Mobile-assisted Language Learning
Panorama
Endocrine Disruptors and their Detection by Aptasensors
Mind Over Matter
Nebraska Delegation Received
News Update
Smartphone
Addiction among SQU
Undergraduates
Department of Public
Relations and Information
Sultan Qaboos University
Issue 321
View Point
Digital Empowerment
Mohamed Salem Al Ghailani
Editorial Supervision
Santhosh Muthalath
Senior Editor
Sara Al Gheilani
Nasebah Al Muharrami
Translation
Ahlam Al Wahaibi
Design & Layout
Photography Dept., CET
Photography
Salim Al Sudairi
Circulation
SQU-info
Information technology has reformed each sector it has encompassed and it is
now in the phase of changing the education sector. In the coming years, with
the help of information and communication technologies, education will be far
changed, more immersive and more constructive to the people. Digitization
in education has tremendously changed the learning and the teaching process to a great extent. Technology has been instrumental in making education
stress-free for students and educators. In a phased manner, schools are implementing digital teaching solutions to involve with a generation of learners
familiar with smartphones, notebooks and i-Pads. New technologies facilitate
student understanding, students are ready and exposed to external education.
At the same time, they are in the best situation to absorb what comes up in
the classroom. Now, as students live in an atmosphere that is linked and alive
outside the class room, traditional teaching and learning methods alone won’t
work. The true revolution in education will be archived through digitization
of education which enables students learn at their own speed both within and
outside the classroom.
When digitalized, the material has the potential to involve students in methods that are not really possible with stationary pages. E-learning and computer
assisted training includes all forms of electronically supported learning and
teaching. The blending of traditional training with digitized learning is appropriate so that our future generations to become global contributors who can
interconnect across culture, time and geographies.
In an era of transforming our Oman into a sustainable knowledge based economy, SQU is in the process of digitalizing more and more facilities and activities at the university. As the premier higher educational institution in the
country which is involved in teaching, research and community service, SQU
adopts citizen-and community-oriented approach to using information technology, whereby people are considered as participant members of the society.
With information technology people gain new abilities and ways to participate
and express themselves in a networked society. Digital empowerment is not
a direct consequence of having and using the technical facilities, but a multiphased process to gain better networking, communication and cooperation
opportunities, and to increase the competence of individuals and communities
to act as influential participants in the information society.
@SQU-info
Horizon invites contributions from SQU members of staff and faculty. Contributions in the form of
articles, news, travelogues, stories of unique and interesting experiences, encounters, etc., are welcome. Contributions may be edited for the sake of clarity and length. Please send your contributions
to horizon@squ.edu.om preferably, as MSWord attachments. Authors will be suitably credited.
The views and opinions expressed in the articles published in this newsletter are those of the authors
and are not to be construed as the official views of the publication. Horizon is published three times a
month by the Department of Public Relations and Information, Sultan Qaboos University, P.O. Box 50,
P.C. 123, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman.
Phone: +968 24141045
E-mail: horizon@squ.edu.om
20 October 2015
P2
Fax: +968 24413 391
Website: www.squ.edu.om
News Update
Forum Addresses
Stem Cell Research
The sixth forum of the National Bioethics Committee was
held under the theme “Stem Cells: an Overall Approach”
at Sultan Qaboos University under the patronage of H.E.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Salimi, Minister of
Awqaf and Religious Affairs. The forum included two
sessions focusing on stem cell research, ethical aspects of
stem cells preservation, Islamic perspective of stem cells
and stem cell research, Oman’s experience in stem cell
research, treatment and future perspectives, and other
related topics.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Sheikh Dr. Kahlan
Nabhan Al Kharousi, Assistant Grand Mufti of the Sultanate and Vice Chairman of the National Bioethics Committee, said that the aim of the forum was to ensure that stem
cell research is practiced in proper manner for protection
of human health the well-being of the society. Stem cell research, a fast developing area in medical science, can potentially help treat a range of medical problems. It could
lead humanity closer to better treatment and possibly
cure a number of diseases. The forum would pay for more
comprehensive vision on the ethical and practical aspects
of stem cell research and treatment”, Sheikh Kahlan said.
