English grammar games in primary education

The purpose of this study was to analyse pupils’ English grammar acquisition from competitive and cooperative approaches. After searching a wide range of authors’ contribution to English language learning, grammar acquisition, classroom environment and language games. A hundred and twenty pupils from three schools; two from Ripoll and one from Campdevànol were enrolled in a specific grammar games intervention. This was imparted in three different phases: first of all, I interviewed the three teachers from the three schools, then I put into practice my competitive and cooperative games which I designed especially for this study (all the sessions were carried, assessed and registered by myself); finally, all pupils answered a questionnaire related to their experiences in my grammar games intervention. Analysis of teaching interventions showed that, in terms of English language acquisition, pupils used different strategies to show up understanding and achieve the objective of the game such as: recalling their background knowledge, expressing sentences influenced by their internal language and their mother tongue. Data collected revealed that most difficulties were founded in team work, even more in competitive games. The results also showed that team work is something which has to be developed step by step in order to achieve language learning and all pupils’ active participation successfully.

Using Songs in Primary Education: Advantages and Challenges

Aquesta recerca està basada en l’observació de les cançons per aprendre i ensenyar la llengua anglesa en l’etapa d’Educació Primària. S’analitza la cançó com un recurs eficaç per aprendre aquesta llengua, així com també s’observen els avantatges i desavantatges que es poden trobar en l’ús de les cançons a les aules de Primària. A partir d’una aplicació pràctica també s’estudia la validesa d’aquest recurs en el primer i darrer curs de la Primària. A més a més, es mesura la motivació que mostren els alumnes davant d’aquesta eina d’aprenentatge. Finalment, es presenten els resultats obtinguts en l’aplicació pràctica que s’ha portat a terme en una escola i les conclusions que s’extreuen a partir de la justificació teòrica i els resultats obtinguts a partir de les sessions pràctiques.

How Millennials are changing the way of learning: the state of the art of ICT integration in education

Millennials generation is changing the way of learning, prompting educational institutions to attempt to better adapt to young needs by incorporating technologies into education. Based on this premise, we have reviewed the prominent reports of the integration of ICT into education with the aim of evidencing how education is changing, and will change, to meet the needs ofMillennials with ICT support. We conclude that most of the investments have simply resulted in an increase of computers and access to the Internet, with teachers reproducing traditional approaches to education and e-learning being seen as complementary to face-to-face education. While it would seem that the use of ICT is not revolutionizing learning, it is facilitating the personalization, collaboration and ubiquity of learning.

Technology-enhanced education for Millennials: how the Information Society is changing the way of learning

The Information Society has provided the context for the development of a new generation, known as the Millennials, who are characterized by their intensive use of technologies in everyday life. These features are changing the way of learning, prompting educational institutions to attempt to better adapt to youngneeds by incorporating technologies into education. Based on this premise, wehave reviewed the prominent reports of the integration of ICT into education atdifferent levels with the aim of evidencing how education is changing, and willchange, to meet the needs of Millennials with ICT support. The results show thatmost of the investments have simply resulted in an increase of computers andaccess to the Internet, with teachers reproducing traditional approaches to education and e-learning being seen as complementary to face-to-face education.While it would seem that the use of ICT is not revolutionizing learning, it isfacilitating the personalization, collaboration and ubiquity of learning.

Repensar el asesoramiento en educación. ¿Qué prácticas para los nuevos retos? = Rethink the advice in education. What practices for the new challenges?

Esta publicación aborda, de manera monográfica, el tema del asesoramiento en educación. Han transcurrido prácticamente treinta años desde que a finales de los 70 y principios de los 80 surgieran en nuestro país los Servicios de Orientación Educativa y Vocacional (SOEV), que junto a los Institutos de Orientación Educativa y Profesional (IOEP) y los Equipos Multiprofesionales (EM) dan origen –en los 90– a los actuales Equipos de Orientación Educativa y Psicopedagógica (EOEP). Han pasado veinticinco años desde el nacimiento en España –a mediados de los 80– de los Centros de Profesores (CEP). Inspirados en los ‘Teachers Centers’ británicos, los CEP vienen a cubrir las necesidades de formación permanente del profesorado como respuesta a la inoperancia de los Institutos de Ciencias de la Educación (ICE) del momento. Han sido, pues, treinta años de lo que ha venido a llamarse asesoramiento institucional, esto es, asesoramiento organizado y estructurado, ofertado desde sistemas de apoyo a la escuela, dando cabida en u actuación a multitud de iniciativas y prácticas de apoyo entre las que se encuentran las de asesoramiento, entremezclándose y confundiéndose a veces como prácticas de orientación, a veces como formación, o simplemente como actividades de asistencia y colaboración entre profesionales para la resolución de necesidades y problemas en el seno de nuestras escuelas. Y tal ha sido su diversidad y tipología, su riqueza y amplitud, que se han invertido no pocos esfuerzos, debates y ríos de tinta para comprender y definir, clasificar y etiquetar un ingente y variopinto conjunto de prácticas que convenimos en llamar, de asesoramiento

Technology Outlook: Iberoamerican Tertiary Education 2012-2017

La sèrie d'informes Horizon és el resultat més tangible del Projecte Horizon del New Media Consortium, un esforç de recerca qualitativa iniciat el 2002, que identifica i descriu les tecnologies emergents amb més potencial d'impacte en l'ensenyament, l'aprenentatge, la recerca i la expressió creativa en l'àmbit educatiu global. Aquest volum, Technology Outlook: Iberoamerican Tertiary Education 2012-2017, és la segona edició del Projecte Horizon Iberoamèrica i se centra en la investigació en els països de la regió Iberoamericana (incloent-hi tota Llatinoamèrica, Espanya i Portugal) i en l'àmbit de l'educació superior. Ha estat produït pel NMC i l'eLearn Center de la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya.

