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Due the wideness of the term Physical Computing, there is a need for a better structure of this topic. This paper is about an approach of structuring this field by finding attributes of different physical computing devices which can be used in class. Those attributes are meant to enforce teachers as well as researchers to analyze different devices from a pedagogical perspective in order to use those devices in class and use their full educational potential. [For the full proceedings, see ED636095.]

As we talked with school teachers about the use of physical computing systems in class, one major drawback of these systems became obvious: almost nobody--next to enthusiastic autodidacts--has been able to tell us on an abstract basis for which educational purposes a certain physical computing system can be used, i.e. in a goal-oriented way. This insight lead to the approach to structure the field of physical computing systems with the overall goal to make it easier for teachers to improve their lectures due integrating physical computing systems into computer science education. The aim of this paper is to structure the field, to find categories and to show how existing devices can be integrated into the founded structure.

ITSs have the requirement to be adaptive to the student with AI. The classical ITS architecture defines three components to split the data and to keep it flexible and thus adaptive. However, there is a lack of abstract descriptions how to put adaptive behavior into practice. This paper defines how you can structure your data for case based systems in a way that adaptivity is easier to achieve while maintaining the classical splitting of the system and reducing the data footprint. Building a case based system from a collection of exchangeable steps is also possible with this approach. Two variants of adaptivity based on the data structure are explored and both can be used in conjunction. [For the full proceedings, see ED621108.]

Juniorstudy is a concept of the University of Rostock, which can be used by school students before starting their time at the University. Thus, it is an instrument of supporting the choice of study direction. Moreover, we have been able to show in our last cohort, that using Juniorstudy courses also helps to significantly enhance the knowledge required to start the university study, thus our courses become an important tool for bridging the gap between school and University. In this paper we will show the results of our study which shows that our approach improves the students' knowledge and thus facilitates being successful in testes and exams in the basic courses in the first term.

Intelligent Tutoring System are state of the art in eLearning since the late 1980s. The earliest system have been developed in teams of psychologists and computer scientists, with the goal to investigate learning processes and, later on with the goal to intelligently support teaching and training with computers. Over the years, the eLearning hype appeared and vanished, and returned in a slightly different shape. However, Intelligent Tutoring Systems, as one of the most adaptive system types, remained in the focus of interest. Due to this, it is surprising that there exists no ITS architecture, no guideline how to implement these systems, and no structured, software engineered approach, which helps to develop comparable systems. In this paper, we will show the first steps toward such a system: a broad analysis of ITS over several years of research, with the resulting structured architecture. [For full proceedings, see ED571332.]

Facing the challenges of the digital age concerning lifelong learning, this contribution presents an approach to dynamically establish Connectivist communication networks. According the statement "the pipe is more important than the content within the pipe" by Georg Siemens, learning in digital age includes the connection of people to share required information. For this purpose, the Wiki-Learnia learning platform, which collects context information about users, is combined with the InterLect software, which identifies topics and semantic relations of contents. Based on mapping of both data sources, a wide range of matched users can be found for a specific content-related communication channel. By analyzing the course of conversation at runtime, participants can adaptively be added and removed from communication. Consequently, the presented solution serves as a just-in-time learning approach for finding direct help by experts. [For full proceedings, see ED571332.]

In the paper, different approaches of process modelling in e-learning system development are investigated. We provide a look at the DIN PAS 1032-1 and in the process model ROME, which is a derivation of the DIN PAS 1032-1. ROME has been extended by several pattern approaches. However, after several years of using ROME, we found out that ROME has some major flaws, which can be traced back to the so-called top-down approach. In ROME, the decision for a certain type of e-learning system is the first step. After this, the process model is used to structure the development process. In reality, in most cases a bottom-up approach would be better suited: centred around the learner and focused on the learner's needs, a content reduction and development should take place, and later, as second level step in the process, a decision for a certain e-learning type can take place. [For the full proceedings, see ED562093.]

Conceptualization and implementation of computer supported teaching and training is currently not tailored to the paradigm of learner centration. Many technical solutions lack transparency and consistency regarding the supported learner activities. An insight into learners activities correlated to learning tasks is needed. In this paper we outline recent developments in university's higher education concepts. We introduce InterLect as a tool to observe student's activities in lecture content acquisition and describe first insights and questions derived using this tool in a lecture scenario. Based on a new understanding of activity transformation cycles, an elaborated didactical design is modeled, which allows to address and observe learning activities. Ideas for a valid evaluation process are derived in order to investigate efficiency of the digital tool within the didactical framework. [For the full proceedings, see ED562093.]

