The Application of Cloud Computing in Education

Report published in the Proceedings of the National Conference on "Education and Research in the Information Society", Plovdiv, May, 2015

Eltérő modernizációs perspektívák a közel-keleti muszlim államokban (Different modernization perspectives in the middle eastern muslim countries)

A tanulmány célja, hogy körüljárja a tágabb Közel-Keleten tapasztalható modernizációs válság hátterét, lehetséges belső okait és következményeit. A szerző rá kíván mutatni az egyes közel-keleti államok modernizációs lehetőségei közötti különbségekre. Az elemzés – interdiszciplináris megközelítést alkalmazva – a modernizáció gazdasági vetülete mellett a politikai és társadalmi kérdésekkel is foglalkozik. A tanulmány nem tér ki a közel-keleti államok makrogazdasági mutatóira, hiszen erről számos munka megjelent magyar nyelven is. / === / The goal of the paper is to analyze the background, potential causes and consequences of the modernization crisis on the boarder Middle East. The author points out the differences between the possibilities these countries have for modernization. The analyses uses an interdisciplinary approach and examines the economic, political and social aspects of modernization.

Többszempontú részvételi döntések a fenntarthatósági értékelésekben. A legnépszerűbb módszerek összehasonlítása

Egyes alternatívák, forgatókönyvek, technológiák stb. fenntarthatóságának értékelése – definíciószerűen többdimenziós probléma. A megfelelő alternatíva kiválasztásánál ugyanis a döntéshozóknak egyszerre kell figyelembe venniük környezetvédelmi, gazdasági és társadalmi szempontokat. Az ilyen döntéseket támogathatják többszempontú döntéshozatali modellek. A tanulmány hét többszempontú döntési módszertan (MAU, AHP, ELECTRE, PROMETHEE, REGIME, NAIADE és ideális-referencia pont) alkalmazhatóságát vizsgálja részvételi körülmények között. Az utóbbi évek e témában publikált esettanulmányait áttekintve megállapítható, hogy egyik módszer sem dominálja a többit, azok különböző feltételek mellett eltérő sikerrel használhatók. Ennek ellenére a különböző technikák kombinációjával előállíthatunk olyan eljárásokat, melyekkel az egyes módszerek előnyeit még jobban kiaknázhatjuk. ________ Measuring and comparing the sustainability of certain actions, scenarios, technologies, etc. – by definition – is a multidimensional problem. Decision makers must consider environmental, economic and social aspects when choosing an alternative course of action. Such decisions can be aided by multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA). In this paper participatory seven different MCDA methodologies are investigated (MAU, the Analytic Hierarchic Process (AHP), the ELECTRE, PROMETHEE, REGIME, and NAIADE methods and the “Ideal and reference point” approaches). It is based on a series of reports, in which more than 30 real world case studies focusing on participatory MCDA were reviewed. It is emphasized that there is no “best” choice from the list of MCDA techniques, but some methods fit certain decision problems more than others. However, with the combination of these methodologies some complementary benefits of the different techniques can be exploited.

Több szempontú részvételi döntések a fenntarthatósági értékelésekben. A legnépszerűbb módszerek összehasonlítása = Participatory multi-criteria decision analysis. A comparison of methodologies

A fenntarthatóság értékelése definíciószerűen többdimenziós probléma. A megfelelő alternatíva, forgatókönyv, eljárás stb. kiválasztásakor ugyanis a döntéshozóknak egyszerre kell figyelembe venniük környezetvédelmi, gazdasági és társadalmi szempontokat. Az ilyen döntéseket alátámaszthatják a több szempontú döntéshozatali modellek. A tanulmány a több szempontú döntési eljárások közül a legfontosabb hétnek az alkalmazhatóságát vizsgálja részvételi körülmények között. Az utóbbi évek e témában publikált esettanulmányainak áttekintésével megállapítható, hogy egyik módszer sem uralja a többit, azok különböző feltételek mellett eltérő sikerrel használhatók. Ennek ellenére a különböző módszerek kombinációjával végrehajthatunk olyan eljárásokat, amelyekkel az egyes módszerek előnyeit még jobban kiaknázhatjuk. ________ Measuring and comparing the sustainability of certain actions, scenarios, technologies, etc. is by definition a multidimensional problem. Decision-makers must consider environmental, economic and social aspects when choosing an alternative course of action. Such decisions can be aided by multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA). This paper investigates seven different MCDA methodologies: MAU, the Analytic Hierarchic Process (AHP), the ELECTRE, PROMETHEE, REGIME, and NAIADE methods, and "Ideal and reference point" approaches). It is based on a series of reports in which over 30 real-world case studies focusing on participatory MCDA were reviewed. It is stressed, however, that there is no "best" choice in the list of MCDA techniques. Some methods fit certain decision problems better than others. Nonetheless, some complementary benefits of the different techniques can be exploited by combining these methodologies.

