A Distributed Learning and Teaching Environment across Institutions based on Advanced Grid Portal Technology

The OER is a comparatively innovative phenomenon which perhaps seen as a part of a bigger movement towards openness in advanced education including more familiar and recognized trends, for example Open Access (OA) and Open Source Software (OSS). This study introduces a web based service for collaborative authoring learning to create, share and explore dynamic contents since many problems occurred while using the current e-learning software such as Moodle and LAMS. This paper proposed the alternative e-learning software technology based on grid portal, grid computing platform and it was implemented in two courses. The conventional web based education may not suitable for collaborative tools and online collaborative authoring environment because of slow operation in searching, uploading, visualizing output, and file sharing. The new web based service offers an efficient authoring infrastructure dealing with online collaborative tools and collaborative authoring environment based on grid portal technology to solve the unequal distribution of task and compensation problem as well as investigates how to improve access and usefulness for the users of such OER. UCLA Grid Portal open source software with parallel computing system has been implemented in order to design the efficient authoring infrastructure and to implement an online graphics, animation, audio and video technology courses. The idea is to show how the environment can offer web assisted education that goes beyond providing digital learning materials. The OER, especially in the collaborative authoring activity environment in parallel computing are designed to provide students with new environment where they can share skills, knowledge, and understanding within the group members as well as to enhance students’ teamwork skills in parallel and distributed processing for high performance computing. Based on the strong foundations, hopefully the users are ready to apply their knowledge, creativity and leadership to fulfill the need of their future career development. As a conclusion, the collaborative authoring learning becomes more effective in terms of performance evaluations analysis.

With the enhancement of Grid application, Grid portal provides a unique interface for end-users to access distributed resources and are used widely in Knowledge Grid, e-Science, e-learning and e-business. A successful Grid portal relies on many factors. This paper focuses primarily on the design aspects of a successful Grid portal implementation. Ten questions of designing Grid portal are discussed in no particular order. The questions detail the key considering areas of Grid portal architecture, Grid portal contents, portal security, reusability, software design, management and programming test.

An efficient numerical method to simulate the conjugate heat transfer between a fluid and moving bodies is presented. The numerical approach is based on hierarchical Cartesian meshes and formulated for immersed boundaries such that simulations can be performed for solid bodies of arbitrary shape and without interpolation assumption on parallel high-performance computing systems. To ensure a consistent temperature and heat flux across the fluid–solid interface, a direct iterative procedure incorporating the solid and the fluid domains is used such that a fully energy conserving method is obtained. The method is validated by comparing simulation results for generic three-dimensional problems of stationary and moving geometries with reference data, for which also the conservation properties and the accuracy of the method are demonstrated. Results for the heat transfer of a sphere at a fixed position in an adiabatic domain, the flow over a backward-facing step, and a shape-transforming body are shown. Additionally, results for moving bodies are presented, which demonstrate the accuracy and versatility of the developed method. Finally, the efficient implementation of the algorithm for usage on parallel computing systems is shown by scaling and benchmark plots.

First of all, we would like to thank Alexander Renkl for taking the time to read and comment on our special issue on the effects of learning environments. Such responses indicate that our special issue has been successful in at least one of its goals: It has stimulated further debate about the nature and characteristics of learning (environments). We find it difficult to disagree with several of the points made by Renkl (2009), given that we share the same view to a large extent. However, in this commentary we will explain that in our view, there is not necessarily a paradox when constructivists talk about learning environments. In our opinion, it all depends on how one views and approaches constructivism and we will argue that three perspectives can emerge in this respect: A theory of learning, a philosophical position, and a theory of instruction. At the same time, we agree that the term constructivist learning environment might raise some false expectations. Other labels to refer to what we have called constructivist learning might be helpful in this respect, e.g., new learning environments or learning environments that foster meaningful learning. In our introductory article for the special issue, we clearly distinguished between constructivism as a learning theory and educational applications of this theory, i.e., con structivist learning environments (Loyens and Gijbels 2008, pp. 351-352). By making this distinction, we tried to keep theory and pedagogy apart. We concur with Renkl that educational applications such as the use of meaningful problems do not belong to the epistemological core of constructivism. In our view, however, introducing epistemology when discussing constructivism is adding a third perspective besides a theory of learning and a theory of instruction.

