scholarly journals Open For All: The OERu’s Next Generation Digital Learning Ecosystem

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 146-163
Author(s):  
David C. Lane ◽  
Claire Goode
Keyword(s):  
Open Source ◽  
First Year ◽  
Digital Learning ◽  
Next Generation ◽  
Technology Infrastructure ◽  
Information Technology Infrastructure ◽  
Loosely Coupled ◽  
Global Computing ◽  
Learning Ecosystem ◽  
Education Resource

This paper describes the functionality, scalability, and cost of implementing and maintaining a suite of open source technologies, which have supported hundreds of thousands of learners in the past year, on an information technology infrastructure budget of less than US$10,000 per year. In addition, it reviews pedagogical opportunities offered by a fully open digital learning ecosystem, as well as benefits for learners and educators alike. The Open Education Resource universitas (OERu) is an international consortium made up of 36 publicly funded institutions and the OER Foundation. The OERu currently offers first-year postsecondary courses through OER-based micro-courses with pathways to gain stackable micro-credentials, convertible to academic credit toward recognised university qualifications. The OERu, adhering to open principles (Wiley, 2014b), has created an open source Next Generation Digital Learning Ecosystem (NGDLE) to meet the needs of learners, consortium partners, and OERu collaborators. The NGDLE—a distributed, loosely coupled component model, consisting entirely of free and open source software (FOSS)—is a global computing infrastructure created to reach learners wherever they are. All OERu services are hosted on commodity FOSS infrastructure, conferring significant advantages and creating opportunities for institutions adopting any of these services to enhance education opportunities at minimal cost. The NGDLE can also increase technological autonomy and resilience while providing exceptional learning opportunities and agency for learners and educators alike.

A Systematic Approach to Evaluating Open Source Software

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norita Ahmad ◽  
Phillip A. Laplante
Keyword(s):  
Open Source ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Systematic Approach ◽  
Performance Testing ◽  
Technology Infrastructure ◽  
Information Technology Infrastructure ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Functional Factors ◽  
Hierarchy Process

Selecting appropriate Open Source Software (OSS) for a given problem or a set of requirements can be very challenging. Some of the difficulties are due to the fact that there is not a generally accepted set of criteria to use in evaluation and that there are usually many OSS projects available to solve a particular problem. In this study, the authors propose a set of criteria and a methodology for assessing candidate OSS for fitness of purpose using both functional and non-functional factors. The authors then use these criteria in an improved solution to the decision problem using the well-developed Analytical Hierarchy Process. In order to validate the proposed model, it is applied at a technology management company in the United Arab Emirates, which integrates many OSS solutions into its Information Technology infrastructure. The contribution of this work is to help decision makers to better identify an appropriate OSS solution using a systematic approach without the need for intensive performance testing.

A Systematic Approach to Evaluating Open Source Software

2013 ◽  
pp. 50-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norita Ahmad ◽  
Phillip A. Laplante
Keyword(s):  
Open Source ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Systematic Approach ◽  
Performance Testing ◽  
Technology Infrastructure ◽  
Information Technology Infrastructure ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Functional Factors ◽  
Hierarchy Process

Selecting appropriate Open Source Software (OSS) for a given problem or a set of requirements can be very challenging. Some of the difficulties are due to the fact that there is not a generally accepted set of criteria to use in evaluation and that there are usually many OSS projects available to solve a particular problem. In this study, the authors propose a set of criteria and a methodology for assessing candidate OSS for fitness of purpose using both functional and non-functional factors. The authors then use these criteria in an improved solution to the decision problem using the well-developed Analytical Hierarchy Process. In order to validate the proposed model, it is applied at a technology management company in the United Arab Emirates, which integrates many OSS solutions into its Information Technology infrastructure. The contribution of this work is to help decision makers to better identify an appropriate OSS solution using a systematic approach without the need for intensive performance testing.

A Systematic Approach to Evaluating Open Source Software

2015 ◽  
pp. 1091-1109
Author(s):  
Norita Ahmad ◽  
Phillip A. Laplante
Keyword(s):  
Open Source ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Systematic Approach ◽  
Performance Testing ◽  
Technology Infrastructure ◽  
Information Technology Infrastructure ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Functional Factors ◽  
Hierarchy Process

Selecting appropriate Open Source Software (OSS) for a given problem or a set of requirements can be very challenging. Some of the difficulties are due to the fact that there is not a generally accepted set of criteria to use in evaluation and that there are usually many OSS projects available to solve a particular problem. In this study, the authors propose a set of criteria and a methodology for assessing candidate OSS for fitness of purpose using both functional and non-functional factors. The authors then use these criteria in an improved solution to the decision problem using the well-developed Analytical Hierarchy Process. In order to validate the proposed model, it is applied at a technology management company in the United Arab Emirates, which integrates many OSS solutions into its Information Technology infrastructure. The contribution of this work is to help decision makers to better identify an appropriate OSS solution using a systematic approach without the need for intensive performance testing.

