Open video tools to support the production of online collaborative audiovisual projects : how to promote collective creation in e-learning

This paper analyses the use of open video editing tools to support the creation and production of online collaborative audiovisual projects for higher education. It focuses on the possibilities offered by these tools to promote collective creation in virtual environments.

El Misterio de la biblioteca Mil.lènium o cómo promover relaciones colaborativas desde la participación del alumnado = The Mystery of the Mil.lènium Library: How to Promote Collaborative Relationships Through Student Participation

La pedagogía crítica acentúa la falta de neutralidad de la escuela respecto a las relaciones de poder que existen en la sociedad. Su propuesta consiste en modificar las relaciones de poder en el aula en el sentido de transformar las relaciones coercitivas –las que reproducen las relaciones existentes– en relaciones colaborativas partiendo del reconocimiento y la participación de los alumnos en las actividades escolares. Desde esta perspectiva, uno de los objetivos de las actividades es que los niños produzcan «textos identitarios», entendidos como artefactos que los alumnos se pueden apropiar para promover su desarrollo cognitivo. El artículo muestra el trabajo educativo integrado desde Educación Infantil hasta 6.º de Primaria de una escuela de la provincia de Girona en la que el 97% de los alumnos es de origen extranjero y cuyo propósito es incrementar las habilidades lingüísticas orales y escritas en la lengua escolar, así como la utilización de otros lenguajes multimedia. La unidad didáctica consiste en la elaboración de un cuento a lo largo de un curso escolar por parte de todo el alumnado con la ayuda de los profesores, de dos autores y de tres ilustradores. Cada ciclo escolar decide los personajes y el escenario y explicita textualmente el transcurso de la acción. Los ilustradores producen las imágenes y los autores posibilitan la transición de aquello que ha elaborado un ciclo al producto del siguiente. La actividad basada en la participación y la utilización de procedimientos democráticos de decisión se inserta en la propuesta educativa y lingüística de la escuela, así como en sus concreciones curriculares. Los resultados muestran que los textos construidos por los niños se apoyan en sus «fondos de conocimiento» sociales y familiares y constituyen una fuente de progreso en la consecución de las competencias básicas y en la construcción de valores democráticos

F/OSS to promote vendor independence/avoid lock-in in the enterprise

This paper focuses on the use of FLOSS to promote vendor independence/avoid lock-in in the enterprise. It looks at how FLOSS projects follow open standards, how forking prevents lock-in if a project threatens to migrate to a closed-source strategy and how FLOSS lowers the barrier to entry for SMEs wishing to implement and support software. However it also looks at how the adoption of policies mandating open standards instead of FLOSS and how the success of cloud computing threatens to erode those benefits. It discusses ways in which cloud computing can be adopted in the enterprise without forfeiting those advantages and urge corporate and government policy makers to mandate FLOSS rather than be satisfied with open standards.

Warranties used as a mean to promote commercial FOSS

From a business standpoint, this paper describes the point of view on the question of warranties of a FOSS editor doing business in a risk-averse market segment. It is based on 15-years experience of AdaCore in the safety-critical embedded industry. However, it is not only the point of view of a provider, as it also aims at demonstrating that the interests of providers and users are aligned in this area. From a legal point of view, the enforceability of these warranties will be partly covered, as well as the articulation between the license and the warranties on one hand, and the articulation between the license and the other contracts that can be created in a business relationship on the other hand.

Cultivation of black truffle to promote reforestation and land-use stability

Cultivation of black truffle, Tuber melanosporum Vitt., has become an important agricultural alternative in rural Mediterranean regions due to its success in relatively harsh conditions, its high market value and diminishing production in natural areas. In addition, truffle cultivation requires relatively low agricultural inputs, promotes reforestation and economic restoration of rural lands and land-use stability. However, there remain major issues regarding the management practices to ensure successful black truffle production. We therefore conducted an experiment to evaluate 3 levels of irrigation based on monthly water deficit and the effects of currently applied weed control systems and fertilization. Treatment effects were evaluated by examining the mycorrhizal status of out-planted 1-yr-old Quercus ilex L. seedlings and seedling growth parameters after 18 months in 3 distinct experimental truffle plantations located in the foothills of the Spanish Pyrenees. We found that replacing one-half of the water deficit of the driest month (moderate irrigation) promoted the proliferation of T. melanosporum mycorrhizae, while high irrigation reduced fine root production and truffle mycorrhizae. Glyphosate weed control improved seedling survival by up to 16% over control seedlings without jeopardizing truffle mycorrhizae in the first year. Fertilization did not improve seedling growth or influence its mycorrhizal status. We describe the persistent relationship between this ectomycorrhizal fungus and Q. ilex by quantifying old and new mycorrhizae and we discuss the ecological implications of the symbiosis.

