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This paper presents a real-time trip-planner system for the public transport in Lisbon. This system has the capability of informing potential customers about which are the best routes to make the trip they want, when they want and what are the expected travel times, based on the actual locations of the public transport vehicles and the travel speeds that can be estimated for the various relevant road segments for the next hour. Using four months of operation log-files from the bus operator Carris, a process of data mining was created to analyse and classify the information of travel times and speeds. The trip-planner is built upon an agent-based model that aims to simulate the transport network operation and create a model to make short-term travel times forecast. A system of dynamic queries was introduced in order to evaluate the built model. The obtained results indicate that this tool, if deployed, could achieve high accuracy levels in predictions and become very useful and valuable for urban public transport users.

Microblogging is considered the Web 2.0 technology of 2009 with more and more users from various domains taking interest in it. Using applications like Twitter, Plurk, Edmodo or Cirip.eu, microblogging has become one of the first words associated with Web 2.0 as far as online social interactions, conversational discourse, communication and/or collaboration through social networks are concerned, but among the last that educational actors take into consideration. In this paper the authors aim to examine closely how microblogging can contribute to improve the educational process through teaching methods which are closer to the way of thinking of students. Thus, among others methods like teaching with questions, discourse, didactic conversation, e-portfolios, projects, teaching with collaboration or academic controversy etc., it will be discussed how a teaching method based on multimedia objects can be used in a clear and straight manner in the micro-lectures carried out on the microblogging platform cirip.eu by the authors, in formal (university) as well as informal (continuous adult education) contexts.

Driving simulation systems in urban rail transit are widely used in teaching demonstration, pre-service training and engineering theory research or other fields. The high-precision, large-scale, real-time interaction of simulation has been a goal of researchers. How to coordinate these parameters according to demand, and optimize algorithms and frameworks are currently a hot research. This paper presents the idea of using real scene modeling technique to develop large-scale urban rail transit driving simulation system. Real scene modeling technique has many advantages, including 1) Strong sense of the scene and high experience, 2) The process of production is simple and fast, 3) High scalability and compatibility. Accordingly, designed system can achieve these features: multi-train and multi-line's co-simulation, real-time interactive experience of user and different-location synchronous compatibility. This paper focused on solving massive real-scene data processing, construction and real-time synchronous adjustment of timeline, automatic generation technique about the real-scene model of large-scale rail network, and other technologies. In the case of Fangshan line Beijing. The design includes collection, filter and process of data; implementation and deployment of the system, effectiveness analysis and other embodiments of the steps. The results show that: the plan and system this paper designed can be implemented, taking into account the balance of precision and efficiency, and has a strong promotional value.

Educational systems are responsible for sociability and prepare new generations for playing the role of citizenship in the local, national and global community. The basic question is how the new generation would be ready for the role of citizenship and which education approach can lead to it in knowledge age. This paper through review of litreture and previous studies has been discussed the dimensions of professional citizenship education considering the knowledge management principles towards promoting social, human and intellectual capitals in educational system in Iran.

Internationalization of tertiary education has become an important agenda of the Malaysian government. As one of the public universities in Malaysia, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) has been offering international student program at undergraduate level in two faculties since 2007. As a foundation to review the setting of the program in UKM, this paper examines the case of international program support in Kyushu University, Japan, by identifying the underlying elements that help enrich international students’ experience. The case showed that internationalization effort in Kyushu University is initiated and executed in a concerted manner, with very careful planning from the government, internal department and various local parties.

Purpose The aim of the paper is analyzing the statistic indexes of penetrating the products manufactured in Georgia into European market Methodology In the article there were applied the qualitative and quantitative data analysis methods, among them statistic data processing, data grouping and data analysis methods. Results According to the official statistics the share of exported products from Georgia into European countries is increasing, their commodity structure is enhancing, the indexes of keeping on the sanitary and phyto-sanitary norms are improving, the number of the prophylactic measures having been taken in regard to food safety is growing, but in Georgia the production of healthy products is still problematic. The part of agricultural products is of high-risk. Hence, so far, the part of Georgian products doesn’t meet the requirements of the market of European Union

The integrated project SAFEDOR has been completed in spring 2009 and this paper summarizes the achievements. SAFEDOR has been focusing work on the development of a risk-based regulatory framework, a risk-based design framework, advanced probabilistic simulation tools and their integration as well as a series of application examples. The paper outlines the elements of the risk-based regulatory framework incl. approval process, risk evaluation criteria, requirements for documentation and key personnel as well as onboard documentation. Novel risk-based simulation tools and their integration into a design environment are discussed. The paper also highlights the innovative ship designs developed within SAFEDOR and points towards possible future applications. Eventually, future research on risk-based approaches is outlined.

