Estructura de las redes de comunicación en la construcción del conocimiento.

Defender que los modelos de construcción del conocimiento basados en herramientas flexibles de comunicación permiten la ruptura de los distintos niveles fractales. Estudio sobre la búsqueda de un modelo de comunicación en educación cuando se incorpora el uso de nuevas tecnologías. Para poder fundamentar el problema parte de la hipótesis que defiende que los modelos de construcción del conocimiento basados en herramientas flexibles de comunicación permiten la ruptura de los distintos niveles fractales. Antes de poder llegar a la verificación de dicha hipótesis profundiza en la importancia del marco teórico que en definitiva es la parte en la que se sustenta la investigación y en gran medida da respuesta al objeto de estudio. Sigue un esquema que va desde un enfoque general a lo particular, centrándose en estos últimos puntos la información más relevante. La investigación comienza haciendo una aproximación al nuevo paradigma educativo que está emergiendo en un contexto donde las nuevas tecnologías y las redes de comunicación están teniendo cada vez mayor fuerza dentro del ámbito educativo. A su vez estudia la relación que guarda este nuevo paradigma con la construcción de conocimiento; defendiéndose la idea de que las redes auguran nuevas formas de adquirir y construir el conocimiento. El siguiente apartado esta dedicado a lo que constituye de forma más específica las directrices de la investigación: el concepto de hipermedia y en concreto a la estructura hipermedial de la información. Llegados a este punto cierra el marco teórico destacando las dos piezas clave que componen el problema de estudio: la complejidad de las redes y el modelo fractal. Para afrontar este tema se apoya en el enfoque de la complejidad que le permite contrastar posteriormente esta idea con la de las redes. En cuanto al diseño de la investigación apuntar que ha optado por un tipo de investigación exploratoria, con una metodología cualitativa y de estudio de caso. 1) Aprender en un entorno virtual supone la flexibilidad en los tiempos y espacios destinados al aprendizaje y el protagonismo de la interacción entre los participantes del proceso para la construcción de conocimientos significativos. 2) Un aprendizaje virtual interactivo debe diseñar estrategias que posibiliten la interacción sincrónica y asincrónica efectiva entre: docente-alumno; alumno-alumno; docente-docente. 3) Un modelo de enseñanza on-line al ser un modelo basado en las redes de comunicación, conlleva un nuevo enfoque educativo. 4) El modelo presentado de construcción de conocimiento y basado en herramientas flexibles de comunicación permite la ruptura de los diferentes niveles fractales. 5) Del mismo modo que cambia el soporte comunicativo también cambia la forma de presentación de los documentos. ahora con una estructura hipermedial que permite la no-linealidad de sus lecturas, al mismo tiempo que presenta nuevas formas de aprendizaje. 6) Este modelo de enseñanza no sólo permite que el alumno sea el responsable de su propio aprendizaje sino que le da la opción de trabajar deforma colaborativa, añadiendo a esto la posibilidad de no tener que darse la coincidencia espacial, ni en algunos casos la temporal. 7) Con este nuevo modelo se deduce un cambio de roles en los protagonistas de la educación y un nuevo sistema educativo que sepa organizar y gestionar el conocimiento para su mejora.

Realismo 3D aplicado a la Gestión Municipal

La visualización 3D ofrece una serie de ventajas y funcionalidades cada vez más demandadas, por lo que es conveniente su incorporación a las aplicaciones GIS. El sistema propuesto integra la vista 2D propia de un GIS y la vista 3D garantizando la interacción entre ellas y teniendo por resultado una solución GIS integral. Se permite la carga de Modelos Digitales del Terreno (MDT), de forma directa o empleando servicios OGC-CSW, para la proyección de los elementos 2D, así como la carga de modelos 3D. Además el sistema está dotado de herramientas para extrusión y generación automática de volúmenes empleando parámetros existentes en la información 2D. La generación de las construcciones a partir de su altura y la elaboración de redes tridimensionales a partir de la profundidad en las infraestructuras son algunos casos prácticos de interés. Igualmente se permite no sólo la consulta y visualización sino también la edición 3D, lo que supone una importante ventaja frente a otros sistemas 3D. LocalGIS, Sistema de Información Territorial de software libre aplicado a la gestión municipal, es el sistema GIS empleado para la incorporación del prototipo. Se permite por lo tanto aplicar todas las ventajas y funcionalidades propias del 3D a la gestión municipal que LocalGIS realiza. Esta tecnología ofrece un campo de aplicaciones muy amplio y prometedor

