Using ‘tangibles’ to promote novel forms of playful learning

Tangibles, in the form of physical artefacts that are electronically augmented and enhanced to trigger various digital events to happen, have the potential for providing innovative ways for children to play and learn, through novel forms of interacting and discovering. They offer, in addition, the scope for bringing playfulness back into learning. To this end, we designed an adventure game, where pairs of children have to discover as much as they can about a virtual imaginary creature called the Snark, through collaboratively interacting with a suite of tangibles. Underlying the design of the tangibles is a variety of transforms, which the children have to understand and reflect upon in order to make the Snark come alive and show itself in a variety of morphological and synaesthesic forms. The paper also reports on the findings of a study of the Snark game and discusses what it means to be engrossed in playful learning.     

The potential of satellite remote sensing for monitoring the onset of volcanic activity on Taipei’s doorstep

ABSTRACT

The Tatun Volcanic Group (TVG) in northern Taiwan is the sole volcanic region on the island, with its last eruptive episode around 5,500 years ago. It has been suggested that the TVG retains the capacity for volcanic explosivity which has the potential to devastate the nearby Taipei metropolitan area of 7 million inhabitants. Though the probability of future eruption is low by probabilistic estimation, the vulnerability to volcanic hazards is high for Taipei given that it is the centre of population, industry, and government for the island. An assessment of any activity precursors is thus vital but also particularly challenging. Here, we perform an eruption-potential assessment based on the analysis of a sixteen-year Land Surface Temperature (LST) time series of data derived from satellite-retrieved thermal imagery. A Hilbert-Huang Transform (HHT) is applied to decompose oscillatory components of various timescales within the LST time series. The annual-period components are compared with those from two active volcanoes in the Philippines to assess the potential of eruption cycles in the TVG. Results from the Philippine volcanoes show that annual-period components of LST tend to lose their regularity following an eruption. By contrast, the regular annual period component of LST of the TVG Taiwan suggests a quiet and resting status with no sign of an imminent eruption.     

Monitoring post-tsunami vegetation recovery in Phang-Nga province,Thailand, based on IKONOS imagery and field investigations – a contribution to the analysis of tsunami vulnerability of coastal ecosystems

A major tsunami in December 2004 devastated the coastal ecosystems along the Andaman Sea coast of Thailand. Since intact coastal ecosystems provide many important services for local communities at the Andaman Sea, it is crucial to investigate to what extent (in terms of percentage area and speed) the affected ecosystems were capable of recovering after the tsunami. Field measurements and multi-date IKONOS imagery were used to estimate the recovery and succession patterns of coastal vegetation types in the Phang-Nga province of Thailand, three years after the tsunami. Thus, this study contributes to a holistic understanding of the ecological vulnerability of the coastal area to tsunamis. A zone-based change detection approach is applied by comparing two change detection techniques: the first method involves the calculation of a recovery rate based on multi-temporal TNDVI (transformed normalized difference vegetation index) images (TNDVI approach), whereas the second approach is a combined approach of the change vector analysis (CVA). Although these two methods provide different types of information (quantitative for the TNDVI approach, qualitative for the CVA), they are comparable in terms of results and accuracies. The results reveal that recovery processes vary based on the type of the ecosystem and, furthermore, are strongly influenced by human activities. Grasslands, coconut plantations and the mixed vegetation cover could recover faster than the mangroves and casuarina forests. Among the forest ecosystems, recovery rates of casuarina forests were higher than for mangroves, but the recovery area was smaller. This study also discusses the potential and some limitations and inaccuracies of applying high-resolution optical imagery for assessing vegetation recovery at a local scale.     

