Friday, July 29, 2011

Multi -Touch Technology & Transdisciplinarity


Content
1. Multi-Touch Technology
2. Transdisciplinarity
3. Romanian Project

1. Multi-Touch Technology

Multi-touch technologies have a long history (Ref: Bill Buxton). What is Multi-touch? Ref.: http://solutions.3m.com (Touch Terminology)
Example. 2011: Surface 2.0 (Microsoft & Samsung) - www.microsoft.com/surface/

Ideas main. About Microsoft Surface:
  • 2001: Microsoft researchers Steve Bathiche and Andy Wilson developed idea of interactive table that could understand the manipulation of physical pieces.
  • 2007: Final structure finalised,interactive tabletop device was built that seamlessly brings both the physical and virtual worlds into one.
  • Direct interaction: Users can actually “grab” digital information with their hands and interact with content by touch and gesture, without the use of a mouse or keyboard.
  • Multi-touch contact: Surface computing recognizes many points of contact simultaneously, not just from one finger, as with a typical touch screen, but up to dozens and dozens of items at once.


2. Transdisciplinarity

"A NEW VISION OF THE WORLD - TRANSDISCIPLINARITY" by Basarab Nicolescu (Basarab Nicolescu is a major advocate of the transdisciplinary reconciliation between science and the humanities. He has published many articles on the role of science in contemporary culture in journals in France, Romania, Italy, United Kingdom, Brazil, Argentina, Japan and in the USA)

Who is Basarab Nicolescu ? Ref.:
The International Center for Transdisciplinary Research (CIRET)
- http://basarab.nicolescu.perso.sfr.fr/ciret/ro/visionro.htm
- http://basarab.nicolescu.perso.sfr.fr/ciret/indexen.html
- http://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basarab_Nicolescu
- http://basarab.nicolescu.perso.sfr.fr/Basarab/index.html
- http://basarab.nicolescu.perso.sfr.fr/Basarab/News.html

"Disciplinarity, multidisciplinarity, interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity are like four arrows shot from but a single bow: knowledge . The three pillars of transdisciplinarity - levels of Reality, the logic of the included middle, and complexity -- determine the methodology of transdisciplinary research." Basarab Nicolescu

"In our time, a Pico della Mirandola is inconceivable. Perhaps a Pico della Mirandola in our time could be conceivable if he took the form of a supercomputer into which one could load all the known data which has been generated by all existing disciplines. This supercomputer would be capable of knowing everything while understanding nothing. Its user would be no better off than the supercomputer itself. The user would have immediate access to any results from any discipline, but would be incapable of understanding their meanings, still less of making connections between the results of different disciplines." Basarab Nicolescu
Note 1: 1959: Gold medal at the First International Mathematics Olympiad, Brasov, Romania.
Note 2 : 2010: The ATLAS Ramamoorthy§Yeh Transdisciplinary Distinguished Award, offered by the Academy of Transdisciplinary Learning and Advanced Studies, Southwestern University, Georgetown, Texas, USA. Designated as Co-Editor-in-Chief of "Transdisciplinary Journal of Engineering&Science", USA.
Invited Talks (a selection):
- talk The Relationship Between Complex Thinking and Transdisciplinarity at the Symposium on Complex Systems Modeling and Complexity Thinking, Fondation Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, Maison Suger, Paris.
- talk Methodology of Transdisciplinarity - Levels of Reality, Logic of the Included middle and Complexity at the international congress "Transdisciplinary Sustainable Development", Southwestern University, Georgetown, Texas, USA.

3. Romanian Project

Multi - Touch project: "Educational process optimized in vision of knowledge society skills" Project 2009-2012. Integrated curriculum, inter-and transdisciplinary "Learning in the Knowledge Society"
Ref.: http://transdisciplinar.pmu.ro

"Societatea cunoaşterii presupune nu numai o extindere şi aprofundare a cunoaşterii umane, dar mai ales managementul cunoaşterii şi o diseminare fără precedent a cunoaşterii, către toţi cetăţenii, prin mijloace noi." Mihai Drăgănescu (1929-2010)

