar, Jamaica and India.

Show me the money: the business models of Linux players

The major trends characterising the development of e-business platforms include increasing the performance-to-price ratio of hardware components (e.g., servers and chips), as well as the declining costs of operating systems and middleware software as organisations switch from expensive proprietary software (e.g., Microsoft Windows) to open source software (e.g., Linux). The unique origins of Linux and open source software require the adoption of new business models to allow key players to sustain themselves long-term. Using a historical review of the open software movement and a value chain analysis for the open software industry, we examine, using primary data from interviews, the business models of five Linux players (Red Hat, Novell, Navica, Open Country and SohoLaunch). Case analyses enable us to identify four open source business models that should be sustainable in the long run.