Research Papers - Dept of Software Engineering
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Publication Embargo EDUZONE – A Educational Video Summarizer and Digital Human Assistant for Effective Learning(IEEE, 2022-12-26) Wangchen, T; Tharindi, P.N; De Silva, K. C. C. C; Sandeepa, W. D. T; Kodagoda, N; Suriyawansa, KThe availability of technology and the expansive nature of the internet have created a surge in the demand for online learning. Despite so many advantages, there are some existing drawbacks related to online learning. The lengthy recorded video lectures of different subjects and modules in a static manner, are extremely tedious for the learner to understand the contents available. And lack of assistance for academic-related problems of students is also stated as a major issue that comes with online education. EDUZONE provides a reliable solution to mitigate and overcome these challenges. This tool is educational assistance that generates a summarized version of the video lectures which depicts the overall idea of the whole video with the capability of a lecture notes generator along with a digital human which helps to clarify students’ problems and build an efficient conversational flow. The summarized video content can be used by the learners for revisions and as a quick reference before any examinations. In addition to generating short and precise content, EDUZONE also indexes any specific topics to make it easier to find content and generate class notes, highlighting all the important content. Overall EDUZONE can be considered a time-efficient educational assistant which helps students with their studies.Publication Embargo Automatic Question Extractor and Answer Detector in a Recorded Webinar(IEEE, 2022-08-18) Dissanayake, C; Kodagoda, N; Suriyawansa, KOnline learning becomes the primary method of education due to the novel coronavirus (COVID 19). This research paper describes the automatic extraction of domain-related questions in a lecture video, identifies the answers given by the lecturer for both voice-based questions and chat questions. The paper also presents a method to identify whether a lecturer gave a valid answer for the chat-based questions in the later section of the video. Additionally, this paper describes the approach to identify the most accurate solutions from the custom search engine-based responses.Publication Embargo A Gamified Virtual Learning Environment to Enhance Online Teaching and Learning Experience(IEEE, 2022-07-18) Tharaka, W.C.M. K; Dilanka, R. M. T; Perera, H.D.D. S; Rathnayake, R.H.C. S; Kodagoda, N; Suriyawansa, KIn-class teaching not only concentrates on lecture content delivery but also on maintaining strong mutuality between lecturer-students and student-student. Online lectures are gaining popularity due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the learning-teaching process has become ineffective because existing video conferencing solutions are not intended for academic purposes. This research was conducted to identify the pain points of online education and develop an enhanced software solution. A user survey confirmed that an isolated environment tends to diminish attentiveness during online lectures. Also, it is difficult for teachers to observe the attentiveness of all the students. As a solution, student attentiveness was measured using their facial expressions and collected data shown to lecturers through a virtual student behavioural environment. The physical separation causes students to feel isolated during lectures, which can negatively affect their academic development and social and psychological development. The developed application also provides a virtual group study environment as a feature. According to the results gathered in the user acceptance testing phase, it was found that the attention detection feature helps students keep their attention at a significant level. Further, 9 out of 10 teachers who participated in the testing acknowledged that the simulated student behavioural view could provide a more immersive experience. 71% of students preferred the new collaborative virtual environment, and students further elaborated that the virtual environment was more likely the physical group studies. 72% of students mentioned that the collaborative group study tool helped eliminate isolation during group studies.Publication Open Access LEARNING STYLES BASED CHECKLIST FOR INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL FEATURES IN E-LEARNING(researchgate.net, 2020-03) Suriyawansa, K; Kodagoda, NE-learning is a rapidly growing industry with a large number of users around the globe. The learning process of e-learning mainly depends on different learning techniques of instructional materials provided in the learning environment. Learning materials are the key component of comprehending information in an e-learning environment. Thus, it is vital to develop e-learning learning materials that are beneficial for the target learners. Different learners have different preferences in learning. Several learning style models have proposed over the years to define the different characteristics of different types of learners. This paper describes seven such learning style models and define learner characteristics focused on each of these models. Then the defined characteristics of each learner style in all seven learning style models are tabularized to emphasize the overlaps of learner characteristics focused in different learning style models. As the next step, a list of unique learner characteristics with reference to learning styles was defined using the information in the table with all learner characteristics. This paper also defines features available in e-learning materials. At present, MOOCs (Massive Open Online Course) can be defined as the key pillar of e-learning. Thus, several MOOCs provided by Coursera platform were analyzed to derive features of e-learning materials or elearning environments. The identified unique learner characteristics of learning styles are then mapped with the list of features in learning materials in an e-learning environment. The final result of this research is a checklist which can be used by e-learning content developers to classify how the instructional materials are effective for the target learners. This checklist defines the satisfied learning styles of all seven learning style models by each identified feature of e-learning instructional materials. It can be used as a guideline for e-learning content developers to determine the features that has to be included in the learning materials to provide an effective learning environment for the target learnersPublication Embargo Using active learning integrated with pedagogical aspects to enhance student’s learning experience in programming and related concepts(Springer, Cham, 2019-09-25) Imbulpitiya, A; Kodagoda, N; Gamage, A; Suriyawansa, KTeaching programming concepts and skills to beginners is a challenging and daunting task. As undergraduates, students struggle with understanding the fundamental concepts of programming and learning the syntaxes to build up a solution to an existing problem. The main challenges in delivering an introductory programming module are to get the students actively engaged within and outside the classroom and to increase the level of interest towards programming. Many researchers have tried out using different active learning tools and techniques to engage students in the learning