Bruck Multimedia and E-Content Trends

Implications for Academia
1. Auflage 2009
ISBN: 978-3-8348-9313-0
Verlag: Vieweg & Teubner
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 195 Seiten, Web PDF

Reihe: Computer Science

The rapidly changing IT market challenges universities, particularly with regard to their teaching methods. It is essential that teaching models keep pace with the fast developing IT industries in order to meet the requirements of the companies involved.

The papers of the present volume are a selection from the following panels of the 2007 Academic Network Conference in Graz: - Augmented Realities and Smart Interfaces - Mobile Location Based Applications - The Mobile Content Paradigm - Current Mega Trends for E-Content Development - Teaching Models

The authors reflect the preoccupation of academia with the latest trends in e-content and communication technologies, such as going mobile or discovering new, innovative interfaces. Finally, they introduce new learning methods with interactive media.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Bruck, Peter A.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction: the Technological and Economic Dynamics of the Multimedia Content Industry.- Introduction: the Technological and Economic Dynamics of the Multimedia Content Industry.- Augmented Realities and Smart Interfaces.- TangibleCubes — Implementation of Tangible User Interfaces through the Usage of Microcontroller and Sensor Technology.- Investigation on the Relationships among Media Characteristics, Presence, Flow, and Learning Effects in Augmented Reality Based Learning.- Visualization of Machine-Aided Measurements of People Counts in Different Infrastructures.- Mobile Location Based Applications.- Pushing Location Based Games Further — How To Gain End User Suitability.- Mobile Game Based Learning: Designing a Mobile Location Based Game.- Thessaloniki’s City Guide: a Tourist Site for Handheld Devices.- The Mobile Content Paradigm.- The Mobile Paradigm for Content Development.- The Complexities of Developing Accessible Web Content for Mobile Devices.- Current Mega Trends in e-Content Creation.- Teen Appeal — Touching the Moving Point.- Happiness and the Family 2.0 Paradigm.- Aesthetics as an Attribute to Usability: a Critique of (Some) Previous Works.- Teaching Models.- Is it Possible to Conciliate “e-Learning”, “Learning By Doing” and “Cross Cultural” Approaches when Learning New Technologies?.- Events as Organisational Stories: an Event-Based Approach for Learning Media Production.- The Learning Effectiveness of Cross-Discipline Collaboration Within a Media Production BA Project.

Leseproben

The Complexities of Developing Accessible Web Content for Mobile Devices (S. 111-112)

Richard Hancock, UK

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the development of accessible mobile content and the complexities that arise during this process. The paper gives an overview of the popularity and advantages of mobile devices before tackling the issues surrounding content development, particularly within an educational context. The paper concludes with an overview of an application that was developed for higher education students within a UK college that had a mobile counterpart, allowing the artefact to transcend the typical desktop environment.

1 Perceptions of Mobile Phones

The rise of the mobile phone and its popularity amongst the populations has been well documented and is comparative to the explosive use of the World Wide Web during the mid 1990’s. The perception of a mobile phone is still predominantly rooted in that of a voice communications device, but advances in technology have begun to change that view. With the development of smart phones and personal data assistants (PDA’s) the gap separating computing and the phone has diminished significantly.

In their book Mobile Interaction Design, Jones and Marsden (2006), indicate that as the processing power of mobile devices has increased, so too has the variety of uses that the device can be put to. This has lead to the creation of multi-functional devices that not only allow voice communication, but also mobile applications, video and music playback and mobile gaming. Business has already put the mobile technology to use, from equipping workers with PDA’s and Blackberry’s to developing a mobile variation of their Web presence. However, the educational sector has seen a much slower uptake of the technology and despite its apparent advantages there appear to be many barriers to its successful implementation. This paper will examine some of these barriers.

2 The mobile advantage

When dealing with mobile devices, particularly mobile phones, PDA’s, and smart phones, there are a number of positive factors that can be attributed to them. Firstly, buying a mobile phone in full is cheaper than buying a personal computer or laptop. Costs are further reduced when one is bought with some sort of service contract. Some smart phones now have processing power equal to that of the Pentium 3 CPU available at the turn of the millennium, allowing for the development of richer applications. Some mobile and smart phones today have more storage capacity than personal computers of six years ago, and they also have better communications technology, such as Bluetooth, WiFi and USB. Coupled with high resolution cameras and touch screen interfaces the modern handheld has the potential to fulfil a wide variety of activities anytime, anywhere.

The popularity of these devices cannot be ignored. With over three times as many mobile phones as personal computers the penetration of mobile devices has reached and breached 100% in many countries. In the developing world’s it is far cheaper to implement wireless technology than to implement wired technology. The ITU (2004) indicates that 70% of telephone users in Africa have mobile rather than land-line connectivity, and that the African growth rate is some 65%. This popularity and penetration is driving continued development, and with huge sums of money being poured into development it’s safe to say that handheld devices will continue to evolve over time.

Über Autor(innen)

Professor Dr. Peter A. Bruck is the General Manager and Chief Researcher of the Research Studios Austria.