Currículo, Aprendizagem e Avaliação

Como refere Apple (2009), a globalização é um termo deslizante que tem uma multiplicidade de significados, de acordo com os contextos e seus actores, não podendo significar a homogeneidade e uniformização. Por isso, falar de currículo, de aprendizagem ao longo da vida e de avaliação como um tema vinculado às políticas de educação e formação, em termos de arquitectura teórica e prática da formação, é entrar num terreno extremamente dissentâneo, mais ainda quando sobre ele são projectados olhares marcadamente disciplinares. É neste sentido que são abordados os conceitos de currículo, aprendizagem e avaliação, referindo-se que são muitas as posições divergentes que fundamentam a análise das actuais políticas sobre educação e formação, enquadradas por agendas mundiais, sem que isso signifique a aceitação genérica da uniformização e a rejeição da diversidade, sobretudo quando o currículo, a aprendizagem e a avaliação são questionados pela vertente pessoal. O texto do artigo distribui-se por quatro pontos: no primeiro, faz-se uma abordagem integrada dos conceitos de currículo, aprendizagem ao longo da vida e avaliação, que fundamentam a análise mais geral; no segundo, terceiro e quarto analisam-se e problematizam-se, respectivamente, cada um dos conceitos.

Remedial reading technique applied to the deaf

This paper discusses the effectiveness of a remedial reading program for hearing impaired children.

The effects of a phonological awareness training program for hearing-impaired children

This paper examines the effectiveness of a phonological awareness program for hearing impaired children.

Poverty, migration and sex work: youth transitions in Ethiopia

Despite an emerging body of work on youth transitions, research has yet to explore the often unconventional routes to adulthood for young people marginalised through poverty. By drawing on interviews with 60 young commercial sex workers in Ethiopia, this paper explores the connections between poverty, migration and sex work and demonstrates that sex work provides a risky alternative, but often successful, path to independence for some rural-urban migrants. The paper concludes by offering recommendations for policies that seek to support young sex workers by enabling them to maintain their independence while seeking different employment.

The Representative Soil Sampling Scheme of England and Wales: the spatial variation of topsoil nutrient status and pH between 1971 and 2001

The Representative Soil Sampling Scheme (RSSS) has monitored the soil of agricultural land in England and Wales since 1969. Here we describe the first spatial analysis of the data from these surveys using geostatistics. Four years of data (1971, 1981, 1991 and 2001) were chosen to examine the nutrient (available K, Mg and P) and pH status of the soil. At each farm, four fields were sampled; however, for the earlier years, coordinates were available for the farm only and not for each field. The averaged data for each farm were used for spatial analysis and the variograms showed spatial structure even with the smaller sample size. These variograms provide a reasonable summary of the larger scale of variation identified from the data of the more intensively sampled National Soil Inventory. Maps of kriged predictions of K generally show larger values in the central and southeastern areas (above 200 mg L-1) and an increase in values in the west over time, whereas Mg is fairly stable over time. The kriged predictions of P show a decline over time, particularly in the east, and those of pH show an increase in the east over time. Disjunctive kriging was used to examine temporal changes in available P using probabilities less than given thresholds of this element. The RSSS was not designed for spatial analysis, but the results show that the data from these surveys are suitable for this purpose. The results of the spatial analysis, together with those of the statistical analyses, provide a comprehensive view of the RSSS database as a basis for monitoring the soil. These data should be taken into account when future national soil monitoring schemes are designed.