Emotional Intelligence and Leadership in Organization: A Meta-analytic Test of Process Mechanisms

The present study – employing psychometric meta-analysis of 92 independent studies with sample sizes ranging from 26 to 322 leaders – examined the relationship between EI and leadership effectiveness. Overall, the results supported a linkage between leader EI and effectiveness that was moderate in nature (ρ = .25). In addition, the positive manifold of the effect sizes presented in this study, ranging from .10 to .44, indicate that emotional intelligence has meaningful relations with myriad leadership outcomes including effectiveness, transformational leadership, LMX, follower job satisfaction, and others. Furthermore, this paper examined potential process mechanisms that may account for the EI-leadership effectiveness relationship and showed that both transformational leadership and LMX partially mediate this relationship. However, while the predictive validities of EI were moderate in nature, path analysis and hierarchical regression suggests that EI contributes less than or equal to 1% of explained variance in leadership effectiveness once personality and intelligence are accounted for.

Cartões de saudações em língua inglesa: uma prática de letramento em análise

This research aims at studying the use of greeting cards, here understood as a literacy practice widely used in American society of the United States. In American culture, these cards become sources of information and memory about people‟s cycles of life, their experiences and their bonds of sociability enabled by means of the senses that the image and the word comprise. The main purpose of this work is to describe how this literacy practice occurs in American society. Theoretically, this research is based on studies of literacy (BARTON, HAMILTON, 1998; BAYHAM, 1995; HAMILTON, 2000; STREET, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1993, 2003), the contributions of social semiotics, associated with systemic-functional grammar (HALLIDAY; HASAN 1978, 1985, HALLIDAY, 1994, HALLIDAY; MATTHIESSEN, 2004), and the grammar of visual design (KRESS; LEITE-GARCIA, VAN LEEUWEN, 1997, 2004, 2006; KRESS; MATTHIESSEN, 2004). Methodologically, it is a study that falls within the qualitative paradigm of interpretative character, which adopts ethnographic tools in data generation. From this perspective, it makes use of “looking and asking” techniques (ERICKSON, 1986, p. 119), complemented by the technique of "registering", proposed by Paz (2008). The corpus comprises 104 printed cards, provided by users of this cultural artifact, from which we selected 24, and 11 e-cards, extracted from the internet, as well as verbalizations obtained by applying a questionnaire prepared with open questions asked in order to gather information about the perceptions and actions of these cards users with respect to this literacy practice. Data analysis reveals cultural, economic and social aspects of this practice and the belief that literacy practice of using printed greeting cards, despite the existence of virtual alternatives, is still very fruitful in American society. The study also allows users to comprehend that the cardholders position themselves and construct identities that are expressed in verbal and visual interaction in order to achieve the desired effect. As a result, it is understood that greeting cards are not unintentional, but loaded with ideology and power relations, among other aspects that are constitutive of them.

