Foreigner? Want to study in Spain? The integration process at universities

The student exchange programs being carried out at universities for over 50 years, have led to changes in the institutions, which had to adapt to accommodate these students. Despite those changes, the integration of foreign students not coming from the aforementioned exchange programs that come to our country to study at the University has been neglected. These students face many barriers (language, cultural and origin customs mainly), so a clear and detailed information would be highly desirable in order to facilitate the necessary arrangements This study aims to show the deficiencies in the integration process and hosting programs faced by a foreign student at University. The study is performed by means of an analysis of statistical data from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and the Civil Engineering School over the last 12 school years (1999 - 2000 to 2010 - 2011), as well as surveys and interviews with some of these students. The study is enhanced with the analysis of the measures and integration methods of the various minorities, which had been implemented by the foremost public universities in Spain, as well as other public and private universities abroad. It illustrates the existing backlog at the Spanish universities with regards to supporting the integration of diversity among foreign students, providing data concerning the growth of such population and its impact at the university, and on the institutions in particular. In an increasingly globalized world, we must understand and facilitate the integration of minorities at University, supplying them, from the first day, and before the enrollment process, the essential elements that will allow their adequate adaptation to the educational process at University. It concludes by identifying the main subjects that need to be tackled to endorse such integration.

The history of technology in education. A comparative study and forecast

Area, launched in 1999 with the Bologna Declaration, has bestowed such a magnitude and unprecedented agility to the transformation process undertaken by European universities. However, the change has been more profound and drastic with regards to the use of new technologies both inside and outside the classroom. This article focuses on the study and analysis of the technology’s history within the university education and its impact on teachers, students and teaching methods. All the elements that have been significant and innovative throughout the history inside the teaching process have been analyzed, from the use of blackboard and chalk during lectures, the use of slide projectors and transparent slides, to the use of electronic whiteboards and Internet nowadays. The study is complemented with two types of surveys that have been performed among teachers and students during the school years 1999 - 2011 in the School of Civil Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Madrid. The pros and cons of each of the techniques and methodologies used in the learning process over the last decades are described, unfolding how they have affected the teacher, who has evolved from writing on a whiteboard to project onto a screen, the student, who has evolved from taking handwritten notes to download information or search the Internet, and the educational process, that has evolved from the lecture to acollaborative learning and project-based learning. It is unknown how the process of learning will evolve in the future, but we do know the consequences that some of the multimedia technologies are having on teachers, students and the learning process. It is our goal as teachers to keep ourselves up to date, in order to offer the student adequate technical content, while providing proper motivation through the use of new technologies. The study provides a forecast in the evolution of multimedia within the classroom and the renewal of the education process, which in our view, will set the basis for future learning process within the context of this new interactive era.

