How to replace an old email system with a new

All organizations that use email face changes in their email systems. While some of these are only a change of version that has little effect on the organization, many will replace old email systems with new ones, and this may have severe consequences. A case study is presented where the replacement of two old mainframe-based email systems with Lotus Notes failed. Based on this failure, seven important requirements are defined to reduce problems organizations face when replacing old email systems with new ones. These requirements are supported with results from other research.     

Scheduling training for a tank battalion: How to measure readiness

This paper shows how to measure the readiness for a military unit, with the example of a tank battalion. We first show that training readiness can be measured by the minimum makespan of the training schedule. We call this the train-up problem. Second, the effect of a peacetime budget on the training readiness can be calculated by solving the readiness budget problem. Third, the resources required for training can be determined with the readiness capacity problem. To solve these problems, we give a dynamic program (DP) for one unit such as a company, and a column generation algorithm for an aggregate unit such as a battalion.     

Haptic systems for training sensorimotor skills: A use case in surgery

Learning and training sensorimotor tasks typically involve different phases. Usually, the trainee has first to understand the task. He can read books, listen to explanations, look at videos or observe other people. Then he has to perform the task, either on his own or under the supervision of a mentor, to build his own perception action loops. With time and practice, he will progress towards expertise, more efficiently if he receives an appropriate feedback. This common approach has however a limited applicability for safety-critical tasks and for partially blindfolded activities heavily relying on haptics, both commonly found in surgery. Safety issues prevent initial trials and errors and require good performance on the first trial just from explanations and observation, exactly what is missing for blindfolded activities and difficult for complex movements with force accuracy requirements. Haptic systems and virtual reality (VR) technologies allow reproducing such situations, yet without risks for the patient, and offer new opportunities for training. The trainee can learn the task on a multimodal console until he has reached a sufficient proficiency level before moving to the operating room (OR). In this paper, we present how this approach was applied in the context of maxillofacial surgery (MFS). A novel training platform offering high fidelity haptic interactions was specified, developed and evaluated. The first results tend to prove its efficiency in qualifying expertise and training people.     

Culture and HCI: a review of recent cultural studies in HCI and social networks

Studies on culture in HCI have always drawn the attention of academics. A comprehensive literature review of recent HCI studies on culture becomes a necessity. This study followed a systematic approach to review and create taxonomy of recent literature on culture from various HCI disciplines and how that relates to Social Networks. Most of the literature review focuses on recent studies on culture published in the last 5 years. The literature review reveals that understanding cultural values of people requires deep research. It highlights the complications of culture when it comes to interface design and makes some recommendations on designing more acceptable user interfaces. Understanding cultural values is essential for the design of successful and widely accepted user interfaces. The attempt of this study is to increase cultural awareness of people involved in international or cross-cultural HCI projects.     

Rethinking HCI Education for Design: Problem-Based Learning and Virtual Worlds at an HCI Design Studio

The practice of teaching and learning human–computer interaction (HCI) design has to develop its own approaches that balance method and technology use with reflective and situated practice. This article presents our HCI design studio course that makes a combined use of constructivist pedagogies and virtual worlds aiming to aid students critically review and reflect on the use of related methods and technologies in design and to cultivate more general skills like self-directed learning, intrinsic motivation, and critical thinking. Our HCI design studio course can be thought of as an iterative and incremental teaching and learning process that blends HCI methods, design practice, and technology between a real and a virtual design studio. The course introduces problem-based learning to the pedagogies of project-based learning and studio-based learning currently employed in most HCI design studios. The positive student responses and our reflection and experiences focusing on a number of challenges for further implementation are also outlined.     

Making HCI theory work: an analysis of the use of activity theory in HCI research

This paper reports a study of the use of activity theory in human–computer interaction (HCI) research. We analyse activity theory in HCI since its first appearance about 25 years ago. Through an analysis and meta-synthesis of 109 selected HCI activity theory papers, we created a taxonomy of 5 different ways of using activity theory: (1) analysing unique features, principles, and problematic aspects of the theory; (2) identifying domain-specific requirements for new theoretical tools; (3) developing new conceptual accounts of issues in the field of HCI; (4) guiding and supporting empirical analyses of HCI phenomena; and (5) providing new design illustrations, claims, and guidelines. We conclude that HCI researchers are not only users of imported theory, but also theory-makers who adapt and develop theory for different purposes.     