In modern video games, music can come in different shapes: it can be developed on a very high compositional level, with sophisticated sound elements like in professional film music; it can be developed on a very coarse level, underlying special situations (like danger or attack); it can also be automatically generated by sound engines. However, in all these approaches, no active adaptation of musical elements to user activities can be found. Context dependent and adaptive music elements are no longer background or emotional support structures, but transform to information resources, which can be actively used by the user. Thus, they become a kind of human computer interface. In this paper, we focus on music as active information resource in video games and game-based learning systems. [For the full proceedings, see ED562093.]

Due the wideness of the term Physical Computing, there is a need for a better structure of this topic. This paper is about an approach of structuring this field by finding attributes of different physical computing devices which can be used in class. Those attributes are meant to enforce teachers as well as researchers to analyze different devices from a pedagogical perspective in order to use those devices in class and use their full educational potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem-solving mode of teaching science implies change for teachers, administrators, state education departments, and other individuals charged with implementing educational innovation. This study provides a descriptive record and interpretation of the words and actions of an elementary school teacher beginning to learn about teaching science as problem solving rather than dispensing content information, and attempting to modify her teaching accordingly. Data collection spanned a period of one year and included classroom observations, interviews, and document analysis. Observations revealed that environmental factors such as administrative support and flexibility, availability of science materials, school philosophy, parental support, and teacher status strongly affected the teacher's effort to change. Personal or internal factors also influenced the teacher's classroom practice: background in science; ability to see interdisciplinary teaching possibilities; organizational ability; regard for individual student's ideas; need to maintain control over student activities and thinking; regard for other teachers' intelligence and experience; emphasis on success; need to "cover" a textbook; view of the relationship between science content and problem solving; and general openness to change. This study demonstrates that educators cannot control results merely by altering input. (MVL)

ITSs have the requirement to be adaptive to the student with AI. The classical ITS architecture defines three components to split the data and to keep it flexible and thus adaptive. However, there is a lack of abstract descriptions how to put adaptive behavior into practice. This paper defines how you can structure your data for case based systems in a way that adaptivity is easier to achieve while maintaining the classical splitting of the system and reducing the data footprint. Building a case based system from a collection of exchangeable steps is also possible with this approach. Two variants of adaptivity based on the data structure are explored and both can be used in conjunction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intelligent Tutoring System are state of the art in eLearning since the late 1980s. The earliest system have been developed in teams of psychologists and computer scientists, with the goal to investigate learning processes and, later on with the goal to intelligently support teaching and training with computers. Over the years, the eLearning hype appeared and vanished, and returned in a slightly different shape. However, Intelligent Tutoring Systems, as one of the most adaptive system types, remained in the focus of interest. Due to this, it is surprising that there exists no ITS architecture, no guideline how to implement these systems, and no structured, software engineered approach, which helps to develop comparable systems. In this paper, we will show the first steps toward such a system: a broad analysis of ITS over several years of research, with the resulting structured architecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an innovative development approach for creating Service-based interactive applications. In comparison to further existing approaches enabling the creation of this type of applications our approach fully builds upon the concept of Service annotations. Besides presenting the general idea behind our approach, an overview of a specific tool is given, enabling the rapid development of Service-based interactive applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that the impact of media literacy programs can only be understood by focusing on the demand-side of the media educational process. Individual learners seek and obtain different gratifications during media educational activities. Need for cognition influences cognitive involvement and this in turn leads to heightened learning outcomes. This mechanism is first described in a comparative case study. In this, qualitative observations illustrate how three different media educational environments invite similar types of response. Second, an additional within-case analysis quantitatively evaluates which participants learn most during media educational practices. Overall, the data suggest that learning outcomes are best explained by individual needs. Subsequent research should ask why participants have different dispositions towards media educational contents and strategies. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses different formal models to represent educational processes and their use by computer systems. Currently most of these models are tied to specific application scenarios and tools, which reduces the transferability and re-usability of these models in different contexts. To achieve the interoperable use and transfer between different educational systems we propose the meta-modeling approach GOLEM (Graphically Organized Learning and Educational Metamodel) using an intermediary visual language the different models are mapped to. We describe the different mappings and discuss potential and limitations of the transformations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study was undertaken about the appeal of playing digital interactive games (DIGs) at a LAN event. At a LAN event, gamers link their PCs in a high speed Local Area Network (LAN) in order to play against each other in competitive 'wars'. Two principal questions guided the study. First we wanted to know who the visitors of a LAN event were, because there is no research we know of about this class of gamers. Second, we wanted to know what people motivated to participate in a LAN event. The survey among 176 LAN gamers showed that they were almost exclusively male, with a mean age of 19.5 years. The gamers devoted about 2.6 hours each day to their hobby, which is far more than found in other studies among gamers. They were particularly motivated by social motives, and to a lesser extent by a need to know more about games (interest motive). The competition motive obtained a low overall score, although it was more prominent among a subgroup of 'heavy gamers'. The authors interpret their results as a nuance of the stereotype of the solitary, adolescent gamer. LAN gamers participate in game communities and are socially motivated to visit LAN events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conference paper "Reuse communication devices for ALS/MND: fast and low cost" is presented. The paper will be presented at the 12th Biennial Conference of the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication in Dusseldorf, Germany from July 29 to August 5, 2006. It discusses communication devices for people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or motor neurone disease.

