Tuesday 29 April 2014

ENHANCE STUDENT ENGAGEMENT AND FAIR MARKING OF GROUP WORK USING COLLABORATIVE WRITING

A paper has recently been presented by Dr James Xue at The 10th China-Europe International Symposium on Software Engineering Education, Chengdu, China. The presentation is on his and a student's, Gaurav Ravindra, work on looking at Google Docs for student engagement and fair marking in group work.



Enhance student engagement and fair marking of group work using Collaborative Writing

James Xue, Gaurav Ravindra
School of Science and Technology
University of Northampton, UK



Abstract
The second year computing group project in the Department of Computing at the University of Northampton typically involves three or four students on the same course. It consists of two main parts - software development and group report. While version control software (e.g., SVN, GitHub) can be used to monitor individual contribution to software development, current practice lacks an effective way for monitoring individual contribution and fair assessment of the group report. Google Docs is a free collaborative writing tool, and very rich in features. It allows tracking of individual work and real time communication within a team. The proposed project uses Google Docs for group report writing, aiming at better student engagement and fair marking of submitted group work.

Friday 25 April 2014

Greenfoot in Problem Solving and Artificial Intelligence

Presented at The 10th China-Europe International Symposium on Software Engineering Education, Chengdu, China

Greenfoot is an interactive environment based around Java that enables two-dimensional graphical games and simulations to be set-up relatively simply. Currently maintained by the University of Kent, UK and La Trobe University, Australia, it provides a piece of free software (under a GPL licence), multiplatform and is multiplatform.

In this paper its use within the teaching of problem-solving and artificial intelligence will be considered. Three case studies of it use will be considered:
·        Exercises in developing problem solving within a problem-solving and programming module.
·        Greenfoot for a problem solving assignment within a problem-solving and programming module.

·        Use of greenfoot within a module on artificial intelligence.



Sunday 6 April 2014

Near Northamptonshire - BCS Bedford Event: Hacking the Internet of Thing


JOINT British Computer Society (Bedford branch) & IET Event at the University ofBedfordshire (Polhill Campus), Bedford

Date: Tuesday, 13th May 2014

Theme“Hacking the Internet of Things”

Speaker:  Geraint Williams, Information Risk Consultant and Trainer, IT Governance Ltd., Honorary Visiting Fellow at the University of Bedfordshire.

Time:  6.00pm for 6.30-8.00pm

Location:  Room P32, University of Bedfordshire, Polhill Avenue, Bedford, MK41 9EA

Abstract

You are warmly invited to attend a free evening lecture at the University of Bedfordshire (Polhill Campus),Bedford on Tuesday 13th May 2014.

“Hacking the Internet of Things” will be the subject of the talk by Geraint Williams, Information Risk Consultant and Trainer, IT Governance Ltd., and Honorary Visiting Fellow at the University of Bedfordshire.

The Internet of Things describes a paradigm of how electronic devices including everyday items are now interconnected by various media to each other locally and across the Internet.  This allows them to exchange information and to interact with us in order to make life easy.  You can now control the heating in your home from a smart phone app or monitor the movement of hundreds of buoys free floating in ocean currents from anywhere in the world.

The Internet of Things has great potential for aiding us.  However the potential for malicious activities is just as great.  This talk discusses the Internet of Things and its potential.  This will be followed by discussions and demonstrations of how the Internet of Things can be hacked to reveal details of our interactions or to take control of the environment around us.

Geraint Williams is an Information Risk Consultant and Trainer for IT Governance Ltd. and an Honorary Visiting Fellow at the University of Bedfordshire.  Geraint is a knowledgeable and experienced Information Security consultant with experience including vulnerability testing, digital forensics, secure networking, and wireless security issues.  Geraint has a strong technical knowledge of security and IT infrastructure including high performance computing.  Geraint has a number of certifications in security and digital forensics includingCISSP, CISA, CEH and CHFI.

Agenda

6.00pm            Registration, refreshments and networking

6.30pm            Introduction
‘The Internet of Things’

7.20pm            Opportunity to question the speaker

7.45pm            Thanks and Opportunity to network and talk to the speaker

Please register in advance for us to prepare the refreshments and to ensure the room will accommodate the expected numbers.