An augmented reality training platform for assembly and maintenance skills

Training technicians to acquire new maintenance and assembly skills is important for various industries. Because maintenance and assembly tasks can be very complex, training technicians to efficiently perform new skills is challenging. Training of this type can be supported by Augmented Reality, a powerful industrial training technology that directly links instructions on how to perform the service tasks to the machine parts that require processing. Because of the increasing complexity of maintenance tasks, it is not sufficient to train the technicians in task execution. Instead, technicians must be trained in the underlying skills—sensorimotor and cognitive—that are necessary for the efficient acquisition and performance of new maintenance operations.These facts illustrate the need for efficient training systems for maintenance and assembly skills that accelerate the technicians’ acquisition of new maintenance procedures. Furthermore, these systems should improve the adjustment of the training process for new training scenarios and enable the reuse of worthwhile existing training material. In this context, we have developed a novel concept and platform for multimodal Augmented Reality-based training of maintenance and assembly skills, which includes sub-skill training and the evaluation of the training system. Because procedural skills are considered as the most important skills for maintenance and assembly operations, we focus on these skills and the appropriate methods for improving them.     

Database systems: challenges and opportunities for graphical HCI

Databases and their applications form one of the most important classes of computer systems yet they have received relatively little attention from the HCI community. They have nevertheless spawned some notably innovative user interfaces and it is interesting to examine these in the light of contemporary HCI issues. The paper addresses the relationship between HCI and database systems, reviews some of the major themes running through existing database user interfaces and postulates some issues which are likely to be important to database usability in the future. The underlying argument is that databases are sufficiently different from other classes of application to necessitate a raft of user interface techniques specifically for the needs of database users which would reward increased attention by the HCI community.     

HCI and Societal Issues: A Framework for Engagement

Human-computer interaction (HCI) is much broader than the study of interface design and input devices. It includes considerations of the social, political, ethical, and societal implications of computer systems. Concerns such as privacy, accessibility, universal design, and voting usability have led to active HCI research. Our examination of HCI responses to these and other issues informs a model of social engagement based on societal influences that motivate various responses from the HCI community. This model provides suggestions for engagement with issues that are likely to grow in importance over the next several years. By focusing on these issues, HCI researchers may make still greater contributions toward addressing societal concerns.     

Crossing the boundaries of safe operation: An approach for training technical skills in error management

Robust error management within the cockpit is crucial to aviation safety. Crew resource management (CRM) focuses on non-technical skills for error management but the training of technical skills for error detection and error recovery is also a potentially valuable strategy. We propose a theoretical basis for training technical skills in error management as well as a cognitively oriented technique for analysing accidents and incidents to identify specific training requirements. To evaluate the strengths and limitations of this new approach, we present a case study of its application to the F-111, a strike aircraft in the Royal Australian Air Force. This case study demonstrates that the new training approach is both feasible and useful, although an empirical validation of the approach is still necessary. In addition, the case study highlights the limitations of the current F-111 simulator for training technical skills for error detection and error recovery.

Restricted compositions and permutations: From old to new Gray codes

Any Gray code for a set of combinatorial objects defines a total order relation on this set: x is less than y if and only if y occurs after x in the Gray code list. Let ? denote the order relation induced by the classical Gray code for the product set (the natural extension of the Binary Reflected Gray Code to k-ary tuples). The restriction of ? to the set of compositions and bounded compositions gives known Gray codes for those sets. Here we show that ? restricted to the set of bounded compositions of an interval yields still a Gray code. An n-composition of an interval is an n-tuple of integers whose sum lies between two integers; and the set of bounded n-compositions of an interval simultaneously generalizes product set and compositions of an integer, and so ? put under a single roof all these Gray codes.As a byproduct we obtain Gray codes for permutations with a number of inversions lying between two integers, and with even/odd number of inversions or cycles. Such particular classes of permutations are used to solve some computational difficult problems.     

A VR training system for learning and skills development for construction workers

Virtual Reality - There is a looming shortage of well-trained professionals in the wood construction workforce. To challenge this shortage, we developed a simulated learning environment that...     

Computerized working memory training: Can it lead to gains in cognitive skills in students?

Given that working memory is an important cognitive skill that is linked to academic success, there is increasing attention given to exploring ways to support working memory problems in struggling students. One promising approach is computerized training, and the aim of the present study focused on whether computerized working memory training could result in both near and far transfer training effects; and whether such effects would be maintained over time. Students were allocated into one of three groups: Nonactive Control, Active Control, where they trained once a week (WMT-Low frequency); Training group, where they trained four times a week (WMT-High frequency). All three groups were tested on measures of working memory, verbal and nonverbal ability, and academic attainment before training; and re-tested on the same measures after training, as well as 8 months later. The data indicate gains in both verbal and visuo-spatial working memory tasks for the high-frequency Training group. Improvements were also evidenced in tests of verbal and nonverbal ability tests, as well as spelling, in the high-frequency Training group. There were some maintenance effects when students were tested 8 months later. Possible reasons for why the computerized working memory training led to some far transfer effects in the high-frequency Training group are included in the discussion.     