Construction of a historical Water Pollution Index for the Mersey Basin

The Mersey Basin has been significantly polluted for over 200 years. However, there is a lack of quantitative historical water quality data as effective water quality monitoring and data recording only began 30-40 years ago. This paper assesses water pollution in the Mersey Basin using a Water Pollution Index constructed from social and economic data. Methodology, output and the difficulties involved with validation are discussed. With the limited data input available the index approximately reproduces historical water quality. The paper illustrates how historical studies of environmental water quality may provide valuable identification of factors responsible for pollution and a marker set for contemporary and future water quality issues in the context of the past. This is an issue of growing research interest.

Inclusion, social networks and resilience: strategies, practices and outcomes for disabled children and their families

This paper explores the strategies of service providers and the benefits reported by disabled children and their parents/carers in three Children's Fund programmes in England. Based on National Evaluation of the Children's Fund research, we discuss how different understandings of ‘inclusion’ informed the diverse strategies and approaches service providers adopted. While disabled children and families perceived the benefits of services predominantly in terms of building individual children's resilience and social networks, the paper highlights the need for holistic approaches which have a broad view of inclusion, support children's networks and tackle disabling barriers within all the spheres of children's lives.

Identifying management zones in agricultural fields using spatially constrained classification of soil and ancillary data

Site-specific management requires accurate knowledge of the spatial variation in a range of soil properties within fields. This involves considerable sampling effort, which is costly. Ancillary data, such as crop yield, elevation and apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) of the soil, can provide insight into the spatial variation of some soil properties. A multivariate classification with spatial constraint imposed by the variogram was used to classify data from two arable crop fields. The yield data comprised 5 years of crop yield, and the ancillary data 3 years of yield data, elevation and ECa. Information on soil chemical and physical properties was provided by intensive surveys of the soil. Multivariate variograms computed from these data were used to constrain sites spatially within classes to increase their contiguity. The constrained classifications resulted in coherent classes, and those based on the ancillary data were similar to those from the soil properties. The ancillary data seemed to identify areas in the field where the soil is reasonably homogeneous. The results of targeted sampling showed that these classes could be used as a basis for management and to guide future sampling of the soil.

The Phosphorus Indicators Tool: a simple model of diffuse P loss from agricultural land to water

The Phosphorus Indicators Tool provides a catchment-scale estimation of diffuse phosphorus (P) loss from agricultural land to surface waters using the most appropriate indicators of P loss. The Tool provides a framework that may be applied across the UK to estimate P loss, which is sensitive not only to land use and management but also to environmental factors such as climate, soil type and topography. The model complexity incorporated in the P Indicators Tool has been adapted to the level of detail in the available data and the need to reflect the impact of changes in agriculture. Currently, the Tool runs on an annual timestep and at a 1 km(2) grid scale. We demonstrate that the P Indicators Tool works in principle and that its modular structure provides a means of accounting for P loss from one layer to the next, and ultimately to receiving waters. Trial runs of the Tool suggest that modelled P delivery to water approximates measured water quality records. The transparency of the structure of the P Indicators Tool means that identification of poorly performing coefficients is possible, and further refinements of the Tool can be made to ensure it is better calibrated and subsequently validated against empirical data, as it becomes available.

Land use for England and Wales: evaluation of management options to support 'good ecological status' in surface freshwaters

This paper analyses historic records of agricultural land use and management for England and Wales from 1931 and 1991 and uses export coefficient modelling to hindcast the impact of these practices on the rates of diffuse nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) export to water bodies for each of the major geo-climatic regions of England and Wales. Key trends indicate the importance of animal agriculture as a contributor to the total diffuse agricultural nutrient loading on waters, and the need to bring these sources under control if conditions suitable for sustaining 'Good Ecological Status' under the Water Framework Directive are to be generated. The analysis highlights the importance of measuring changes in nutrient loading in relation to the catchment-specific baseline state for different water bodies. The approach is also used to forecast the likely impact of broad regional scale scenarios on nutrient export to waters and highlights the need to take sensitive land out of production, introduce ceilings on fertilizer use and stocking densities, and controls on agricultural practice in higher risk areas where intensive agriculture is combined with a low intrinsic nutrient retention capacity, although the uncertainties associated with the modelling applied at this scale should be taken into account in the interpretation of model output. The paper advocates the need for a two-tiered approach to nutrient management, combining broad regional policies with targeted management in high risk areas at the catchment and farm scale.