A Conceptual Framework for SMART Applications in Higher Education: Emerging Research and Opportunities


Book Description

With the rapid availability of information, it becomes essential to keep pace with this availability as well as process the information into knowledge that has real-world applications. Neuroscientific methods allow an approach to this problem based on the way that the human brain already operates. Over the centuries and through observation and trial and error, we already know a great deal about how we can teach and learn, but now we can verify this with scientific fact and discover previously unknown aspects of brain physiology. These observations of brain functioning have produced many learning theories, all of which have varying degrees of validity. These theories, in turn, give birth to theories and models of instructional design, which also have varying degrees of validity. A Conceptual Framework for SMART Applications in Higher Education: Emerging Research and Opportunities is a critical scholarly publication that explores how the brain acquires and processes information to turn information into knowledge and the role of SMART technology and how it combines and integrates visual and aural data to facilitate learning. The book also discusses ways to apply what is known about teaching to how the brain operates and how to incorporate instructional design models into the teaching and learning process. Highlighting various topics such as neurogenesis, smart technologies, and behaviorism, this book is essential for instructional designers, online instruction managers, teachers, academicians, administrators, researchers, knowledge managers, and students.




Punched-Card Systems and the Early Information Explosion, 1880–1945


Book Description

At a time when Internet use is closely tracked and social networking sites supply data for targeted advertising, Lars Heide presents the first academic study of the invention that fueled today’s information revolution: the punched card. Early punched cards helped to process the United States census in 1890. They soon proved useful in calculating invoices and issuing pay slips. As demand for more sophisticated systems and reading machines increased in both the United States and Europe, punched cards served ever-larger data-processing purposes. Insurance companies, public utilities, businesses, and governments all used them to keep detailed records of their customers, competitors, employees, citizens, and enemies. The United States used punched-card registers in the late 1930s to pay roughly 21 million Americans their Social Security pensions, Vichy France used similar technologies in an attempt to mobilize an army against the occupying German forces, and the Germans in 1941 developed several punched-card registers to make the war effort—and surveillance of minorities—more effective. Heide’s analysis of these three major punched-card systems, as well as the impact of the invention on Great Britain, illustrates how different cultures collected personal and financial data and how they adapted to new technologies. This comparative study will interest students and scholars from a wide range of disciplines, including the history of technology, computer science, business history, and management and organizational studies.




Blown to Bits


Book Description

'Blown to Bits' is about how the digital explosion is changing everything. The text explains the technology, why it creates so many surprises and why things often don't work the way we expect them to. It is also about things the information explosion is destroying: old assumptions about who is really in control of our lives.




Engineering in Society


Book Description

The National Research Council's Panel on Engineering Interactions with Society was formed to examine the functioning of the engineering profession in the context of, and in relation to, American society. This document presents the findings of the panel. The panel's inquiry was twofold. First, it examined the impact that engineering and technology development has had on the nation, including the impact on societal demands, values, and perceptions on engineering. Next, the panel attempted to assess the structure and development of the engineering profession, and the adaptability of the profession in meeting current and future national needs. Chapters in the document deal with: (1) the evolution of American engineering; (2) the present era (managing change in the information age); (3) engineering and social dynamics; (4) maintaining flexibility in an age of stress and rapid change; and (5) conclusions and recommendations. Appendices include 23 references and a 16-item bibliography, along with an article prepared by Arthur L. Donovan, entitled "Engineering in an Increasingly Complex Society: Historical Perspectives on Education, Practice, and Adaptation in American Engineering." (TW)