In recognition to the importance of management, this paper aims to establish the management factors contributing to successful implementation of IBS projects from the contractor's point of view. With a response rate of 12%, findings from the questionnaire survey disclose that good working collaboration, effective communication channel and team member involvement during the design stage are the top three (3) most influential management -related factors towards the successful implementation of IBS projects in Malaysia. The result reinforced that good coordi nation between all parties play the main role towards successful implementation of IBS project.

Customer lifetime value has been a topic of interest for some years upon which plenty of academics and marketing managers have been dwelling. The topic plays a key role in customer relationship management and has been implemented in variety of sectors. The main goal of customer lifetime value is to specify the importance level of each customer for a company. Such questions as what sort of marketing strategies should be preferred for which customers, how much investments should be made for them and which marketing campaigns should be followed can all be determined by calculating lifetime value of customers. Many researchers have proposed different types of models for calculating customer lifetime value. Yet, the related literature lacks of comparative research on assessing the existing models, especially within the scope of segmentation. This paper aims at providing a classification for the current models in the literature based on their basic characteristics and making a comparison between two representative models from different classes using the same database. An evaluation from segmentation perspective was done and the results indicated that the model that represented the future-past customer behaviour model class was found to be superior than its peer using the same database and variables.

The paper is focused on the method of teaching of logistics by using simulation methods. The aim is to describe a new way of teaching by using simulation software with a practical example. The main part of this article consists of a description of an actual application in education including graphic illustrations of work in the simulation software Witness and Captivate. In conclusion, the authors point out the benefits of learning by using simulation software for students of logistics and possibilities of applying their gained knowledge in business practice.

The paper assesses the influence of spatial perception on the control and energetic parameters measured in three cases: while the participant visualizes his/her performance, blindfolded and while he/she performs standard tests for energetic and control parameters. The experimental system used to analyze the influence of spatial perception is based on the Kinect depth sensor and tailor made software which allows the initialization and the computation of kinematic parameters. The paper also discusses the results for the left upper limb, the right upper limb and for both limbs involved in vertical jumping, considered to be the standard test for assessing the energetic and control parameters.

Purpose. The main purpose of the research is to define business information transparency conception and to investigate its evaluation possibilities. Methodology. Research is based on analytical approach, there were invoked a systematic, logical and comparative analysis of scientific literature. Results. The transparency of the financial and non-financial information is one of the key factors which governs the stakeholders trust on the company. Various studies show that business companies tend to reveal only positive non-financial information and conceal not so good news. Thus, social report is used as a mean of advertising (Transparency International, 2009; Wensen et al., 2011). Of course such practice is intolerable because it reduces confidence on given information. Consequently transparent display of business information plays a significant role to the company. Both results of scientific research and practise observations announce about the necessity to get deeper knowledge how to assess the transparency of the business information. The theoretical contribution. Results of the research will contribute to further development of business information transparency assessment. Practical implications. Revealed business information transparency valuation possibilities could be used creating business information transparency assessment methodology and by separate company assessing its own business information disclosure. Keywords: transparency, business information, evaluation. Paper type: Theoretical paper.

This paper define a circuit-based simulation model for a PV cell in order to allow estimate the electrical behavior of the cell with respect changes on environmental parameter of temperature and irradiance. An accurate PV module electrical model is presented based on the mathematical equations. The general model was implemented on MATLAB/Simulink environment, and accepts irradiance as variable parameters and outputs the I-V characteristic. A particular typical solar panel was used for model evaluation, and results was compare with points taken directly from the manufacturer's published curves and show excellent correspondence to the model. With this proposed module different types of PV modules could be developed and students could be investigate and learn the P-V or V-I characteristics easily. Furthermore, a by-pass diode is added to the PV cell design with this addition, in different insulation combinations will be able to investigate likewise partial shade.