Prof. Lucio Luzzatto, Professor in Hematology and Scientific Director, Istituto Toscano Tumori, Florence, Italy,
gave the first talk on the usage of stem cells in research
and treatment, and the ethical dilemmas of stem cells
preservation. He detailed on different sorts of stem cells
and different stages of their development, methods of obtaining stem cells, different sorts of ethical issues in stem
cell research and treatment, biological potential of embryonic stem cells, and how stem cell research can potentially
help treat a range of medical problems including Parkinson’s disease, myocardial infarction, etc.
Prof. Abdullah Ali Al Bar, Director of Medical Ethics
Research Centre, International Medical Centre, Jeddah,
Saudi Arabia, gave a talk on medical and Islamic perspective of stem cells. Prof. Taher Ba Omar, Academic Affairs
Advisor to SQU Vice Chancellor moderated the session.
In the second session, moderated by Ahmed Al Badawy,
a panel discussion on Oman’s experience in stem cell research, treatment, and future perspectives, was held. Prof.
Salam Al Kindi, Senior Consultant Hematologist at SQU,
Dr. Sultan Al Maskari, Senior Consultant in Orthopedic
Surgery, Dr. Samir Al Azzawi, Senior Consultant Hematologist at Muscat Private Hospital, Prof. Jayakumar Dennison, Senior Consultant Hematologist at SQU Hospital,
and Dr. Sabria Al Hashmi, Director of Blood Bank Services
at the Ministry of Health participated in the panel discussion. The session concluded with Sheikh Dr. Kahlan’s talk
on “an Islamic view of stem cells”.
Nebraska Delegation
Received
A delegation from the University of Nebraska in the USA, headed by
Dr. Steven Duke, Assistant Vice President for Global Strategy and International Initiatives visited Sultan Qaboos University recently. Professor Dr. Amer bin Ali Al-Rawas, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Post
Graduate Studies and Research received the delegation. The two
sides discussed a number of topics related to research, scientific and
academic cooperation between SQU and the University of Nebraska.
Forum Promotes Link
between Alumni and Faculty
The Instructional & Learning Technology Department of the College
of Education at Sultan Qaboos University, organized the first gathering of the graduates from the department under the patronage of
Prof. Amer Ali Al-Rawas, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Postgraduate
Studies and Research. The aim of the gathering was to promote links
between the department and the graduates and their organizations
in order to provide job and training opportunities for new graduates,
share and exchange ideas which contribute to the development process, and involve the graduates in improving the academic program
of the department.
In his welcome address, Dr. Mohamed El Tahir Osman, Head of the
Instructional and Learning Technologies Department stressed on the
importance of the department and its programs, and the relevance of
the forum . “The event is a platform for former students to witness
the achievements of the department and scientific projects of students. It works as a link between the department and its graduates to
communicate between each other”, he said.
Malek Al Nomani, delivering a speech on behalf of the graduates
gathered, thanked the department for giving them an opportunity
to gather and share their ideas among the teaching faculty and current students in the department. Abdullah Al Bahrani spoke about
the importance of innovations in digital world. They also discussed
on the national initiative of protecting children from the risks of the
Internet and the professional development of the graduates from the
Instructional and Learning Technologies faculty.
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20 October 2015
Insight
Smartphone Addiction among
SQU Undergraduates
Casual Level of Smartphone
Addiction is the Commonest
Hafidha Al Barashdi
A study that investigated Smartphone addiction among undergraduates at Sultan Qaboos University, found that the
casual level of addiction wherein the phone users spent up
to 10 Omani Riyals per month on their phone and received
an average of 1 to 4 calls and messages, was the most common addictive Smartphone behavior among these students.
The study was conducted by Hafidha Suleiman Al Barashdi,
Prof. Abdelmajid Bouazza, and Naeema Jabur from the Department of Information Studies, Sultan Qaboos University.
The findings of this research were published in the Journal
of Scientific Research & Reports 4(3): 210-225, 2015; Article
no.JSRR.201
Apart from studying Smartphone addiction among SQU
undergraduates, the researchers also investigated particular
issues such as Smartphone applications and activities that
students were most addicted to; the impact of addiction on
academic achievement; and addiction variation according to
gender, field of study, parental education and family income.
A questionnaire was distributed to a random sample of 140
undergraduates (37.1% males and 62.9% females). Findings
revealed that what the study calls a casual level of addiction
(42.3%) was the most common, followed by a heavy level
(30.8%), and finally a moderate level (26.%). Specifically, the
results indicated that the casual level of Smartphone addiction was the most frequent level (42.3%), followed by the
heavy level (30.8%) and finally the moderate level (26.8%).
