Book of Paper Abstracts

Transcripción

1 Book of Paper Abstracts EFQUEL Innovation Forum September, Granada

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3 ENGLISH ABSTRACTS Emotional Ownership as the Key to OER Adoption: From Sharing Products and Resources to Sharing Ideas and Commitment across Border...5 Strategies for OER...5 Innovation and quality learning in MOOCs...6 A view on Personal Learning Environments through approaches to learning...6 Analysis of successful modes for the implementation and use of OpenCourseWare (OCW) & Open Educational Resources (OER) in Higher Education...7 Teaching and social media: best practices...8 E-Learning quality assurance as a tool for open innovation in educational institutions: an Estonian case...8 Revolutionizing an Open University, or on How to Improve Openness: An analysis of a strategic human-centred radical innovation experience at the Universidade Aberta...9 Evaluating Innovation APLICA Transtitution - Transforming higher educational institutions through modernization of its middle management Educational Development at Universities regarding Open Innovation ICT as a tool to support student s participation in the curriculum of a host university without requiring student mobility Using digital games to transform computer programming courses in Higher Education Institutions Collaboration and motivation in an e-learning environment: students perceptions of collaborative activities and intentions to adopt e-learning SPANISH ABSTRACTS OpenApp: experiencias y herramientas docentes y de gestión en abiert Medios Sociales como estrategia de comunicación. Caso práctico del Centro de Enseñanzas Virtuales de la Universidad de Granada Gamificación y e-learning. Un ejemplo con el juego del pasapalabra Entorno Virtual para el aprendizaje de neuro-anatomía bajo el paradigma de la web Desarrollo de un aplicativo de gestión de Entornos Personales de Aprendizaje para la realización de actividades de aprendizaje en red no soportadas por plataformas para gestión del aprendizaje Gobierno TI: factor clave para la calidad e innovación en proyectos y servicios de e-learning Evaluación de los programas en línea y el marco de la calidad Tecnologías y estrategias didácticas para la mejora de la formación profesional. Valoración de los estudiantes

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5 ENGLISH ABSTRACTS ÐÐ Session 1: Strategies for Open Learning Emotional Ownership as the Key to OER Adoption: From Sharing Products and Resources to Sharing Ideas and Commitment across Border Jan M. Pawlowski (Global Information Systems, University of Jyväskylä, Finland) Open Educational Resources and Practices (OER, OEP) have been discussed for the past decade extensively. However, in contrast to Open Source or Open Access the initiative has not taken up speed due to a variety of barriers. In this paper, I will elaborate on new ways of sharing towards a participatory approach. Emotional ownership is the key to success and to overcome barriers. In the paper, I will elaborate on the main barriers to OER adoption and elaborate the concepts of emotional ownership and idea sharing. The article looks at the OER development process and provides recommendations how these processes need to be changed and supported to create emotional ownership and improve the adoption of OER and OEP. Strategies for OER Frank de Langen, Jeroen Bregman and Marlies Bitter (Open University of the Netherlands) For several years, the importance of continuous education has been stressed by several governmental and nongovernmental institutions (Janssen and Schuwer, submitted, Marshall and Casserly, 2006). Education is seen as important both for personal growth and empowerment for one s personal wellbeing as well as for developing the required professional capabilities needed in today s society. In his 2011 State of the Union Obama puts emphasis on the government s ambitions to out-innovate and out-educate the rest of the world. Almost at the same time at the Davos World Economic Forum (2011) the urgency of appropriate education is stressed observing that the current lack of adequately educated people hinders prosperity and economic growth in the near future. The OECD is preparing a proposal to translate these intentions into a concrete policy. However, Kumar (2009) states that the present organization of education will not be able to meet the increasing demand for education, especially in newly developing countries as India and China. He sees the answer to this in the increasing possibilities of the internet in combination with open educational resources, which creates the opportunity to broaden the access of education towards different sectors and communities beyond the existing possibilities. Open Educational Resources are one of the instruments which can contribute to this development. Recently ideas emerged how open access and use of educational resources would serve education around the world. This vision of developing and sharing OER, open educational resources has great potential to substantially help solve some of the existing problems by enabling people across continents and organizations to transform their talents into professional competences and growth (see for example, Kumar, 2009, ETA, 2011, Stacey, 2012). 5