(in romanian)
Strategia de postaderare UE 2007-2013.
Proiect Multi - Touch „Proces educaţional optimizat în viziunea competenţelor societăţii cunoaşterii” (Curriculumului integrat, inter- şi transdisciplinar "Învăţare în societatea cunoaşterii"), cofinanţat din Fondul Social European (FSE) si implementat de Unitatea de management al proiectelor cu finanţare externă, din cadrul MECTS, în parteneriat cu SIVECO România şi Universitatea Naţională de Apărare "CAROL I" (Departamentul ADL).
Activitati principale:
- DEZVOLTAREA DE CURRICULUM TRANSDISCIPLINAR (dezvoltarea curriculumului transdisciplinar pentru domeniile stiintific si umanist, aferent nivelului liceal)
- DEZVOLTAREA DE MATERIALE DIDACTICE AFERENTE CURRICULUMULUI TRANSDISCIPLINAR (dezvoltare de aplicatii practice aferente continutului teoretic transdisciplinar, constand in proiecte didactice transdisciplinare
- IMPLEMENTAREA DE CURRICULUM SI MATERIALE DIDACTICE TRANSDISCIPLINARE-FORMARE (organizarea unui concurs de proiecte didactice transdisciplinare -dupa finalizarea implementarii, pentru toate liceele din tara grupate pe regiuni de dezvoltare; pentru fiecare regiune de dezvoltare va fi desemnat un liceu castigator, acesta urmand sa fie dotat cu laborator multi-touch: Achizitia publica de laboratoare multi-touch pentru 8 unitati de învatamânt - Fiecare laborator va contine 4 mese multi-touch, 1 tabla interactiva si videoproiector, 1 server, 1 calculator portabil, toate aceste echipamente fiind integrate într-o retea locala si conectate la Internet.)
- DEZVOLTAREA DE PROIECTE TRANSDISCIPLINARE PE BAZA TEHNOLOGIEI MULTI-TOUCH (continut curricular transdisciplinar adaptat pentru utilizare in cadrul laboratoarelor multi-touch -metodologie de scriere a scenariilor didactice, inclusiv formatul pe baza caruia vor fi elaborate scenariile, dezvoltate)
Concluzii
Utilizarea tehnologiei multi-touch implementează:
învăţarea activă prin explorare, valorificând rolul pozitiv al erorilor ca parte integrantă a procesului de învăţare; elevii pot crea experienţe greu accesibile din diverse motive (periculozitate, imposibilitate istorică, distanţa în spaţiu, costuri etc.); elevii pot testa evenimentele ce pot interveni într-un sistem dat, modificând variabilele acestora;
învăţarea prin acţiune, prin transferul de cunoştinţe şi deprinderi în contexte noi;
învăţarea colaborativă, participativă, bazată pe negociere şi partajare socială a rolurilor în cadrul grupului, dezvoltarea capacităţilor de lucru în echipă şi de raportare la ceilalţi;
învăţarea bazată pe proiect;
învăţarea în context.
Ref.: http://transdisciplinar.pmu.ro/resurse


Wednesday, July 27, 2011

The "Smart education" Project: 2015

UPDATE:
- 2014, CNIV Romania, Manuale digitale, provocări şi căutări – o premieră în România: http://c3.cniv.ro/
1. In Romania, Proiectul "e-book în loc de manuale şcolare" va fi implementat din 2013, Ref.: www.edumanager.ro
2. Olimpius Istrate, Ce se întâmplă când manualele sunt (doar) în format digital?, Ref.: http://www.elearning.ro/manuale-in-format-digital

TextBook vs. Tablet PC

S. Korea to digitise school books | Coreea de Sud schimbă manualele cu Tablete PC

The South Korean government has said it plans to digitise all textbooks for elementary, middle and high school students by 2015. This plan for "smart education" is aimed at helping students create their own study pattern, and lighten their backpacks.
Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/
"Ministerul Educaţiei, Ştiinţei şi Tehnologiei din Corea de Sud a anunţat un plan pentru migrarea de la manualele şcolare clasice, pe suport de hârtie, la manuale în format electronic. Ministerul a alocat proiectului suma de aproximativ două miliarde de dolari, iar tranziţia urmează să se finalizeze în 2015, când se estimează că toţi elevii din învăţământul primar vor beneficia de noile manuale, precum şi de dispozitive hardware corespunzătoare, tablet PC-uri sau telefoane smart. În următorii ani autorităţile trebuie să se asigure că toate materialele didactice vor fi digitalizate. Toţi elevii sud coreeni vor primi gratuit tabletele digitale, iar manualele vor fi disponibile pentru descărcare de pe serverele ministerului, prin intermediul reţelelor WiFi locale." Sursa: http://portal.edu.ro/index.php/articles/11512
Tablet PC – calculator portabil al cărui ecran (de regulă cu o diagonală de 12 inchi) îndeplineşte o funcţie dublă: cea de afişare a informaţiei şi interfaţă de manipulare a calculatorului (de obicei prin intermediul unui stylus -unealtă de scris sub forma unei mini-baghete din material plastic sau metal având la vârf o bobiţă din plastic, folosită pentru interacţiunea cu ecranele tactile rezistive, sau folosind degetele - touch). Primul tablet a fost lansat în 2001 de către Microsoft şi folosea Windows XP Tablet PC Edition.
   
