The Internet of Things holds huge promise in enhancing collaboration in multiple application domains. Bringing internet connectivity to everyday objects and environments promotes ubiquitous access to information and integration with third-party systems. Further, connected "things" can be used as physical interfaces to enable users to cooperate, leveraging multiple devices via parallel and distributed actions. Yet creating prototypes of IoT systems is a complex task for developers non-expert in IoT, as it requires dealing with multi-layered hardware and software infrastructures. We introduce RapIoT, a software toolkit that facilitates the prototyping of IoT systems by providing an integrated set of technologies. Our solution abstracts low-level details and communication protocols, allowing developers non-expert in IoT to focus on application logic, facilitating rapid prototyping. RapIoT supports the development of collaborative applications by enabling the definition of high-level data type primitives and allowing interactions spread among multiple smart objects. RapIoT primitives act as a loosely coupled interface between generic IoT devices and applications, simplifying the development of systems that make use of an ecology of devices distributed to multiple users and environments. We illustrate the potential of our toolkit by presenting the development process of an IoT application ideated during a workshop with non-expert developers and addressing real-world
The paper reports on a case study where four groups of lower secondary school students participated in a workshop and undertook the demanding role of designers of Internet of Things applications. In doing that, they made use of a dedicated inventor toolkit, which facilitated students' creative solutions to problems that can appear in the context of a smart city. From a pedagogical point of view, the workshop format is in line with the experiential learning approach. The paper presents a holistic student assessment methodology for this nice domain. In particular, to analyse the impact of the workshop for the students we used four different approaches: artefacts analysis of students' design solutions, classroom observations, a post-test and a survey. The results indicate that the intervention has promoted an effective teaching methodology for the basic conceptual and design aspects of the IoT for these lower secondary school students, but it hasn't addressed equally effectively the attitude-related aspects. Nonetheless, the participant students perceived the intervention as very satisfactory in terms of the IoT concept knowledge, smart cities learning, and problem-solving skills acquired, as well as in terms of enjoyment. The paper concludes on the learning gains of the intervention and discusses the motivation aspect for the teacher as well as for the students in this highly innovative learning experience.
The Internet of Things holds huge promise in enhancing collaboration in multiple application domains. Bringing internet connectivity to everyday objects and environments promotes ubiquitous access to information and integration with third-party systems. Further, connected "things" can be used as physical interfaces to enable users to cooperate, leveraging multiple devices via parallel and distributed actions. Yet creating prototypes of IoT systems is a complex task for developers non-expert in IoT, as it requires dealing with multi-layered hardware and software infrastructures. We introduce RapIoT, a software toolkit that facilitates the prototyping of IoT systems by providing an integrated set of technologies. Our solution abstracts low-level details and communication protocols, allowing developers non-expert in IoT to focus on application logic, facilitating rapid prototyping. RapIoT supports the development of collaborative applications by enabling the definition of high-level data type primitives and allowing interactions spread among multiple smart objects. RapIoT primitives act as a loosely coupled interface between generic IoT devices and applications, simplifying the development of systems that make use of an ecology of devices distributed to multiple users and environments. We illustrate the potential of our toolkit by presenting the development process of an IoT application ideated during a workshop with non-expert developers and addressing real-world
Urban mobility poses one of the pressing challenges in cities undergoing growing urbanisation. In order to cope with this issue, a shift in behaviour is necessary towards more sustainable means of transportation. Technology can mediate the process of behaviour change, and concepts such as persuasive technology and reflective learning are approaches in this context. In order to investigate currently envisioned or implemented technological solutions, particular in the context of the smart city notion, this paper presents a systematic literature review. Three areas are thereby of interest: the utilised technology, behaviour change strategies, and citizen participation in the development process of the interventions. A total of 14 different applications were included in the final review. The findings show that mobile devices are being prevalently used, persuasive strategies are foremost mentioned, and end-user involvement is happening late in the development process and serves primarily testing purposes. This points out that there are still various unexplored possibilities in the aforementioned areas. It is suggested that future research should explore opportunities stemming from ubiquitous technology, employ behaviour change strategies grounded in reflective learning, and approach the current shortcomings in citizen involvement with participatory methods. IntroductionCities are increasingly gaining in importance and are considered driving forces of the future [1]. This development stems foremost from growing urbanisation, with more and more people moving and living in urban areas. As of 2016, 54.5% of the world's population were estimated to be living in urban settlements, current trends forecast an increase to 60% in 2030 [28]. Rapid growth assigns cities a significant social, economic and environmental function [1], but also lets them face complex challenges in the process. In this context, the concept of "smart cities" has been coined to indicate cities that devise strategies to mitigate those challenges in a smart way [12]. Some of these challenges are indicated by greenhouse gas emissions. According to Hildermeier and Villareal [18], urban transport makes up approximately a quarter of CO 2 emissions with respect to overall transport. With 73.7% cars represent thereby the prevalent form of travel. Urban transport hence exerts ample influence on the quality of life in a city, being a causer of traffic congestion, noise-and air pollution [18], having harmful effects on public health. Consequently, cities need to respond to this issue by reducing car usage and increasing the utilisation of more sustainable means of urban mobility, such as walking, biking or public transportation, in other words a change in behaviour is inevitable. Technology is noted for being a "key driver" within smart city initiatives [12]. It can also be utilised to foster behaviour change, here the notion of "persuasive technology" is well-established. Persuasive technology, that is "any interactive computing system designed to change people's...
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