This article aims to evaluate the Access conditions for wheelchair users in sporting mega-events. It will show the characterization of some attributes related with the walk, as the variables that express them, showing the studied group particularities. The data collect was made in June, 2013 by questionnaire application during the competitions of The World Confederation Cup realized in Rio de Janeiro on the Maracana Stadium. This paper establishes the principal attributes identified based on the literature review and the exploratory field research, signalizing the satisfaction with the security and comfort attributes, and also the main infrastructural problems at surroundings, that are the ramps leveling the streets to the sidewalks and the flowerbeds along of the public footpaths. Reinforcing the necessity of rethink the planning of the public spaces focusing in the Universal Design, but contemplating explicitly the studied group perceptions by the Service Quality concept.

This paper investigates whether environmental regulations become obstacles or a cause for innovation in Japan by examining some empirical evidences on how environmental regulations affect the course and character of technological change through innovative activities of the firms in Japan. Available literature shows that it is rather very difficult to measure the stringency of environmental regulations and its effects on subsequent innovations at aggregate levels. As a result, this study adopted detailed case studies to overcome the problems of previous empirical studies due to their aggregate nature and to understand well the nature of the relationship between environmental regulations and innovation. In this paper, we picked up the cases of Toyota Prius and Nissan Leaf to study and examine the impacts of environmental regulations on innovation.

This paper describes a curriculum renewal project developed for adult learners of English that resulted in a more dynamic and effective program at a Turkish university. A multi-dimensional needs analysis was initiated to investigate the current situation across the three English-medium departments of the university as regards students’ English language requirements and their academic needs, and the language needs of the students receiving an English for Academic Purposes curriculum. Survey findings brought about the need to introduce five major innovative changes into the current curriculum. These curricular innovations are followed by the monitoring and evaluation of the new curriculum.

This paper discusses an evaluation of the three English textbooks which have been prescribed for use in grade 4 classes by the Turkish Ministry of National Education in state primary schools. Teachers and students responded to a 37-item textbook evaluation scheme (Smiley Questionnaire) to express their perceptions concerning various aspects of the textbooks. Both groups of participants were also interviewed to gain further insights into the use of the textbooks. Findings revealed the extent of appropriateness of the three textbooks used by young learners of English. Suggestions are offered for the future revision and/or designing the textbooks for young learners of English.

The IBT TOEFL has become the principal example of online high stakes language testing since 2005. Most instructors who do the preparation for IBT TOEFL face two main realities: first, students are eager and highly motivated to take the test because of the prospective implications; and, second, specific studies would be necessary to see if instructors may be familiarized with the use of computers in teaching and/or language testing for other high stakes tests. Now, many standardized tests are going online as well such as IELTS, BULATS and others (Garcia Laborda, 2007). National Boards of Education are also considering this possibility for the national university entrance examination (PAU) (Garcia Laborda & Magal Royo, 2007; Garcia Laborda, 2006). However, in this case, teachers may not be willing or well prepared to face the challenge due to factors such as ICT familiarity. To date, many papers have explored the role of teacher training in their adaptation to the inclusion or implementation of ICT in the foreign language classroom (Zepp, 2005; Tan et al., 2003; Rehbein et al., 2003). However, it is necessary to consider the differences between the use of ICT for language testing (as opposed to general teaching) and the profile of senior high school foreign language teachers who may not be as flexible as their younger colleagues. This paper describes the trainees’ final attitudes of a six-month course held in Valencia (Spain). 26 teachers from private schools who teach many of the students who take the test every year participated in an in-service teacher training course in Valencia. Instructional methods principally included training in ICT strategy and use through face-to-face instruction and also autonomous learning, group work, synchronous and asynchronous communication, and computer based test design. The teachers’ responses to long discussions in a control session and to a questionnaire, along with the observations of a 20-hour course and the results of the familiarization with different tools show that for this type of training it is not only necessary to familiarize teachers with the testing tool but also with the process of creating online tests and with the testing process itself (Chapelle & Douglas, 2006; Stoynoff & Chapelle, 2005). Results from the platform use and the final questionnaire indicated that the majority of trainees reacted positively to the training and were eager to let the research team work with their students. However, they still felt they would not be able to use ICT for testing in their classes.