Tipuri de Tablet PC: a) tip broşură ; b) tip placă; c) tip decapotabil; d) tip hibrid.
Sursa: http://www.it4fans.ro/

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Microsoft Azure Platform - Cloud computing

The Windows Azure Platform is a Microsoft cloud platform used to build, host and scale web applications through Microsoft datacenters. Windows Azure Platform is thus classified as platform as a service and forms part of Microsoft's cloud computing strategy, along with their software as a service offering, Microsoft Online Services.

Note (in romanian): Premieră în 2011 pentru România
Modulul de publicare a informaţiilor pe Internet (Sistemul informatic pentru examenele naţionale - realizat de Siveco Romania) a folosit platforma de Cloud computing Microsoft Azure, ceea ce asigură disponibilitate permanentă, capacitate de calcul practic infinită, redundanţă şi securitate a informaţiilor. Acest modul a fost conceput special pentru a face faţă atât unui număr foarte mare de accesări simultane, cât şi posibilelor atacuri menite să întrerupă disponibilitatea serviciilor furnizate. Conform www.trafic.ro, pe 12 iulie 2011 s-a înregistrat un nou record de vizitatori unici pentru http://portal.edu.ro, cu 828.935 într-o singură zi şi peste 24 de milioane de afişări. Cele mai accesate site-uri ale portalului au fost http://admitere.edu.ro, http://bacalaureat.edu.ro şi http://titularizare.edu.ro.

Sursa: http://portal.edu.ro/index.php/articles/news/11492

About Windows Azure Platform

The Windows Azure Platform provides an API built on REST, HTTP and XML that allows a developer to interact with the services provided by Windows Azure. Microsoft also provides a client-side managed class library which encapsulates the functions of interacting with the services. It also integrates with Microsoft Visual Studio so that it can be used as the IDE to develop and publish Azure-hosted applications. Windows Azure became commercially available on 1 Feb 2010.
"Running applications on machines in an Internet-accessible data center can bring plenty of advantages. Yet wherever they run, applications are built on some kind of platform. For on-premises applications, this platform usually includes an operating system, some way to store data, and perhaps more. Applications running in the cloud need a similar foundation. The goal of Microsoft's Windows Azure is to provide this."

Sharding with SQL Azure

Database sharding is a technique of horizontal partitioning data across multiple physical servers to provide application scale-out. SQL Azure is a cloud database service from Microsoft that provides database functionality as a utility service, offering many benefits including rapid provisioning, cost-effective scalability, high availability and reduced management overhead. SQL Azure combined with database sharding techniques provides for virtually unlimited scalability of data for an application.

Source: www.microsoft.com/windowsazure/whitepapers/

Case Studies: www.microsoft.com/windowsazure/evidence/
Example
New NASA Web Site Engages Citizens to Help Explore Mars - http://beamartian.jpl.nasa.gov/
"Researchers at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA/JPL) wanted to solve two different challenges—providing public access to vast amounts of Mars-related exploration images, and engaging the public in activities related to NASA’s Mars Exploration Program in order to encourage learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Using a variety of technologies, NASA/JPL created its new BeAMartian Web site . The site provides entertaining and engaging ways to view and interact with information delivered by Mars-based rovers and orbiters. The goal is to let the public participate in exploration, making contributions to data processing and analysis. It also provides a platform that lets developers collaborate with NASA on solutions that can help scientists analyze vast amounts of information that can be used to understand the universe and support future space exploration."

What is Cloud Computing?

Ref.: http://mvlada.blogspot.com/


Thursday, July 21, 2011

The New Journal: IJCSRA

The International Journal of Computer Science Research and Application
The journal is not intended for profit, but for mere dissemination and promotion of latest research.

IJCSRA - www.ijcsra.org
(ISSN 2012-9564, and ISSN 2012-9572 online), Journal Publisher by INREWI (Integrating Research Wisdom).