A relação entre memória de trabalho e competência leitora em crianças em risco de transtorno de aprendizagem do Projeto Acerta: um estudo exploratório

Reading and writing are essential rights, which involve individual and social aspects; in addition, these skills are important when it comes to socio economic and political development, critical thinking and an active participation in society (UNESCO 2005). From a neurobiological standpoint, our brain is not prepared for reading, and this practice must be deliberately acquired via instructional guidance (DEHAENE 2009). However, reading disorders and deficits within executive functions, such as low working memory capacity, can make reading arduous. The aim of this study is to investigate the development of reading skills within 45 third grade students from public schools in the city of Natal – RN and its connection to working memory capacity, through information gathered from the Provinha Brasil, data generated from working memory tasks (Portuguese version of AWMA - Automated Working Memory Assessment) and fluid intelligence measures RAVEN. Based on this main objective, we attempted to answer the following research questions: (a) What are the correlations between working memory and reading scores?; (b) What characterizes the relationship between working memory capacity and the risk of reading disabilities amongst the participants in this study?; Following a quantitative research methodology, the Provinhas Brasil from 3rd grade students belonging to the six public schools members of Project ACERTA - Avaliação de Crianças em Risco de Transtornos de Aprendizagem (CAPES/OBEDUC)- were analyzed and compared to the scores from the working memory tests and the fluid intelligence ones. Results indicate that reading skills within children at risk of reading disabilities are directly linked to working memory capacity, especially with regards to the phonological component. It is also evident that the participants with less working memory capacity show more difficulties in the reading abilities that demand interpretation skills. Thus, we intend to contribute to the discussion regarding the diagnosis of reading disabilities and possible intervention strategies.

A relação entre memória de trabalho e competência leitora em crianças em risco de transtorno de aprendizagem do Projeto Acerta: um estudo exploratório

Reading and writing are essential rights, which involve individual and social aspects; in addition, these skills are important when it comes to socio economic and political development, critical thinking and an active participation in society (UNESCO 2005). From a neurobiological standpoint, our brain is not prepared for reading, and this practice must be deliberately acquired via instructional guidance (DEHAENE 2009). However, reading disorders and deficits within executive functions, such as low working memory capacity, can make reading arduous. The aim of this study is to investigate the development of reading skills within 45 third grade students from public schools in the city of Natal – RN and its connection to working memory capacity, through information gathered from the Provinha Brasil, data generated from working memory tasks (Portuguese version of AWMA - Automated Working Memory Assessment) and fluid intelligence measures RAVEN. Based on this main objective, we attempted to answer the following research questions: (a) What are the correlations between working memory and reading scores?; (b) What characterizes the relationship between working memory capacity and the risk of reading disabilities amongst the participants in this study?; Following a quantitative research methodology, the Provinhas Brasil from 3rd grade students belonging to the six public schools members of Project ACERTA - Avaliação de Crianças em Risco de Transtornos de Aprendizagem (CAPES/OBEDUC)- were analyzed and compared to the scores from the working memory tests and the fluid intelligence ones. Results indicate that reading skills within children at risk of reading disabilities are directly linked to working memory capacity, especially with regards to the phonological component. It is also evident that the participants with less working memory capacity show more difficulties in the reading abilities that demand interpretation skills. Thus, we intend to contribute to the discussion regarding the diagnosis of reading disabilities and possible intervention strategies.

O produtor familiar na pecuária leiteira : limites e potencialidades

The technological change is nowadays, comprehended as a playing field which involves cultural and economic processes of appreciation and depreciation of the social aspects of family unit. The exclusion of small producers from the activity is used as an argument to characterize that in the contemporary intercapitalist competition, the family ways of production take up restrict social positions of a technical progress and of a cultural and economic appreciation. The state, a coparcener of the modernization process, has its relevance as a financing agent, a technical capacitor, an infrastructure propitiator, that is, through macro and microeconomic policies which can create sustainable conditions to permit, mainly, not only the family producer to be inserted in the activity, but, above all, to remain in it. This way, this study aims to identify and analyze the family producer, through its limits and potentialities, with a thesis that this would be the main agent responsible for boosting the Brazilian milk production in quantity and quality. Therefore, results were compared obtained from a field survey with data collection via semi-structured open interviews in a sample of 108 producers effectively respondents, namely: 59 family farmers with active DAP (research focus) and 49 employers producers the municipality of Monte Alegre de Minas - MG. Technological indices were used to identify the developmental stage of the producers, thus allowing a comparative study between them. The field research covered all rural municipality of Monte Alegre de Minas – MG and, the result found that the majority of family farmers presented lower rates than technological employers producers. However, it allowed us to state also that the producer family and assisted by public policies, can be the agent of transformation of dairy farming.

