The Public Sound Objects (PSOs) project consists of the development of a networked musical system, which is an experimental framework to implement and test new concepts for online music communication. The PSOs project approaches the idea of collaborative musical performances over the Internet by aiming to go beyond the concept of using computer networks as a channel to connect performing spaces. This is achieved by exploring the internet's shared nature in order to provide a public musical space where anonymous users can meet and be found performing in collective sonic art pieces.

The system itself is an interface-decoupled musical instrument, in which a remote user interface and a sound processing engine reside with different hosts in an extreme scenario where a user can access the synthesizer from any place in the world using the World Wide Web. Specific software features were implemented in order to reduce the disruptive effects of network latency, such as dynamic adaptation of the musical tempo to communication latency measured in real time and consistent sound panning with the object's behaviour at the graphical user interface.

One of the issues that has been debated in the context of fairly open learning partnerships such as tandem learning has been whether and, if so, how much pedagogical support should be provided. Another issue is how do language learners who have grown accustomed to maximising their learning through comprehensible input and output make the transition to a reciprocal learning partnership where they are supposed to switch between the roles of learner and expert or resource. The three principles behind tandem learning are bilingualism; reciprocity; and learner autonomy. At Trinity College Dublin we have conducted extensive research into tandem learning in object-oriented Multiple User Domains (MOOs) since 1998. Of the three tandem principles, we found that balanced bilingualism, where both languages are used equally in the exchange, is difficult to achieve, particularly though not surprisingly in partnerships where L2 proficiency differs substantially. We think that technology, at least in MOOs, can contribute towards a solution to the problem. The bilingual tandem analyser (BTA) analyses MOO input while users are communicating and gives feedback to learners (and possibly teachers) on bilingualism in the exchange. Here, we discuss what attitudes towards bilingualism learners bring towards the tandem exchange and how they react to the BTA as a tool to monitor and regulate bilingualism: will learners perceive balanced bilingualism as a necessary principle of the partnership; what efforts do they make to keep the balance between the languages; how do they see the BTA: as an instrument of control, directed by the teacher; or do they perceive it as a useful tool to support their tandem exchanges?

In the course of designing, writing and implementing CALL-supported material, it has become evident to me that a systematic investigation into the factors that shape the Blended Learning (BL) experience in the context of language learning and teaching is missing and urgently needed. The core question when designing a BL environment is: Which combination of modes provides the optimal basis for language learning and teaching given the particular conditions at hand? In order to tackle this question, course designers need a framework of parameters that help them decide on the individual, context-related implementation of BL. It is the purpose of this paper to put forward a definition of BL and a framework of parameters for designing a BL environment. In order to achieve a better understanding of the factors that shape the practice and the experience of BL, the main parameters which form a BL environment will be listed and specified. These parameters evolved from the experience of designing Jobline LMU (www.jobline.lmu.de) and will hopefully prove to be helpful for the process of designing other BL environments. If applied successfully, the idea of BL could serve as a bridge between the broader community of language teachers and learners and CALL experts and practitioners. BL offers the potential of broadening the scope and influence of CALL and of (re-)establishing it as an innovative component of general language teaching.

Given the continuing pressures on academics to publish their research work in high quality publications, we find that authors are required to provide their institutions with increasingly more detailed information about the journals in which their papers appear. One frequently asked question relates to rejection rates. On average, fewer than fifty per cent of papers submitted to ReCALL are accepted. For example, in the current year 2005, 45 papers were submitted, of which 16 were published.

A great deal of research has been carried out over the past two decades related to the effectiveness of computer-assisted teaching and learning. This large body of work, however, has not produced unequivocal findings, especially in the area of CALL. Our study takes a systematic look at what dedicated meta-research since 1991 might have contributed to this controversial field. Data was gathered from several hundred studies including ca 20,000 subjects. The paper highlights the benefits and limitations associated with this type of research, synthesizes findings and recommends models and strategies for future research in the context of an agreed research agenda. Our synthesis suggests consistent positive findings related to L1 spelling, writing and reading. While there is some support for this related to CALL per se, much work needs to be done before we might reach the levels of confidence enjoyed by some of the findings reported here.