International Journal of Computer Science Research and Application is a peer-reviewed, academic and research publishing journal focused to publish high quality, original research articles in Computer Science and related aspects.
IJCSRA promotes and publish research articles that facilitate knowledge sharing among fellow researchers, academics and industry. IJCSRA welcomes appropriate contributions from experts in the categories such as completed research, work in progress, Literature review, technical notes, position papers and survey reports related to Computer Science and all related subjects on theoretical findings or applied research.

Topics - http://www.ijcsra.org/call-for
The topics of high interest for submission include, but are not confined to the following areas. Authors are highly encouraged to ask the editors in case of any doubt on the journal focus.

ICVL and IJCSRA are partners:
- http://c3.icvl.eu/2011/proceedings
- http://c3.icvl.eu/2011/partners
- http://www.ijcsra.org/indexing

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Professor Sorin Istrail


Sorin Istrail is the Julie Nguyen Brown Professor of Computational and Mathematical Sciences, Professor of Computer Science, and Director of the Center for Computational Molecular Biology at Brown University.
He was previously senior director and then head of the Informatics Research Group of Celera Genomics. Prior to Celera, he founded the Computational Biology Project at Sandia National Laboratories (1992-2000). In 1998, his work on Protein Misfolding simulations was included by Scientific American in its "Best of 1998" list.In 2001, his work at Sandia on the computational intractability of the three-dimensional Ising model was ranked as the top 7th achievement in Advanced Scientific Computing in the Top 100 U.S. Department of Energy Most Important Discoveries in DOE's first 25 years.

- 1979 Ph.D. in Computer Science, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania
Thesis: Context Sensitive Languages with Applications to Semantics of Programs and Number Theory;
Advisors: Professors Solomon Marcus and Sergiu Rudeanu - http://cs.brown.edu/~sorin/advisor_gene.html

(in image: Gheorghe Ştefănescu, Virgil Căzănescu, Dragoş Vaida, Solomon Marcus, Sorin Istrail, Sergiu Rudeanu – University of Bucharest, Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science)

Research Topics or Projects
ISTRAIL LABORATORY - www.brown.edu/Research/Istrail_Lab/
Genomic Regulatory Networks and the Regulatory Genome
Computational Models of SNPs and Haplotypes
Medical Bioinformatics and Beyond
Algorithmic Theory of Protein Folding
Programming Language for Genomics
Von Neumann Research Program in Biological Complex Systems
Statistical Mechanics and Computational Complexity

Publications: http://www.cs.brown.edu/people/sorin/publication.htm
- http://cs.brown.edu/~sorin/pdfs/venter2.pdf
The Sequence of the Human Genome, Science, vol 291, pp.1145-1434, 2001
Note: "The human genome project began in 1990 and is supposed to be finished in 2005."

Software: www.brown.edu/Research/Istrail_Lab/pages/software.html

John von Neumann Page
- www.brown.edu/Research/Istrail_Lab/pages/von_neumann.html

Brown University - Summer 2008 Guest Lectures:
Solomon Marcus, Professor Emeritus, University of Bucharest
- www.brown.edu/Research/Istrail_Lab/pages/lectures.html

Nota (in romanian): "Prof. dr Sorin Istrail se numără între şefii grupelor de cercetători care au lucrat la întoc­mi­rea hărţii genomului uman."
CRISTINEL C. POPA, Românul care a contribuit la descoperirea mileniului, http://www1.jurnalul.ro/


Saturday, July 16, 2011

Dobrogea and Black Sea


About Dobrogea

Dobrogea is a territory of intereferences between: Occidend and Orient, Latins and Slaves, Muslims and Christians, and old Empires (Roman, Bizantin,Otoman, Russian). As Nicolae Ioarga, a famous Romanian writer once said:
"Dobrogea is a very curious country geologically, which geographically doesn't belong to any of the Carpathians and Balkans, and whose history has been as diverse as its ground's shapes and nature". Source: www.webydesigns.ro/dobrogea/index.html

Dobrogea's history
(in romanian: Dobrogea. O scurtă istorie (I) by Ion Bulei)

Greeks from Miletus founded the town of Istros (Histria) in 657 BC, and later the towns of Tomis (Constanta) and Callatis (Mangalia). The lands south of Dobrogea were part of the Thracian kingdom of Odrisa. In 480 BC the Thracians extended their rule over Dobrogea and in 339 BC Alexander brought Dobrogea under Macedonian rule, however after his death Macedonian control weakened. Source: www.webydesigns.ro/dobrogea/history.html

Ref.:
- www.webydesigns.ro/dobrogea/index.html
- www.webydesigns.ro/dobrogea/history.html
- www.geographic.org/