The results also revealed that at the casual level of Smartphone addiction, SQU undergraduates spend (1-10) Omani
Riyal (OR) on their phone monthly, send and receive (1-4)
calls and messages daily and show the least level of addiction symptoms. At the moderate level of Smartphone addiction, they spend (11-20) OR on their phone monthly, send
and receive (8-10) calls and messages daily and show a moderate level of addiction symptoms. However, at the heavy
level of Smartphone addiction, they spend more than 20 OR
on their Smartphone monthly, send and receive more than
10 calls and messages daily and show the highest level of
addiction symptoms. While messaging was the activity students were most addicted to, no significant differences were
found that related to academic achievement. Males
were more addicted than females, but nothing
significant emerged in relation to the
field of study, parental education and family income.
Based on
the
20 October 2015
P4
findings, the researchers recommend that SQU should play
a major role in preventing Smartphone addiction among
university students by implementing effective procedures.
To reduce the negative effects of Smartphone addiction
among SQU undergraduates, the study offers the following
recommendations:
Educate SQU undergraduates on how to use Smartphones
smartly, through outreach programs, especially among male
students. These programs should focus on the following
points: (1) Smartphones’ harmful consequences; (2) the positive uses of Smartphone applications; and (3) the effects of
overuse of WhatsApp messaging on their academic achievement.
The study recommends encouraging the use of Smartphones for learning purposes through tailor-made courses
and Smartphone application in information searching within SQU libraries. The study recommends that in order to reduce Smartphone addiction, the university should increase
recreational entertainment programs and encourage faceto-face interaction between students. The university should
increase self-development opportunities through training
programs and workshops. The Student Counseling Center
at the university should provide psychological counseling
outreach programs that focus on the following topics which
are considered as Smartphone addiction motives: (1) How
to release academic pressure? (2) Positive methods of Selfidentity conforming and group belonging; (3) Positive selfexpression.
Parents of Smartphone addicted students should take the following steps to help their children overcome their addiction:
The first step in dealing with the problem is to admit that
their child is indeed Smartphone addicted. The second step
is to find techniques that can help reduce vulnerability to
the rapid connectivity Smartphones offer. The following are
some suggestions: Create “no phone” zones. Parents could
deposit Smartphones by the charging area to limit phone use
while the students is at home. They could consider allowing
phones to be used in common family areas, but forbid their
use in bedrooms or private areas. Reclaim family dinners.
Parents could encourage children to put their phones in silence mode during meal times, to talk to one another and
enjoy family time during the meal. Allocate certain periods
of the day to accessing social media (though addicts might
struggle with this). Ban phones while driving or walking.
Monitor Smartphone activity. Parents should be frank and
tell children that they will monitor and hold them accountable for their time online. The third step is to seek
cognitive behavior therapy. Addiction is hard to
treat, especially when the stimulant surrounds
a person on a daily basis. Professional counselors and therapists can help addicts overcome
temptations without creating family tension.
Mind Over Matter
Endocrine
Disruptors and
their Detection by
Aptasensors
Dr. Jahangir Ahmad Rather
College of Science
Department of Chemistry
Email: Jahangir@squ.edu.om
The endocrine system is one of the body’s main communication networks and is responsible for controlling and coordinating numerous body functions. Hormones are first produced by the endocrine
tissues, such as the ovaries, testes, adrenal, pituitary, thyroid, and
pancreas, and then secreted into the blood to act as the body’s chemical messengers where they direct communication and coordination
among other tissues throughout the body. For example, hormones
work with the nervous system, reproductive system, kidneys, gut,
liver, and fat to help maintain and control, body energy levels, reproduction, growth and development, internal balance of body systems, or homeostasis, response to surroundings, stress, and injury.
From a public health perspective, it is therefore crucial that the endocrine system (or the hormonal system) is not disrupted over the
long-term, particularly during critical development phases – in the
womb, during infancy or puberty – otherwise there is a risk of abnormal development, according to the World Health Organization.