scholarly journals COMANDO: A Next-Generation Open-Source Framework for Energy Systems Optimization

2021 ◽  
pp. 107366
Author(s):  
Marco Langiu ◽  
David Yang Shu ◽  
Florian Joseph Baader ◽  
Dominik Hering ◽  
Uwe Bau ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Open Source ◽  
Energy Systems ◽  
Next Generation ◽  
Open Source Framework

Shilling & Smith Acquisition of Xteria Inc.: Data Center Technology Leasing

2017 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Mark Jeffery ◽  
Cassidy Shield ◽  
H. Nevin Ekici ◽  
Mike Conley
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Data Center ◽  
Credit Card ◽  
It Infrastructure ◽  
Technology Infrastructure ◽  
Information Technology Infrastructure ◽  
Secondary Objective ◽  
Useful Life ◽  
Strategic Context ◽  
A Company

The case centers on Shilling & Smith's acquisition of Xteria Inc. and the resulting need to quickly scale the company's IT infrastructure to accommodate the acquisition. The case is based on a real leasing problem faced by a major retail firm in the Chicago area when it purchased a small credit card processing firm and scaled the operations to handle the retail firm's credit card transactions. The CIO of Shilling & Smith needs to determine which lease option is the best means of providing the technical infrastructure needed to support the firm after the acquisition of Xteria. Several issues will drive this decision, including the value and useful life of the equipment, as well as the strategic context of the firm. This case examines how to evaluate different lease options when acquiring data center information technology infrastructure. Specifically, the case addresses software vs. hardware leasing, different lease terms, and choosing between different lease structures depending on the strategy and needs of a company. This case enables students to understand the different types of technology leases and in which situations these leases would be employed.The Shilling & Smith case examines how to evaluate different lease options when acquiring data center information technology infrastructure. Specifically, students learn software vs. hardware leasing, different lease terms, and how to choose between different lease structures depending on the strategy and needs of the company. A secondary objective of the case is to teach students the important components and relative costs of information technology infrastructure.

scholarly journals Rapid implementation of virtual neurology in response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Neurology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 94 (24) ◽  
pp. 1077-1087 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott N. Grossman ◽  
Steve C. Han ◽  
Laura J. Balcer ◽  
Arielle Kurzweil ◽  
Harold Weinberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Care Delivery ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Urgent Care ◽  
Technology Infrastructure ◽  
Information Technology Infrastructure ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Specific Practice ◽  
Government Rules ◽  
Rapid Deployment

The COVID-19 pandemic is causing world-wide social dislocation, operational and economic dysfunction, and high rates of morbidity and mortality. Medical practices are responding by developing, disseminating, and implementing unprecedented changes in health care delivery. Telemedicine has rapidly moved to the frontline of clinical practice due to the need for prevention and mitigation strategies; these have been encouraged, facilitated, and enabled by changes in government rules and regulations and payer-driven reimbursement policies. We describe our neurology department's situational transformation from in-person outpatient visits to a largely virtual neurology practice in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Two key factors enabled our rapid deployment of virtual encounters in neurology and its subspecialties. The first was a well-established robust information technology infrastructure supporting virtual urgent care services at our institution; this connected physicians directly to patients using both the physician's and the patient's own mobile devices. The second is the concept of one patient, one chart, facilitated by a suite of interconnected electronic medical record (EMR) applications on several different device types. We present our experience with conducting general teleneurology encounters using secure synchronous audio and video connections integrated with an EMR. This report also details how we perform virtual neurologic examinations that are clinically meaningful and how we document, code, and bill for these virtual services. Many of these processes can be used by other neurology providers, regardless of their specific practice model. We then discuss potential roles for teleneurology after the COVID-19 global pandemic has been contained.

scholarly journals A virtual alternative to molecular model sets: a beginners’ guide to constructing and visualizing molecules in open-source molecular graphics software

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Siripreeya Phankingthongkum ◽  
Taweetham Limpanuparb
Keyword(s):  
General Chemistry ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Molecular Model ◽  
Bond Line ◽  
First Year ◽  
Molecular Graphics ◽  
Model Sets ◽  
Graphics Software

Abstract Objective The application of molecular graphics software as a simple and free alternative to molecular model sets for introductory-level chemistry learners is presented. Results Based on either Avogadro or IQmol, we proposed four sets of tasks for students, building basic molecular geometries, visualizing orbitals and densities, predicting polarity of molecules and matching 3D structures with bond-line structures. These topics are typically covered in general chemistry for first-year undergraduate students. Detailed step-by-step procedures are provided for all tasks for both programs so that instructors and students can adopt one of the two programs in their teaching and learning as an alternative to molecular model sets.

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