6 Innovation and quality learning in MOOCs Rita Kop, Helene Fournier (National Research Council of Canada) Since Antiquity, communication and dialogue have been seen as the crucial components in learning, but communication technology seems to be changing its nature. Dewey s philosophy saw communication as the most important aspect in making people what they are: mind, consciousness, thinking, subjectivity, meaning, intelligence, language, rationality, logic, inference and truth- all of these things that philosophers over the centuries have considered to be part of the natural make-up of human beings only come into existence through and as result of communication. By communication with others our inner thoughts will become clear. It is because people share in a common activity, that their ideas and emotions are transformed as a result of and in function of the activity in which they participate (Biesta, 2006, 17-19). But what does this mean in the context of learning experiences facilitated by technology? A body of research is emerging showing that the way dialogue has been facilitated through virtual learning environments (VLEs) is problematic. Issues of power and control, autonomy and lack of options for personalisation, on top of emotive issues have been identified as challenges for quality learning. Recent research by Carroll et al. (2008) has shown that interactional experiences i.e., dialogue between teacher and learner and among learners is what leads to a rich and engaging online learning experience. Furthermore, Gur and Wiley (2007) argue that instructional designers need to create structures in which a caring relationship might be enhanced and a dialogue can take place. Self-directed learning on open online networks is now a possibility as communication and resources can be combined to create personal learning environments. However, these contexts also create challenges which may prevent certain learner from having a quality learning experience. This paper raises questions on levels of presence and the importance of affective issues in active connectivist learning. It will report research results on learning experiences in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and question the current drive by major North American institutions of Higher Education to increasingly facilitate these courses by technological means. The research results on MOOCs highlight the need to pay attention to human aspects in these environments as affective issues and human communication and feedback remain at the heart of quality learning experiences. ÐÐ Session 3: Social Learning A view on Personal Learning Environments through approaches to learning Esteban Romero-Frias (Universidad de Granada, Spain), Jose L. Arquero Montaño (Universidad de Sevilla, Spain) In the past years the impact of social media in students in Higher Education has been remarkably significant (Pew Research Center, 2010). In order to exploit the potential benefits of these tools on education, we carried out different experiments using wikis and private social networks. Although the results were positive, we decided to move towards a more open approach using tools not directly linked to educational purposes. This paper reports on an experience in the use of Personal Learning Environments (PLE) to develop competences needed by students for lifelong learning. PLE is a concept that refers to the set of tools, devices, connections and networks that we used to learn. Nowadays building a digital PLE is key to achieve the goals set by the European Union. 6

7 The main objective of the paper is to analyse the influence of the approaches to learning of students in the reported effects of the PLE as well as in relevant aspects of the learning process. 245 students enrolled in a course on International Accounting participated in the experience of developing their own digital PLE. Some of the activities proposed used social networks, Twitter, blogs and wikis. The data were gathered through a web based questionnaire in two steps: 1) to obtain a priori self-confidence measures regarding communication in academic tasks and web related tasks, and 2) to obtain a measure of the approaches to learning of the students and self-confidence measures. According to students opinion, the experience was deemed as positive. In order to check the relationships between the impact of the experience and the approach to learning of students, a cluster analysis was performed. Students were classified into two groups. The cluster #1 presents low scores on deep approach and higher scores on surface approach than students classified into cluster #2.Comparing the scores obtained in all the aspects of learning between the two groups, many differences arise. Students in the deep approach group indicated a significant higher impact in all measured aspects. Results suggest that certain type of students, more flexible and likely to manage information in their own, is able to use PLEs more effectively to learn than those who present a more pragmatic orientation focussed on passing the course. Analysis of successful modes for the implementation and use of OpenCourseWare (OCW) & Open Educational Resources (OER) in Higher Education Edmundo Tovar (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid), Eva Sancho (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid), Igor Lesko (OpenCourseWare Consortium) This paper presents results from research on the use of OCW and OER in Higher Education (HE). The research was carried out with leaders of OCW/OER initiatives at HE Institutions and Organizations around the world. The aim was to identify successful practices for implementation and use of OCW/OER in HE and to investigate how OCW/OER could facilitate student virtual mobility. The aim of the paper is not to provide a thorough analysis of the use of OCW/OER around the world but to highlight important lessons learned from the studied initiatives. The findings provide important insights into factors that enable as well as inhibit implementation and use of OCW/OER in HE and subsequently enable or inhibit student virtual mobility. These factors are predominantly related to institutional support, copyright or faculty s perceptions and attitudes towards open sharing in education. Furthermore, it appears from the findings that insufficient consideration is placed on how OCW/OER could facilitate student virtual mobility. In conclusion, we highlight important successful lessons learnt for the implementation and use of OCW/OER in HE and briefly propose next steps for developing scenarios for the promotion of student virtual mobility through the use of OCW/OER. The research was carried as part of the project on OpenCourseWare in the European Higher Education Context: how to make use of its full potential for virtual mobility. The Project is contextualized within the framework Mobility strategies and removal of barriers to mobility in HE ( erasmus_multilateral_projects_en.php). One of the Project s aims is to identify existing scenarios, and propose new ones, for the promotion of virtual mobility for students and life long learners by using OCW in an European environment. The focus of the Project is the creation of preconditions for a strong European OCW framework. A stronger framework, we believe, will mean closer cooperation between European institutes, which may result in mutual use of materials. Mutual sharing and use of materials will enhance quality and increase the usage of online courses, therefore facilitating virtual student mobility and an increase in real student mobility. 7