Using satellite remote sensing analysis to evaluate a socio-economic and ecological model of deforestation in Rondônia,Brazil

The effectiveness of an integrated socio-economic and ecological simulation model for estimating patterns and rates of deforestation in Rondônia, Brazil is evaluated using Landsat data and landscape pattern metrics. The Percent Cleared, Contagion, and Fractal Dimension of image classifications are compared to those determined from model outputs. Results indicate that rates and spatial patterns of deforestation are similar between model outputs and Landsat image analysis. Differences in clearing patterns between the model and Landsat data are due in part to topography, localized farming obstacles and the patchiness of clearings. The effects of varying spatial resolution on the metrics is also examined.     

A Reply to “Comments on ‘ The use made of the speedometer as an aid to driving’ ”

A foot plethysmograph is described and evaluated. It is intended for recording changes in foot volume when the instrument has to be removed from the foot between measurements to make physical activity possible. The mean sensitivity was ±0·5 ml and the mean experimental error 1·6 ml or 0·16% of the mean foot volume (n = 37). The accuracy of the method is thus considerably higher than that of previously reported methods for corresponding applications. In addition, it is inexpensive and can easily be used outside the laboratory.     

The ‘transfer of skill’ and the ‘transfer of human relations’ to machine systems

The necessity and opportunity for face-to-face contact with other colleagues is being increasingly reduced as a result of factory automation (FA) or office automation (OA). This means that human functions which are a result of human contact and relationships are substituted for by the function of machine systems. This transfer of relations from the human system to the machine system causes isolation of the individual in the process of work. This chapter considers some reasons for isolation with particular reference to the computerisation of production systems. The paper addresses the serious consequences for the environmental situation in Japan and the fabric of Japanese society.     

Reply to ‘Feasibility of neural network approach in spectral mixture analysis of reflectance spectra’

Neural Networks (NN) have proliferated during recent years, and are widely used in the scientific environment, particularly providing interpretation of results acquired by spectroscopic techniques. Separately and independently, these results were historically analysed and interpreted with ‘classical techniques’, derived from statistical formulations. The purpose of this reply is to analyse under what conditions NN methods have a better performance than the statistical methods, when it is necessary to process a spectrum obtained by a linear spectroscopic technique. The use of Neural Networks methods instead of purely statistical methods for linear spectra analysis and interpretation is discussed.     

Exploring the role of citizen journalism in slum improvement: the case of ‘Voice of Kibera’

This paper explores the role of citizen journalism in the improvement of slums through the Voice of Kibera (VoK) case study. To meet the research objectives, both qualitative and quantitative methods are applied. The study used content analysis, a survey and interview techniques. It concluded that citizen journalism in the VoK uses a participatory, bottom-up approach, with the residents taking a lead role in the production and consumption of news, and that it plays its part in improving the lives of people in Kibera, contributing to governance and processes of democracy. The core development values of participation and empowerment are central to this study, which examines how these values are being impacted on by information technology interventions in the communications area. The research also concludes that citizen journalism may be sustainable if it is financed, promoted, resourced with professional journalists, equipped with new technologies and citizens continue to participate. Lack of cooperation from the audience, finance both for the running of the project, salary and technical problems were cited as the major challenges of citizen journalism.     

Using the health belief model to explore users' perceptions of ‘being safe and secure’ in the world of technology mediated financial transactions

Fraudulent transactions occurring via the Internet or Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) present a considerable problem for financial institutions and consumers alike. Whilst a number of technological improvements have helped reduce the likelihood of security breaches, users themselves have an integral role to play in reducing technology mediated fraud. This paper focuses on the role of the user, specifically capturing information about their perceptions and behaviour when using technology to complete financial transactions. Semi-structured interviews with twenty-nine participants were conducted to increase knowledge and understanding in this domain. The findings are guided by the components of the health belief model (HBM) which is used as a framework for exploring critical issues associated with behavioural change. Results indicate that users typically felt safe and secure whilst conducting financial transactions online and at the ATM. The users' perceived level of threat was low mainly because they thought it unlikely that they would be a victim of fraud and because of a reduced sense of responsibility for any negative outcomes. Whilst users were aware at a superficial level of what fraudulent activities take place they were less sure about behaviours designed to counteract fraud and their potential efficacy. Furthermore, security concerns among ATM users were not as high as concerns among Internet users with Internet users appearing to take more individual responsibility for their more personal technologies in more private spaces. The paper concludes with some practical implications based around the HBM suggesting user focused ways forward for encouraging secure behaviour.     

