Knowledge sharing and learning processes: case study of portuguese technological schools and higher education institutions

Paper to be presented at the ESREA Conference Learning to Change? The Role of Identity and Learning Careers in Adult Education, 7-8 December, 2006, Université Catholique Louvain, Louvain–la-Neuve, Belgium

Accounting education in an action-based learning environment: lessons learned

In the context of the Bologna Declaration a change is taking place in the teaching/learning paradigm. From teaching-centered education, which emphasizes the acquisition and transmission of knowledge, we now speak of learning-centered education, which is more demanding for students. This paradigm promotes a continuum of lifelong learning, where the individual needs to be able to handle knowledge, to select what is appropriate for a particular context, to learn permanently and to understand how to learn in new and rapidly changing situations. One attempt to face these challenges has been the experience of ISCAP regarding the teaching/learning of accounting in the course Managerial Simulation. This paper describes the process of teaching, learning and assessment in an action-based learning environment. After a brief general framework that focuses on education objectives, we report the strengths and limitations of this teaching/learning tool. We conclude with some lessons from the implementation of the project.

Building a knowledge and learning society in Portugal: adult students in technological schools and higher education institutions

Lifelong learning (LLL) has received increasing attention in recent years. It implies that learning should take place at all stages of the “life cycle and it should be life-wide, that is embedded in all life contexts from the school to the work place, the home and the community” (Green, 2002, p.613). The ‘learning society’, is the vision of a society where there are recognized opportunities for learning for every person, wherever they are and however old they happen to be. Globalization and the rise of new information technologies are some of the driving forces that cause depreciation of specialised competences. This happens very quickly in terms of economic value; consequently, workers of all skills levels, during their working life, must have the opportunity to update “their technical skills and enhance general skills to keep pace with continuous technological change and new job requirements” (Fahr, 2005, p. 75). It is in this context that LLL tops the policy agenda of international bodies, national governments and non-governmental organizations, in the field of education and training, to justify the need for LLL opportunities for the population as they face contemporary employability challenges. It is in this context that the requirement and interest to analyse the behaviour patterns of adult learners has developed over the last few years

The role of Lifelong Learning in the creation of a knowledge-based society for Europe: european policies

Link do editor: http://www.igi-global.com/chapter/role-lifelong-learning-creation-european/13314

Teaching and learning mathematics using moodle

This paper summarizes a project that is contributing to a change in the way of teaching and learning Mathematics. Mathematics is a subject of the Accounting and Administration course. In this subject we teach: Functions and Algebra. The aim is that the student understand the basic concepts and is able to apply them in other issues, when possible, establishing a bridge between the issues that they have studied and their application in Accounting. As from this year, the Accounting course falls under in Bologna Process. The teacher and the student roles have changed. The time for theoretical and practical classes has been reduced, so it was necessary to modify the way of teaching and learning. In the theoretical classes we use systems of multimedia projection to present the concepts, and in the practical classes we solve exercises. We also use the Excel and the mathematical open source software wxMaxima. To supplement our theoretical and practical classes we have developed a project called MatActiva based on the Moodle platform offered by PAOL - Projecto de Apoio Online (Online Support Project). With the creation of this new project we wanted to take advantage already obtained results with the previous experiences, giving to the students opportunities to complement their study in Mathematics. One of the great objectives is to motivate students, encourage them to overcome theirs difficulties through an auto-study giving them more confidence. In the MatActiva project the students have a big collection of information about the way of the subject works, which includes the objectives, the program, recommended bibliography, evaluation method and summaries. It works as material support for the practical and theoretical classes, the slides of the theoretical classes are available, the sheets with exercises for the students to do in the classroom and complementary exercises, as well as the exams of previous years. Students can also do diagnostic tests and evaluation tests online. Our approach is a reflexive one, based on the professional experience of the teachers that explore and incorporate new tools of Moodle with their students and coordinate the project MatActiva.

Human interaction with technology for working, communicating, and learning: advancements

The way humans interact with technology is undergoing a tremendous change. It is hard to imagine the lives we live today without the benefits of technology that we take for granted. Applying research in computer science, engineering, and information systems to non-technical descriptions of technology, such as human interaction, has shaped and continues to shape our lives. Human Interaction with Technology for Working, Communicating, and Learning: Advancements provides a framework for conceptual, theoretical, and applied research in regards to the relationship between technology and humans. This book is unique in the sense that it does not only cover technology, but also science, research, and the relationship between these fields and individuals' experience. This book is a must have for anyone interested in this research area, as it provides a voice for all users and a look into our future.

