Browsing by Author "Jayathilake, M.V.M."

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Applying the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to Understand Adaptation of e- learning in Alternative Higher Education Sector in Sir Lanka, Case Study: The Sri Lanka Institute of Advanced Technological Education (SLIATE).
(International Conference on the Humanities (ICH), 2017 Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Jayathilake, M.V.M.; Jayawardhana, R.K.S.
The advancement of the Internet has led to remarkable changes in several aspects of our lives in this century. The field of education is one of them. It has made a paradigm shift from teacher-centered to learner-centered education. That offers unique advantages to both educators and students. Students have increasing opportunities to access and interact both with materials and classmates. Along with this paradigm shift, understanding of students’ e-learning behavioral intention is urgently needed for creating effective learner-centered education. Further higher educational institutions have made substantial investments in the adoption of e-learning to enhance their learning and teaching activities. However, these systems are not used by the students with their fullest capabilities. Therefore, understanding the critical factors behind the adoption and acceptance of technology is a prime concern in developing countries like Sri Lanka. The purpose of the study is to identify the determinants of students’ acceptance of online learning and to investigate how these determinants can shape students’ intention to use Learning Management Systems. A conceptual framework based on the TAM. Primary data collection is done by using a questionnaire. The sample is selected from the students in SLIATE according to Krejcie & Morgan table. The sample size was 254. The results reveal the relationship of alternative higher education students’ behavioral intention to use the LMS with attitude, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, self-efficacy, subjective norm and system accessibility. Among those factors attitude, self-efficacy, and subjective norms were identified to be significant. The findings of this study help to provide insights into the best ways to promote e-learning acceptance among students, which provides practical implications for policy makers, practitioners, and developers in successful e-learning systems implementation.
Assessing Practical Constrains in Implementing Web 2.0 Tools for Teaching English as a Second Language at Higher Education Sector in Sri Lanka: A Case Study- Sri Lanka Institute of Advanced Technological Education
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Jayathilake, M.V.M.; Shantha, P.H.A.B.
In an era of globalization and with the advancement of information technology, web 2.0 tools are used increasingly in education sector and there is also a growing interest in how and whether Web 2.0 tools could be used for second language teaching. Those tools are creating a collaborative environment in which users have the opportunity to contribute to a growing knowledge base and participate in online communities. On the other hand these tools can access anytime and anywhere. Due to that number of researches state that these tools are useful for teaching second languages. The Web 2.0 tools are beginning to play a role within the more formal learning environment of English classrooms. The objective of this study is investigating the practical constrains facing when implementing Web 2.0 tools for teaching English as a second language in Sri Lanka Institute of Advanced technological Education (SLIATE). Clustering sample technique was used to select the sample among English lecturers in SLIATE. Sample size was thirty five. Questionnaire was used to collect data. Questionnaire was based on four factors, awareness, computer and hardware facilities, internet facilities and attitude. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used for the data analyzing. The data of this study reveals the most aware Web 2.0 tools are wikis and social network. And the least aware tool is vodcasts. More than 60% show the positive attitudes towards these tools. The study found that computers and other facilities are available but need to extend usage time of them. Internet facility is also available but bandwidth and data amount should be increased. Although they believe these are effective tools for teaching, they need a proper training of how to use them in a class room teaching.
Detecting and Classifying Vehicles in Video Streams of Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Traffic Environments Using Gaussian Mixture Model.
(Faculty of Computing and Technology, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Jayathilake, M.V.M.; Jayalal, S.G.V.S.; Rajapakse, R.A.C.P.
Traffic and transportation play an important part in modern national economics. Efficient use of transportation infrastructure leads to huge economic benefits. Traffic can be classified into two main categories as homogeneous traffic and heterogeneous traffic. In transportation engineering, sufficient, reliable, and diverse traffic data is necessary for effective planning, operations, research, and professional practice. Even though, Intelligent Transport System are used to find answers for that issue still it is not yet fully successful. Many technologies have been developed to collect different types of traffic data. Traditional data collection technologies have several drawbacks. On the other hand, video based traffic analyzing has become popular. Computer vision techniques are used for detecting and classifying data in traffic videos. Those technologies are highly beneficial as it can give us more information about the parameters, easy to install and maintain and has got wide-range operation. In Computer vision, vehicle detection process has two main steps as Hypothesis Generation (HG) and Hypothesis Verification (HV). Background Subtraction is a popular method used in HG. There are several algorithms used in Background Subtraction and Gaussian Mixture Model is one of them. These methods are used in homogenous traffic situations. The objective of this study is to detect and classify vehicles from a homogenous and heterogeneous traffic video stream using Gaussian Mixture model. This study was conducted using an experimental method. Several set of road traffic videos were collected. One is collected at off peak time; i.e. 9.00am to 10.00am. At that time behavior of the traffic is similar to homogenous traffic environment. The other set of videos is collected from 7.00am to 8.30am. At that time, road traffic has no order and the traffic density is high. It is similar to heterogeneous traffic environment. After Gray Scaling and Noise reduction, the videos were submitted to algorithm based on Gaussian Mixture Model. The algorithm was implemented using Math Lab software. Vehicles are classified as large, medium and small. Manual observation results and experiment results were compared. Accurate results were observed from homogenous traffic conditions. But results in heterogeneous traffic conditions is less accurate. The Gaussian Mixture Model can be used to detect vehicles in homogenous traffic conditions successfully, but it is needed to be improved in heterogeneous traffic conditions.
Factors influencing the usability of web based learning material for higher education sector: A case study of Advanced Technological Institute Kegalle
(University of Kelaniya, 2011) Jayalal, S.; Jayathilake, M.V.M.