As escolas polivalentes do Triângulo Mineiro e Alto Paranaíba (MG): sondagem vocacional no projeto desenvolvimentista civil-militar (1965–1976)

This study has as object eight state vocational schools located in Araguari, Araxá, Frutal, Ituiutaba, Monte Carmelo, Patos de Minas, Uberaba and Uberlândia, in Minas Gerais. The period analyzed comprises the years from 1965 to 1976, from the signature of the Agreement 512-11-610-042 beteween the Ministry of Education and Culture (MEC) and the American Agency for International Development (USAID), which started a series of other agreements, and actions ending up with the creation of the Expansion and Improvement of High Schools Program (Programa de Expansão e Melhoria do Ensino Médio - PREMEM) and, from this, the Vocational Schools. The upper limit of the study, 1976, was the year when these agreements, known as MEC/USAID agreements ceased. The Vocational Schools were characterized as vocation probing schools, directing the professional formation of the population in general, which would happen a posteriori, turning it shorter and more effective, since the labor market would demand, urgently, capable professionals for an expanding economy. The project of Vocational Schools had a national scope, and foresaw, for its unfolding, the complete substitution of State Schools for the new model, called “multi-curricula”. The theme Vocational schools was the object of my Master’s degree study, when I focused the State School Guiomar de Freitas Costa, in Uberlândia. That study raised questionings and concerns that resulted in the central problem of the thesis presented here: understanding the measure in which such schools integrated the country’s development project – mostly in the first half of the military rule – and to understand its structure, functionality and efficacyThe development of the study presented here, demanded the use of several sources: 1) specialized literature about the topics presented, i.e., the situation of national education in a temporal analysis, the political, economical and social context, research methodologies, the theory of human capital, vocational teaching, pedagogical trends and practices, agreements MEC-USAID and PREMEM; 2) national, state and county laws related to the discussion: laws of national education directives and basis, decrees and reports stating about the program of technical cooperation between Brazil and the United States of America, the Program of Expansion and Improvement of Teaching (PREMEM), formation of professors, establishment of Vocational Schools and educational planning; 3) documentation of school archives: books of minutes of Collegiate and of faculty and staff, registrar books with final scores, enrolment, visits of inspector, accounting books, punch clock records, student, professor and staff occurrences, inventory, class schedules, school year calendar, school rules, class reports, payment rolls, bills of sales, exchanged mail, personal documentation of professional personnel, documents of land acquisition, blueprints, manuals of PREMEM, didactic materials/resources used in classes, books available in the school library, structured evaluations for follow-up of school processes, pictures of events, texts prepared for special dates, and news from the official newspaper and, finally, 4) national and local press reports, especially from Folha de São Paulo, Correio de Araxá, Correio de Uberlândia and Lavoura e Comércio (Uberaba). The proposition of Vocational schools was conciliate theoretical and practical formation through an active education permeated by technological resources. The contact with knowledge and several practical activities under professional supervision, the student would identify the knowledge area that would interest him the most and his aptitude. This formation in primary school would make way for the vocation studies in high school, which became mandatory by the law 5.692/71, that reformed school education from the previous levels of elementary, middle high and high school. However, the multi-curricula proposal that would be spread to the other public schools in the country ended up succumbing to the model already established. From its ephemeral existence, maybe the Vocational Schools have not reached the more general goals in political, economic and social aspects; however, this study demonstrated that, for the people that, directly or indirectly, had contact with such schools, a legacy of vocational and quality teaching was made, so much so, that forty years after the end of that proposal, they are still remembered.

Putting together phylogenetic and ontogenetic perspectives on empathy.