Rising levels of cancers and fertility problems have attracted scientists’ attention to endocrine disrupting chemicals. These causes
testicular and prostate cancer, reduced sperm count, infertility, undescended testes in men, and breast, ovarian and cervical cancer in
women. Other suspected conditions linked to them include thyroid
cancer, premature births, precocity, overweight, diabetes and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). These compounds may
interfere with the body’s endocrine system and produce adverse
developmental, reproductive, neurological, and immune effects in
both humans and wildlife. A wide range of substances, both natural
and man-made, are thought to cause endocrine disruption, including pharmaceuticals, dioxin and dioxin-like compounds, polychlorinated biphenyls, DDT and other pesticides, and plasticizers such
as bisphenol A. Endocrine disruptors may be found in many everyday products– including plastic bottles, metal food cans, detergents,
flame retardants, food, toys, cosmetics, and pesticides. Endocrine
disruption is an important public health concern that is being addressed by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
(NIEHS). The NIEHS supports studies to determine whether exposure to endocrine disruptors may result in human health effects in-
cluding lowered fertility and an increased incidence of endometriosis and some cancers. Research shows that endocrine disruptors may pose the greatest risk during prenatal and early postnatal development when organ and neural systems are forming.
Drawing up a complete list of endocrine disruptors and endocrine active substances is also a challenge because there are no
generally accepted criteria to do this. A first major difficulty
lies in estimating their number and origin. A recent study by
the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) is based on the assumption
that there are around 800 endocrine active substances. However, identifying chemicals with endocrine disrupting potential
among all of the chemicals used and released worldwide “is a
major challenge,” it warns, saying, “it is likely that we are currently assessing only the tip of the iceberg”. Some are in fact
produced unintentionally, during combustion processes and via
environmental transformations, the WHO study said, adding to
the complexity of determining their origin.
National and international governments are in the process of
establishing testing programs and strategies to assess the safety
of currently used chemicals with regard to their potential to interact with the endocrine system of man and wildlife, resulting
in potential impacts on reproduction, growth, and/or development. Specifically, the USA, Japan and European Union have
established testing approaches and regulatory frameworks with
aim to assess the risks associated with chemicals that have endocrine disrupting properties (EDCs). The challenge posed by
endocrine disrupting substances is attracting increasing interest
internationally. However, unfortunately the Oman legislation
is inadequate for dealing with the risks posed to the environment and human health by endocrine-disrupting chemicals
such as phenols, polycholorobiphenyls (PCBs) and phthalates.
The Oman government should approach to assess the effects
of endocrine disruptors with the objective of establishing “a
framework that provides both for the assessment of the endocrine disrupting potential of individual chemicals as well as
the possibility to assess their harmful impact”. Thus, there is an
urgent need to develop novel biorecognition elements such as
aptamers, which are highly specific and selective for particular
EDCs to determine in complex matrix without any interference
and this will attract the attention of Oman government to make
strategic framework to deal with the effects of these endocrine
disruptors.
Aptamers are single stranded DNA or RNA molecules, selected
in vitro (selection evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment, SELEX, from vast populations of random sequences.
They have ability to fold into well-defined, three-dimensional
structures and bind to specific molecular targets (e.g. proteins,
small molecules) with high affinity. Aptamers fulfill the current
research requirements for affinity molecules and have therefore
surfaced as promising alternatives. This class of recognition elements has even been termed as ‘chemical antibodies, because
of their unique conformations and detailed three dimensional
structures that enable them to recognize a target, or a family of
targets, very sensitively and selectively. Moreover, the synthetic
production of aptamers makes them animal-friendly and additionally enables them to be generated against toxic targets. They
are also cost- effective, reproducible, and faster to produce than
antibodies thereby offering an ethical alternative to the classic
affinity molecules. It has been estimated that production costs
of aptamers are 10−50 times lower than antibodies, which necessitate in vivo production techniques. We are going to start
to develop novel Aptasensors for the detection of EDCs at the
chemistry department in collaboration with the biology department at the Sultan Qaboos University that will give public
awareness to the people of Oman about the hazardous effects of
these EDCs.
P5
20 October 2015
News Round Up
SQU Hosts Safe
Driving Programme
Sultan Qaboos University hosted “Driving Skills for Life” (DSFL), a
free driving-safety programme for students, organized by Ford in association with Arabian Car Marketing. The free educational programme
helped new drivers, especially students, learn safe driving practices
while behind the wheel, such as proper vehicle spacing, speed management, hazard recognition and safe vehicle handling.
