Digital Literacy of Pre-Service Science Teachers as Reflection of Readiness Toward Online Learning in New Normal Era

ThThe Covid-19 outbreak affects education sector thus the teaching is undertaken remotely. Teachers and students use digital platforms to continue the teaching–learning processes. The present study was carried out to determine the digital literacy of pre-service science teachers at UIN Sultan Syarif Kasim Riau, Universitas Muhamadiyah Riau and Universitas Negeri Padang. Conducted through a formulated survey involving 115 science education students among those universities, the data were collected through digital literacy questionnaire adapted from ‘DigComp21 the digital competence framework for citizens”. The data analysis used descriptive and inferential statistics through SPPS 23 for windows application. Based on results obtained in this line of research, it showed that the digital literacy of pre-service science teachers was in the medium category with a score of 61.8%, and therefore, it indicated that there was no significant effect based on educational institution factors. The majority of students have low skills to create digital contents.

Blockchain and Cloud to Overcome the Problems of Buyer and Seller Watermarking Protocols

Copyright protection of digital content has become a problem not only for web content providers but also for ordinary web users who like to publish their digital contents on social or user generated content platforms. Among the possible solutions to such a problem, digital watermarking, in conjunction with watermarking protocols, appears to be a valid alternative to current DRM (digital rights management) systems. In fact, watermarking based solutions insert perceptually invisible copyright information into the copies of contents published or distributed on the web in order to track them. Such insertions are carried out according to the watermarking protocols, which have evolved over the years from the classic “buyer and seller” paradigm into a simpler and versatile “buyer friendly” and “mediated” approach. However, such an approach cannot exploit the new technologies that characterize the current Internet. This paper presents a new watermarking protocol able to adapt the “buyer friendly” and “mediated” approach to the use of innovative technologies such as cloud platforms and blockchain. In this way, (1) content providers and common web users can take advantage of the computing and storage resources made available by cloud platforms; (2) the involvement of trusted third parties in the protocols can be reduced by using blockchain without complicating the protection scheme. In fact, these two goals make the protocol particularly suited for the current Internet.

Succession of Digital Goods. A Comparative Legal Study

The purpose of this article is to present possible solutions to the problem of access to digital contents left by a deceased user of Internet services under different European legal systems. Discussion of this issue from a comparative perspective will allow the drawing of general conclusions about the direction de lege lata in which European legislation is heading. In my opinion there should be dedicated legal provisons introduced into the polish civil code which would pertain to digital goods. This would also facilitate the harmonization of inheritance matters in a European perspective. Technological development requires amending the civil code to fit changing reality.

Detecting Proximity with Bluetooth Low Energy Beacons for Cultural Heritage

The RE.S.I.STO project targets visitors of Pisa medieval city, with the goal of providing high-quality digital contents accessible with smart devices. We describe the design, implementation and the test phases of the RE.S.I.STO application, whose goal is to automatically detect the proximity between visitors and artworks. Proximity is detected with a set of algorithms based on the analysis of Bluetooth Low Energy beacons. We detail our experimental campaigns which reproduce several museum layouts of increasing complexity at two pilot sites, and we compute the performance of the implemented algorithms to detect the nearby artworks. In particular, we test our solution in a wide open space located in our research institute and by performing a real deployment at the Camposanto Monumentale located in Pisa (Italy). The obtained performance varies in the range of 40% to perfect accuracy, according to the complexity of the considered museum layouts. We also describe a set of stress and stability tests aimed at verifying the robustness of the application during the data collection process. Our results show that the mobile application is able to reduce the beacon loss rate, with an average value of 77% of collected beacons.

Emerging Role of Libraries in Language Archiving in India A Case Study of SiDHELA

SiDHELA is a language archive developed by the Centre for Endangered Languages, Sikkim University in collaboration with the Central Library, Sikkim University. It is the first language archive developed in India. SiDHELA is a model attempt at digital archiving in collaboration with communities of Sikkim and North Bengal region of India. The main highlight of the paper is the possibilities which emerges out of a collaboration between under resourced indigenous communities and an institutional library backed by a language documentation project to curate digital contents for endangered and lesser known languages from under resourced regions like the Northeast of India.

