Errors of programming and ownership of the robot concept made by trainee kindergarten teachers during an induction training

Education and Information Technologies - Computational thinking in the educational environment has awaken a rising interest, having been included as part of the curricula from the very beginnings...     

Technologies in the education of children and teenagers with autism: evaluation and classification of apps by work areas

Education and Information Technologies - Mobile apps represent a resource with great potential for encouraging the development of many skills, given the high number of apps available and the quick...     

An evolving Learning Management System for new educational environments using 2.0 tools

The tools used in learning processes are in a continuous state of flux. One of the most significant changes is the application of Information and Communications technologies (ICTs) to educational contexts. This provides new possible ways to carry out learning activities, new learning services, the possibility to use new kinds of contents and activities, etc. However, ICTs have not provided as many advantages as they were supposed to, so changes are necessary. In this context, a new set of tools, Web 2.0, offers a new way to understand the Web, in which the user is the centre. Further, users can cooperate in order to define contents. This concept is also applied in technology-mediated learning but there are important problems when one tries to integrate such tools and concepts with existing systems. This paper explores the integration of these tools in traditional learning environments, the various possibilities and their advantages and drawbacks. After that, an interoperability scenario is described and two experiences are presented to show how 2.0 tools can be integrated in learning activities, and its effect in educational process.     

Research results of two personal learning environments experiments in a higher education institution

This paper focuses on institutionally powered personal learning environments (iPLEs). The concept of the iPLE can be seen as a way universities can incorporate learner-centred approach into the architecture of their technology-enhanced learning environments. The aim of this paper is to pose that there are other ways to learn complementary to virtual learning environments, such as using distributed Web 2.0 tools from personal learning environments (PLEs). With that aim in mind, this paper presents an exploratory study with two different iPLE configurations, analyses how they modify the learning–teaching process, and reports their perceived usefulness from the students' point of view. These two case studies were carried out by a research group of educational technology from a Spanish university in graduate and postgraduate courses. As reported by other case studies, the results revealed that students use the environment basically in the academic context and this usage is conceived as another time and effort requiring task. This fact can be observed in the low level iPLEs customization. The overall conclusions we can extract are, on the one hand, that the new environment to integrate informal and formal learning should be flexible and adaptable to the student's needs and preferences and, on the other hand, that academic tools might someday become personal tools.     

Comadres among Us: The Power of Artists as Informal Mentors for Women of Color in Academe

In this article, we, colegas/colleagues of color, explore the ways in which the literary and artistic contributions of Gloria Anzaldúa, Octavia Butler, and Frida Kahlo have inspired, nurtured, and profoundly influenced our personal and professional lives as academics. We underscore the importance of mentoring for women of color in academe and educational leadership, particularly the psychosocial functions associated with informal mentoring. Further, we discuss how the lives and contributions of our “mentors” impacted our scholarly journeys, framed by third-wave and decolonial woman-of-color-feminism. In this article, we offer an alternative consideration for women of color in search of suitable mentors, concludes by sharing the lessons we learned from the artists. Thinking about mentoring from the position of alterity adds to the general mentoring discourse and serves to inspire women to consider alternatives when seeking mentorship to reach academic and professional goals.     

How full is your luggage? Background knowledge of zoo visitors regarding sharks

For the general population, sharks have a reputation that does not really fit with their biological and ecological nature. Informal surveys often classify sharks as dangerous, aggressive and/or man-eaters. This apparent common knowledge seems difficult to detach from the conscience of many worldwide zoo visitors, even with the help of shark-focused educational programmes. As so, how can zoos and aquariums contribute to a change in this paradigm? Are the education and conservation strategies effective to the average zoo visitor? In this study, young visitors’ perceptions regarding sharks were assessed with the goal of identifying a valid Learning Progression, thus helping to update and develop different and more effective educational strategies and methodologies. The study took place at Zoomarine, an oceanographic park located in southern Portugal, with visitors aged between 8 and 16. A case study was conducted using a qualitative research approach (drawings and interviews) resulting in a Learning Progression Hypothesis. The proposed Learning Progression is composed of three knowledge levels for the participants’ biological perceptions regarding sharks. The results of this study showed a clear predominance of anthropomorphic and anthropocentric visions, as well as a utilitarian view of sharks and ecosystem, thus conditioning the visitors’ epistemological knowledge.     

What makes a landmark effective? Sex differences in a navigation task

In Experiment 1, two groups of female rats were trained in a triangular pool to find a hidden platform whose location was defined in terms of a single a landmark, a cylinder outside the pool. For one group, the landmark had only a single pattern (i.e., it looked the same when approached from any direction), while for the other, the landmark contained four different patterns (i.e., it looked different when approached from different directions). The first group learned to swim to the platform more rapidly than the second. Experiment 2 confirmed this difference when female rats were trained in a circular pool but found that male rats learned equally rapidly (and as rapidly as females trained with the single-pattern landmark) with both landmarks. This second finding was confirmed in Experiment 3. Finally, in Experiment 4a and 4b, male and female rats were trained either with the same, single-pattern landmark on all trials or with a different landmark each day. Males learned equally rapidly (and as rapidly as females trained with the unchanged landmark) whether the landmark changed or not. We conclude that male and female rats learn rather different things about the landmark that signals the location of the platform.     

The Smithsonian Folklife Festival and Cultural Heritage Policy in Colombia: A Case Study

As Colombia began to develop its Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) policy, it signed an agreement with the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage to collaborate on a Smithsonian Folklife Festival of Colombia's national living traditions, to be shown on the National Mall in 2011. This essay addresses the role of the Smithsonian Folklife Center in advocating for a cultural heritage policy grounded in cultural democracy and intercultural dialogue, as well as its collaboration with UNESCO in crafting the 2003 convention for the protection of intangible cultural heritage. We focus on the Center's signature collaborative program, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, and on our experience with the 2011 Festival program, Colombia: The Nature of Culture. We examine the relationship between the Festival and Colombia's intangible cultural heritage communities, policies, and practices, through intercultural dialogues that contribute to shaping Intangible Cultural Heritage policy from the bottom up.