Web based learning systems and web based learning materials (WBLM) have been introduced with the expansion of the Internet. In Sri Lanka, many higher education institutions use web based learning systems such as MOODLE and WBLM for teaching purposes. The success of this depends on the usability of both web based learning systems and WBLM. Although much has been written on the usability of web based learning systems, literature on usability of WBLM is rare. This research, focused on the usability of WBLM, attempts to identify the relationship between the material type and usability of web based learning material identified in terms of nine factors. Four individual material types and six combined material types are selected for the experiment. The selected teaching module for the experiment is Web Design for the students of the Advanced Technological Institute Kegalle. The most usable WBLM type is identified as Presentation & Video combined material type. By using a questionnaire survey the factors were prioritized according to their importance as Applicability, Material type, Goal orientation, Feedback, Added value, Valuation of previous knowledge, Learner activity, Learner control and Cooperative learning. The findings of the study would be helpful to formulate a set of guidelines to develop a WBLM for Higher Education.
Password Security Concerns and Practices of Online Account Users: Case Study in Gampaha District, Sri Lanka
(Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya, 2015) Jayathilake, M.V.M.; Shantha, P.H.A.B.
With technological advancement, usage of internet and its applications are increasing rapidly. Because of that, number of online account users are also increasing. Although there are number of authentication technique, the most usable and popular authentication mechanism is using password protection mechanism. Same time data protection is also a critical problem. There are many threats for data of online users. Most user passwords are weak. Due to that reason attacker can easily break the password using dictionary attack, password guessing and social engineering attack and so on. This study has been evaluated password security concern and practices of online users. The objectives of this study was to identify relationship between the online users‘ password security concerns and practices with their education level, IT Skill and social factors. Hypothesis for the study was derived from these objectives. Conceptual framework has been developed using factors identify from literature survey. Independent variables are education level, IT skill and social factors. Dependent variable is password security concern and practices. Sample has at least one year experience of using password protecting online account. Simple random sample technique was used to select sample. Sample size was 180. Questioner was used to collect data. Survey querying: general demographic information, types and number of different password protected accounts maintained, internet usage behaviors (frequency, duration and longevity of use), actual practices used in generating, storing and using passwords and practices believed they should use in generating and storing passwords. Regression model was used to identify relationships. This study identify the relationships between the variables, general password characteristics of users, password construction practices/strategies of users and user perceptions of password construction practices that should be used.
The Perception of English Lecturers at SLIATE in Implementing Web 2.0 Tools for Pedagogy of English as a Second Language
(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Jayathilake, M.V.M.; Shantha, P.H.A.B.
With technological enhancements, a number of Web 2.0 tools have been introduced toaccelerate Englishlanguage acquisition. These tools improve learner motivation and provide opportunities to communicate, share knowledge and practice English with others. Learners can collaborate with native speakers outside the classroom. Also, these tools eliminate time and place limitations.Therefore, it is timely to examine the effectiveness of Web 2.0 tools in language learning. In Sri Lanka, only a few studies have been conducted in this regard. This study investigates the perception of English lecturers towards implementing Web 2.0 tools in teaching English at Sri Lanka Institute of Advanced Technological Education (SLIATE) and practical constraints on implementing Web 2.0 tools in teaching English. The conceptual framework was developed using four factors: familiarity, effectiveness, ability and constraints. Five web 2.0 tools were selected for this study. They are Blogs, Podcasts, Social Networks, Vodcasts and Wikis. The sample consisted of thirty five SLIATE English lecturers using stratified random sampling. Questionnaires were distributed among them and ten of them were interviewed for in-depth analysis. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used for data analyzing. Finds suggest that the majority of lecturers show positive attitudes towards the implementing of Web 2.0 tools and they believe those are effective tools in teaching English. In addition, Wikis and Social Networks are the most commonly known Web 2.0 tools. The least used Web 2.0 tool is Vodcasts. Although they believe these are effective tools for teaching all components in the English language, they used them in a few subjects like Computer Aided Language Learning (CALL). Further this study identifies the number of practical constraints when implementing Web 2.0 tools.
Readiness for Conducting E-assessments for end-of-semester examination in Sri Lanka Institute of Advanced Technological Education
(University of Kelaniya, 2012) Jayathilake, M.V.M.
The use of ICT in assessment, marking and reporting is known as e-assessment. E-assessment provides a good solution when the number of students increase compared with the staff ratio. Eassessment fits with conventional objectives of assessment. Assessments measure the performance of the students compared with the learning objectives of the course. Assessment results are very important for students to identify their performance and show their grades to society and also, for lecturers to take the instructional decisions. Researchers believe that Information Technology offers a powerful tool to improve the assessment criteria. E-assessment is the one of effective tools used in many educational programs. Sri Lanka Institute of Advanced Technological Education (SLIATE) offers Higher National Diploma courses in many disciplines. At the end of each fifteen week semester SLIATE conducts examinations. Student enrollment is increasing each year. But the number of lecturers is not increasing. Therefore student staff ratio is high. This becomes a burning issue when evaluating answer scripts, because it needs a lot of human effort and time. Delays in issuing results is also another problem. Compared with conventional assessment methods, e-assessment provides many advantages such as less human effort for organizing and evaluating answer scripts, and issuing results quickly and at low cost. This study employed the qualitative research method. Conceptual framework for the study was developed based on the literature review and considered key factors are technology, attitudes and assessment methods. Data were gathered through the expert survey, interviews with key stakeholders and questionnaires. The findings are discussed in relation to literature. From analysis of the findings, the key issues affecting e-assessment systems are attitude of the stakeholders and technology infrastructure. Basic technology infrastructures are available but they are inadequate. Various assessment methods are used at the moment from the structured questions and multiple choice questions are easily converted to eassessment methods. Delay in issuing results is mainly based on the high number of answer script in some subjects.