19. ICST Transactions on E-Education and E-Learning
Dr. Giovanni Vincenti
Gruppo Vincenti, S.r.l.
Rome, Italy
giovanni.vincenti@gmail.com
James Braman
Towson University
Towson, MD, USA
james.braman@gmail.com
WEB
Scope:
Education is one domain that has accompanied civilization through the centuries, adapting its tools to fulfill the expectations of the students and the needs of the teachers. Such tools can be as obvious and traditional as pencils and a notebook, or as complex and innovative as websites and multi-user virtual environments. Typical in-person learning environments, such as classrooms and meeting rooms, are at times not the best solution to enable and maximize a student’s ability to learn. Although they do fulfill their purpose of giving students the possibility of reaching course material and instructors, they also create a barrier that cannot be easily overcome.
Web-based instruction and multi-user virtual environments break the time-limited barrier innate to typical lectures and explore, through innovative technologies, a concept as old as humankind: socialization and the feeling of belonging to a community. Many universities, public institutions and private businesses are projecting themselves on the Internet and in virtual worlds to reach the customer at any time, giving them the idea of virtual presence that cannot be delivered through a simple website. This observation sparks the idea that is at the very foundation of this publication.
This journal wants to become a central repository of information about the utilization of on-line education through web-based instruction and multi-user virtual environments as a key element in education. As we dive into the information available about this topic, we can find several conferences and many websites that discuss this topic, but few resources that systematically organize the knowledge available. With this journal we wish to create such a metaphorical pole of attraction that will serve as a one-stop resource to teachers, researchers and practitioners who wish to access information of high quality and broad coverage.
Topics to be discussed in this journal focus on (but not limited to) the following concepts:
- Teaching / Educational Models and Frameworks
- Accessibility and usability of web-based instruction in the classroom
- Best Practices
- Developing courses and content to be used in on-line educational environments
- Student engagement
- Experiments
- Impacts of on-line on traditional teaching and learning strategies
- Cost analysis
EIC’s keywords:
Teaching, Multi-User Virtual Environments, Learning, Classroom Extension, Teaching Practices, Education Research, Distance Learning, Instructional Technologies, Computer-Based Training, On-line Education,
Editor in Chief:
Dr. Giovanni Vincenti
Gruppo Vincenti, S.r.l.
Rome, Italy
giovanni.vincenti@gmail.com
James Braman
Towson University
Towson, MD, USA
james.braman@gmail.com
WEB
Dr. Giovanni VINCENTI:
Giovanni Vincenti received his Doctorate of Science in Applied Information Technology from Towson University in 2007 after an academic career that focused on Bioinformatics through a B.A. in Biology and an M.S. In Computer Science. He is in charge of Research and Development at Gruppo Vincenti, a small but dynamic company with interests across several fields. His main areas of research include Fuzzy Mediation, Technology-Based Education and Emotionally-Aware Agency. He held several academic positions, including a Lecturership with the Department of Computer and Information Sciences at Towson University. He published his findings at several regional, national and international conferences. He coauthored an edited book with James Braman, titled “Handbook of Research on Computational Arts and Creative Informatics”. He is currently working on a second book, titled “Teaching through Multi-User Virtual Environments: Applying Dynamic Elements to the Modern Classroom”. His interest in education and technology-based instruction comes from years of direct interaction with students in the classroom and empirical experiences that formed him as a teacher.
James BRAMAN:
James Braman is a Lecturer for the Computer and Information Sciences Department at Towson University. He holds a Master’s degree in Computer Science from Towson University and is currently a doctoral candidate in Applied Information Technology. His current research focus includes art and technology, intelligent agents, simulated emotions and education in virtual and immersive environments. He has been utilizing and experimenting with virtual environments over the past several years for teaching and learning. Integrating virtual environments into the higher educational classroom has become a focal interest over the years. He hopes that by conducting workshops, publishing at conferences and by pushing the edge of these types of technologies in the modern classroom, we can enhance both teaching and learning.
Editorial Board:
Adams, Nan - Nan.Adams@selu.edu
Coinu, Marco - mcoinu@studiosaperessere.it
Dill, Nancy - ndill@email.arizona.edu
Hackett, Nicole - nicole@veconnection.com
Jinman, Andrew - Andrew_jinman@hotmail.com
Meiselwitz, Gabriele - gmeiselwitz@towson.edu
Salmon, Gilly - gilly.salmon@leicester.ac.uk
Trajkovski, Goran - goran.trajkovski@gmail.com
Wood, Denise - deniwood@gmail.com