8 An improved European OCW network will improve conditions for Lifelong Learners, an important user group of OCW/OER. The Project is carried out with support the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union. Teaching and social media: best practices Rosana Montes (Virtual Learning Centre, University of Granada, Spain), Juan Julián Merelo (Open Software Office, University of Granada, Spain), Fernando Tricas (School of Engineering and Architecture, University of Zaragoza, Spain) Social media is more and more part of our life. This is also the case for our students: most of them have Facebook, some of them have a Twitter account and they are more and more accustomed to these tools and others so it makes sense to try to integrate some of them in our teaching routines: the class is not only a place, but a set of resources available on-line and off-line in such a way that on-line resources enrich our interaction with teaching topics. From our experience, the use of such those tools should not be an additional work but it should be a way to provide more value with contained cost: the wide availability of tools should help us to find the ones that are adequate to us and which can be integrated in our daily routines without too much harm. We have investigated in the past in integrating several tools for a connected class [1] and in trying to expand the ways we can interact with students using these tools [2]. Social media include a host of internet-accessible applications (social networks, microblogs, LMS) and devices (desktop, mobile and sensoors) which are already integrated into our daily life. The best way to incorporate them into our daily teaching routines is to make use of them in the most natural way, incorporating them into our data and workflow, and obviously also into the one of the learning subjects, the students and coworkers. In this paper, which draws from our own experience, we will describe how these social media applications and tools can be easily integrated into virtual and presencial classrooms, what tools can be used to do it more efficiently and what are the effects observed on the learning and assessment processes. [1] SWECAI: Sistema web centrado en el alumno inteligente. Juan Julián Merelo, Carmel Hassan, Juan Luis Jiménez, Fernando Tricas In Actas de las XIII Jornadas de Enseñanza Universitaria de Informática (JENUI), pp , julio Teruel. Spain. [2] Bitácoras: ampliando los canales de comunicación con los estudiantes. Fernando Tricas, Juan Julián Merelo y Carmen Hassan-Montero; Jornadas sobre Innovación docente, tecnologias de la información y la comunicación e investigación educativa en la Universidad de Zaragoza. Caminando hacia Europa ÐÐ Session 5: Evaluating Education E-Learning quality assurance as a tool for open innovation in educational institutions: an Estonian case Anne Villems, Lehti Pilt, Toomas Plank (University of Tartu), Merle Varendi (The Estonian Information Technology College), Eneli Sutt, Marit Dremljuga-Telk (The Estonian Information Technology Foundation) Open innovation has received ample attention in the business management and policy literature, but not so much in the educational context. E-learning has been one of the main fields of innovation in the teaching and learning side 8

9 of higher education for already many years. The quality assurance process in e-learning can be used as an innovation in education. In 1999, Estonian universities had only 14 e-learning courses, but with twelve years this number has increased to more than The process of awarding the e-course quality label was initiated in To run the awarding process, e-learning Development Centre has formed a quality assurance task force, consisting of experts from many different higher education organisations. The latter developed a manual with quality criteria, set up a 3-tier process, beginning with self-evaluation, followed by organisation evaluation containing also learners feedback and 3-member team expert evaluation. Applicants and experts are encouraged to fill a feedback form about the application and evaluation process, which helps to improve the process from year to year. In 2011 the e-learning quality web, which supports all 3 tiers of the process, was created. The quality web is also a good tool for collecting statistics. Approximately 35 e-courses have participated in the application process each year. While only 39% qualified for the quality label during year 2008, the rate of successful applicants for the most recent year was 63%. The feedback from applicants suggests that this rise can be attributed to clearer understanding of quality criteria and better preparation of evaluators and streamlining of the process itself. Researchers in company management and innovation area have suggested many models how open innovation is working in companies. But the models of open innovation in companies and in higher education are different. In our case the latter resembles more the well-established model of company and higher education collaboration via common development organisation and task forces like CODASYL in 60-ies and IMS now. In this paper we will look into the innovation of teaching and learning of the Estonian universities and vocational education institutions giving an overview how the system for quality assurance in e-learning was collaboratively prepared for an open innovation at national level. Revolutionizing an Open University, or on How to Improve Openness: An analysis of a strategic human-centred radical innovation experience at the Universidade Aberta António Teixeira (Universidade Aberta, Portugal) Throughout their history European universities have contributed substantially to revolutionary changes in society. However, they have also demonstrated great unease and difficulty when addressing their own need for change. In fact, university change has mostly been imposed by external input and has seldom been driven by internal forces. The creation of the open universities in Europe, following the success of the British open university in 1969, represents a perfect example of this. Political decision-making led the educational system to respond more appropriately to the growing need for mass higher education in the modern economy and in society in general by imposing a new kind of university organization with a new mission and values. However, revolutions are the result of unique moments in time that are rare and cannot be repeated. Dramatic change needs a favourable cultural context to be successful. Today s societal challenges call for a university model of continuous but ever more radical and rapid change; a new kind of university not only more responsive to external challenges, but above all more capable of responding speedily, adjusting itself at an accelerating pace. The quality of change management is therefore critical in contemporary universities. But, above all, the constant pursuit of innovation has to become a key value in today s new university organizational cultures. Thus, how can such a dramatic and radical change in higher educational institutions be planned and successfully implemented? How can open innovation help to transform contemporary universities? How can quality management 9