The Role of lifelong learning in creation of a european knowledge-based society

The dominant discourse in education and training policies, at the turn of the millennium, was on lifelong learning (LLL) in the context of a knowledge-based society. As Green points (2002, pp. 611-612) several factors contribute to this global trend: The demographic change: In most advanced countries, the average age of the population is increasing, as people live longer; The effects of globalisation: Including both economic restructuring and cultural change which have impacts on the world of education; Global economic restructuring: Which causes, for example, a more intense demand for a higher order of skills; the intensified economic competition, forcing a wave of restructuring and creating enormous pressure to train and retrain the workforce In parallel, the “significance of the international division of labour cannot be underestimated for higher education”, as pointed out by Jarvis (1999, p. 250). This author goes on to argue that globalisation has exacerbated differentiation in the labour market, with the First World converting faster to a knowledge economy and a service society, while a great deal of the actual manufacturing is done elsewhere.

Organization knowledge management change from a complex adaptive systems perpective with ability for ambidexeterity

We are working on the confluence of knowledge management, organizational memory and emergent knowledge with the lens of complex adaptive systems. In order to be fundamentally sustainable organizations search for an adaptive need for managing ambidexterity of day-to-day work and innovation. An organization is an entity of a systemic nature, composed of groups of people who interact to achieve common objectives, making it necessary to capture, store and share interactions knowledge with the organization, this knowledge can be generated in intra-organizational or inter-organizational level. The organizations have organizational memory of knowledge of supported on the Information technology and systems. Each organization, especially in times of uncertainty and radical changes, to meet the demands of the environment, needs timely and sized knowledge on the basis of tacit and explicit. This sizing is a learning process resulting from the interaction that emerges from the relationship between the tacit and explicit knowledge and which we are framing within an approach of Complex Adaptive Systems. The use of complex adaptive systems for building the emerging interdependent relationship, will produce emergent knowledge that will improve the organization unique developing.

A web-based intelligent tutoring system on teaching and learning electrical project

The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) provide new strategies for disseminating information and new communication models in order to change attitudes and human behaviour concerning to education. Nowadays the internet is crucial as a means of communication and information sharing. To education or tutorship will be required to use ICT, supported on the internet, to establish the communication of teacher-student and student-student, disseminating the content of the subjects, and as a way of teaching and learning process. This paper presents an intelligent tutor that aims to be a tool to support teaching and learning in the field of the electrical engineering project.

Contextualização de “learning objects” no ensino da área da saúde. O caso do ensino da higiene oral

Com o crescimento das Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação os métodos de ensino também foram evoluindo, verificando-se assim mudanças bastante significativas na forma como se adquire o conhecimento. O aparecimento do ensino à distância aliado aos meios digitais, que estão cada vez mais disponíveis e acessíveis, tanto a alunos como a professores, são um excelente complemento à actividade lectiva. Exemplo disso é mesmo o caso do e-learning que veio revolucionar todo o processo de aquisição de conhecimento, deixando para segundo plano pormenores como o local ou a hora de aquisição do conhecimento. Entre muitos tipos de recursos disponíveis, os OA’s (Objecto de Aprendizagem) têm uma utilização cada vez mais frequente. No levantamento do estado da arte e no estudo dos recursos educativos utilizados actualmente na Medicina Dentária, foi assinalado a utilização recorrente dos OA’s, que basicamente são pequenos pedaços de informação que podem ser reutilizados ou referenciados tecnologicamente. Seguidamente, iniciou-se a realização de um OA que pudesse servir de apoio ao ensino da Medicina Dentária, focando-se concretamente na higiene oral para as crianças entre os 7 e 12 anos. Finalmente, procedeu-se à sua validação conclui-se que no futuro será possível a sua reutilização em diferentes contextos de ensino e aprendizagem na área.