process interactively. Even though lot of different techniques and tools have been introduced with time there is still a reluctancy among the learners and academics to move from the traditional teacher centric learning environment to a more interactive student centric environment. This research is focusing on how active learning integrated with pedagogical aspects can be used in an introductory programming module and the effectiveness of it when compared with a traditional approach.Publication Embargo VTutor: A Platform for Improving Searchability and Interactivity of Recorded Lectures(IEEE, 2019-12-05) Karunaratna, D; Hettiarachchi, I; Fernando, S; Epa, S; Kodagoda, N; Suriyawansa, KRecorded lectures have gained popularity as a method of delivering lecture content as they give learners a host of distinct advantages such as the ability to follow lectures without time or location constraints and to consume the lectures at their own pace. However, despite such benefits, they have a tendency to be lengthy and tedious to watch. They also prove cumbersome when precise information needs to be extracted from the content. Another drawback is that recorded lecture videos fail to show the connection between the lecture and its support material such as slides and questionnaires. Though many of the existing platforms allow editing lecture videos for more interactivity, the methods employed by these platforms have always been manual, and therefore time intensive. VTutor is a web platform that aims to address these drawbacks by introducing automation into the video enhancement process, eventually combining the lecture material to create an enhanced user experience. Specifically, VTutor allows users to navigate through a lecture video using subtopics, its corresponding slides and code samples. Furthermore, it is equipped with the ability to automatically generate questions by scraping the internet based on provided keywords thus improving the level of engagement that a learner has with the lecture.Publication Embargo Zilla: An Animal Based Social Media Platform(IEEE, 2019-12-05) Kasun, R; Mahesh, L. G. H; Yapa, Y; Suwendra, S. M. S. D; Kodagoda, N; Suriyawansa, KPets have been part of human societies from ancient times. The purpose of having a pet might have been changed, the breeds of pets have been evolutionarily changed making them tamed and friendly to have in the modern urbanized society. Pet owners consider their pets as one of their family members and love them immensely. Moreover, pet owners face difficulties when their pet gets sick and there is no emergency veterinary support, or even the owner might be unsure about conditions that affect the pet's life. In this research a social media platform called Zilla devoted to pets is presented. This Pets based social media platform provides pet owners a unique platform to interact with other pet owners.Publication Embargo Digital Platform to Empower the Self-Employment in Sri Lanka(IEEE, 2021-12-01) Wickramasinghe, H. C. P; Thebuwana, T. D; Wijesinghe, G. K. H. S; Dissanayake, U. N; Kodagoda, N; Suriyawansa, KUnemployment is a huge problem around the world because a lack of job opportunities. People are unable to find the job opportunities according to their preferences and qualifications. As a solution for this, many countries are attempting to empower self-employment. Most of current world problems have been solved using modern technologies. Therefore, the development of self-employment also can be achieved through modern technology. The objective of our proposed platform, HIRELANCER, is empowering self-employment using modern technologies. HIRELANCER is bringing the consumers, service providers, and suppliers into the same platform. HIRELANCER will consist of innovative features that go beyond comparatively to other platforms such as an advanced mechanism to find best suitable service providers/suppliers for the service, handling the virtual front-desk, cost estimation for the services prior to contacting a service provider, and advanced facility to find a suitable career path for the people who are seeking career guidance. This research paper discusses how the innovative features of HIRELANCER will be beneficial for consumers, service providers, and suppliers and ultimately achieve our main objective, which is empowering self-employment in Sri Lanka.Publication Embargo A Bilingual Audio Based Online Shopping Mobile Application for Visually Impaired and the Elderly People(IEEE, 2021-12-07) Kangeswaran, V; Vasandarai, D; Eliyas, C; Munsil, M. M. M; Kodagoda, N; Suriyawansa, KDespite the widespread success of online shopping, it is not available to all consumer types. In this sense, visually impaired and elderly users, in particular, frequently face daunting barriers. Due to the inaccessibility and difficulty of current online shopping mobile applications, millions of visually impaired and elderly people are unable to benefit from the convenience provided by online shopping. Developing ideas that inspire people is really essential for visually impaired and elderly people to engage in social life. Generic product explanations, unhelpful images, and visually appealing user experiences are provided to average eyes in online shopping, and they are incompatible with visually impaired people, even with visually impaired assistive devices. Due to visual barriers and inaccessible user experiences, the visually impaired are struggling to do online shopping independently. During this COVID-19 pandemic situation, online shopping is one of the better ways to meet everyone's needs and wants. Ordinary individuals can meet their needs and desires, but the visually impaired and elderly people who live alone find it difficult to manage their daily life. Therefore, we have come up with a solution for this by having an online shopping mobile application. Our objective with this application is to assist visually impaired and elderly individuals in meeting their underlying needs and to help them in this pandemic situation. This paper presents an online shopping mobile application for visually impaired and elderly people that allows them to shop online in a variety of convenient ways.Publication Embargo Using Pre-trained Models As Feature Extractor To Classify Video Styles Used In MOOC Videos(IEEE, 2018-12-21) Aryal, S; Porawagama, A. S; Hasith, M. G. S; Thoradeniya, S. C; Kodagoda, N; Suriyawansa, KMassive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have emerged as new learning phenomenon in the field of e-learning. Over recent years, it has attracted a significant number of learners as well as researchers. A wide range of researches is being carried out across multiple aspects of MOOCs. Video lectures are the most fundamental component in a MOOC. There are standard video styles that are normally used across several MOOC platforms, such as, talking head, demonstration, slides, animation etc. This paper presents an Image-Based classification approach of the video styles where a single video is split into multiple image frames, and then each frame is classified into one of the video style-category. Different classifier models built on top of each state-of-the-art deep neural architectures, including VGG16, InceptionV3, and ResNet50 are evaluated and the comparison of results is shown. Furthermore, the paper also discusses a numeric method to calculate the composition level of a single video style in multi-style filed videos based on the classification results.