10 contribute to the installation of a culture of continuously accelerated change? In this paper these issues are addressed by analyzing the process and results of the transformation undertaken by the Universidade Aberta, the Portuguese open university, during the years In this comparatively brief period, the university was able to implement a successful and speedy transition from a print-based, distance learning institution to one that was fully online, with all its implications. The present analysis is focused on the critical importance attributed to organizational culture innovation, to the transparency of the process and to the extensive involvement of the university community in its collaborative implementation. Particular attention is given also to the discussion of the active involvement of staff and students in a network of institutional innovation projects addressing all key aspects of the university s organization and activities. Evaluating Innovation APLICA Ferran, N., Enrech, E., Sancho, T. (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain) The Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) is an e-learning university that has innovation as a transversal feature in all its activities and process. Therefore, innovation is present in the annual objectives of all the academic and management departments in order to increase student satisfaction. UOC stimulates innovation by funding strategic projects as well as organizing regular internal calls for small projects which arises innovative academic and management proposals. UOC provides a framework where ideas are cropped up, harvested and converted into projects which received support and evaluation by the university itself. For this mean, the university endows the Program of Innovation that, among other objectives, manages the internal calls for innovation, what is called as APLICA. APLICA seeks for innovative projects for teaching and learning activities as well as for managing purposes. Last call (2012) with a budget of 60,000 received 70 proposal, 55 lead by academic staff and 15 by management staff. The university has 725 employees, more than 30% (227) were involved in some of these proposals. The evaluation process was performed by the Innovation Support Committee integrated by one lecturer from each department, one responsible for each of the management areas more related to innovation (Learning Technology, Information Systems, Academic Services, Library and R&I Support Office) and the Research and Innovation assistant and vice-director. Criteria for assessing the proposals were organized in four sets. First of all administrative data was assessed for each project where interdisciplinary and transversality were requirements. Then several aspects were taken into consideration for evaluating the description of the proposal, for instance, the main objectives, product/results expected or problems/needs to be solved. A set of other indicators were needed to evaluate the internal consistency of the proposal such as the viability or applicability/scalability. Finally the required budget was also reviewed. 15 proposals received funding from the APLICA call but 24 more were brought into practice after some efforts for integrating proposals to existing projects and therefore broadening the scope of the original projects (10), modifying existing budgets in order to welcome innovation (7), obtaining greater involvement from responsible of departments and management areas (5) or merging proposals with similar needs/problems to fulfill (2). Successful projects of this APLICA call will be ready for use on Open Apps platform, a previous innovative strategic project, which is managed by UOC s Innovation Program, which provides open access to UOC s innovations and tries to achieve further developments through communities of interest sharing similar needs or problems related to the learning and teaching process or management aspects of the university. 10

11 ÐÐ Session 7: Encouraging Innovation in Higher Education Transtitution - Transforming higher educational institutions through modernization of its middle management Radojka Krneta (University of Kagujevac, Technical Faculty Čačak, Serbia), Rolf Reinhardt (Learning Agency Network, Brussels, Belgium), Danijela Milošević (University of Kagujevac, Technical Faculty Čačak, Serbia) Modern societies are deeply characterized by professional expertise as a way to meet the challenges of the 21st century. As a response to those challenges in the corporate sector, organizational change has become a substantial part. However, the organizational changes in higher education institutions usually start too late and run too slowly, not allowing it to fit into the future on time. In addition, an increasing competition between higher education institutions is taking place in Europe particularly, both regarding students, as well as public and private funding. In order to meet these challenges, the development and education of specialized academic managers, especially in the middle management segment of university administrations through the so-called professionalization of administrative middle managers, is regarded as organizational innovation and follows the actively entrepreneurial nature of university governance as a way for increasing demands of accountability to external and internal stakeholders. Transforming higher educational institutions through organizational change comprises development and training of university middle management for the purpose of their professionalization. In order to lift up and enable transformational processes in higher education institutions, a new service called Transtitution is currently developed. The service is based on the Transtitution Maturity Model (TMM) which covers four development stages, such as instruction, application, sharing and finally inspiration related to external stakeholders. Internally, the three development stages of resources (e.g. templates, ICT systems), practices (e.g. processes) and culture (e.g. policies) can be defined. However, transformation is always related to individuals. Here, the willingness, the ability and the possibility to apply change play a major role. Taking into account the systemic impact of a transformation, all three dimensions need to be considered at the same time. However the direction of a transformation can be initiated both ways: Top-down and bottom-up. This is one of the reasons why middle managers will play a crucial role in the facilitation of the transformation. Methods and tools of the Transtitution service are described as the conceptual model of organizational change in higher education institutions. The Transtitution service is demonstrated on the example of transformation of higher educational institutions in Serbia towards strengthening of its managerial capacity. Educational Development at Universities regarding Open Innovation Elisabeth Saalman, Tom Adawi (Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden) The very fast technology development is rapidly changing the whole society. Of course also the Teaching and learning in higher education is, of course, also affected. New ways of knowledge creation and collaborative learning among students take place around the world using the World Wide Web and electronic resources. However the development at our educational institutions, necessary to adapt to the new students needs, move slowly forward. How can the necessary transformation and adaptation of educational institutions be realized? This paper deals with teachers needs and competencies to bring about educational change. Teachers are the key-group necessary to make things happen. 11

