Las fotocopias y las TIC: usuarios, política y pedagogía en la Universidad del Rosario

En esta investigación se plantea que la convivencia entre las fotocopiadoras, las TIC, los proveedores y los usuarios de tecnologías en la Universidad del Rosario es problemática, ya que presentan diversos conjuntos de relaciones entre artefactos tecnológicos, grupos sociales, proyectos políticos internacionales, nacionales e institucionales, y mecanismos de control que se encuentran en relaciones de tensión y negociación permanente. La exploración de las relaciones permitió identificar que existe una deficiencia común entre los diversos grupos relacionados al uso de tecnologías en la educación, que es la falta de conocimiento sobre las prácticas de uso de artefactos tecnológicos. Por lo tanto, se planteó explorar a través de los proveedores y usuarios de tecnologías en la Universidad del Rosario, los principales elementos que conforman las prácticas de uso de artefactos tecnológicos. Los resultados del trabajo permitieron identificar que los principales elementos que caracterizan las prácticas de uso de artefactos tecnológicos se podrían categorizar en tres dimensiones: (1) las responsabilidades que demandan los artefactos tecnológicos a sus usuarios; (2) las tensiones políticas por el uso de artefactos tecnológicos y; (3) los modelos pedagógicos en el uso de artefactos tecnológicos.

Transnational study of roles/functions and associated ICT competencies for Higher Education teachers

Aquest estudi forma part del projecte eLene-TLC1 Virtual Campus (2007-2008) recolzat pel programa eLearning de la Comissió Europea. L'objectiu d'aquest projecte és que els professors i els estudiants facin el millor ús possible de les TIC en l'educació superior, preparant als professors per als estudiants de la generació xarxa, permetent als estudiants a la transferència de coneixements i pràctiques de la vida quotidiana per al seu aprenentatge i estimular tant la integració plena de pràctiques innovadores d'ensenyament i d'aprenentatge possibilitades per un entorn tecnològic en constant evolució. Per tal de cobrir part d'aquest objectiu general, es va concebre un estudi per examinar les competències en TIC professors d'Educació Superior en entorns d'aprenentatge en línia.

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.

Innovación y Aprendizaje: un nuevo modelo para la formación universitaria: ¿Por qué y para qué? = Innovation and Learning: a New Model for University Education: Why and for What?

The legislative reforms in university matters driven in recent years, beyond the provoked controversies, offer to universities the possibility to develop a new model in line with the European environment, focusing on quality aims and adapting to the socioeconomic current challenges. A new educational model centered on the student, on the formation of specific and transverse competitions, on the improvement of the employability and the access to the labor market, on the attraction and fixation of talent, is an indispensable condition for the effective social mobility and for the homogeneous development of a more responsible and sustainable socioeconomic and productive model

Factors mediating the routinisation of e-learning within a traditional university education environment

Technology-enhanced or Computer Aided Learning (e-learning) can be institutionally integrated and supported by learning management systems or Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) to offer efficiency gains, effectiveness and scalability of the e-leaning paradigm. However this can only be achieved through integration of pedagogically intelligent approaches and lesson preparation tools environment and VLE that is well accepted by both the students and teachers. This paper critically explores some of the issues relevant to scalable routinisation of e-learning at the tertiary level, typically first year university undergraduates, with the teaching of Relational Data Analysis (RDA), as supported by multimedia authoring, as a case study. The paper concludes that blended learning approaches which balance the deployment of e-learning with other modalities of learning delivery such as instructor–mediated group learning etc offer the most flexible and scalable route to e-learning but that this requires the graceful integration of platforms for multimedia production, distribution and delivery through advanced interactive spaces that provoke learner engagement and promote learning autonomy and group learning facilitated by a cooperative-creative learning environment that remains open to personal exploration of constructivist-constructionist pathways to learning.

Capability outcomes from educational and ICT capability inputs : an analysis of ICT use in informal education in Kenya

In the field of Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) ICT use in education is well studied. Education is often seen as a pre-requisite for development and ICTs are believed to aid in education, e.g. to make it more accessible and to increase its quality. In this paper we study the access and use of ICT in a study circle (SC) education program in the south coast of Kenya. The study is qualitative reporting results based on interviews and observations with SC participants, government officers and SC coordinators and teachers. The study builds on the capability approach perspective of development where individuals’ opportunities and ability to live a life that they value are focused. The aim of the study is to investigate the capability outcomes enabled through the capability inputs access and use of ICT in education as well as the factors that enabled and/or restricted the outcomes. Findings show that many opportunities have been enabled such as an increase in the ability to generate an income, learning benefits, community development and basic human development (e.g. literacy and self-confidence). However, conversion factors such as a poorly developed infrastructure and poor IT literacy prevent many of the individuals from taking full advantage of the ICT and the opportunities it enables. 

Evaluation of online tools as didactic resource in the university education

Recently, many efforts have been made in the academic world to adapt the new degrees to the new European Higher Education Area (EHEA). New technologies have been the most important factor to carry out this adaptation. In particular, the tools 2.0 have been spreading quickly, not just the Web 2.0, but even in all the educational levels. Nevertheless, it is now necessary to evaluate whether all these efforts and all the changes, carried out in order to obtain improved academic performance among students, have provided good results. Therefore, the aim of this paper is focused on studying the impact of the implementation of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in a subject belonging to a Master from the University of Alicante in the academic year (2010-2011). In special, it is an elective course called "Advanced Visual Ergonomics" from the Master of Clinical Optometry and Vision. The methodology used to teach this course differs from the traditional one in many respects. For example, one of the resources used for the development of this course is a blog developed specifically to coordinate a series of virtual works, whose purpose is that the student goes into specific aspects of the current topic. Next, the student participates in an active role by writing a personal assessment on the blog. However, in the course planning, there is an attendance to lessons, where the teacher presents certain issues in a more traditional way, that is, with a lecture supported with audiovisual materials, such as materials generated in powerpoint. To evaluate the quality of the results achieved with this methodology, in this work the personal assessment of the students, who have completed this course during this academic year, are collected. In particular, we want to know their opinion about the used resources, as well as the followed methodology. The tool used to collect this information was a questionnaire. This questionnaire evaluates different aspects of the course: a general opinion, quality of the received information, satisfaction about the followed methodology and the student´s critical awareness. The design of this questionnaire is very important to get conclusive information about the methodology followed in the course. The questionnaire has to have an adequate number of questions; whether it has many questions, it might be boring for the student who would pay no enough attention. The questions should be well-written, with a clear structure and message, to avoid confusion and an ambiguity. The questions should be objectives, without any suggestion for a desired answer. In addition, the questionnaire should be interesting to encourage the student´ s interest. In conclusion, this questionnaire developed for this subject provided good information to evaluate whether the methodology was a useful tool to teach "Advanced Visual Ergonomics". Furthermore, the student´s opinion collected by this questionnaire might be very helpful to improve this didactic resource.

University education in Ireland..

Author identified on p. 46.

University education in Ireland and "ultramontanism" : being an examination of arguments lately published by James L. Whittle, A.B., Trinity College, Dublin, G.E. Cairnes, M.A., professor, Queen's College, Galway, and Sir Dominick Corrigan, Bart. /

Mode of access: Internet.

University education for business, a study of existing needs and practices.

Mode of access: Internet.

The collegian's guide: or, Recollections of college days. Setting forth the advantages and temptations of a university education.

Mode of access: Internet.