World Conference on Educational Sciences -- FEB 04-07, 2009 -- Nicosia, CYPRUS, WOS: 000275580400046, This paper aims to determine the effect of computer aided instruction on students academic performance in solving Lowest Common Multiple (LCM) and Greatest Common Factor (GCF) problems and multiplicative structures. The study was held in the second semester of 2008 for five weeks with a total number of 102 students. The research design was pre test - post test control group design. A pre test and an achievement test and a software developed by the researchers about the topic were used as data collection instruments in the study. The results of the study show that students in the study which received computer based instruction performed significantly higher than the control group which received traditional instruction. (c) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

In this paper, we are investigating relationships between end users’ cognitive abilities, individual differences, and e-learning portal usability to create an indicator between individual differences and software usability. The usability of http://elearning. bahcesehir.edu.tr that has intellectual content including a web portal is evaluated in design and development phases by 116 (72 male, 46 female) subjects who are registered to “HUM1005 History of Civilization I” general elective course. They completed four different surveys respectively: an IQ survey, a personality survey, motivation survey and software usability measurement inventory (SUMI). SUMI is used to assess the evaluations of the subjects to the web site. This research compares intelligence, personal factors, and motivation factors against the personal software usability results, in order to determine the correlations and associations between the usability of software and end users’ individual differences. Finally, the assumption, “the usability of any software does not only depend on the requirements of the users, but also, cognitive abilities and personality factors of the end users”, is overlapped with our findings. Noteworthy correlation (Rho=0.57, p

Learning management systems (LMSs) are software applications that comprise a suite of tools for learning and online teaching. There are many commercial and open source LMSs that can be found on the web. Because there are many LMS systems in the market place, one of the problems facing a user is how to choose a system that can meet the requirements. This paper is about a computer program developed at the Near East University for the evaluation of learning management systems. The developed system, named EW-LMS, is web-based and can easily be used over the internet anywhere and at any time. The system provides a web-based decision support system that may help administrators and instructors to choose the most suitable LMS system for their needs and requirements. This evaluation system was designed using the MS-Visual Studio .NET together with a MS-SQL Server based database.

Developments in information technologies have changed the world and the way we create and use information. Due to these developments, flow of messages occupy daily life through media. In order to overcome the chaos of the messages, people are in need of acquiring critical thinking and self-expression in media environment. Children, as well as adults, are becoming a part of this phenomenon, and teachers need to know how to leverage these technologies to better educational systems. Media literacy, which is an ability to access, analyze, evaluate and communicate messages in a variety of forms, has become a key subject for eliminating the harmful effects of media. In this study, media literacy understanding in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus has been put forward and the programs of five Faculties of Communication on the island have been analysed in the light of media literacy and its importance. As a program initiative, media literacy presumes to go beyond fundamental theoretical communication courses by providing student-outcome that enables students to become active participants in an increasingly media-saturated society. In the paper, it is discussed that with improving the programs of Faculties of Communication, the graduates will have the opportunity to become the future teachers of media literacy in primary and secondary education.

Web 2.0 has been, during the last years, one of the most fashionable words for a whole range of evolutions regarding the Internet. Although it was identified by the current analysts as the key technology for the next decade, the actors from the educational field do not really know what Web 2.0 means. Since the author started to explore and use Web 2.0 technologies in her own development/improvement, she has been intrigued by their potential and, especially, by the possibility of integrating them in education and in particular in the teaching activity. The purpose of this paper is both to promote scholarly inquiry about the need of a new type a pedagogy (Web 2.0 based) and the development / adoption of best practice in teaching and learning with web 2.0 in higher education (HE). The article main objectives are: • to introduce theoretical aspects of using Web 2.0 technologies in higher education • to present models of integrating Web 2.0 technologies in teaching, learning and assessment • to identify the potential benefits of these technologies as well as to highlight some of the problematic issues / barriers encountered, surrounding the pedagogical use of Web 2.0 in higher education • to propose an agenda for future research, and to develop pedagogy 2.0 scenarios for HE sector.