The ontogeny of human empathy is better understood with reference to the evolutionary history of the social brain. Empathy has deep evolutionary, biochemical, and neurological underpinnings. Even the most advanced forms of empathy in humans are built on more basic forms and remain connected to core mechanisms associated with affective communication, social attachment, and parental care. In this paper, we argue that it is essential to consider empathy within a neurodevelopmental framework that recognizes both the continuities and changes in socioemotional understanding from infancy to adulthood. We bring together neuroevolutionary and developmental perspectives on the information processing and neural mechanisms underlying empathy and caring, and show that they are grounded in multiple interacting systems and processes. Moreover, empathy in humans is assisted by other abstract and domain-general high-level cognitive abilities such as executive functions, mentalizing and language, as well as the ability to differentiate another's mental states from one's own, which expand the range of behaviors that can be driven by empathy.

City dweller aspirations for cities of the future: How do environmental and personal wellbeing feature?

This paper explores city dweller aspirations for cities of the future in the context of global commitments to radically reduce carbon emissions by 2050; cities contribute the vast majority of these emissions and a growing bulk of theworld's population lives in cities. The particular challenge of creating a carbon reduced future in democratic countries is that the measures proposed must be acceptable to the electorate. Such acceptability is fostered if carbon reduced ways of living are also felt to bewellbeing maximising. Thus the objective of the paper is to explore what kinds of cities people aspire to live in, to ascertain whether these aspirations align with or undermine carbon reduced ways of living, as well as personal wellbeing. Using a novel free associative technique, city aspirations are found to cluster around seven themes, encompassing physical and social aspects. Physically, people aspire to a city with a range of services and facilities, green and blue spaces, efficient transport, beauty and good design. Socially, people aspire to a sense of community and a safe environment. An exploration of these themes reveals that only a minority of the participants' aspirations for cities relate to lowering carbon or environmental wellbeing. Far more consensual is emphasis on, and a particular vision of, aspirations that will bring personal wellbeing. Furthermore, city dweller aspirations align with evidence concerning factors that maximise personal wellbeing but, far less, with those that produce lowcarbonways of living. In order to shape a lower carbon future that city dwellers accept the potential convergence between environmental and personal wellbeing will need to be capitalised on: primarily aversion to pollution and enjoyment of communal green space.

El luminoso homenaje de Goya a las mujeres

En los frescos que pintó Goya en la ermita de San Antonio de la Florida el artista aragonés no sólo creó nuevos mundos expresivos, sino que, enfrentándose a los cánones misóginos de la iglesia católica, rindió un homenaje a las mujeres que todavía en la actualidad sigue impresionándonos.

Where do e-Government strategies take the Nordic nations?

An effective strategy is critical for the successful development of e-Government. The leading nations in the e-Government rankings include Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. Their leading role makes them interesting to study when looking for reasons to successful e-Government. The purpose of this research paper is to describe the e-Government development strategies of Nordic countries, which rank highly on the international stage. In particular it aims to study the foci of these strategies. The approach is a document study of the e-Government development strategies of Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland was carried out using a qualitative content analysis inductive method. The results show that the major focus of Nordic e-Government strategies is on public sector reforms. Other focus areas include economic reforms and, to a lesser extent, e-Democracy efforts. Sweden, Finland and Norway have set ambitious policy goals in order to achieve global leadership in e-Government development. In response to the question posed by this paper’s title, we can say that Nordic e-Government strategies, except for Norway, focus more on reforming public sector services than on economic reforms.  E-Democracy reforms are hardly focused on at all. Practical implications: Public sector policy makers can relate their policy foci to some of the more successful e-Government countries in the world. Research implications/originality is that this paper can apart from the findings also provide a means on how to identify the actual foci of a country’s e-Government policy.

Comments on Uncertainty in Groundwater Governance in the Volcanic Canary Islands, Spain

[EN]The uncertainty associated with natural magnitudes and processes is conspicuous in water resources and groundwater evaluation. This uncertainty has an essential component and a part that can be reduced to some extent by increasing knowledge, improving monitoring coverage, continuous elaboration of data and accuracy and addressing the related economic and social aspects involved. Reducing uncertainty has a cost that may not be justified by the improvement that is obtainable, but that has to be known to make the right decisions. With this idea, this paper contributes general comments on the evaluation of groundwater resources in the semiarid Canary Islands and on some of the main sources of uncertainty, but a full treatment is not attempted, nor how to reduce it.