The basic tenet of constructivism is that learners construct their knowledge on their own by associating new with prior information. The significance of the learner’s interaction with his/her social and physical environment is here of great importance; the learner is at the center of the learning process while the tutor is seen as a facilitator, a guide. Considering the paradigm shift in education and language learning, the assumptions of the constructivist philosophy encourage the use of computers in second language acquisition. Computer technology is capable of providing the context for collaboration and social interaction in which learners will construct the knowledge of the target language on their own by being engaged in meaningful activities. Moreover, computers allow learners to interact not only with the learning materials but also with other people. The combination of the social and individual aspect is best expressed by social constructivism. Placing language learning in a socio-cognitive context, we will approach second language acquisition from a social constructivist perspective and indicate the value of such an approach for the design and evaluation of Computer Applications in Second Language Acquisition (CASLA). Firstly, an overview of constructivism as a theory of learning is required in order to make clear the basic assumptions of the constructivist theory. Secondly, the focus is placed on social constructivism which is examined in relation to second language acquisition. This in tandem exploration will lead us to provide a framework which integrates all four language skills in a general theoretical framework of social interaction and shows how social constructivism can promote second language acquisition. Finally, one type of on-line application such as WebQuest, which is best developed in project-driven language learning, will be provided as a potential example of good practice in approaching Computer Applications in Second Language Learning through a social constructivist perspective.

The inspiration for our project arose from a perceived gap between research in foreign/second language learning and classroom practice. In order to address this issue, we created a web site containing summaries of seminal articles in the area of CALL – computer assisted language learning. The summaries are useful for many teachers who do not have time to read full text journal articles and understand the statistical terms, but would like to take advantage of the research findings. Researchers will receive feedback from teachers in the form of comments, which may give insight for further research. Other features of the website are: a database of teachers' comments and demographic information, keyword search, index, glossary, chronological and alphabetical bibliography, links to research archives and sites assisting with statistical terminology and design of experiments.

This paper discusses the design and implementation of a task-oriented collaborative learning (and training) experimental project that was carried out with future language teachers. More specifically, a class of sixteen French students enrolled in a Masters of Education course were asked to create multimedia resources for a group of Australian students with no priorknowledge of French. This paper deals only with issues concerning French students’ multimedia creations, not with the second phase of interactions with the Australian target group. The theoretical background is situated and collaborative learning and training: the French students worked in pairs, creating multimedia activities based on their culture for real students in a different location. They communicated with each other during weekly classes and via a groupware tool. A triangulated data method was used incorporating the students’ multimedia outcome, questionnaires and semi-directive interviews. The following issues are discussed: what is the effect of such situated learning settings on motivation, commitment and computer literacy? What image did the French students have of the Australian students and which cultural aspects did they try to convey?

The paper discusses a blended learning concept for a university teacher training course for prospective teachers of English. The concept aims at purposeful learning using different methods and activities, various traditional and electronic media, learning spaces covering contact and distance learning, and task-based learning modules that begin with multimedia-based case stories. The learning concept is based on theories of situated learning in multimedia-enhanced learning environments. The activities discussed include classroom recordings and multimedia-based case stories, an electronic interview with an expert who is an experienced grammar school teacher, and mini-practices, which implement micro teaching in a classroom setting. Case stories used as a didactic tool in teacher education are supposed to contribute to a closer and more reflective relationship between theory-driven and practically-oriented aspects of teacher education. The multimedia-based case stories are hypertexts designed as essential components of computer-based learning modules that support various ways and styles of learning. Students worked with the case story material either in guided or in self-regulated scenarios several times during the course. Three types of learners could be distinguished: students who mainly create and apply experiences, students who mainly study the theoretical resources, and students who create with focused selection of resources. The e-interview promotes an exchange between theory and practical teaching and experience with this format of e-learning at the same time. The mini-practice offers guided insights into analyzing teaching materials, hands-on experiences with lesson planning and the experience of acting as a teacher in an authentic teaching context. Furthermore, the mini-practice is meant to help the students broaden their perspectives on “English lessons at school” and change their perspective, that is, from a pupil’s to a prospective teacher’s. These activities combine contact learning and interactive e-learning. This combination is highly appreciated by our learners and represents our concept of integrated interactive e-learning and contact learning.