Work in progress - learning through role play games

It is commonly accepted that the educational environment has been undergoing considerable change due to the use of the Information and Communication tools. But learning depends upon actions such as experimenting, visualizing and demonstrating through which the learner succeeds in constructing his own knowledge. Although it is not easy to achieve these actions through current ICT supported learning approaches, Role Playing Games (RPG) may well develop such capacities. The creation of an interactive computer game with RPG characteristics, about the 500th anniversary of the city of Funchal, the capital of Madeira Island, is invested with compelling educational/pedagogical implications, aiming clearly at teaching history and social relations through playing. Players interpret different characters in different settings/scenarios, experiencing adventures, meeting challenges and trying to reach multiple and simultaneous goals in the areas of education, entertainment and social integration along the first 150 years of the history of Funchal. Through this process they will live and understand all the social and historical factors of that epoch.

A new horizon for online teaching and learning

The Polytechnic Institute of Oporto (IPP), which has a solid history of online education and innovation through the use of technology, has been particularly interested and focused on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) developments. The aim of this paper is to present the whole process from initial discussions to completion of the “Mathematics Without Limits” MOOC Project that exists in IPP and also to contribute for a change in the way as teaching and learning Mathematics is seen and practiced nowadays. In 2013, IPP developed its own platform, which gave us the opportunity to explore new educational techniques as a pedagogical resource as well as to enhance students’ motivation, through a set of interactive materials at their disposal, totally adapted to their needs. Students lack of motivation is mainly justified by their weak Math preparation, poor consolidated basis on the subject and different backgrounds of the students. To tackle this issue and based on our Math online courses teaching experience, we decided to create short duration MOOC, expecting to aid retention of students and also to reverse the path of students giving up on Math by giving them a friendly way of managing their own learning commitment. We also think that this MOOC will be a good approach to level out some math skills among freshmen.

A new horizon for online teaching and learning

The Polytechnic Institute of Oporto (IPP), which has a solid history of online education and innovation through the use of technology, has been particularly interested and focused on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) developments. The aim of this paper is to present the whole process from initial discussions to completion of the “Mathematics Without Limits” MOOC Project that exists in IPP and also to contribute for a change in the way as teaching and learning Mathematics is seen and practiced nowadays. In 2013, IPP developed its own platform, which gave us the opportunity to explore new educational techniques as a pedagogical resource as well as to enhance students’ motivation, through a set of interactive materials at their disposal, totally adapted to their needs. Students lack of motivation is mainly justified by their weak Math preparation, poor consolidated basis on the subject and different backgrounds of the students. To tackle this issue and based on our Math online courses teaching experience, we decided to create short duration MOOC, expecting to aid retention of students and also to reverse the path of students giving up on Math by giving them a friendly way of managing their own learning commitment. We also think that this MOOC will be a good approach to level out some math skills among freshmen.

A New horizon for online teaching and learning

The Polytechnic Institute of Oporto (IPP), which has a solid history of online education and innovation through the use of technology, has been particularly interested and focused on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) developments. The aim of this paper is to present the whole process from initial discussions to completion of the “Mathematics Without Limits” MOOC Project that exists in IPP and also to contribute for a change in the way as teaching and learning Mathematics is seen and practiced nowadays. In 2013, IPP developed its own platform, which gave us the opportunity to explore new educational techniques as a pedagogical resource as well as to enhance students’ motivation, through a set of interactive materials at their disposal, totally adapted to their needs. Students lack of motivation is mainly justified by their weak Math preparation, poor consolidated basis on the subject and different backgrounds of the students. To tackle this issue and based on our Math online courses teaching experience, we decided to create short duration MOOC, expecting to aid retention of students and also to reverse the path of students giving up on Math by giving them a friendly way of managing their own learning commitment. We also think that this MOOC will be a good approach to level out some math skills among freshmen.

Teaching and learning with social software in higher education: content management systems integrated with Web-based applications as a key factor for success

The change of paradigm imposed by the Bologna process, in which the student will be responsible for their own learning, and the presence of a new generation of students with higher technological skills, represent a huge challenge for higher education institutions. The use of new Web Social concepts in teaching process, supported by applications commonly called Web 2.0, with which these new students feel at ease, can bring benefits in terms of motivation and the frequency and quality of students' involvement in academic activities. An e-learning platform with web-based applications as a complement can significantly contribute to the development of different skills in higher education students, covering areas which are usually in deficit.