12 The issues raised in this paper are based on experiences and data collected in the higher education course Learning in Digital Media, offered to teachers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, over a period of seven years. The projects that have been carried out by the teachers in the course illustrate how teachers use IT and digital media for pedagogical purposes. It is, however, neither simple nor obvious to all teachers how to start to use IT in teaching to support student learning. To many teachers it is a rather huge threshold to overcome to start and teachers often report on both technical and administrative problems. Thus, teachers rather frequently have negative attitudes towards using IT and feel insecure and hesitant. Time is needed for teachers reflection, acceptance, competence development and the development of courses. It seems natural to let the notion of scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) guide our work concerning IT, learning technology, blended learning and online pedagogy in higher education. Reflection and dialogue sit at the very heart of the scholarship of teaching and learning Furthermore, there is a need to look at policy in higher education. The management in higher education institutions has to be better informed and engaged in questions concerning IT and flexible learning. There is an obvious need for university leaders to make strategic decisions concerning IT in education, pointing out the direction for the university and its staff to take in order to be able to meet the needs of tomorrow s students. It is also very important to focus on developing a good technical infrastructure in order to be able to work with IT and flexible learning and, at the same time, emphasize the importance of both technical and pedagogical support. ÐÐ Session 8: Tools for Innovative Learning ICT as a tool to support student s participation in the curriculum of a host university without requiring student mobility E. Palacios, F. Santos, T. Andrada, (Escuela Universitaria de Ingeniería Técnica Industrial, Spain), M. Jantunen, T. Hämäläinen (Metropolia University of Applied Science, Finland) An innovative educational experience has been carried out by the Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences and the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM). The main motivation was to study the potential of ICT as an instrument to make possible to students from both universities not only to participate in the curriculum of the host university without the need for the students to leave their place of residence, but also to generate an environment conductive to promote long-standing ties of friendship and cooperation. Communication between the Finnish and the Spaniards students was entrusted to Google+. Finally, English is the common language in this experience. The interaction between students was carried out in the course of a Project implementation as work oriented learning developed as a collaborative workshop. The project topic was chosen by the conductors in order to satisfy certain conditions: to be a relevant issue nowadays, and to appeal to the students. Project description, size, goals, timing and available ICT resources were published in advance. The project was offered to third year students in both universities. Three students from EUITI plus another three students from Metropolia took part in the project, which was carried out in the second semester of the academic course. The project, which represented a workload of 160 hours per student, was aimed to study the specific situation of biofuels in Finland and Spain. The six students were a single work team, consisting of two sub-groups, namely the Spaniard and the Finnish subgroup. 12

13 The experience was characterized by a high degree of heterogeneity, in both the university frame and the students peculiarities. Thus, the Spaniard sub-group could turn the workshop into open credits. However, the Finnish subgroup got regular credits. On the other hand, the level of English of the participants was rather irregular even in each sub-group. Note that English is the mother tongue for neither of the students involved. Difficulties arrived when using ICT resources as well [1]. Face-to-face conversation was only possible via webcam. This is relevant because students from each sub-group did not know each other. Additionally, the stage of cognitive, behavioural and emotional maturity reached by the students from each sub-group was different [2]. The use of the new communication tools increased the students workload and made it difficult the communication between both sub-groups. However, difficulties arrived mainly as a consequence of the cultural and language differences. Heterogeneity in the maturity stage was the real driving force that allowed the students to achieve the goals. References : [1] Cebrian, M Enseñanza virtual para la Innovación Universitaria. Narcea S.A. de Ediciones [2] Noguero, F.L Metodología participativa en la Enseñanza Universitaria. Narcea S.A. de Ediciones Using digital games to transform computer programming courses in Higher Education Institutions Anna E. Kasimati, Efpraxia D. Zamani (Athens University of Economics & Business, Greece) Learning a programming language is usually considered a highly demanding and difficult process for students of all disciplines. This results in programming courses being often characterized by high dropout rates. The paper s objective is to propose an innovative game-based learning approach towards enhancing the effectiveness and attractiveness of computer language learning courses in Higher Education Institutions. The use of digital games in learning has been increasing lately since it has been proven that they are highly effective in interdisciplinary areas, where students are required to combine knowledge from different fields and apply critical thinking and problem solving skills towards achieving a learning goal. The paper is focused on C programming language, which is considered a significant skill for the development of advanced systems (used in a number of sectors, e.g., business, education, government, health) and is the basis for Java and C++ programs. Towards deciding on an appropriate learning approach, the paper investigates the major challenges and problems the field is faced with and makes a comparative analysis of strategies, approaches and tools that have already been implemented. The proposed approach uses the Microsoft Kodu tool as a mean to provide an immersive, 3D gaming environment, where students can practice their programming skills by first developing their own game and later through their participation in a more sophisticated game, designed by their instructor. The overall approach is aligned with the experiential learning model, while it incorporates problem-based learning principles, aiming to enhance students involvement within the learning environment and to strengthen their creativity, high order thinking and problem solving skills. The proposed methodology is expected to have a positive impact on students attitude regarding programming, maximising the educational impact of the proposed game-based activities. 13