This paper discusses the effectiveness of a web-based learning programme of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) for British students from ethnic minority backgrounds. Original web-based materials for English for Academic Purposes (EAP) were developed and 43 student volunteers participated in two different modes of learning during the 9-week long programme: through blended learning and at a distance. The study attempts to investigate which mode of delivery is more effective in terms of student retention, achievement levels and satisfaction with the programme. The study found that the blended learning mode was much more effective in student retention in this non-credit bearing programme, whilst students’ achievement levels were similar in both groups. In addition, formative and summative feedback from the students suggests that most students in both groups were satisfied with this web-based EAP programme.

A new fast successive approximation algorithm for the solution of the inverse position analysis of a general serial manipulator is presented. With the algorithm, we can search out the inverse solution of the serial manipulator quickly under the desired precision when the position of the three non-collinear end effector points is given. The position analysis of the 7R redundant serial manipulator is illustrated in the literature as an example. The simulation results verify the efficiency of the proposed algorithm. Since the three non-collinear end effector points can be selected at random, the algorithm can be applied to any other type serial manipulator.

The paper considers a technique for computation of the inverse kinematic model of the human arm for robot based rehabilitation that uses measurements of the hand position and orientation and radial acceleration of the upper arm. Analytical analysis and empirical validation of the method are presented. The algorithm enables estimation of human arm angles, which can be used in trajectory planning for rehabilitation robots, evaluation of motion of patients with movement disorders, and generation of virtual reality environments.

In this paper, the joint angles of a two link planar manipulator are calculated by using inverse kinematics equations together with some geometric equalities. For a given position of the end-effector the joint angle and angular velocity of the links are derived. The analyses contains many equations which have to be solved. However, the solutions are rather cumbersome and complicated, therefore a program is written in Fortran 90 in order to do, the whole calculation and data collection. The results are given at the end of this paper.

Robot collision characteristics are analyzed by using the idea of the collision map. This analysis consists of the translations of the collision region on the collision map and they correspond to parallel movements of the original robot path. These translations are investigated in several cases and applied to general situations in which two robots are moving or working in a common workspace. Also, the collision characteristics are analyzed for a few special situations where the analysis of collision characteristics is crucial and the resultant solution for collision avoidance can be obtained.

This paper describes a hierarchical architecture for rhythmic movement generation, which suits a juggling-like task involving sensory-motor coordination. Our approach, which is interpreted as a “bidirectional weak coupling” to the environment, does not require a continuous monitoring of the environment, but can adapt a robot to a change in the environment, owing to the interaction between the robot and the environment at the ball contact. The proposed architecture contains two passive-control mechanisms, the “entrainment mechanism” and the “open-loop stable mechanism,” that lead to the emergence of a self-organized temporal order in the whole system. This dynamic temporal pattern enables a robot to perform a stable rhythmic movement. We demonstrate a robot which juggles two balls rebounding off the wall and confirm the effectiveness of our approach.

In this paper, an optimal kinematic design method of a three translational DoFs parallel manipulator is presented. The design is based on the concept of performance chart, which can show the relationship between a criterion and design parameters graphically and globally. The normalization on the design parameters of the studied manipulator makes it possible that the design space, which is made up of the normalized parameters, is limited. The design space includes of all possible basic similarity manipulators (BSMs). As any one of the BSMs represents all of its similarity manipulators (SMs) in terms of performances, if one BSM is optimal, its SMs are optimized as well. The said optimal BSM is from the optimum region, which is the intersecting result of involved performance charts. In this paper, the related performance criteria are good-conditioning workspace (GCW), global conditioning index (GCI) and global stiffness index (GSI). As an applying example, a design result of the parallel manipulator with a desired task workspace is presented. The results of the paper are very useful for the design and application of a parallel manipulator.