According to the U.S.-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the risk of motor vehicle crashes is higher among 16 to 19
year olds than any other age group. Per mile driven, teen drivers are
nearly three times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash than other
drivers.Ford DSFL was established in 2003 by Ford Motor Company
Fund, Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), and a panel of
safety experts with the mission of teaching newly licensed drivers the
necessary skills for safer driving, and the importance of making good
decisions while driving.
Kalyana Sivagnanam, Vice President, Marketing, Sales & Service, Ford
& Lincoln Middle East & Africa said, “Safety is a core component of
what we do, but we recognize that safety begins with the driver. Driving Skills for Life can have a profound impact on young drivers, and
anything that we can do, to make new drivers safer behind the wheel
benefits us all.” “In addition to DSFL, we’ve added smart technologies that truly revolutionize the driving experience and help drivers
to drive more safely – and even avoid accidents,” Sivagnanam added.
Sudan Minister Received
H.E. Dr. Ali bin Saud Al Bimani, the Vice Chancellor of
Sultan Qaboos University, received in his office, Dr. AlSaddig Al-Hadi Al-Mahadi, Minister of Human Resources Development, Sudan, and accompanying delegation.
The two sides discussed about the possibilities of boosting collaboration between SQU and Sudanese higher educational and research institutions.
They agreed on strengthening cooperation through exchange of students, staff, faculty members, researchers
and undertaking collaborative research. The two sides
discussed about how Sudanese institutions and SQU
could cooperate in the field of training, and capacity
building initiatives between the two countries.
Dr. Hamed bin Sulaiman Al Salmi, SQU Deputy Vice
Chancellor for Administrative & Financial Affairs, and
other senior officials from the university attended the
discussion. The Sudan minister was accompanied by Dr.
Ameer Salih Al Mamoun, Acting Director of Sudanese
Academy for Administration Sciences, Aballah Al Tayeb,
the Director of General Administration of Political and
Planning and Research at the Ministry.
Talk Sheds Light on e-Oman Strategy
sustainable Knowledge Society by leveraging Information and Communication
Technologies to enhance government services, enrich businesses and empower
individuals”, the CEO pointed out.
“The three economic development targets 2020 for Oman are Omanization,
privatization and diversification. Omanis have the knowledge and skills and
creation of employment opportunities for nationals is important. Effective and
competitive private sector plays a bigger role in economy. The targets for 2020
foresee diversification: the economy will not be reliant on oil & gas; but should
be driven by industry, services and domestic investment. The e-Oman strategic
pillars include society and human capital development; e-government and eservices; ICT industry development; national infrastructure development; promotion and awareness; and, governance, standards and regulation”.
As part of Oman Knowledge Economy seminar, organized by the College of Economics & Political Science at SQU on 11 October, Dr. Salim
Sultan Al Ruzaiqi, Chief Executive Officer of the Information Technology Authority (ITA) gave a talk on “e- Oman: towards a knowledge
based economy”. In his talk, Dr. Al Ruzaiqi said that the Digital Oman
Strategy spearheaded by ITA takes its cue from His Majesty’s great
vision of transferring the country into a knowledge based economy.
“ITA works with a vision to transform the Sultanate of Oman into a
20 October 2015
P6
“As part of the e-Oman initiatives, ITA has trained 74000 civil servants with
the support of 200 certified trainers. We have distributed 64000 open source
software DVDs in the country. Within the National Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) Initiative, the ITA has established three FOSS labs for training and
research and development. As many as 55700 citizens have been trained in
Information Technology through the 11 community knowledge centers (CKS)
established in different parts of the Sultanate. Specialized IT training was given
to 4875 professionals. As of now, a total of 120,000 personal computers were distributed to people. Special attention was given to promote ICT among persons
with special needs”, the CEO added.
Panorama
Mobile-assisted Language Learning
may prefer low tech or no tech approaches, because that way they feel that
they are in control. One of the problems with the advent of ICT has been
its ever-changing demands on both teachers and students, although it has
to be said that some objections are fatuous. At least one teacher in Oman
insists that her students present her with printed timetables. For some
reason best known to herself, she flatly refuses to read student timetables
from smartphones. The earlier reference to “cellular phones”, as opposed
to MALL, moreover, highlights the problem of constantly changing terminology, but it ignores the main danger in MALL.