Prototyping IoT-Based Virtual Environments: An Approach toward the Sustainable Remote Management of Distributed Mulsemedia Setups

Business models built upon multimedia/multisensory setups delivering user experiences within disparate contexts—entertainment, tourism, cultural heritage, etc.—usually comprise the installation and in-situ management of both equipment and digital contents. Considering each setup as unique in its purpose, location, layout, equipment and digital contents, monitoring and control operations may add up to a hefty cost over time. Software and hardware agnosticity may be of value to lessen complexity and provide more sustainable management processes and tools. Distributed computing under the Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm may enable management processes capable of providing both remote control and monitoring of multimedia/multisensory experiences made available in different venues. A prototyping software to perform IoT multimedia/multisensory simulations is presented in this paper. It is fully based on virtual environments that enable the remote design, layout, and configuration of each experience in a transparent way, without regard of software and hardware. Furthermore, pipelines to deliver contents may be defined, managed, and updated in a context-aware environment. This software was tested in the laboratory and was proven as a sustainable approach to manage multimedia/multisensory projects. It is currently being field-tested by an international multimedia company for further validation.

Phygital interfaces for people with intellectual disability: an exploratory study at a social care center

Phygital interaction is a form of tangible interaction where digital and physical contents are combined in such a way that the locus of multimedia information is detached from the physical material(s) manipulated by the user. The use of phygital interaction is supported by several theoretical approaches that emphasize the development of cognitive skills dependent upon embodied interactions with the physical environment. Several studies demonstrate the potential of using phygital technologies for supporting people with intellectual disabilities (ID) in the development of cognitive, sensorimotor, social and behavioral skills. Our research aims at exploring the potential of phygital interaction for (young) adults with ID in a real setting, using a research platform called Reflex as a case study. For this purpose, we ran an empirical study involving 17 participants with ID and 8 specialists, and compared Reflex with approaches making use of only digital contents or paper-based materials. Our findings highlighted the potentials of phygital approaches to perform interventions with people with ID, enhancing their performances with an appreciated interaction method. In addition, the post-study interviews with specialists favoured the adoption of phygital technologies in a social care context.

The use of Filmora and Youtube in creating learning video contents

The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic witnessed a significant consumption of digital contents. Teaching and learning activities, including at the State Elementary School, Pamulang, Barat, shifted to online domains. Whatsapp was consequently the initial means of engaging the students, but eventually appeared relatively monotonous and boring. This community service intends to provide a quality learning resource on the creation of video contents, using Filmora and Youtube applications. Ultimately, the overall goal is to produce highly creative and innovative teachers. These materials were delivered using sound or captivating animations. Consequently, teachers were sufficiently equipped to generate interesting videos that potentially increase students’ interest and interaction during the online learning process.

OVERCOMING AUGMENTED REALITY ADOPTION BARRIERS IN DESIGN: A MIXED PROTOTYPING CONTENT AUTHORING TOOL SUPPORTED BY COMPUTER VISION

Enhancing the appearance of physical prototypes with digital elements, also known as mixed prototyping, has demonstrated to be a valuable approach in the product development process. However, the adoption is limited also due to the high time and competence required for authoring the digital contents. This paper presents a content authoring tool that aims to improve the user acceptance by reducing the specific competence required, which is needed for segmentation and UV mapping of the 3D model used to implement a mixed prototype. Part of the tasks related to 3D modelling software, in fact, has been transferred to simpler manual tasks applied onto the physical prototype. Moreover, the proposed tool can recognise these manual inputs thanks to a computer-vision algorithm and automatically manage the segmentation and UV mapping tasks, freeing time for the user in a task that otherwise would require complete engagement. To preliminarily evaluate effectiveness and potential of the tool, it has been used in a case study to build up the mixed prototype of a coffee machine. The result demonstrated that the tool can correctly segment the 3D model of a physical prototype in its relevant parts and generate their corresponding UV maps.