iCareNet Summer School on human-computer interaction and project management

The third joint iCareNet school event will take place during September 24 – 28, 2012 at the Lancaster University campus. The iCareNet Summer School 2012 will feature various exiting talks from well-known researchers and groups in the human-computer interaction field. The programme will be uploaded soon.

Scope and aims

The event aims to provide the iCareNet research fellows with a platform to meet and jointly learn about approaches and techniques for context-aware systems in healthcare, wellness, and assisted living applications. The iCareNet Summer School is specifically addressing the following topics:

• Human-computer interaction (HCI).Provide iCareNet fellows with an understanding of how 'context' is conceptualised in the field of HCI.
• Project, team and self-management.Train the fellows in management skills, including personal time management, task assignment handling, prioritisation, schedule management, team and meeting leadership etc. Introduce and practice project management techniques, including project definition and setup, controlling and reporting.

Objectives in detail

Human-computer interaction (HCI). Context is a powerful and longstanding concept in HCI. The objective of this school is to provide iCareNet fellows with an understanding of how 'context' is conceptualised in the field of HCI. Context-aware systems in which explicit user input is supplemented with, or replaced by, information resulting from processes of sensing, recognition and inference, completely redefine traditional notions of interaction and interface. This raises concerns of intelligibility and control, and questions of how to account in design of context-aware systems for the inherent limitations of sensor and recognition systems in representing actual context. Participants in this school be exposed to, and engaged in, critical analysis of context-aware systems from HCI perspectives. Topics include:

1. Introduction to HCI.
2. Implicit human computer interaction.
3. Intelligibility and control.

Project, team and self-management. Well-established project management techniques are applicable for conducting a

Ph.D. research project. Good knowledge and practice of these techniques enables more efficient work of the fellows during and after completion of the initial research training. The goal of this school is to:

• Train the fellows in management skills, including personal time management, task assignment handling, prioritisation, schedule management, team and meeting leadership etc.
• Introduce and practice project management techniques, including project definition and setup, controlling and reporting.

The fellow advisory committees will encourage to use techniques learned here for regular progress reviews. This school will focus on:

1. How to conduct a Ph.D.
2. Industrial and academic project management.
3. Basic Management Skills.

Workgroups. In addition to the regular programme of lectures and discussion sessions, the Summer School provides again a set of parallel workgroups, addressing specific topics relevant for context-aware systems development. The workgroup topics are related to current challenges in context-awareness research. Fellows are invited to propose workgroup topics and supporting senior researchers of iCareNet.

Programme

The full programme can be downloaded here.

Monday 24th September

• 09:00 - 15:00: Welcome and lectures on Ethnographic research in healthcare and Touchless interaction in operationg theaters
• 15:00 - 18:00: Free time.
• 18:00 - 19:30: Workgroups.
• 19:30: Dinner

Tuesday 25th September

• 09:00 - 12:30: Fellow presentations and lectures on Activity recognition and Healthcare related research
• 13:30 - 18:00: Trip to Grizedale.
• 18:00 - 19:30: Travel to Lancaster.
• 19:30: Dinner.

Wednesday 26th September

• 09:00 - 17:30: Parallel tracks: 1) Gadgeteer workshop, 2) Doctoral ‘workgroup’.
• 18:00 - 19:30: Workgroups.
• 19:30: Dinner.

Thursday 27th September

• 09:00 - 17:30: Parallel tracks: 1) Doctoral ‘workgroup’, 2) Gadgeteer workshop.
• 18:00 - 19:30: Workgroups.
• 19:30: Dinner.

Friday 28th September

• 09:00 - 10:30: Presentations and demonstrations of Lancaster research projects.
• 11:00 - 12:30: Workgroup summary presentations, Winter School conclusion.

Course material

The course material will be provided by email shortly before the school event.

Social events

The iCareNet Summer School is held at two locations. Monday and Tuesday will be at Low Wood Bay Hotel. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday will be at the Lancaster University campus. Fellows and senior researchers will be meeting regularly for dinner and evening discussions at the hotel.

Venue and local information

The iCareNet Summer School venues are Low Wood Bay and Lancaster University.

The nearest airport to Low Wood Bay is Manchester. From Manchester Airport you should take the train to Windermere. There are trains at least every hour with 1 change or 2 changes (last train 18:30). Total travel time is about 2 hours. From Windermere it is easiest to grab a taxi, but there are also buses from the station. All buses to Ambleside stop on-demand at Low Wood.

Lancaster University lies approximately three miles south of the City of Lancaster. The campus is easily accessible via road, rail and bicycle and is within 70 miles of Manchester's International Airport.
There are direct rail links between Lancaster and many of the UK's major cities and airports. For train times, visit National Rail Enquiries. The X1 bus service runs every 20 minutes between the University and the Railway Station (hourly on Sunday afternoons and evenings). Taxis are available at the station, which is a five minute walk from the city centre.

The hotel in Low Wood Bay will be reserved by the iCareNet organisation.
Participants are requested to reserve their hotel room themselves for 3 nights (Tuesday until Friday) at one the following Hotels in Lancaster.
- Lancaster House Hotel http://englishlakes.co.uk/hotels/lancashire-hotels/lancaster-house-hotel/index.aspx This is adjacent campus, just 3 minutes from Infolab. Very comfy but out of town.
- Sun Hotel http://www.thesunhotelandbar.co.uk/ Right in the middle of town. Very central for evenings out on town. Bus to Uni.
- Shakespeare B&B http://www.smoothhound.co.uk/hotels/the-shakespeare.html Right in town, walking distance to restaurants and pubs. Bus to Uni.

Further details on the venue and region can be found in 'General Information' below.

Registration for iCareNet fellows AND supervisors

For iCareNet research fellows participation in the Summer School is compulsory. Research fellows and supervisors need to register by sending an email message with the digital proof of the registration fee payment to icarenet_office <at > lists.actlab.ele.tue.nl. The registration fee includes Low Wood Bay arrangement (room and break catering), coffee break catering in Lancaster, and course material.

Registration must be made before August 31, 2012. The registration fee of 350 EUR must be paid by bank transfer to:

General information