Wnt-3a and Wnt-3 differently stimulate proliferation and neurogenesis of spinal neural precursors and promote neurite outgrowth by canonical signaling

Wnt factors regulate neural stem cell development and neuronal connectivity. Here we investigated whether Wnt-3a and Wnt-3, expressed in the developing spinal cord, regulate proliferation and the neuronal differentiation of spinal cord neural precursors (SCNP). Wnt-3a promoted a sustained increase of SCNP proliferation, whereas Wnt-3 enhanced SCNP proliferation transiently and increased neurogenesis through β-catenin signaling. Consistent with this, Wnt-3a and Wnt-3 differently regulate the expression of Cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors. Furthermore, Wnt-3a and Wnt-3 stimulated neurite outgrowth in SCNP-derived neurons through ß-catenin and TCF4-dependent transcription. GSK-3ß inhibitors mimicked Wnt signaling and promoted neurite outgrowth in established cultures. We conclude that Wnt-3a and Wnt-3 signal through the canonical Wnt/β-catenin pathway to regulate different aspects of SCNP development. These findings may be of therapeutic interest for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases and nerve injury.

Self-Renewing Human Bone Marrow Mesenspheres Promote Hematopoietic Stem Cell Expansion.

Strategies for expanding hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) include coculture with cells that recapitulate their natural microenvironment, such as bone marrow stromal stem/progenitor cells (BMSCs). Plastic-adherent BMSCs may be insufficient to preserve primitive HSCs. Here, we describe a method of isolating and culturing human BMSCs as nonadherent mesenchymal spheres. Human mesenspheres were derived from CD45- CD31- CD71- CD146+ CD105+ nestin+ cells but could also be simply grown from fetal and adult BM CD45--enriched cells. Human mesenspheres robustly differentiated into mesenchymal lineages. In culture conditions where they displayed a relatively undifferentiated phenotype, with decreased adherence to plastic and increased self-renewal, they promoted enhanced expansion of cord blood CD34+ cells through secreted soluble factors. Expanded HSCs were serially transplantable in immunodeficient mice and significantly increased long-term human hematopoietic engraftment. These results pave the way for culture techniques that preserve the self-renewal of human BMSCs and their ability to support functional HSCs.

Building Partnerships and Fostering Activities to Promote English Outside the Classroom

Becoming proficient in at least one foreign language is a target for educational authorities throughout Europe. The question is how we can improve our students’ command of English without increasing the workload on teachers and without much funding. In El Prat de Llobregat, a city located in the vicinity of Barcelona, we have addressed that issue by creating a group of teachers, educational advisors and city council administrators, who have been acting in a coordinated way to enhance English language exposure beyond the classroom. Our interest in promoting English stems from our location: our municipality is situated next to an international airport where finding a job is bound to be dependent on English fluency. We aim to show that, through a network of members at school and administrative levels, an array of meaningful and empowering initiatives can be implemented in a city where resources are scarce and cultural backgrounds diverse.

A Game to Promote Understanding about UCD Methods and Process

The User-centered design (UCD) game is a tool forhuman-computer interaction practitioners to demonstrate the key user-centered design methodsand how they interrelate in the design process in an interactive and participatory manner. The target audiences are departments and institutions unfamiliar with UCD but whose work is related to the definition, creation, and update of a product or service.

Studying Memory Encoding to Promote Reliable Engagement of the Medial Temporal Lobe at the Single-subject Level

The medial temporal lobe (MTL)-comprising hippocampus and the surrounding neocortical regions-is a targeted brain area sensitive to several neurological diseases. Although functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has been widely used to assess brain functional abnormalities, detecting MTL activation has been technically challenging. The aim of our study was to provide an fMRI paradigm that reliably activates MTL regions at the individual level, thus providing a useful tool for future research in clinical memory-related studies. Twenty young healthy adults underwent an event-related fMRI study consisting of three encoding conditions: word-pairs, face-name associations and complex visual scenes. A region-of-interest analysis at the individual level comparing novel and repeated stimuli independently for each task was performed. The results of this analysis yielded activations in the hippocampal and parahippocampal regions in most of the participants. Specifically, 95% and 100% of participants showed significant activations in the left hippocampus during the face-name encoding and in the right parahippocampus, respectively, during scene encoding. Additionally, a whole brain analysis, also comparing novel versus repeated stimuli at the group level, showed mainly left frontal activation during the word task. In this group analysis, the face-name association engaged the HP and fusiform gyri bilaterally, along with the left inferior frontal gyrus, and the complex visual scenes activated mainly the parahippocampus and hippocampus bilaterally. In sum, our task design represents a rapid and reliable manner to study and explore MTL activity at the individual level, thus providing a useful tool for future research in clinical memory-related fMRI studies.