14 Collaboration and motivation in an e-learning environment: students perceptions of collaborative activities and intentions to adopt e-learning Prof. Idalina Jorge (Instituto de Educação, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal) The report about distance learning higher education in Portugal (2009) states that only a small percentage of HE enrolments are in DL courses, that the demand for the modality is growing, and that the Portuguese research in DL needs development, to support innovation in the modality. Dialogue and collaboration are essential components of learning since the first educational theories, both in western and eastern cultures and the postindustrial studies in distance learning have recovered the principle since Moore (1992) identified the two didactic clusters, structure and dialogue, and the essential dialogue modalities in distance learning courses. The multimedia technologies are particularly appropriate education through dialogue, feedback and evaluation given that permit and that are so important in learning situations: in short, the quality of education can significantly improve with the use of technologies that may include a strong component interactive., synchronous or asynchronous. DeBard & Guidera, 1999; Hammond, 2000; Jonassen et al., 1995, Kiesler, & McGuire, 1987; Sannomiya & Kawaguchi, 1999) report positive experiences of collaboration in online courses, researching on variables such as technology, group size, activities and the instructor s support. This study aims at identifying the collaborative activities that the students consider more motivating, their perceptions of communication and group cohesion and their attitudes towards on-line learning. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected in two Portuguese Higher Education Institutions, a private and a public one, through a survey and two focus group interviews, involving 122 students. The results indicate that the students feel comfortable participating, interacting and debating and that some collaborative activities such as designing projects, simulations, problem-based activities and teamwork (written) reports are more motivating than others they had to accomplish. Differences of gender, age, major of studies, internet and computer experiences and professional status were also searched for. Students revealed positive perceptions about the learning environment an expressed the intention to continue studying through an e-learning modality in the future. 14

15 SPANISH ABSTRACTS ÐÐ Session 10: Aprendizaje social y 2.0 OpenApp: experiencias y herramientas docentes y de gestión en abiert Ferran, N; Garreta, M.; Santanach, F (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain) La Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) es una universidad en línea que realiza un uso intensivo de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación para proporcionar una educación y aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida. Des de sus inicios la universidad ha desarrollado y testeado metodologías y tecnologías con el objetivo de proporcionar soluciones a los retos de aprendizaje y docentes ofrecidos por la comunidad de estudiantes, académicos y personal de gestión. Fundamentado en este saber hacer, nace la plataforma OpenApps con la finalidad principal de poner a disposición de la comunidad la experiencia acumulada en la UOC durante más de 15 años en docencia, aprendizaje y gestión para que pueda ser aplicado, adaptado o evolucionado por terceros. En este artículo se presentan las características esenciales para que una innovación pueda formar parte de esta plataforma institucional, las especificaciones y usuarios de la plataforma, la finalidad del servicio y las futuras líneas de trabajo. Medios Sociales como estrategia de comunicación. Caso práctico del Centro de Enseñanzas Virtuales de la Universidad de Granada Pedro Gil, Rui Raposo (Universidad de Aveiro, Portugal) y Co-autoría de Miguel Gea (Universidad de Granada, Spain) Los medios sociales han revolucionado la forma en la que las personas se comunican y comparten información entre ellas. Con una adhesión cada vez más expresiva, los medios sociales son hoy un codiciado canal de comunicación para muchas organizaciones. Los nuevos medios de comunicación se enmarcan en un contexto de interacción social, tomando ventaja de las características que cada vez más, son mediadas por los medios digitales. Este cambio ha supuesto enormes desafíos que se traducen en grandes oportunidades pero también en riesgos y amenazas que hacen más visibles las vulnerabilidades: algunas coyunturales, otras resultado de cambios realizados a un ritmo más rápido que la capacidad de las generaciones para poder entenderlas. El presente artículo tiene como objetivo exponer los resultados de un trabajo de investigación como parte de una tesis en curso, cuyo objetivo es estudiar y comprender el papel que los medios sociales pueden desempeñar como instrumento de comunicación de las actividades de un centro de investigación y formación. El estudio tiene como objetivo diseñar, aplicar y evaluar una estrategia de comunicación de las actividades del Centro de Enseñanzas Virtuales de la Universidad de Granada (CEVUG), apoyada en los medios sociales. Lo mismo resulta de una la colaboración entre la Universidad de Aveiro y el Centro de Enseñanzas Virtuales de la Universidad de Granada (CEVUG), con soporte del programa Erasmus. Esta reflexión sobre el diseño de una estrategia de comunicación, apoyada en los media sociales, adecua para el CEVUG conduce necesariamente a un análisis y ajuste de esta estrategia tanto a la institución, como a las personas 15