Marketing education, distance learning and hypermedia : teaching 'current issues in marketing' in a virtual campus

This article reports on a project at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC: The Open University of Catalonia, Barcelona) to develop an innovative package of hypermedia-based learning materials for a new course entitled 'Current Issues in Marketing'. The UOC is a distance university entirely based on a virtual campus. The learning materials project was undertaken in order to benefit from the advantages which new communication technologies offer to the teaching of marketing in distance education. The article reviews the main issues involved in incorporating new technologies in learning materials, the development of the learning materials, and their functioning within the hypermedia based virtual campus of the UOC. An empirical study is then carried out in order to evaluate the attitudes of students to the project. Finally, suggestions for improving similar projects in the future are put forward.

A methodological approach to identify teacher's ICT competencies in online learning environments in Higher Education

Aquest article pretén descriure el procés metodològic d'identificació i mesurament de les competències TIC dels professors i com a formadors en les TIC en un entorn d'aprenentatge en línia en l'Educació Superior portat a terme en el marc del Projecte Europeu Elene-TLC.La revisió de la recerca en les competències en línia del professor demostra que, en primer lloc, el mètode més utilitzat per a identificar aquestes competències és el focus group. En segon lloc, la tècnica Delphi és la tècnica més utilitzada per reunir el consens d'experts sobre quines són les competències principals per al professor en línia entre els que s'indiquen.La proposta metodològica descrita en aquest document consisteix en la creació de 7 grups de discussió en línia, l'objectiu dels quals era identificar les competències formatives dels professors en línia i les dels professos en línia. La llista de competències obtingudes posteriorment es va oferir als experts europeus que participaven en l'aplicació de la tècnica Delphi. A aquests experts se'ls va demanar que ordenessin les competències d'acord amb el seu grau d'importància.Els resultats mostren que els grups de discussió en línia i el mètode Delphi són les metodologies apropiades per a identificar les competències TIC dels professors universitaris en els entorns d'aprenentatge en línia.

Redefining dropping out in online higher education: a case study from the UOC

In recent years, studies into the reasons for dropping out of higher education (including online education) have been undertaken with greater regularity, parallel to the rise in the relative weight of this type of education, compared with brick-and-mortar education. However, the work invested in characterising the students who drop out of education, compared with those who do not, appears not to have had the same relevance as that invested in the analysis of the causes. The definition of dropping out is very sensitive to the context. In this article, we reach a purely empirical definition of student dropping out, based on the probability of not continuing a specific academic programme following several consecutive semesters of "theoretical break". Dropping out should be properly defined before analysing its causes, as well as comparing the drop-out rates between the different online programmes, or between online and on-campus ones. Our results show that there are significant differences among programmes, depending on their theoretical extension, but not their domain of knowledge.

Proceedings of the 1st Seminar on Higher Education Rankings and E-learning

First International Seminar on Higher EducationRankings and e-Learning. Proceedings

Job accessibility, employment and job-education mismatch in the metropolitan area of Barcelona

This paper analyses the effect of job accessibility by public and private transport on labour market outcomes in the metropolitan area of Barcelona. Beyond employment, we consider the effect of job accessibility on job-education mismatch, which represents a relevant aspect of job quality. We adopt a recursive system of equations that models car availability, employment and mismatch. Public transport accessibility appears as an exogenous variable in the three equations. Even though it may reflect endogenous residential sorting, falsification proofs suggest that the estimated effect of public transport accessibility is not entirely driven by the endogenous nature of residential decisions.

Action Research : the first steps to start up a pilot experiment in heritage education

Peer-reviewed

Some of the challenges and experiences of formal education in a Mobile-Centric Society (MCS) = Algunos retos y experiencias de la educación formal en la Sociedad Móvil-Céntrica (SMC)

The aim of the paper is to describe some of the challenges faced by schools, or by formal education in general, as a consequence of today"s mobilecentric society (henceforth MCS), the term we will use to denote the new, networked learning ecology that has arisen from the massive penetration of digital media in everyday life. After revisiting some of the ideas of McLuhan and Vygotsky in the light of this new technological scenario, we describe five traits of the MCS and the challenges illustrated through educational practices that we believe schools will face if they wish to preserve their function of individualization and socialization. We believe that despite the emergence of the MCS, the main function of the school is still to provide the"box of tools" (a set of psychological instruments, such as reading, writing, mathematical notation, digital literacy, etc.) that enables people to develop their learning skills and life projects and to become part of communities and groups. However, the complexity and mobility of the new learning environments means that the position held by schools needs to be reevaluated in the face of the informal learning paths and experiences both online and offline to which learners now have access. We also need to reevaluate the meaning of the school itself as an institution and the model of learner it should be training

The Impact of ICTs on Lecturer and Student Interaction in University Education Processes

Interaction is a basic element in any educational process, and it is something that needs to be reconsidered in the light of technology. In order to examine the methodological changes that ICTs bring to teaching from an interaction perspective, a study was carried out at the University of Lleida to observe interaction processes in various face-to-face, blended learning and e-learning subjects. The methodological design was based on three data collection techniques: documentary analysis of subject curricula, lecturer and student questionnaires, and lecturer interviews. The data showed that, as the online component of subjects increased, the lecturers and students used more technological tools to communicate (e-mail, forums, chats, social networks, etc.). Furthermore, we found that the lecturers and students basically communicated for academic purposes. While they hardly ever communicated for personal reasons (guidance, support, etc.), they claimed that closer contact with a non-academic focus would be preferable. We also observed that the students’ work was more individual in e-learning subjects. Although there is still a considerable way to go in ICT-mediated lecturer-student interaction, both the lecturers and students recognise the potential of such technologies, even though they still do not use them as they feel they should.