Abstract: In this paper we present a CPU scavenging
architecture suitable for desktop resources,
and we study its appropriateness in exploiting the
PC Laboratory resources of the Greek SchoolNetwork and their integration to the existing
HellasGrid national infrastructure. School laboratories
form an extensive network equipped with
computational systems and fast Internet connections.
As this infrastructure is utilized at most 8 h per day and 5 days per week, it could be
made available during its remaining idle time for
computational purposes through the use of Grid
technology. The structure and organization of the
school laboratories and backbone network enables
the CPU scavenging service, as an independent
and additional service, which will not violate
the operational rules and policies of the schoolnetwork, while it will add additional resources
to the current HellasGrid infrastructure with low
adaptation cost.
Abstract: The Greek SchoolNetwork (GSN) has developed and put into production a number of e-learning services, including synchronous and asynchronous tele-education, electronic class management, blogs, video-on-demand, podcasts and multimedia libraries. These new services complement established and accepted e-learning services, such as teleconferencing, user wikis, forums, email, electronic publishing, and e-magazines. This report presents the most prominent digital e-learning services offered by GSN, with emphasis on the asynchronous tele-education service, which is presented in detail. Its implementation platform, the Moodle course management system, is compared against well-known asynchronous open source tele-education platforms such as COSE, Claroline, Fle3, ILIAS, Manhattan, KEWL, Comentor, e-Class and Eledge. The evaluation of the asynchronous tele-education platforms is based on detailed comparisons of their characteristics and of the methodology they adopt in order to deliver educational services. The comparison is based on evaluation criteria derived from the documented experiences of research institutes and educational bodies and also from the experience of GSN itself. The paper concludes with the presentation of an extension to Moodle for implementing communities of practice (CoPs) that facilitate the creation and delivery of electronic educational open content for teachers in a synergetic manner.
Abstract: The Greek SchoolNetwork (GSN) is the nationwide network that connects all units of primary and secondary education in Greece. GSN offers a significant set of diverse services to more than 15.000 schools and administrative units, and more than 60.000 teachers, placing GSN second in infrastructure size nationwide. GSN has relied on the emerging power of open source software to build cutting-edge services capable of covering internal administrative and monitoring needs, end user demands, and, foremost, modern pedagogical requirements for tools and services. GSN provides a wide set of advanced services, varying from web mail to virtual classrooms and synchronous/asynchronous tele-education. This paper presents an evaluation of GSN open source services based on the opinions of users who use GSN for educational purposes, and on usage and traffic measurement statistics. The paper reaches the conclusion that open source software provides a sound technological platform that meets the needs for cutting edge educational services deployment, and innovative, competitive software production for educational networks.
Abstract: Several networking technologies targeting the IoT application space currently compete within the smart city domain, both in outdoor and indoor deployments. However, up till now, there is no clear winner, and results from real-world deployments have only recently started to surface. In this paper, we present a comparative study of 2 popular IoT networking technologies, LoRa and IEEE 802.15.4, within the context of a research-oriented IoT deployment inside school buildings in Europe, targeting energy efficiency in education. We evaluate the actual performance of these two technologies in real-world settings, presenting a comparative study on the effect of parameters like the built environment, network quality, or data rate. Our results indicate that both technologies have their advantages, and while in certain cases both are perfectly adequate, in our use case LoRa exhibits a more robust behavior. Moreover, LoRa¢s characteristics make it a very good choice for indoor IoT deployments such as in educational buildings, and especially in cases where there are low bandwidth requirements.
Abstract: The Greek SchoolNetwork (GSN) is a closed educational network that offers advanced
telematic and networking services to all primary/secondary education schools and
educational administration offices in Greece. The primary objective of GSN is to provide a network infrastructure for the interconnection of school PC laboratories so that modern educational methods and pedagogical models can be used in the school community securely and effectively. GSN has scaled in size, reached maturity, and is currently delivering a wide range of network and telematic services to students and educators. Being the second largest
communications network nationwide, GSN is exposed to all kinds of security threats and, due to its educational hypostasis, naive user behaviour. The current paper presents an evaluation of security management solutions for the enforcement of policies, practices, and user protection methodologies proven viable within the GSN environment, as indicated by statistics and metrics on the use of the related services. The paper reaches the conclusion that GSN security services constitute a sound framework that can successfully cover the needs of
the school community.
Abstract: The Greek SchoolNetwork (GSN) is a closed nationwide
educational network that offers advanced telematic and
networking services to all primary/secondary education schools
and administration offices in Greece. The primary objective of
GSN is the provisioning of a network infrastructure for the interconnection
of school PC laboratories so that modern educational
methods and pedagogical models can be applied to the school
community. GSN has scaled in size, has reached maturity, and
is currently delivering a wide range of network and telematic
services to its users. The emerging power of open-source software
provides a sound technological basis for building cutting-edge
services, capable of meeting internal administrative and monitoring
needs, and modern pedagogical requirements for tools and
services. The current paper presents an overview of GSN and an
evaluation of its services based on the opinions of its users, and on
service utilization and traffic measurement statistics. The paper
reaches the conclusion that open-source solutions provide a sound
technological platform that can cover, to a great extent, the needs
for advanced educational services of the school community.