Handbook of Ecological and Ecosystem Engineering


Book Description

Learn from this integrated approach to the management and restoration of ecosystems edited by an international leader in the field The Handbook of Ecological and Ecosystem Engineering delivers a comprehensive overview of the latest research and practical developments in the rapidly evolving fields of ecological and ecosystem engineering. Beginning with an introduction to the theory and practice of ecological engineering and ecosystem services, the book addresses a wide variety of issues central to the restoration and remediation of ecological environments. The book contains fulsome analyses of the restoration, rehabilitation, conservation, sustainability, reconstruction, remediation, and reclamation of ecosystems using ecological engineering techniques. Case studies are used to highlight practical applications of the theory discussed within. The material in the Handbook of Ecological and Ecosystem Engineering is particularly relevant at a time when the human population is dramatically rising, and the exploitation of natural resources is putting increasing pressure on planetary ecosystems. The book demonstrates how modern scientific ecology can contribute to the greening of the environment through the inclusion of concrete examples of successful applied management. The book also includes: A thorough discussion of ecological engineering and ecosystem services theory and practice An exploration of ecological and ecosystem engineering economic and environmental revitalization An examination of the role of soil meso and macrofauna indicators for restoration assessment success in a rehabilitated mine site A treatment of the mitigation of urban environmental issues by applying ecological and ecosystem engineering A discussion of soil fertility restoration theory and practice Perfect for academic researchers, industry scientists, and environmental engineers working in the fields of ecological engineering, environmental science, and biotechnology, the Handbook of Ecological and Ecosystem Engineering also belongs on the bookshelves of environmental regulators and consultants, policy makers, and employees of non-governmental organizations working on sustainable development.




Overload!


Book Description

Timely advice for getting a grip on information overload in the workplace This groundbreaking book reveals how different kinds of information overload impact workers and businesses as a whole. It helps businesses get a grip on the financial and human costs of e-mail overload and interruptions and details how working in an information overloaded environment impacts employee productivity, efficiency, and morale. Explains how information?often in the form of e-mail messages, reports, news, Web sites, RSS feeds, blogs, wikis, instant messages, text messages, Twitter, and video conferencing walls?bombards and dulls our senses Explores what we do with information Documents how we created more and more information over centuries Reveals what all this information is doing Timely and thought-provoking, Overload! addresses the reality of?and solutions for?a problem to which no one is immune.







Digital Multimedia: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications


Book Description

Contemporary society resides in an age of ubiquitous technology. With the consistent creation and wide availability of multimedia content, it has become imperative to remain updated on the latest trends and applications in this field. Digital Multimedia: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications is an innovative source of scholarly content on the latest trends, perspectives, techniques, and implementations of multimedia technologies. Including a comprehensive range of topics such as interactive media, mobile technology, and data management, this multi-volume book is an ideal reference source for engineers, professionals, students, academics, and researchers seeking emerging information on digital multimedia.




Future Shock


Book Description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The classic work that predicted the anxieties of a world upended by rapidly emerging technologies—and now provides a road map to solving many of our most pressing crises. “Explosive . . . brilliantly formulated.” —The Wall Street Journal Future Shock is the classic that changed our view of tomorrow. Its startling insights into accelerating change led a president to ask his advisers for a special report, inspired composers to write symphonies and rock music, gave a powerful new concept to social science, and added a phrase to our language. Published in over fifty countries, Future Shock is the most important study of change and adaptation in our time. In many ways, Future Shock is about the present. It is about what is happening today to people and groups who are overwhelmed by change. Change affects our products, communities, organizations—even our patterns of friendship and love. But Future Shock also illuminates the world of tomorrow by exploding countless clichés about today. It vividly describes the emerging global civilization: the rise of new businesses, subcultures, lifestyles, and human relationships—all of them temporary. Future Shock will intrigue, provoke, frighten, encourage, and, above all, change everyone who reads it.




Wireless Sensor Network Technologies for the Information Explosion Era


Book Description

Wireless Sensor Network Technologies for Information Explosion Era The amount and value of information available due to rapid spread of information technology is exploding. Typically, large enterprises have approximately a petabyte of operational data stored in hundreds of data repositories supporting thousands of applications. Data storage volumes grow in excess of 50% annually. This growth is expected to continue due to vast proliferation of existing infor- tion systems and the introduction of new data sources. Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) represent one of the most notable examples of such new data sources. In recent few years, various types of WSNs have been deployed and the amount of information generated by wireless sensors increases rapidly. The information - plosion requires establishing novel data processing and communication techniques for WSNs. This volume aims to cover both theoretical and practical aspects - lated to this challenge, and it explores directions for future research to enable ef- cient utilization of WSNs in the information-explosion era. The book is organized in three main parts that consider (1) technical issues of WSNs, (2) the integration of multiple WSNs, and (3) the development of WSNs systems and testbeds for conducting practical experiments. Each part consists of three chapters.