Nuevas tecnologías e innovación educativa

[Es]Gran parte de la investigación sobre las Tecnologías de la Información y Comunicación (TICs) se ha centrado exclusivamente en la eficacia para alcanzar los objetivos tradicionales del aprendizaje, sin fesarrollar perspectivas o líneas de trabajo con tecnologías que sirvan para promover la creatividad, expresión personal y aprender a aprender, apoyando las capacidades de creatividad y pensamiento crítico. En este artículo se proponen objetivos,metodologías y temáticas de estudio en esta segunda dirección.

Plasma brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels, learning capacity and cognition in patients with first episode psychosis

Background: Cognitive impairments are seen in first psychotic episode (FEP) patients. The neurobiological underpinnings that might underlie these changes remain unknown. The aim of this study is to investigate whether Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) levels are associated with cognitive impairment in FEP patients compared with healthy controls. Methods: 45 FEP patients and 45 healthy controls matched by age, gender and educational level were selected from the Basque Country area of Spain. Plasma BDNF levels were assessed in healthy controls and in patients. A battery of cognitive tests was applied to both groups, with the patients being assessed at 6 months after the acute episode and only in those with a clinical response to treatment. Results: Plasma BDNF levels were altered in patients compared with the control group. In FEP patients, we observed a positive association between BDNF levels at six months and five cognitive domains (learning ability,immediate and delayed memory, abstract thinking and processing speed) which persisted after controlling for medications prescribed, drug use, intelligence quotient (IQ) and negative symptoms. In the healthy control group, BDNF levels were not associated with cognitive test scores. Conclusion: Our results suggest that BDNF is associated with the cognitive impairment seen after a FEP. Further investigations of the role of this neurotrophin in the symptoms associated with psychosis onset are warranted.

San Francisco : a city reinvented by creative innovation

The aim of this paper is to analyse the recent evolution of the city of San Francisco to outline the major features that have made it possible this continuing process of creative innovation in the city. In order to meet this objective, the project is framed around answering two key research questions: (1) what are the main economic and social elements that characterise urban change in the city of San Francisco and (2) which is the role of public strategies in the continuing economic success of San Francisco. The paper concludes that the successful performance of San Francisco is the result of the actions taken by many agents in the city, but the role of public authorities, especially the City and County, must be stressed, both through direct intervention and by coordinating, fostering and supporting the private and non-profit sectors. This is especially relevant in a country like the US where private initiative has been seen in many occasions as the greatest driver of economic and social success. Yet, the performance of San Francisco City cannot be explained without the role played by the public sector, in coordination with the civil society

Irakasleen jardun praktika genero estereotipoen aurrean

[EUS] Lan honekin bilatu nahi izan dugun helburu nagusia irakasleek generoaren berdintasunean oinarritzen duten bere jardun praktika ezagutzea izan da. Horretarako, hainbat adituren hitzak kontuan izanik, eskolek eta bertako irakasleek genero estereotipoen desagerpenean betetzen duten funtzioa aztertu dugu eta diagnostiko txiki bat egin dugu, Haur Hezkuntzako ikasgela batean ikerketa ez-parte hartzaile bat aurrera eramanez eta zenbait elkarrizketa eta dokumentu analizatuz. Lortutako emaitza eta datuekin ondorioak atera ditugu lan hau, etorkizunera begira, hezkuntza hezkidetzailea lortzeko lagungarria izango delakoan.

The activity view of inner speech

We distinguish two general approaches to inner speech (IS) the "format" and the "activity" views and defend the activity view. The format view grounds the utility of IS on features of the representational format of language, and is related to the thesis that the proper function of IS is to make conscious thinking possible. IS appears typically as a product constituted by representations of phonological features. The view also has implications for the idea that passivity phenomena in cognition may be misat-tributed IS. The activity view sees IS as a speaking activity that does not have a proper function in cognition. It simply inherits the array of functions of outer speech. We argue that it is methodologically advisable to start from this variety of uses, which suggests commonalities between internal and external activities. The format view has several problems; it has to deny "unsymbolized thinking"; it cannot easily explain how IS makes thoughts available to consciousness, and it cannot explain those uses of IS where its format features apparently play no role. The activity view not only lacks these problems but also has explanatory advantages: construing IS as an activity allows it to be integrally constituted by its content; the view is able to construe unsymbolized thinking as part of a continuum of phenomena that exploit the same mechanisms, and it offers a simple explanation for the variety of uses of IS