This stems from Prensky’s (2001) binary division of ICT users into “digital
natives” and digital immigrants.” This is an easy division to understand,
but it is simplistic, and it was uncritically accepted for far too long. Hockly
herself criticizes it on the grounds that “digital residents and digital visitors are more appropriate.” (Hockly 2015; 66). No one is a “digital native”
any more than they are a “print native”. Literacy has to be taught/learned,
and so must the use of technology. Children who are adept in the use of
technology always have a mentor. Without support, their knowledge remains random – they may be perfectly capable of doing a certain number
of things very well, but beyond those parameters they are inept.
By: Neil Mcbeath
Language Centre, SQU
Mobile-assisted Language Learning (MALL) is the latest craze. At the
2015 TESOL Arabia Conference, no fewer than twelve papers made
direct reference to MALL. A decade ago, however, the mobile phone
was almost ignored as a teaching device. Nakashini, Tatsuta and
Wada’s (2007) paper at the 2007 World Conference on E-Learning in
Corporate, Government, Healthcare and Higher Education was the
exception that proved the rule. At that conference, out of nearly four
thousand papers, theirs was the only one to consider the potential of
“cellular phones”.
Since then Nicky Hockly has been assiduous in propagating the possibilities inherent in the use of mobile phones. To my certain knowledge
she published one paper in 2010, four in 2012, two in 2013, and one
more in 2015. This does not include the two books that she published
with Gavin Dudeny in 2012 and 2014. In June 2013, moreover, Karin
Tirasim and Cigdum Ugur hosted a webinar on the cell phones and
language teaching and the work cited above has all appeared in the
“mainstream” EFL media; in the publications most likely to be read
by classroom practitioners, as opposed to more theoretical publications with small print runs and a limited readership. This year, Vaquiro gave a paper urging the use of mobile technology at the Muscat
Higher College of Technology Professional Development Symposium, and she was tacitly supported by Abdul-Hameed and Shaikh.
Even so, Hockly admits that six parameters must be kept in mind before MALL can fit with a syllabus, and before communicative classroom tasks can be designed and sequenced. Those parameters are
This takes us to a second point. Many of those who urge the use of technology in education often argue from a cake-and-eat-it standpoint. Technology, we are told, is wonderfully motivating because it is so fresh and new.
It is adaptable, and so our students love it. At the same time, the argument
is advanced that technology is so much a part of students’ everyday lives,
that they can rightly expect it to be part of the educational process.
Am I the only one to see that there is a paradox here? If technology plays
so large a role in the everyday lives of our students, how can it simultaneously be motivating by virtue of its novelty? Returning to the question of
literacy, if students who are used to dull, poorly produced, print soaked,
monochrome textbooks are then presented with bright, colorful books that
are attractively laid out and have plenty of “white space” then we might
well expect increased motivation – for a while. Once the new style books
become commonplace, however, they will revert to being “just schoolbooks”, and the impact will be lost. There is a world of difference between
using technology for “edutainment” and for education.
Finally, mobile phones are no longer cutting edge. They are under threat
from “wearables”. Wearables are smartwatches, and they already have
their enthusiasts. Prentis (2014) cites an article by Torkington (2014). Entitled “What’s wrong with wearables?” Referring to smartwatches like the
L G G Watch and the Pebble Steel, her article contains the following assertion:“No one wears a watch any more. The usefulness of a watch has been
completely usurped by digital devices. Actual
watches are only fashionable as musty, outdated statements of wealth.
Watches aren’t cool. No one I know under 40 wears
a watch, and certainly few people under 30 would consider wearing
one.”
“ * hardware (device affordances including features and screen size,
and connectivity).
mobility (devices, learners or learning experience)
technological complexity (related to the learners’ technological competence)
linguistic/communicative competence
content, tutorial, creation or communication MALL.
educational/learning context (related to learners’ expectations and
preferred learning styles). (Hockly 2014; 39).
My personal opinion of this is that Torkington really ought to get out of
cyberspace a bit more. The watch trade flourishes in the shopping malls
of the Arab Gulf, but her comments were written before the advent of the
Apple smartwatch, and aggressive marketing might just persuade buyers
that they are hopelessly out of date unless they have one on their wrists.
Whether such devices can be usefully transferred to the classroom, however, is another matter. There is so very little hard evidence to support the
suggestion that our students are automatically motivated by the integration of ICT into teaching, and those driving technological change are far
more motivated by profit than by potential educational applications. Any
learning gain that comes from MALL is likely to entirely serendipitous.
