e-learning in the classroom?

As teachers, we are challenged everyday to solve pedagogical problems and we have to fight for our students’ attention in a media rich world. I will talk about how we use ICT in Initial Teacher Training and give you some insight on what we are doing. The most important benefit of using ICT in education is that it makes us reflect on our practice. There is no doubt that our classrooms need to be updated, but we need to be critical about every peace of hardware, software or service that we bring into them. It is not only because our budgets are short, but also because e‐learning is primarily about learning, not technology. Therefore, we need to have the knowledge and skills required to act in different situations, and choose the best tool for the job. Not all subjects are suitable for e‐learning, nor do all students have the skills to organize themselves their own study times. Also not all teachers want to spend time programming or learning about instructional design and metadata. The promised land of easy use of authoring tools (e.g. eXe and Reload) that will lead to all teachers become Learning Objects authors and share these LO in Repositories, all this failed, like previously HyperCard, Toolbook and others. We need to know a little bit of many different technologies so we can mobilize this knowledge when a situation requires it: integrate e‐learning technologies in the classroom, not a flipped classroom, just simple tools. Lecture capture, mobile phones and smartphones, pocket size camcorders, VoIP, VLE, live video broadcast, screen sharing, free services for collaborative work, save, share and sync your files. Do not feel stressed to use everything, every time. Just because we have a whiteboard does not mean we have to make it the centre of the classroom. Start from where you are, with your preferred subject and the tools you master. Them go slowly and try some new tool in a non‐formal situation and with just one or two students. And you don’t need to be alone: subscribe a mailing list and share your thoughts with other teachers in a dedicated forum, even better if both are part of a community of practice, and share resources. We did that for music teachers and it was a success, in two years arriving at 1.000 members. Just do it.

Ecological footprint as an indicator of sustainability at Lisbon School of Health Technology, Portugal

Higher education institutions, has an active role in the development of a sustainable future and for this reason, it is essential that they became environmentally sustainable institutions, applying methods such as the Ecological Footprint analysis. This study intent is to strengthen the potential of the ecological footprint as an indicator of the sustainability of students of Lisbon School of Health Technology, and identify the relationship between the ecological footprint and the different socio-demographic variables.

Carbon footprint of the academic community of Lisbon School of Health Technology, Portugal

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the average temperature of the Earth's surface has risen about 1º C in the last 100 years and will increase, depending on the scenario emissions of Greenhouse Gases. The rising temperatures could trigger environmental effects like rising sea levels, floods, droughts, heat waves, hurricanes. With growing concerns about different environmental issues and the need to address climate change, institutions of higher education should create knowledge and integrate sustainability into teaching programs and research programs, as well as promoting environmental issues for society. The aim of this study is to determine the carbon footprint of the academic community of Lisbon School of Health Technology (ESTeSL) in 2013, identifying possible links between the Carbon Footprint and the different socio-demographic variables.

Nuclear medicine technologist education and training in Europe: literature and web-based findings

Purpose - The education and training of a nuclear medicine technologist (NMT) is not homogeneous among European countries, which leads to different scope of practices and, therefore, different technical skills are assigned. The goal of this research was to characterize the education and training of NMT in Europe. Materials and methods - This study was based on a literature research to characterize the education and training of NMT and support the historical evolution of this profession. It was divided into two different phases: the first phase included analysis of scientific articles and the second phase included research of curricula that allow health professionals to work as NMT in Europe. Results - The majority of the countries [N=31 (89%)] offer the NMT curriculum integrated into the high education system and only in four (11%) countries the education is provided by professional schools. The duration in each education system is not equal, varying in professional schools (2-3 years) and high education level system (2-4 years), which means that different European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System, such as 240, 230, 222, 210 or 180 European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System, are attributed to the graduates. The professional title and scope of the practice of NMT are different in different countries in Europe. In most countries of Europe, nuclear medicine training is not specific and curriculum does not demonstrate the Nuclear Medicine competencies performed in clinical practice. Conclusion - The heterogeneity in education and training for NMT is an issue prevalent among European countries. For NMT professional development, there is a huge need to formalize and unify educational and training programmes in Europe.