This paper is devoted to emphasize some aspects related with the impact of Virtual Instruments (VI) software implementation in the teaching/learning process on different topics of the Sciences area. The study was made in the frame of the three years Socrates-Comenius 2.1 project “VccSSe - Virtual Community Collaborating Space for Science Education” (no. 128989-CP-1-2006-1-RO-Comenius-C21), co-funded by the European Commission, Education and Training, School Education: Socrates: Comenius. As known Virtual Instruments represent a fundamental shift from traditional hardware-centered instrumentation systems to software-centered systems that exploit the computing power, productivity, display and connectivity capabilities of the usual desktop computers and workstations. From the educational point of view, the most important characteristic of VI is that they can simulate physical phenomena. One of the most advantages of VI is the fact that pupils can create their own applications using specific software.

This study was conducted to identify and analyze some significant features that influence students and teachers about computer-based tests (CBT) and paper-and-pencil tests (P&P) at the context of the PAULEX Project. In order to do that, a large experiment has been developed at the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia (Polytechnic University of Valencia), Spain, in which several students and professors have answered a validated questionnaire about their usage of technology, feelings and experiences. They also compared their preferences after doing two similar basic tests, CBT and P&P.

The increasing demand for high quality innovative foreign language teaching and learning materials led the CAMILLE R&D Group at the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia (Spain) to design a completely online language-independent authoring tool and content manager to allow teachers from around the world to design and deliver tailor-made online courseware that would suit their learners’ needs and which could be immediately modified or updated according to particular needs. This system is known as the InGenio System and comprises four modules: the authoring tool, the delivery platform, an online tutoring system and a module to allow authors to adapt their materials into different support languages. This paper aims to describe the specific functionalities that are embedded in InGenio designed to integrate specific feedback to support language acquisition in the language courses designed with the InGenio authoring tool. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

The research for this paper aims to investigate the viewpoints and career plans of male student teachers of English entering a gender non-traditional field in a university in Turkey. The study has found that the driving motivator for the participants was the strong determination and commitment to the profession and the anticipation of moral satisfaction as well as the desire to be effective role models for their students. Despite the fact that they soon realized the high level societal stigma attributed to the teaching profession, they decided not to get out of the chosen career path.

This study investigates the effect of hypermedia-hypertext and paper-pencil type concept maps created in the Basic Chemistry I course for the subject of atom and bonding on students’ meaningful learning. The research was conducted with a total of 30 students enrolled in Basic Chemistry I at Hacettepe University, Faculty of Education. An atom-bonding knowledge test and concept maps were used as data collection tools in this study. It was established that concept maps created using the hypermedia-hypertext technique contribute to the students’ meaningful learning.

This study explored how undergraduate students and their tutors in an English Language Teaching Department of a Turkish university conceptualised a good research paper and whether there was a match between the conceptions of both parties. In line with this purpose, the study specifically sought answers to what the students’ concerns and what their tutors’ views were on students’ potential problems during the process of writing a research paper. The findings revealed a match between the students’ and tutors’ perceptions of a good research paper. However, the parties conceived the constructs valued and problems faced differently.

World Conference on Educational Sciences -- FEB 04-07, 2009 -- Nicosia, CYPRUS WOS: 000275580400281 This paper presents the relationship between pre-service teachers' information literacy skills and their attitudes towards distance education. Two questionnaires were administered to 235 pre-service teachers enrolled in the department of primary school teaching, the department of science teaching and the department of Turkish language teaching at Kirikkale University in Turkey in order to examine their attitudes and their literacy skills. Results of this study show that there is no significant relationship between participants' information literacy levels and their attitudes towards distance learning. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

World Conference on Educational Sciences -- FEB 04-07, 2009 -- Nicosia, CYPRUS, WOS: 000275580400323, This paper aims to introduce a project in collaboration with Educational Technologies General Directorate of Ministry of National Education (MoNE) and Computer Education and Instructional Technologies (CEIT) Department of Ege University which was funded by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK). The project aims to design a virtual chemistry lab compatible with the new chemistry curriculum of secondary schools in Turkey. The virtual lab (SANLAB) will include learning activities based on active learning method and in which secondary school students can make experiments interactively in computer environment. For designing the SANLAB, 30 volunteer chemistry teachers and 70 senior students of Ege CEIT will work collaboratively. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved, Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK)Turkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [108K293], This project (No: 108K293) is funded by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK).