This is entirely sensible advice, which accepts that some of our students, and colleagues, may simply not like using technology. They
(References are available with the author. Neil McBeath may be contacted by email to nmcbeath@squ.edu.om )
P7
20 October 2015
Straight Talk
Advances in
Computing and IT
Dr. Dan Ionescu
Dr. Dan Ionescu is a Professor at the School of Information Technology and
Engineering (SITE), University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He is the Director of the Network Computing and Control Technologies (NCCT www.ncct.
uottawa.ca) research laboratory since 1999. His research at the University of
Ottawa spans over domains such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Vision,
Distributed Computing, Network Computing and Control, Internetworking
Technologies, Web Collaboration Platforms, Multimedia Applications, and
others. His recent research efforts are directed towards collaborative multimedia platforms, autonomic computing, big data, The Internet of Things,
and new man-machine interface paradigm. Dr. Dan Ionescu recently visited
the College of Engineering at SQU as an external examiner for a PhD thesis
defense in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering. During
his stay at SQU, Dr. Dan Ionescu gave a talk on “Building, Publishing and
Consuming content with your friends synchronously”.
Horizon: Could you give a brief overview of the seminar you delivered at SQU?
Dr.Ionescu: Collaboration with peers is crucial for any form of human activities.
This is more important in the process of developing new skills and undertaking
researches. One assists more and more to a process in which cooperation between
or among users becomes the background and foreground of the teaching and learning process. Despite of the advertising and marketing of newer and newer products in this niche of the IT market, there is a stringent need for a more solid and
20 October 2015
comprehensive collaborative platform capable of offering not
only a Chat Application, or Video Conference, rather a platform which shall allow users to build actively and in real time
the content to be consumed by subscribers, be it documents,
pictures or videos. Advances in real-time web-based technologies provided researchers with the environment in which such
platforms can be developed and deployed. However, the introduction of the parallel editing requirement complicates the architecture and the construction of such platforms. Parallel editing, is a novel field of theoretical and practical investigation
on which a good size research community is working. In my
presentation I attempted to explain the principle and architecture for group-based co-editing and thus sharing of information produced or retrieved by one or many users in real-time. I
discussed the requirements for a complete co-editing platform
capable of helping user to produce and distribute content by
one or all of the members of the group synchronously. I have
given examples of applications of such a platform one of them
being implemented in a neighbor university.
Horizon: Do your lab in Canada undertake research in the
area of group-based sharing of information produced or retrieved in real-time?
Dr. Ionescu: The research team of the Network Computing
and Control Technologies research laboratory has recently produced a new collaborative platform called Groupive, in which
“Smart Objects” and smart protocols are used for building embedded content objects of various types. Based on these objects, a cross-communication and coordination among various
collaborative applications is implemented. Though we work
in the New Generation of Human Computer Interfaces with
applications to Gesture Control, and Virtual Reality, Some other core researches have brought new dynamic models for the
control of the congestion on the Internet. There is also an interesting group working on the supercomputing aspect of data
processing. As you see we embrace a good number of aspects
of applying modern computing concepts in various domains.
Horizon: Could you shed light on your academic interests?
Dr. Ionescu: At the School of Information Technology and
Engineering (SITE), I teach Internetworking Technologies
and Distributed Software System Design and Design of Embedded and Real Time Software. The Internet’s most rapidly
growing services are based on the World Wide Web. This is
not only becoming an indispensable vehicle for human interaction (messaging, real-time communications) and business
transactions (tele-banking, tele-advertising, tele-publishing,
electronic commerce, and many others) but is also stretching
the limits of the original design of the Internet along all possible dimensions. Network designers are scrambling to devise
solutions to cope with the situation. High growth in network
size and speed, together with the rapid changes of technologies and solutions, has made the Internet the largest distributed system that more and more people depend on, but fewer
and fewer understand. Continuous efforts are made to provide
communication services with specified quality of service (QoS)
parameters. In such a framework the user can select the necessary parameters for communication quality for a given application. The course on Distributed Software System Design is
intended to provide students with a background on designing
distributed applications using an emerging software technology. The Design of Embedded and Real Time System Software
is a compulsory undergraduate course offered at the fourth
year level. This course tackles both the theoretical and practical aspects of the Embedded or Real Time systems. A project
help students to anchor their knowledge related to embedded
and real-time system software in the engineering practice.