This paper reports about an interaction analysis of two-to-three days' communication samples of eight VOCA-users. The use of the communication aid is influenced by several factors: situations, activities and habits. The actual use of the aid changes depending on the situation. Integrating the skills to use the aid in daily life communication is apparently difficult for most of the users-Content analysis of the data showed that half of the utterances were statements. This finding differs from what has been reported in the literature, where the expression of needs was anticipated as the mostly used interaction topic. The VOCA is also mostly used for initiating topics and for commenting. Repetition of a message is used as an emphasizing technique. The mean length of utterances varies between 1 and 3 words. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an abstract of the study "Yield and Fruiting Behavior of Roundup Ready Flex Cotton (Gossypium Hirsutum L.) in Ten Environments in 2001," by O.L. May and colleagues that was presented at the 2003 Beltwide Cotton Conferences held in Nashville, Tennessee on January 6-10. The study tests under field conditions glyphosate resistance of cotton germplasm transformed by Monsanto with a new gene construct imparting expanded glyphosate resistance in the greenhouse.

The article presents a study which evaluates the actual possibilities and restrictions of speech recognition for people with restricted levels of intelligibility. Software was used which has a speaker dependent and a speaker independent version. The speaker dependent and the speaker independent software were able to recognize the majority of the output of the subjects. The speaker dependent speech recognition gave the best results.

Roundup Ready herbicide-tolerant cotton (event 1445) was introduced in 1997. It provides excellent tolerance to over-thetop applications of glyphosate through the four-leaf stage. Foliar applications beyond this stage must be limited due to insufficient tolerance in male reproductive tissues in certain environmental conditions. To expand the window of topical Roundup applications and provide better flexibility to growers, transformation was initiated to identify cotton events with enhanced levels of reproductive tolerance. Multiple transgenic events were generated from a series of vectors. From these plants, an event was identified that met molecular, agronomic and glyphosate tolerance criteria. This event, MON 88913, has been fully characterized. It contains a single transgene insert with no vector backbone present based on Southern blot analysis. The flanking sequences have been isolated on both borders to cotton genomic DNA and suggest a simple insertion. No mutations were detected in the in planta T-DNA sequence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an abstract of the study "Glyphosate-Resistant EPSPS Expression in Microspores and Tapetum Cells Provides Reproductive Tolerance in Roundup Ready® Flex Cotton," by Yun-Chia Sophia Chen and colleagues, which was presented at the 2003 Belfast Cotton Conferences held in Nashville, Tennessee on January 6-10. At late developmental stages, Roundup Ready® Flex Cotton exhibited great reproductive success after sequential glyphosate applications.

The article presents an abstract of the study "2002 Results of Roundup Ready® Flex Cotton Trials." It was presented at the Beltwide Cotton Conferences, held during January 6-10, 2003, in Nashville, Tennessee. During this study, several field trials were conducted at multiple locations during 2000-2001 to evaluate vegetative and reproductive tolerance of Roundup Ready® cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) to off-label application of Roundup UltraMax® herbicide.