The present paper refines the participatory management (PM) concept in educational organization by adopting a multidimensional approach. The author examined simultaneously fifteen components of Participatory management namely: 1-Trust 2-Decision making 3-Team work 4-Share power 5-Motivation 6-Communication 7-Involvement 8-Collaboration 9-Democracy 10-transparency 11-Innovation 12-Respect 13-Problem solving 14-Identify common goal15-qualitarian.The data were obtained from a sample of 903 Iranian female teachers. The results indicate, there is significant relationship between all of components of participatory management. This study suggests the application of the fifteen components of Participatory management for achieving suitable strategy to plan for logical use of the human resource in educational organization.

In this paper is set the framework for student modeling based on psychological models, which are deployed on the Web. During the development stage, some issues were dealt such as: the adaptation of tests that were designed for being applied manually to the subject by the experimenter. Moreover, the outcomes of the experiment are resumed, where one of the findings was that: the apprenticeship of students whose provision of lectures takes into account the student model is higher than the learning acquired by individuals whose student model is ignored. The aim of this work is to encourage the use of psychological models for being applied on the Web in order to spread their application in the adaptive Web-based education.

This paper discusses the ways in which studio instructors assess students’ design and performance during the basic design studios. Architecture requires a discipline-based education in which design studios have primary place in the curriculum. In design studio education the primary focus of assessment has always been the studio production (i.e. end products of the students). There is a common tendency to neglect students’ experience and process of learning during assessments. Furthermore, assessment criteria of the studio instructors may not be explicitly stated.

Professional advice to parents in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries came first from pediatricians and then gradually began to include psychologists. Many of these early developmental psychologists were trained through efforts of the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial in America in the 1920's. This paper will look at the advice given to parents both from first generation developmental psychologists in America, and from psychologists who were located internationally.

The research reported in this paper reveals that in the classroom children are under constant surveillance and control by the teacher, and that they may respond by attempting to subvert the teacher's regulations and order through distractions, disruptions, attention-seeking and time-wasting activities. On the one hand, this subversion indicates there is a fine balance of power between teacher and pupils in the classroom, but on the other it indicates that the pupils are reflecting on their own behavior and experiences and thus developing into morally autonomous individuals.

Education and awareness are the Green Strategies outlined in Malaysia's National Policy on environment. Non-formal education aims to complement primary and secondary education and provide acquisition of new-updated knowledge and skills. It has certain advantages over formal education because its flexible programme offers environmental knowledge to various target groups at convenient places through different types of activities. At present, adult environmental education activity in Sabah is increasingly being developed and promoted by various sectors. This paper presents the scenario of non-formal environmental education among adults in Sabah, Malaysia. The data were gathered from review of literatures on non-formal environmental education conducted by the Environment Protection Department, Sabah. The findings of compilation of case studies conducted by the Science and Technology Unit were also used. The results showed that many environmental education activities were campaigns on awareness and participated by non-government organizations (NGOs). Other activities involved include environmental talks, exhibitions, seminars, workshops, conventions, and outdoor activities. All activities implemented were found to have increased public awareness on environmental protection.

ePortfolios (or e-portfolios) are also known as “electronic” or ‘digital’ portfolios, “webfolios” and even “on-line personal development plans” or “Digital notebook”. There are also many definitions of ePortfolios, but it is important to remember that an ePortfolio is best defined by its purpose. However, the ePortfolios allows learners to trace the development of their thinking and learning over time and to show those competencies to the university and to employers. More than that, ePortfolios can provide digital resources relevant to their own study (personalised information) and links to other learners (for collaboration and feedback). When working with e-portfolios in an educational context, it is important to not only introduce the method, but to also implement ePortfolios as an overall concept. Successful implementation of the ePortfolios approach demands a different approach to teaching and learning. When working with ePportfolios, the focus lies in the combination of storing both the products and the process of learning. The documentation of learning processes is achieved by recording reflections on the learning progress of individuals. In this presentation we will analyze the ePortfolios from the main actors’ perspective: Students the main challenge is to acquire the necessary skills to build a professional ePortfolio and, more fundamentally, to develop the ability to reflect on and accept greater responsibility for their own professional development. Using ePortfolios, students learned to think more about their own learning, to organize their work better, to plan how to improve their skills and competences etc. Teachers the use of new tools, resources and approaches can definitely contribute to the new vision of professional development that is being called in favor to support teachers’ efforts and to adjust their teaching to the actual learning needs of their students. ePortfolios can serve these purposes, allowing and contributing for the reflection on the teachers’ goals, assessing their practice strengths and areas which need improvement documenting at the same time their professional growth thus generating ideas for future teaching development. Additionally, teachers need strategies to support learners in creating and maintaining their ePortfolios, and in evaluating the outcomes. Employers they are interested to find on the labor market highly qualified graduates, according with their expectations and without a great effort or time consuming In this respect, during this paper we will present how and in which way the educational actors can benefit if they implement ePortfolios in the educational and occupational context.

