A collection of diverse papers that evaluate the impact of advances in information and communication technology (ICT) on our society is brought together in this book. It is divided into seven sections, each addressing several broad topics--computer-assisted learning and computers in education, security, and policy issues. Roughly three-quarters of the papers deal with issues in online instruction. Within the sections, the order of the papers seems almost random. The individual papers range from theoretical to very pragmatic and even simplistic.

Section 1, “Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning,“ contains four papers. The first describes a collaborative learning framework that can support dialog among the participants, and facilitates their subsequent collaborative learning experiences. Another paper illustrates a collaborative learning model for teaching art to elementary school students, based on ideation and conceptualization supported by instructional technology tools, culminating in independent and collaborative exploration of the concepts and ideas formulated at the beginning. The paper is illustrated with excellent examples of student work. Another paper, by a group from Newcastle University in the UK, describes how instructional technology can facilitate a discussion about learning among students. The fourth paper addresses topics outside of kindergarten to twelfth grade education, discussing methodologies for building viable telemedicine systems. Although very different from the other papers in the section, its main topic--technology and collaboration at all levels--is the same.

Section 2 focuses on strategies for the design of new learning systems. The first paper presents a system view of curriculum design and management, paying special attention to tools used for the analysis of learning benchmarks. The second paper is about pragmatic ways to define learning objects (metadata for the components of a course), an activity that is needed to streamline course development, but is always impeded by the limited time instructors have to formally prepare materials. The third paper addresses design issues in systems that are driven by competency standards adopted in a field. The final paper, written in collaboration by authors from US Air Force Research and Chi Systems Inc., describes the design principles for a work-centered decision support system that is used by satellite system operators to perform their complex tasks. Another paper on the training support of the same satellite system can be found at the end of section 3.

Section 3 draws on the previous two sections to describe the evaluation of learning systems. The first paper analyzes the psychological issues associated with privacy and security, a topic essential for the success of a system, but rarely addressed in technical literature. The second paper, by a group of researchers from Greece, describes the evaluation of tools used for benchmarking and managing transportation systems, an exercise that included students and instructors and resulted in numerous useful suggestions. The third paper focuses on detecting and addressing misconceptions in the teaching of biological sciences, while the fourth paper outlines an approach to building online exams that have adequate online assistance components. Other topics covered by papers in this section include using novel methods in mathematics instruction, teaching molecular spectroscopy, and the effects of training on workers manning security screening equipment in airports. The final paper in this section describes work done at the University of Ancona on building content management systems for educational materials.

Sections 4 and 6 both focus on security issues: authentication and e-commerce security, respectively. The first paper describes the basics of identity-based encryption (IBE), a very popular innovative encryption schema that captured the attention of many technologists. The second paper presents a way to authenticate users of mobile devices through picture selection, an approach to authentication known as knowledge-based authentication. The first paper in section 6 describes applications of encryption to payment systems. The next paper illustrates features of a system that permits the developers to define security rules to ensure proper access to hypermedia systems. The next paper focuses on forced encryption solutions, demonstrating general methods that can be used to force a solution to encrypted files without cryptanalysis.

Section 5 contains several papers on interface design, predominantly for learning systems. The first paper presents the findings on links between cognitive styles of learners and preferred interfaces in a system. Next, there is a paper that describes a learning tool for the visualization of general directed and rooted trees for interactively teaching graph and network algorithms. The third paper describes an electronic performance support system that is adapted for teaching complex skill sets. The final paper in this section defines a framework that can help improve the efficiency of Web surfing for educational purposes.

Concluding the book, section 7 focuses on strategic issues. The first paper describes legal and regulatory challenges that electronic commerce operators have to face. The second paper describes competitive advantages for e-commerce operators in Lithuania. The third paper describes a preliminary model for technology education in electronic commerce. Another paper in this section discusses interactions between government and private organizations in the area of e-procurement. E-procurement is also the topic of an article by a group of researchers from the Netherlands. The final paper is on the role of knowledge management in higher education.

This book addresses numerous topics. Even though the predominant subjects are education and technologies, the distribution of papers within topics is so broad that the book will probably not satisfy the research interests of anyone focusing on one area only, such as instructional design or security. Instead, it serves as a collection of short, not very technical articles that can give anyone interested in technology in general some ideas to ponder. The collection will almost certainly contain references, facts, and arguments that readers have not encountered before.