The role of Internet-specific epistemic beliefs in laypersons’ source evaluations and decisions during Web search on a medical issue

This study investigated the predictive value of epistemic beliefs about knowledge and knowing on the Web for source evaluations and post-search decisions when university students (n = 79) searched the Web to make an informed decision about a conflicting and unfamiliar medical issue. Epistemic beliefs were assessed with the Internet-Specific Epistemological Questionnaire (ISEQ) and processing of source information was measured through eye tracking, log files, and verbal protocols. Furthermore, Web users’ post-search decisions and their basis for those decisions were assessed. Results from multiple regression analyses indicated that beliefs in the Web as a reliable resource of accurate knowledge and detailed facts were related to decreased verbal reflection on the credibility and type of sources and decreased attention to the URLs of the search results, as well as a greater certainty in the post-search decision. In addition, doubts about the need to check knowledge claims on the Web against other sources, reason, and prior knowledge were related to a more one-sided representation of the conflicting issue. In conclusion, the findings suggested that Internet-specific certainty, source, and structure beliefs primarily play a role in source evaluation, while Internet-specific beliefs about the justification for knowing primarily play a role in constructing a complete representation of document contents.     

Knowledge acquisition and knowledge representation with class: the object-oriented paradigm

Knowledge acquisition and knowledge representation are the fundamental building blocks of knowledge-based systems (KBSs). How to efficiently elicit knowledge from experts and transform this elicited knowledge into a machine usable format is a significant and time consuming problem for KBS developers. Object-orientation provides several solutions to persistent knowledge acquisition and knowledge representation problems including transportability, knowledge reuse, and knowledge growth. An automated graphical knowledge acquisition tool is presented, based upon object-oriented principles. The object-oriented graphical interface provides a modeling platform that is easily understood by experts and knowledge engineers. The object-oriented base for the automated KA tool provides a representation independent methodology that can easily be mapped into any other object-oriented expert system or other object-oriented intelligent tools.     

Information technology and the search for organizational agility: A systematic review with future research possibilities

Organizations are increasingly turning to information technology (IT) to help them respond to unanticipated environmental threats and opportunities. In this paper, we introduce a systematic review of the literature on IT-enabled agility, helping to establish the boundary between what we know and what we don’t know. We base our review on a wide body of literature drawn from the AIS Basket of Eight IT journals, a cross-section of non-Basket journals, IT practitioner outlets, and premier international IS conferences. We review the use of different theoretical lenses used to investigate the relationship between IT and organizational agility and how the literature has conceptualized agility, its antecedents, and consequences. We also map the evolution of the literature through a series of stages that highlight how researchers have built on previous work. Lastly, we discuss opportunities for future research in an effort to close important gaps in our understanding.     

Making the Internet accessible for people with cognitive and communication Impairments

This paper provides an overview of the work of the European Union (EU) World Wide Augmentative and Alternative Communication (WWAAC) project, which aims to make the electronic highway more accessible to people with cognitive and communication impairments, in particular those persons using symbols instead of text to communicate. Many of these users will also be users of alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) devices. The appropriateness of guidelines from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) are discussed, with the finding that few specific guidelines are available to make Web sites truly accessible and usable for these user groups. We propose that additional guidelines are required in order to facilitate access to Web pages for AAC users. Requirements capture and preliminary evaluation activities within the project have led to the development of draft guidelines that will be refined and validated as the project reaches its final evaluation phase. These draft guidelines are discussed along with other developments needed in this area.     

远程教学中面向对象的知识模型及其MAS实现

研究分析了远程教学发展现状，指出了第一代远程教育模式的不足之处，并提出了新一代远程教学模式：提供个性化服务的智能化远程教学。深入研究了智能化教学平台的组织结构；详细阐述了面向对象知识模型的实现机理和提供个性化服务的智能化控制策略。     

Teacher factors associated with innovative curriculum goals and pedagogical practices: differences between extensive and non‐extensive ICT‐using science teachers

Second Information Technology in Education Study (SITES) 2006 was an international study about pedagogical practices and the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in math and science classrooms. One of the findings of SITES 2006 was that – across educational systems – a proportion of the math and science teachers in the 22 countries researched in the SITES 2006 study were using ICT extensively and their pedagogy was oriented towards lifelong learning which is considered relevant for the 21st century. Starting from this finding, a secondary analysis has been conducted to explore differences between extensive and non‐extensive ICT‐using science teachers with respect to pedagogical orientation, ICT competencies and professional engagement. Based on selected questions from the SITES 2006 teacher questionnaire, indicators have been developed for these constructs. Differences between the two groups were calculated using simple t‐tests and effect sizes. The findings showed that both groups of science teachers had a pedagogical orientation that reflected traditionally important as well as lifelong learning curriculum goals and practices, but extensive ICT‐using science teachers, much more than their non‐extensive ICT‐using colleagues pursued curriculum goals and practices that are oriented towards lifelong learning. In addition, extensive ICT‐using science teachers appeared more confident about their ICT competencies and felt more professionally engaged; two factors that were also found in other studies to positively relate to a lifelong learning orientation towards teaching and learning.