Universities have scientific and technical competences which provide them capabilities to develop innovative, high-tech products and services. Successful implementation of these capabilities in the economical environment request entrepreneurship competences and abilities. PREMIO e-platform addresses the issue of developing an entrepreneurial culture among candidates from higher education (students, teachers, researchers) in a transnational perspective. The paper presents a transnational entrepreneurship training course and a mentoring model with the participation of European specialists. The project is foreseen as an efficient solution to motivate, train and support entrepreneurs, thereby encouraging the success of e-learning in higher education.

The paper presents three projects, WEES, FREELEARNING and PREMIO. The first two have been completed and PREMIO is in progress. The authors present the objectives of the projects, especially innovative side represented by their modern training especially e-learning. For example, WEES project: the aims of the WEES project: project acquire new information about environmental professional expertise; develop innovative approaches in terms of quality of training, etc. and our researches in this field Education Legislation and Environmental Training.

The main question in this paper is how aesthetic appreciation on fine art classes influences the development of intellectual understanding of fine art works especially in part of differences, understanding, recognizing the terms drawing, picture, and sculpture. In this paper, special part is dedicated on analyses of the results from research. Research was realized in R. Macedonia. In this research were taken part 269 pupils from 7-11 years. Main conclusion is that aesthetic appreciation influence the development of difference, recognizing and understanding of concepts drawing, picture and sculpture at schoolchildren from 7 to11 years. We consider that results of investigation give us unswers on some dilemas in aesthetic appreciation.

The energy sector plays a vital role in achieving social and economic development through satisfying the energy needs of the different economic sectors. However, vast majority of power stations burn fossil fuels in order to produce energy. In this way, saving energy and using it efficiently is important. So, in this paper, it will be described a mobile and web-based student learning system for rational use of energy. This system was specially developed to teach undergraduate students at School of Technology of Setubal / Polytechnic Institute of Setubal. This system will provide to the students a tutorial, a set of exercises with several oriented questions, interactive animations, assessment tools, a chat room and a game for evaluation purposes. To provide a better mobility, this system has a module to be used with a mobile device.

Engineering profession proposed a road map by directly putting the impact on economic growth through various means such as technology, learning, access and quality. It is envisaged that to maintain quality human resource in professional engineering, accreditation and assessment of engineering education requires focusing. This would foster engineering education for socio-economic development at all levels. Accreditation and assessment at regional/national level is based on monitoring of educational programs like curriculum, teaching and learning, equipment/laboratory facilities, student performance, etc., rather than outcomes-based assessments. Moreover, assessment is also vital to identify and realize achievements and goals through the engineering profession and to attain student learning outcomes in accordance with both institutional and professional criteria. One of the major concerns for assessment and accreditation of engineering profession is that in the developing countries (i.e., Pakistan) the accredited bodies constituted at the regional/national level are striving hard to set out uniform, transparent and precise accreditation models. However, in order to gain global acceptance, there is a great need to explore possibility of mutual recognition and global mobility of engineers. In this study, accredited bodies for engineering profession, how engineering programs intervening help to improve quality of education as well as outcomes in the economic development are assessed in an environment of continuous development. A uniform model for global recognition of this profession is proposed. The current auditing of the engineering programs in Pakistan and in Turkey are analyzed and the trends are presented in a comparative assessment study vis a vis their global status. This paper presents an insight for policy makers in higher education sector to redesign, upgrade and modify the existing initiatives in developing nations through the case study made for Pakistan and Turkey.