About Black Sea

The Black Sea forms in an east-west trending elliptical depression which lies between Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine. Important cities along the coast include Batumi, Burgas, Constanţa, Giresun, Hopa, Istanbul, Kerch, Kherson, Mangalia, Năvodari, Novorossiysk, Odessa, Ordu, Poti, Rize, Samsun, Sevastopol, Sochi, Sukhumi, Trabzon, Varna, Yalta and Zonguldak. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sea

Did you know?
The Black Sea is almost completely cut off from the world's other seas and ocean. The deepest waters of the Black Sea extend to depths of well over two kilometres.
Source: www.icpdr.org/icpdr-pages/black_sea.htm

With an international airport, a busy seaport, express trains linking it to Bucharest (2 1/2 hours) and a 2,500 year history (the Roman poet Ovid lived in exile here), Constanta is the very kind of cosmopolitan place a seaside vacation needs.

Source: www.turism.ro/english/black_sea.php

Ref.:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sea
- http://www.nationalgeographic.com/blacksea/
- http://www.icpdr.org/icpdr-pages/black_sea.htm


Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Imagination - Collatz conjecture: 3x+1


"Imagination is more important than knowledge." Albert Einstein
"Development of Western science is based on two great achievements: the invention of the formal logical system (in Euclidean geometry) by the Greek philosophers, and the discovery of the possibility to find out causal relationships by systematic experiment (during Renaissance)." Albert Einstein (1953)

The 3x + 1 problem (Collatz problem)


Ref.:

- http://mathworld.wolfram.com/CollatzProblem.html


- http://www.ericr.nl/wondrous/index.html

- Edited by Jeffrey C. Lagarias, The ultimate challenge: The 3x + 1 problem, AMS (American Mathematical Society), 2010, 348 pp.

- Tomás Oliveira e Silva, Empirical Verification of the 3x+1 and Related Conjectures. In The Ultimate Challenge: The 3x+1 Problem (Book edited by Jeffrey C. Lagarias), pp. 189-207, American Mathematical Society, 2010

- Chaos & Graphics, The 3x+1 fractal , Computers & Graphics, Volume 28, Issue 3, June 2004, Pages 431-435,

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0097849304000366,

- http://numeratus.net/collatz/cfractal.pdf

- http://www.ieeta.pt/~tos/3x+1.html

- http://delab.csd.auth.gr/bci1/Panhellenic/700tzanis.pdf

- Image: http://www.csun.edu/~vcmth02i/Collatz.pdf



Sunday, July 10, 2011

Exploring Computational Thinking - Research Blog

Exploring Computational Thinking - Research Blog

Computational Thinking is the skill of the 21st century

What is Computational Thinking?

1. Logical Thinking
2. Algorithmic Thinking
3. Efficient Solutions
4. Scientific Thinking
5. Innovative Thinking

“So what is Computational Thinking? Well it is a collection of diverse skills to do with problem solving that result from studying the nature of computation. It includes some obviously important skills that most subjects help develop, like creativity, ability to explain and team work. It also consists of some very specific problem solving skills such as the ability to think logically, algorithmically and recursively. Computer Science is unique in the way it brings all these diverse skills together.”
Source: http://www.cs4fn.org/computationalthinking/
Image: http://www.impactworld.org.uk/index.php

Computer science for Fun (cs4fn) / Exploring Computational Thinking (Google)

Note: cs4fn was created and is written and edited by Paul Curzon, Peter McOwan and Jonathan Black of the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science of Queen Mary, University of London with the aim of sharing our passion about all things to do with Computer Science.


One of the exciting things about learning Computer science is that you learn a new and fundamental way of thinking and problem solving; a way of thinking that is critical in the 21st Century. It is called "Computational Thinking" and the idea that this is one of the big advantages of studying computer science, whatever your ultimate career, is causing a big stir. Some are even claiming it should be added to reading, writing and arithmetic as a core ability that every person should learn. http://www.cs4fn.org/computationalthinking/

Ref:
http://www.cs4fn.org/computationalthinking/
http://googleresearch.blogspot.com/2010/10/exploring-computational-thinking.html
http://www.google.com/edu/computational-thinking/resources.html#ct

Impactworld.org.uk: http://www.impactworld.org.uk/index.php

CASE STUDIES: http://www.impactworld.org.uk/casestudies.php

Lessons and Examples: http://www.google.com/edu/computational-thinking/lessons.html

Digital competence: http://www.unibuc.ro/prof/vlada_m/Digital_competence.php