16 que forman y determinan su dinámica. No sólo con esta visión holística se puede proponer algo que tenga sentido en actual escenario de la web 2.0., si no también se puede monitorear y analizar el impacto de la estrategia de comunicación adoptada. Metodológicamente el estudio que aquí se presenta, se caracteriza por la investigación - acción, ya que permite la comprensión y la experiencia de un complejo problema social y organizativo, además de facilitar la capacidad de respuesta y precisión en los requisitos de la investigación y acción. Las observaciones finales hechas sobre los resultados obtenidos nos permiten entender algunas de las fuerzas, y también algunas debilidades identificadas en el estudio y que sugieren todavía trabajos eventuales de investigación para promover en el futuro. Gamificación y e-learning. Un ejemplo con el juego del pasapalabra Elias Melchor Ferrer (Universidad of Granada, Department of International and Spanish Economics, Spain) En la enseñanza de conceptos especializados, uno de los retos a que debemos hacer frente los docentes es explicar los mismos de forma ágil y atractiva. Para ayudar a lograrlo creemos que sería interesante el poder disponer de aplicaciones didácticas que interactúen con el alumno y pongan a prueba sus conocimientos. Las posibilidades en este sentido son enormes e irían desde ejercicios tipo test (con o sin soluciones) hasta la clasificación y/o definición de diferentes conceptos. Sin embargo, todas esas opciones adolecen de un problema como es su implementación en el ámbito del aula de forma participativa. Para sortear esta dificultad creemos que el juego del pasapalabra aplicado a diferentes grupos de trabajo en el aula y con incentivos para los mejores equipos podría ser una forma diferente y atractiva de estimular el estudio de dichos conceptos. Creemos que este es un buen ejemplo de gamification por cuanto pretende crear, adaptar o modificar comportamientos a través de elementos de los videojuegos como: i) objetivos a corto plazo para alcanzar una meta final; ii) estructura en niveles; iii) puntos y recompensas; y iv) posicionamiento frente a otros usuarios. La conexión con bases de datos tiene que ser un aspecto esencial de la aplicación, ya que permite un control por parte del profesor de los intentos realizados (pudiendo poner un límite a los mismos), así como utilizar los resultados obtenidos en sistemas de evaluación continua, mientras que para el alumno permite alimentar el sistema de puntos y recompensas. Además, las preguntas y respuestas estarían permanentemente actualizadas. La flexibilidad del software permite varias modalidades: i) en solitario, pueden usarlo como herramienta de estudio y aprendizaje para comprobar hasta qué punto han logrado adquirir las competencias mínimas exigidas; y ii) en equipo, se puede dinamizar una clase con este juego aprovechándolo como herramienta de evaluación. Al inicio del juego se fija el tiempo total asignado al alumno así como las puntuaciones otorgadas por aciertos y fallos. La velocidad del juego es también un elemento que le añade dificultad puesto que el estudiante puede poner a prueba la comprensión y dominio de los conceptos jugando cada vez más deprisa conforme los alumnos se hacen más conscientes de su dinámica y maduran los conocimientos. Aunque la aplicación desarrollada es válida para cualquier asignatura, se utilizará para el aprendizaje de países y capitales del mundo en cursos de secundaria. 16

17 Entorno Virtual para el aprendizaje de neuro-anatomía bajo el paradigma de la web 2.0 Julio Barroso Osuna (Universidad de Sevilla, Spain) Laybet Colmenares, Carlos Pinzón, Ivan Jara, Antonio Bosnjak, Hyxia Villegas (Universidad de Carabobo. Venezuela) En respuesta a la masificación de estudiantes, la falta de materiales didácticos para la enseñanza de la neuroanatomía y la poca disposición de cadáveres para las prácticas, se desarrolló un Entorno Virtual para el aprendizaje de tópicos de Neuro-Anatomía. Este pretende servir como complemento a las clases presenciales, según las necesidades planteadas por parte del profesorado de Anatomía Humana en la carrera de medicina de la Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud de la Universidad de Carabobo. El entorno pone a disposición de los estudiantes una serie de objetos de aprendizaje que fueron creados en función de las características específicas de los contenidos y de las técnicas de enseñanza desarrolladas por los profesores. Se aplicó una metodología Centrada en el Usuario, nutrida por un esquema de desarrollo de materiales educativos, donde se involucró de manera activa a profesores y estudiantes de la asignatura, que participaron en la creación y evaluación cíclica tanto de los objetos por separado como del entorno y de los elementos de interacción bajo la filosofía de la web 2.0. La visión 2.0 se logra a partir de la incorporación activa de elementos tecnológicos que permitan la comunicación y posibilidades de interacción a través de compartir materiales, enlaces y experiencias; enriqueciendo de manera permanente este entorno, no sólo con la tecnología sino también con la filosofía de trabajo. Como elemento innovador se incorporan estructuras anatómicas en 3D, creadas con la ayuda de la librería de Visualization Tool Kit (VTK), desarrolladas en base al modelo mental del usuario, garantizando de esta manera una alta usabilidad y las condiciones adecuadas para el aprendizaje. El resultado de la investigación es un entorno en formato web que combina un conjunto de objetos de aprendizaje en forma de material interactivo, videos imágenes de RM, TAC y estructuras tridimensionales, junto con un espacio de creación y comunicación dentro de las nuevas tendencias del aprendizaje apoyado en la interacción dentro de las redes sociales. Desarrollo de un aplicativo de gestión de Entornos Personales de Aprendizaje para la realización de actividades de aprendizaje en red no soportadas por plataformas para gestión del aprendizaje A. David Álvarez Jiménez, Jesús Fernández Fernández, Alberto Corpas Novo, Ana Agudo,Juan Francisco Delgado (Consorcio Fernando de los Ríos) Desarrollo de un aplicativo de gestión de Entornos Personales de Aprendizaje para la realización de actividades de aprendizaje en red no soportadas por plataformas para gestión del aprendizaje. Cuando hablamos de Personal Learning Environments (o PLE) nos referimos no sólo al conjunto de herramientas, servicios y conexiones que cada uno de nosotros empleamos para aprender de forma autónoma en la red, sino también a las estrategias, habilidades y actitudes que conllevan esa gestión autónoma del aprendizaje. Evidentemente esta perspectiva se alinea con las necesidades de establecer estructuras formales y no formales que 17