This article is available open access under a creative commons license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/). Copyright @ 2009 Elsevier Ltd. This paper reports on the results of a pilot study conducted in The School of Engineering and Design at Brunel University, which considered how easily students could extract ‘meaningful’ information from an assignment brief. The study used two documents, a ‘standard’ module specific assignment brief (PB1), which used a proforma document issued by the Taught Programmes Office (TPO) and a ‘redesigned’ assessment brief (RB2), which also used the ‘basic’ proforma document as the design template. Both documents used the same data but the redesigned version used principles of Information Architecture to structure the data. The study used a designed questionnaire to elicit responses from students at Level 2, which compared and contrasted the two documents.

Based on the implementation of a newly developed e-learning technology which features Reproducible Computing ( www.wessa.net and www.freestatistics.org ), it is investigated how the relationships between learning outcomes (as measured by exam questions) and objectively measured, computer-assisted learning activities can be investigated. The main contribution of this paper is that objective exam score transformations can have a huge effect on our ability to build models and understand the effects of computer technology on learning outcomes. The paper includes a theoretical description of an easy-to-use methodology and an illustrated case in which the effect of exam score transformations is clearly demonstrated.

The implications of new learning environments have been far-reaching and pervasive (Plass, 1998), at least in the field of interface design both in traditional computer and mobile devices (Fallahkhair, Pemberton, & Griffiths, 2007). Given the current status of efficient models, educators need the unproven unification of interfaces and working areas, which may facilitate the students’ integration within the working areas of computer based language testing (CALL) (Cushion, 2006). Based on previous works on interface design by Fulcher (2003), Chapelle & Douglas (2006) and Garcia Laborda (2007) and interface validation by Garcia Laborda & Magal Royo (2007) and current developments (IATEFL or TOEFL), in this paper we concentrate our efforts on describing the design and implementation as well the design principles of the working area of the computer assisted language testing (CALT) platform called PAUER that has been sponsored by the Spanish Ministry of Education between 2007-2010. As most areas of practice in higher education shift online, the work of learners and teachers increasingly takes place within the domain of similar platforms. The digital learning facilities will certainly follow similar patterns and lay outs, thus this presentation will reflect and be valid for similar projects worldwide. Since this platform is mostly based on visually enhanced learning, this paper analyses and critiques the form of visuality in which the contents are presented. The paper ends up considering issues such as ways of transmitting the information, meanings of icons and visual presentation, and the type of pedagogy that has been used to design PLEVALEX and PAU-ER. (Contains 4 figures)

It is increasingly being applied by organizations to provide “soft” skills, not just technical training because technology can create realistic, interactive, computer-based simulations. The purpose of the paper is to present the way in which can be solved, using the WinQSB program, some types of problems. Sub modules as PERT/CPM and Facility Locations will be appealed, that is adequate solving the ordinance issues, respectively fabrications lines equilibration. Using this software in practice has a real contribution to the developed activities efficiency, insuring a high economy of time by eliminating routine activities tide to the classic way of solving the problem.

The use of information- and communication technology (ICT) is pervading almost all areas in our complex society. Because of this, the school system is expected to educate pupils in the use of different types of ICT. This means that teachers are given a crucial role in preparing the pupils for the information society. However, studies show that teachers and students are insecure about how to use ICT to enhance learning. As a consequence, teacher education should be an important arena for learning how to use new technology in teaching. This paper explores how teacher students’ didactic competence in use of technology can be developed. More specifically, we show how one very technologically skilled and committed professor in teacher education can influence the students’ motivations for using technology in their own teaching. Also, we look into the implications of this teaching for the development of didactic competence, as well as outline some further challenges and suggestions.

This paper reports on the level of scientific culture among Malaysian and Japanese students. Japanese students were used as comparison because Malaysia looks at to Japan as a model for science and technology development. The findings suggest that the level of scientific culture of Malaysian students is significantly higher than that of Japanese students. One possible explanation for this is that Japan which adopted S&T by primarily focusing on its practical use they have failed to acquire the scientific spirit.

In this study, a multipurpose computer interface unit is designed for existing regular experiment sets of electrical and electronics laboratories which includes embedded two channels digital storage oscilloscope, multimeters, digital inputs and outputs, miscellaneous function generators, a variable and some fixed power supplies in order to experiment in a more comprehensive manner without any need of external measurement devices or signal supplies. All studies and observations including the lecture notes, experiment instructions, calculations and graphical reports are computer assisted by the use of interface software which also gives the opportunity to the instructor computer to track and control the student computers over the network. This paper includes the observation of the related studies and final results in detail. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved