Improving Peer-to-Peer Communication in e-Learning by Development of an Advanced Messaging System

Although previous research has suggested that women may be at a learning disadvantage in e-learning environments, this study examines communication differences between women and men, arguing that women’s communication patterns may provide them with a learning advantage. Using data from 303 males and 252 females, this paper discusses gender differences in course communication processes and course outcomes in a web-based introductory information systems course. Results indicate that women communicated more, perceived the environment to have greater social presence, were more satisfied with the course, found the course to be of greater value, and had marginally better performance than men. Despite the challenges facing women in e-learning environments, the results of this study suggest that e-learning environments that allow for peer to peer communication and connectedness can help females overcome some of these disadvantages. Implications for research and practice are also discussed.

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Security Enhancement of Peer-to-Peer Session Initiation

Threats, Countermeasures, and Advances in Applied Information Security - Advances in Information Security, Privacy, and Ethics ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-0978-5.ch015 ◽

2012 ◽

pp. 281-308

Author(s):

Xianghan Zheng ◽

Vladimir Oleshchuk

Keyword(s):

Communication System ◽

Communication Systems ◽

Hash Table ◽

Peer To Peer ◽

Distributed Hash Table ◽

Peer Communication ◽

Security Issues ◽

Security Enhancement ◽

Advantages And Disadvantages ◽

The Cost

Today, Peer-to-Peer SIP based communication systems have attracted much attention from both the academia and industry. The decentralized nature of P2P might provide the distributed peer-to-peer communication system without help of the traditional SIP server. However, the decentralization features come to the cost of the reduced manageability and create new concerns. Until now, the main focus of research was on the availability of the network and systems, while few attempts are put on protecting privacy. In this chapter, we investigate on P2PSIP security issues and introduce two enhancement solutions: central based security and distributed trust security, both of which have their own advantages and disadvantages. After that, we study appropriate combination of these two approaches to get optimized protection. Our design is independent of the DHT (Distributed Hash Table) overlay technology. We take the Chord overlay as the example, and then, analyze the system in several aspects: security & privacy, number-of the hops, message flows, etc.

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A Decentralized Directory Service for Peer-to-Peer-Based Telephony

Cloud, Grid and High Performance Computing ◽

10.4018/978-1-60960-603-9.ch021 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 330-344

Author(s):

Fabian Stäber ◽

Gerald Kunzmann ◽

Jörg P. Müller

Keyword(s):

Real World ◽

Instant Messaging ◽

Peer To Peer ◽

Video Communication ◽

Peer Communication ◽

Voice Communication ◽

Tree Algorithm ◽

Communication Platform ◽

Directory Service ◽

Peer To Peer Systems

Decentralized peer-to-peer systems fit well as the underlying infrastructure for IP-telephony, as they provide the scalability for a large number of participants, and are able to handle the limited storage and bandwidth capabilities on the clients. We studied a commercial peer-to-peer-based decentralized communication platform supporting video communication, voice communication, instant messaging, et cetera. One of the requirements of the communication platform is the implementation of a user directory, allowing users to search for other participants. In this chapter, we present the Extended Prefix Hash Tree algorithm that enables the implementation of a user directory on top of the peer-to-peer communication platform in a fully decentralized way. We evaluate the performance of the algorithm with a real-world phone book. The results can be transferred to other scenarios where support for range queries is needed in combination with the decentralization, self-organization, and resilience of an underlying peer-to-peer infrastructure.

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Learning Together

Encyclopedia of E-Leadership, Counseling and Training ◽

10.4018/978-1-61350-068-2.ch057 ◽

2012 ◽

pp. 782-796 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Kathleen M. Kevany

Keyword(s):

Social Capital ◽

Distance Education ◽

Social Distance ◽

Peer To Peer ◽

E Learning ◽

Learning And Change ◽

Learning Factors ◽

Directed Distance ◽

Learning Together

Creatively fostering peer-to-peer (P2P) learning reduces the distance in distance education. E-learners become teachers and learners through animated, adult oriented, self-directed distance education. Ways to mitigate social distance are discussed as are ways to enhance social capital through P2P learning. Factors that increase success in P2P e-learning are unencumbered connectivity, adult oriented facilitation, increased criticality, and learning collaboratively. The dynamic roles of learners, facilitators, and administrators are articulated along with plans for future environments conducive to learning and change. The concept onisagogy, meaning “together learning” is introduced as an approach to accelerate learning, increase satisfaction, and reduce social distance.

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