The advancements in technology in this contemporary time require special computing devices to able to manage the increase of the computational power. However, the limitation of the sequential computing systems stands as an obstacle in fulfilling these requirements. Thus, the research community looking for a viable solution able to solve the grand computing problems. A parallel computing system is a collection of processing elements that cooperate and communicate to provide a fast solution for a problem. A new symmetric network named Shifted Peterson Network (SPN) has been proposed in this paper. The basic module (BM) of the suggested network is composed of ten nodes, and the BMs of SPN are connected through external nodes to construct an advanced level of this network. Furthermore, the connectivity of SPN is based on a shifting mechanism of the binary digits of each node. The architecture of SPN discussed in this paper, in addition, the static network performance parameters of this network has been evaluated and compared to popular conventional interconnection networks. The networks evaluated in terms of node degree, diameter, average distance, arc connectivity, bisection width, cost, wiring complexity, packing density, and message traffic density. SPN showed good results in almost all aspects compared to these networks. Therefore, SPN is a suitable choice for the massively parallel computer (MPC) systems.

High quality teachers are essential to improving the teaching and learning of mathematics and science, necessitating effective professional development (PD) and learning environments for teachers. However, many PD programs for science and mathematics teachers fall short because they fail to consider teacher background, experience, knowledge, beliefs, and needs (Loucks-Horsley, Love, Stiles, Mundry, & Hewson, 2003). To develop more effective PD systems, it is necessary to assess and identify teachers' PD needs, expectations, experiences and constraints. In this manuscript, we describe the findings from a study that examined the PD experiences, needs, expectations, and constraints of middle and high school science and mathematics teachers in one state in the U.S. We examine similarities and differences between science and mathematics teachers and among teachers from urban, suburban and rural schools. The findings from this study suggest that mathematics and science teachers participate in a minimal amount of PD and that a number of factors contribute to this reality. Furthermore, science and mathematics teachers do not experience effective PD learning environments described by Bransford, Brown & Cocking (2000) and there is a mismatch between teachers' PD needs and experiences.

Introduces the design and implementation of a Remote System for Parallel Computing.Based on Multi-platform.This system support remote operating and running linux system parallel programes on Windows system and provide a kind of uniform mode for the applied customer to operation, The customer does not need to know the concrete structure of the parallel computing system,can operate the parallel system and complete the computation or simulation what they need.This system reduces the complication on developing parallel programs and improves the efficiency on using parallel computing system,and solves the problem of real-time data transmission between server and client machine.It has highly practical value.

A Schwarz domain decomposition method for solution of transient unsaturated water flow on parallel computers

Centralized recommender systems can not resolve the contradiction between high recommendation quality and timely response, as well as that between limited recommendation range and ever rich information on the Web. Distributed recommender systems are expected to improve the recommendation quality while maintaining high performance. Large-scale distributed recommendation involves the coordination of various heterogeneous resources which are located on different nodes and need to be represented uniformly and organized normally into the resource space so that a semantically interactive environment can be formed. In this paper the recommendation task is defined as a knowledge based workflow and the knowledge grid is exploited as the platform for knowledge sharing and knowledge service which provides the functions of knowledge discovery, knowledge fusion and knowledge based workflow definition. The rationale of the knowledge grid based intelligent electronic recommender systems (KGBIECRS) is discussed and the service oriented architecture of the knowledge grid is presented. The knowledge grid depends on the semantic grid as the semantically interactive platform to intelligently coordinate the heterogeneous resources on the grid so that the recommendation task submitted by the knowledge grid as a knowledge based workflow can be performed intelligently and adaptively. How to implement the system is also discussed. Finally an example of travel recommendation is given to elaborate the recommendation process.