A monitoring indicator system for remote sensing of grassland vegetation growth and suitability evaluation – a case study of the Xilingol Grassland in Inner Mongolia,China

Grassland vegetation growth directly reflects plant growth conditions, and growth processes are an important component of ecological status assessments of grasslands and can provide timely guidance for agricultural production. In this study, the Xilingol Grassland in Inner Mongolia was used as the study area, and a monitoring indicator system for the remote sensing of grassland vegetation growth was established based on 16 days of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data and ground sampling data, which were used to assess the suitability of the indicator system. A monitoring indicator system for the remote sensing of grassland vegetation that included the modified growth index (MGI)-normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), MGI-enhanced vegetation index (EVI), growth index (GI)-NDVI, and GI-EVI was established by using the year 2000 as the base year, two vegetation indices and difference and normalized difference methods. A model for estimating the ground growth (g) was then constructed by using expert opinion scoring and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to determine the weights of vegetation coverage (c), height (h), and yield (y) in the ground plots, with the model calculated as follows: g = 0.2543c + 0.1848 h + 0.5609y. Additionally, the ground growth value was calculated according to the ground growth model, and the values obtained from the remote-sensing indicators in the corresponding region were subjected to a correlation analysis based on this partition. The remote-sensing growth indices suitable for temperate steppe, meadow steppe, and desert steppe regions were GI-EVI, MGI-NDVI, and GI-NDVI, respectively. Finally, vegetation growth in the Xilingol Grassland was evaluated using the optimal remote-sensing GI for each area, and the results indicated that the areas with the greatest growth improvement occurred in the temperate steppe region followed by the meadow steppe region, whereas vegetation growth improvement was insignificant in the desert steppe region. The results of this study have important significance for the economic development and ecological environmental improvement of pastoral and semi-pastoral regions and can be used to determine the optimal use and scientific management of grasslands.     

Remote sensing ‘ground-based automatic UV / visible spectrometer’ for the study of atmospheric trace gases

An advance remote sensing instrument, the ‘ground-based automatic UV / visible spectrometer’, has been developed indigenously at Pune (18° 31′ N, 73° 55′ E) to cover the spectra (462–498 nm) of zenith sky scattered light. A spectrometry technique is used to find out the vertical column density (VCD) of many atmospheric trace gases, such as NO₂, O₃, H₂O and O₄. The VCDs of these gases are extracted from observed spectra by comparing the magnitude of the differential optical depth (DOD) of each species in the 462–498 nm spectral range. Slant column densities (SCDs) of each species are found to increase with solar zenith angle (SZA), due to the approaching higher path length of sunlight. The VCDs of O₃ and NO₂ derived by the UV / visible spectrometer are compared with the ozone monitoring instrument (OMI) Aura satellite and ground-based Brewer spectrometer data. The compared VCD values are found to be close to satellite and ground-based measurements.     

Reply to remarks on the paper ‘A direct method for computing optimal feedback control for linear systems’

The method or generalized orthogonal polynomials (GOP) is applied to the analysis and optimal control of time-varying systems. The proposed GOP can represent all kinds of individual orthogonal-polynomial and non-orthogonal Taylor series. The operational matrix for the forward and backward integration of the generalized orthogonal polynomials, and the operational matrix of the product of r' and the generalized orthogonal-polynomial vector are derived and applied to time-varying systems. By using these three kinds of operational matrices, the computational algorithm for calculating the expansion coefficients is very simple and effective. Three satisfactory examples illustrate the usefulness of the method.