Factors Facilitating Successful Educational Innovation with ICT in Schools

[EN]This paper proposes an approach to the concept of ICT-based innovation in schools, from the perspective of the factors that facilitate the innovative use of ICT. To this end, a scale has been developed and validated to identify these factors through the participation of 195 teachers from 16 schools considered by the Basque educational authorities as innovators in ICT. The results obtained attest to the validity and reliability of both the scale and the 5 key factors that influence innovation in technology-based teaching. This factor-based structure enables a holistic view of ICT innovation in schools across 3 key areas: school context, teachers and the education authorities.

The Effect of Data Revisions on the Basic New Keynesian Model

This paper proposes an extended version of the basic New Keynesian monetary (NKM) model which contemplates revision processes of output and inflation data in order to assess the importance of data revisions on the estimated monetary policy rule parameters and the transmission of policy shocks. Our empirical evidence based on a structural econometric approach suggests that although the initial announcements of output and inflation are not rational forecasts of revised output and inflation data, ignoring the presence of non well-behaved revision processes may not be a serious drawback in the analysis of monetary policy in this framework. However, the transmission of inflation-push shocks is largely affected by considering data revisions. The latter being especially true when the nominal stickiness parameter is estimated taking into account data revision processes.

Hasierako alfabetatzea: Hizkuntza idatziaren zailtasunak eta arazoak

Haur batzuek hasierako alfabetatzean, hizkuntza idatziarekin zenbait arazo izaten dituzte. Arazo horiek, normalean, ikaskuntza prozesuaren baitan dauden akatsak izaten dira, baina batzuetan hizkuntza trastorno baten adierazleak bihurtu daitezke. Hori dela eta, irakasleak, ahal duen neurrian, arazo horiek aurreikusten saiatu behar du. Ikerketa honetan, haurrek izaten dituzten akatsez gain, eskolek eta irakasleek irakaskuntza honetan dituzten gabeziak eta arazoak aztertu dira. Datuak baloratu ostean, haurrek euren artean mota bereko akatsak egiten dituztela eta irakasleek hizkuntza idatziaren oinarrizko kontzeptuekin zailtasunak dituztela ikusi da. Horrez gain, erabiltzen dituzten metodoak haurren ikaskuntza prozesua errazten ez dutela ikusi dugu. Hori guztia dela eta, arazoak eta gabeziak aurreikusteko proposamen bat aurkeztu dugu.

Sormena bost urtko gelan. Musika, mugimendua eta jolasa.

Ez da arraroa, egungo eskolan, nolabaiteko aukera eza aurkitzea Haur Hezkuntzako haurraren sormena garatzeko. Aukera eza honi erantzuna emateko asmoz sortu da proiektu hau. Hiru bitarteko nagusi uztartzea proposatzen da: alde batetik, musika, sormenaren garapenerako aukera anitz eskaintzen dituelako; bestetik, mugimendua, haurraren garapenen fisiko eta kognitiboan berebiziko garrantzia duen funtzioa; eta, azkenik, jolasa elementu integratzaile bezala, gizakiok haurtzaroan dugun oinarrizko jarduera. Ondoren proposatzen diren jolasak zehazki sortuak, aukeratuak eta moldatuak izan dira sormena era ludikoan garatzeko. Barakaldoko Alkartu Ikastola Publikoan praktikan jarri eta gero, esan dezakegu haurrek ia mugarik gabeko sormena garatu dezaketela, irakasleak bitarteko egokiak eskura jartzen badizkie.

The impact of liberalizing cost-saharing on basic models of network formation

This paper studies the impact of "liberalizing " the cost-sharing of links on some basic models of network formation. This is done in a setting where both doubly supported and singly supported links are possible, and which includes the two seminal models of network formation by Jackson and Wolinsky and Bala and Goyal as extreme cases. In this setting, the notion of pairwise stability is extended and it is proved that liberalizing cost-sharing for doubly supported links widens the range of values of the parameters where the efficient networks formed by such type of links are pairwise stable, while the range of values of the parameters where the efficient networks formed by singly supported links are pairwise stable shrinks, but the region where the latter are e¢ cient and pairwise stable remains the same.

Etymological notes on Aleut (III). With methodological notes on (Eskimo-Aleut) historical linguistics

[EN] The goal of this contribution is twofold: on the one hand, to review two relatively recent contributions in the field of Eskimo-Aleut historical linguistics in which it is proposed that Eskimo-Aleut languages are related genealogically to Wakashan (Holst 2004) and?/or Nostratic (Krougly-Enke 2008). These contributions can be characterized by saying that their authors have taken little care to be diligent and responsible in the application of the comparative method, and that their familiarity with the languages involved is insufficient. Eskimo-Aleut languages belong to a very exclusive group of language families that have been (and still are) used, sometimes compulsively, in the business of so-called “long-range comparisons”. Those carrying out such studies are very often unaware of the most basic facts regarding the philological and linguistic traditions of those languages, as a result of what mountains of very low quality works with almost no-relevancy for the specialist grow every year to the desperation of the scientific community, whose attitude toward them ranges from the most profound indifference to the toughest (and most explicit) critical tone. Since Basque also belongs to this group of “compare-with-everything-you-come- across” languages, it is my intention to provide the Basque readership with a sort of “pedagogical case” to show that little known languages, far from underrepresented in the field, already have a very long tradition in historical and comparative linguistics, i.e. nobody can approach them without previous acquaintance with the materials. Studies dealing with the methodological inappropriateness of the Moscow School’s Nostratic hypothesis or the incorrectness of many of the proposed new taxonomic Amerindian subfamilies (several of them involving the aforementioned Wakashan languages), that is to say, the frameworks on which Krougly-Enke and Holst work, respectively, are plenty (i.a. Campbell 1997: 260-329, Campbell & Poser 2008: 234-96), therefore there is no reason to insist once more on the very same point. This is the reason why I will not discuss per se Eskimo-Aleut–Wakashan or Eskimo-Aleut–Nostratic. On the contrary, I will focus attention upon very concrete aspects of Krougly-Enke and Holst´s proposals, i.e. when they work on “less ambitious” problems, for example, dealing with the minutiae of internal facts or analyzing certain words from the sole perspective of Eskimo-Aleut materials (in other words, those cases in which even they do not invoke the ad hoc help of Nostratic stuff). I will try to explain why some of their proposals are wrong, demonstrate where the problem lies, and fix it if possible. In doing so, I will propose new etymologies in an attempt at showing how we may proceed. The main difference between this and handbook examples lies in the reality of what we are doing: this is a pure etymological exercise from beginning to end. I will try to throw a bit of light on a couple of problematic questions regarding Aleut historical phonology, demonstrating how much work should be done at the lowest level of the Eskimo-Aleut pyramid; it is technically impossible to reach the peak of the pyramid without having completed the base. As far as Aleut is regarded, I will mainly profit not only from the use of the traditional philological analysis of Aleut (and, eventually, of Eskimo) materials, but also of diachronic typology, bringing into discussion what in my opinion seems useful, and in some cases I think decisive, parallels. It is worth noting that this paper makes up yet another part of a series of exploratory works dealing with etymological aspects of the reconstruction of Proto-Eskimo-Aleut, with special emphasis on Aleut (vid. i.a. Alonso de la Fuente 2006/2007, 2008a, 2008b, 2010a), whose main goal is to become the solid basis for an etymological dictionary of the Aleut language, currently in progress.