La evolución del paisaje fluvial en la confluencia de los ríos Tajo y Jarama

La tesis doctoral que se presenta realiza un análisis de la evolución del paisaje fluvial de las riberas de los ríos Tajo y Jarama en el entorno de Aranjuez desde una perspectiva múltiple. Contempla y conjuga aspectos naturales, tales como los hidrológicos, geomorfológicos y ecológicos; también culturales, como la regulación hidrológica y la gestión del agua, las intervenciones en cauce y márgenes, la evolución de la propiedad y los cambios de usos del suelo, fundamentalmente. Este análisis ha permitido identificar el sistema de factores, dinámico y complejo, que ha creado este paisaje, así como las interrelaciones, conexiones, condicionantes y dependencias de los descriptores paisajísticos considerados. Por ejemplo, se han estudiado las relaciones cruzadas observadas entre dinámica fluvial-propiedad de la tierra-estado de conservación, cuestiones que hasta la fecha no habían sido tratadas, evaluadas o cuantificadas en otros trabajos dedicados a esta zona. La investigación se ha organizado en tres fases fundamentales que han dado lugar a los capítulos centrales del documento (capítulos 2, 3 y 4). En primer lugar, se ha realizado una caracterización de los factores, naturales y culturales, que organizan el paisaje de este territorio eminentemente fluvial (geomorfología, factores climáticos e hidrológicos, vegetación, propiedad de la tierra y elementos culturales de significación paisajística). A continuación, se ha realizado el estudio de la evolución del paisaje fluvial mediante el análisis de diversos elementos, previamente identificados y caracterizados. Para ello se han procesado imágenes aéreas correspondientes a cinco series temporales así como varios planos antiguos, obteniendo una amplia base de datos que se ha analizado estadísticamente. Finalmente, se han contrastado los resultados parciales obtenidos en los capítulos anteriores, lo que ha permitido identificar relaciones causales entre los factores que organizan el paisaje y la evolución de los elementos que lo constituyen. También, interconexiones entre factores o entre elementos. Este método de trabajo ha resultado muy útil para la comprensión del funcionamiento y evolución de un sistema complejo, como el paisaje de la vega de Aranjuez, un territorio con profundas y antiguas intervenciones culturales donde lo natural, en cualquier caso, siempre subyace. Es posible que la principal aportación de este trabajo, también su diferencia más destacada respecto a otros estudios de paisaje, haya sido mostrar una visión completa y exhaustiva de todos los factores que han intervenido en la conformación y evolución del paisaje fluvial, destacando las relaciones que se establecen entre ellos. Esta manera de proceder puede tener una interesante faceta aplicada, de tal manera que resulta un instrumento muy útil para el diseño de planes de gestión de este territorio fluvial. No en vano, una parte sustancial de la vega del Tajo-Jarama en Aranjuez es un Lugar de Importancia Comunitaria (LIC) y su posterior e ineludible declaración como Zona de Especial Conservación (ZEC) de la Red Natura 2000, de acuerdo con lo establecido en la Directiva 92/43/CE, exige la elaboración de un Plan de Gestión que, en gran medida, podría nutrirse de lo presentado, analizado e interpretado en este trabajo. En este sentido, conviene señalar la conciencia ya asumida de considerar, por su carácter integrador de la realidad territorial, el paisaje como elemento clave para la gestión adecuada de la naturaleza y el territorio. Por otra parte, se considera que los resultados de esta Tesis Doctoral permitirían plantear medidas para la puesta en valor de un paisaje sobresaliente, cuyos límites sobrepasan con creces los que en la actualidad conforman el Paisaje Cultural declarado por la UNESCO. En suma, el análisis de este espacio fluvial realizado con la profundidad y amplitud que permite el método de trabajo seguido puede utilizarse para el diseño de estrategias que dirijan la evolución de este territorio en una línea que garantice su conservación global en términos paisajísticos, patrimoniales y ecológicos, permitiendo además, de este modo, su uso equilibrado como recurso económico, cultural o educativo. This doctoral thesis shows an analysis of fluvial landscape evolution from multiple perspectives on the banks of Tagus and Jarama rivers, around Aranjuez. The thesis contemplates and combines natural features, such as hydrological, geomorphological and ecological features, as well as cultural features, like hydrological regulation and water management, interventions in channels and margins, changes in ownership and land use changes, mainly. This analysis has allowed to identify the factors system, dynamic and complex, that this landscape has created, as well as the interrelationships, connections, constraints and dependencies among considered landscape descriptors. For example, we have studied the relationships observed among fluvial dynamics- land ownership -conservation status, issues not addressed, assessed or quantified up to now in other works about this area. The research is organized into three major phases that led to the paper's central chapters (Chapters 2, 3 and 4). First, there has been a characterization of the factors, both natural and cultural, that organize the landscape of this predominantly fluvial area (geomorphology, climate and hydrological factors, vegetation, land and cultural elements of landscape significance). Then, it was made to study of fluvial landscape evolution by analyzing various elements previously identified and characterized. Aerial images were processed for five series and several old maps, obtaining an extensive database, that has been analyzed statistically. Finally, we have contrasted the partial results obtained in the previous chapters, making it possible to identify causal relationships between the factors that organize the landscape and the evolution of the elements that constitute it. This working method has been very useful for understanding the operation and evolution of a complex system, as the landscape of the Vega de Aranjuez, a territory with deep and ancient cultural interventions where anyway, nature feature always lies. It is possible that the main contribution of this work, also its most prominent difference compared with other studies of landscape, has been to show a complete and exhaustive view of all factors involved in the formation and evolution of the fluvial landscape, highlighting the relationships established among them. This approach could have an interesting applied facet, so that is a very useful tool for designing management plans on this river territory. Not surprisingly, a substantial part of the valley of the Tagus-Jarama in Aranjuez is a Site of Community Importance (SCI) and their subsequent and inevitable declaration as Special Area of Conservation (SAC) of the Natura 2000 network, in accordance with the provisions Directive 92/43/EC, requires the development of a management plan that largely could draw on what was presented, analyzed and interpreted in this paper. In this regard, it should be noted conscience and assumed to consider, on the inclusiveness of territorial reality, the landscape as a key element for the proper management of nature and territory. On the other hand, it is considered that the results of this thesis allow to propose measures for enhancement of outstanding scenery, which go well beyond the boundaries that currently the Cultural Landscape declared by UNESCO. In sum, the analysis of this river area made with the depth and breadth that enables working method can be used to design strategies that address the evolution of this territory in a line that guarantees global conservation landscape terms, heritage and ecological, also, allowing its use as a balancing economic, cultural or educational resource.

LogIn Design City

LogIn Design City is a project for the revitalization of public city?s space through the involvement of individuals, collectivities and municipalities, managed by a specific team and structured upon an augmented platform. The management system permits the organization of self-managed events and actions, offering support and assistance for the implementation of these actions in the offered spots of the city. Actions can be of cultural, commercial, educational or leisure-oriented nature and depending on their purpose the spots can be offered free of charge or with fees, creating a possibility for remuneration and providing a tool for development in underprivileged zones of the city. An important aspect is the emphasis on the digital outlook of the city, which is structured as an interface that allows communication with the management system and information upon actual, past and upcoming events.