Net neighbours: adapting HCI methods to cross the digital divide

This paper describes the development of Net Neighbours, an online shopping scheme that widens internet access to older people via volunteer telephone intermediaries. It outlines the processes of: problem identification, designing the telephone interaction, the financial model and the interface for the volunteer. It describes the application and adaptation of human computer interaction (HCI) techniques to address the needs of the local charity that co-developed the scheme. The paper begins by reporting the ethnographic work that led to the scheme; it then describes the pilot study conducted with Age Concern, York. It maps the various possible configurations for the scheme in a series of financial models expressed in tree diagrams and goes on to describe the use of pastiche scenarios in developing designs. Pastiche scenarios draw on fiction as a resource to explore, in an engaging manner, the social issues raised by technological innovations; the paper presents extracts from three such scenarios that were used to reason about dependability issues with Age Concern staff. The scheme is ongoing and plans are currently being made to extend it by recruiting university staff and other office workers as volunteer intermediaries. It is hoped that the scheme will become widely available across the city and in other locations around the UK. It is argued that volunteer telephone intermediaries can bridge digital divides and make Internet services accessible to those excluded either by age, disability or lack of resources. The development of the scheme is a case study in the ways that HCI techniques can be adopted and adapted in order to design for civil society.     

A dyadic protocol for training complex skills: a replication using female participants

The effectiveness and efficiency of the active interlocked modeling (AIM) dyadic protocol in training complex skills has been extensively demonstrated. However, past evaluation studies have all used male participants exclusively. Consequently, the present study investigated the generalizability of the effectiveness and efficiency gains to women. We randomly assigned 108 female participants to either the AIM-dyad condition or a standard individual control training condition. The results supported the robustness and viability of the AIM protocol. Although their overall performance was lower than that obtained for men in previous studies, women trained in the AIM-dyad condition performed as well as those trained in the individual condition. Thus, the efficiency gains associated with the AIM-dyad protocol, which result from the ability to train two people simultaneously to reach the same performance level as a single person with no increase in training time or machine cost, are generalizable to female participants. The applied and basic research implications of the present study are discussed within the context of well-documented male/female differences in the performance of complex psychomotor tasks. For instance, given the number of women entering the workforce and the significant proportion of women in professions previously deemed to be male-dominated (e.g., air navigation), it is reassuring to know that sex differences in task performance do not necessarily imply sex differences in the effectiveness of training protocols.     

Common needs and different agendas: How trainee teachers make progress in their ability to use ICT in subject teaching. Some lessons from the UK

The paper reports on the outcomes of a British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (BECTa) funded study which explored the views of teacher trainees and their mentors in two different school subjects on what strategies, interventions and resources had a positive impact on their ability to use ICT effectively in their subject teaching.The research aimed to explore both commonalities in trainees’ views of which strategies and interventions had a positive influence on their ability to use ICT effectively in subject teaching, and subject discipline dimensions of ICT use, i.e. the ways in which training needs might vary between trainees in different school subjects.The study focused on the views of two successive cohorts of science and history trainees (133 trainees in all), and 21 of their supervising mentors. The outcomes showed that some important determinants of progression in the ability to deploy ICT confidently and effectively in subject teaching were common to both subject groups, but that there were differing views on which ICT applications offered most potential for enhancing teaching and learning in their subject and differences in their preferred priorities for investment in ICT. The study also revealed that trainees felt that many of the experiences and resources which they had encountered in the course of their training had not been helpful.A follow up survey was undertaken of 114 trainees across six subject areas to further explore some of the findings from the initial survey. The concluding section of the paper suggests ways in which trainee teachers might be prepared more effectively for using ICT in their subject teaching.     

浅谈中等职业学校学生专业技能培养初探——以计算机及应用专业为例简

本文通过进一步划分专业方向、技能目标、教学组织和控制等适当改革,真正做到因才实教。学生围绕技能目标,加强动手练习,强化技能训练,提高学生专业技能素养,成为计算机技术能手,真正做到“一技在手,就业无忧”。     

How gamers manage aggression: Situating skills in collaborative computer games

In the discussion on what players learn from digital games, there are two major camps in clear opposition to each other. As one side picks up on negative elements found in games the other side focuses on positive aspects. While the agendas differ, the basic arguments still depart from a shared logic: that engagement in game-related activities fosters the development of behaviors that are transferred to situations beyond the game itself. With an approach informed by ethnomethodology, in this paper we probe the underlying logic connected to studies that argue for such general effects of games. By focusing on proficient gamers involved in the core game activity of boss encounters in a massively multiplayer online game, we examine the fundamentals that must be learnt and mastered for succeeding in an ordinary collaborative gaming practice where aggression is portrayed. On the basis of our empirical analysis we then address the contentious links between concrete instances of play and generic effects. As expected, the results point to “aggression” as well as “collaboration” as major components in the gaming experience, but our analysis also suggests that the practices associated with these notions are locally tied to the game. Based on these results, we propose that to reverse this relationship and claim that game environments foster collaboration or aggression in general first assumes strong theoretical claims about the nature of cognition and learning, and second, risks confusing the debate with hyperbole.