The increasing use of computers in all the areas of human activities is resulting in huge collections of digital data. Databases are common everywhere and are used as repositories of every kind of data. Knowledge discovery techniques and tools are used today to analyze those very large data sets to identify interesting patterns and trends in them. When data is maintained over geographically distributed sites the computational power of distributed and parallel systems can be exploited for knowledge discovery in databases. In this scenario the Grid can provide an effective computational support for distributed knowledge discovery on large data sets. To this purpose we designed a system called Knowledge Grid This chapter describes the Knowledge Grid architecture and discusses some related systems and models recently proposed for knowledge discovery on Grids. The chapter presents also how to design and implement distributed data mining applications by using the Knowledge Grid tools starting from searching Grid resources, composing software and data elements, and executing the resulting application on a Grid.

CFD problems numerical simulation and visualization by means of parallel computational system

Parallel computer systems are among the most complex of man's creations, making satisfactory performance characterization difficult. Despite this complexity, there are strong, indeed, almost irresistible, incentives to quantify parallel system performance using a single metric. The fallacy lies in succumbing to such temptations. A complete performance characterization requires not only an analysis of the system's constituent levels, it also requires both static and dynamic characterizations. Static or average behavior analysis may mask transients that dramatically alter system performance. Although the human visual system is remarkedly adept at interpreting and identifying anomalies in false color data, the importance of dynamic, visual scientific data presentation has only recently been recognized Large, complex parallel system pose equally vexing performance interpretation problems. Data from hardware and software performance monitors must be presented in ways that emphasize important events while eluding irrelevant details. Design approaches and tools for performance visualization are the subject of this paper.

Large mainframe computers are slowly dying off, as massively parallel computer systems are replacing them to become the way of the future which offers scalability, redundancy and system availability not possible previously. These new computers require power systems that are equally capable in scalability, redundancy and availability. This paper explores the system availability and MTBF requirements of distributed high power, paralleled, fault-tolerant power systems, which are necessary to match the needs of parallel computer systems within the next five years. >

Background. In the modern world the education system constantly evolves, the nature of educational system in general and learning environment in particular are changing. Stimulating learning environments influence the efficiency of pedagogical situations, so educators are in constant search of the ways to create them. To understand what components influence the quality of the learning process, it is necessary to examine the relationship between the educational process and learning environment. So we have turned to foreign experience in the field of education. This article is part of a large-scale study of pedagogical situations from a cross-cultural perspective conducted by the author. Purpose. The analysis and visualization of the components of the learning environment of a pedagogical situation on the basis of foreign scientists research. Materials and methods. The methodology of pedagogical semiology was used: content analysis, component and system-structural analysis, method of interpretation. The material was modern studies of Western European and North American scientists on education. Results. In the current international pedagogical discourse on learning environments, there is considerable confusion about terms. Most capaciously the learning environment is defined as the complete physical, social and pedagogical context in which learning should take place. Pedagogical situations can take place in a wide variety of learning environments. However, our research has shown that despite the differences in context, there is a certain set of components presented in most effective learning environments. It includes: characteristics of learners and their means of communication; tasks and content of pedagogical situations; non-teaching tasks; location; time; resources; culture. Taking into account the identified components, we managed to visualize the learning environment of a pedagogical situation, considered from the teacher’s point of view. In perspective, it will be relevant to consider similar issues in Russian pedagogy and conduct a comparative analysis.

High-quality education is essential for preparing the younger generation, particularly Generation Alpha, to face the challenges of the modern era. This study examines various issues encountered in the learning process, including the mismatch between the implemented curriculum and societal needs, variations in teaching quality among educators, and unequal access to technology. Additionally, low motivation and participation from students, as well as parental involvement, are also significant concerns. Through this comprehensive analysis, the study identifies the problems arising from these issues and offers strategies that can be implemented to address these challenges. By focusing on curriculum innovation, improving teacher performance, effectively utilizing technology, and strengthening parental roles, it is hoped that a more effective learning environment can be created. The findings of this discussion aim to provide valuable insights for the development of education in Indonesia and to enhance the overall quality of learning.