18 favorezcan el aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida, como un valor de la Sociedad del Conocimiento y una necesidad en un contexto social y económico que precisa del emprendimiento social y de organizaciones inteligentes que sean capaces de gestionar el conocimiento abriendo espacios de colaboración y aprendizaje en red. Aprender a través de un PLE permite dirigir el propio aprendizaje conectando información de diversas fuentes, información que llega, en muchos casos, filtrada y enriquecida por las comunidades a las que pertenece el aprendiz. Desde su Entorno Personal de Aprendizaje (PLE) cada persona tiene acceso a toda la información disponible en Internet así como a las herramientas y servicios para gestionar esa abundancia de información. También tiene la posibilidad de gestionar, conversar y compartir con sus comunidades y redes virtuales. En Guadalinfo ( la red andaluza de centros de innovación social, hemos diseñado un gestor de Entornos Personales de Aprendizaje que hemos llamado PLEg, un aplicativo desarrollado sobre soluciones libres a partir del cual hemos comenzado a diseñar e implementar acciones formativas dirigidas a emprendedores y personas en búsqueda activa de empleo, bajo modelos didácticos inspirados en iniciativas de aprendizaje social en red. El objetivo de estas acciones formativas es facilitar a los participantes las herramientas, los recursos y las actitudes necesarias para que puedan iniciar un proceso de aprendizaje que se extienda más allá del final de cada curso, de manera que sean capaces de adquirir en cada momento las competencias necesarias para desarrollar de forma óptima los proyectos o actividades que lleven a cabo, tanto a nivel personal como a nivel profesional. Estas acciones formativas tienen como foco el aprendiz en lugar del contenido, buscando desarrollar competencias (de aprendizaje y digitales), antes que centrarse en la adquisición de conocimientos, estimulando la participación en redes de aprendizaje más amplias que las que delimitan el total de participantes en la acción formal. ÐÐ Session 11: Innovación, evaluación y calidad Gobierno TI: factor clave para la calidad e innovación en proyectos y servicios de e-learning Miguel González Laredo, Belén Rojas (Fundación General UGR-Empresa, Granada, Spain), Vanesa Gámiz Sánchez (Dpto. de Didáctica y Organización Escolar, Facultad de Educación, Universidad de Granada, Spain) Este trabajo parte del análisis de los principales referentes de calidad en el e-learning (ISO 19796, UNE 66181, etc.), del papel que juega la tecnología, y muy especialmente su dirección, dentro de organizaciones especializadas en servicios de e-learning. El estudio se centra en el análisis y justificación del papel clave que puede desempeñar el Gobierno TI (COBIT, ITIL, etc.) para relacionar la tecnología con el resto de áreas de la organización en la consecución exitosa de los proyectos e-learning, así como en el impulso de procesos de innovación que aseguren la mejora continua dentro de un ciclo PDCA (p.ej. una ISO 9001 implantada en un servicio de e-learning). Por último, se propone una visión integrada para la dirección en organizaciones e-learning (mediante sus respectivos estándares), basada fundamentalmente en el alineamiento del negocio e-learning con las TI. 18

19 Evaluación de los programas en línea y el marco de la calidad Dr. Pedro Rocha (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM), Dr. Marcelo Maina (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain) This study refers to the processes described by accrediting agencies and academic institutions for measuring the quality of online programs. Its purpose is to identify those mechanisms that might facilitate the internationalization of programs and agreements between higher education institutions in Europe and Latin America. For the analysis, we selected two paradigmatic cases: the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC). Based on this election, we identified the accrediting agencies corresponding to these institutions: locally, nationally and regionally. In a second step, we filled a comparative table showing the dimensions and the related criteria for quality assessment, considered both in the literature and in the accrediting agencies guidebooks. In a third step, among such dimensions and criteria for quality assessment we identified which are the most and the least popular, in order to provide a map, highlight focal points and identify common ground for quality assurance. Tecnologías y estrategias didácticas para la mejora de la formación profesional. Valoración de los estudiantes. Campaña Jiménez, Rafael Luis (Universidad de Granada, Spain), Gallego Arrufat, Mª Jesús (Universidad de Granada), Villén García-Galán, David J. (Universidad de Granada, Spain) Este trabajo hace un recorrido sobre el estado de la cuestión de la innovación educativa como aquellos cambios que se introducen en las prácticas educativas, cambios introducidos por la incorporación de medios tecnológicos, que propician nuevas formas de trabajo con el alumnado en el aula. También explora las investigaciones realizadas sobre la aplicación de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación en la escuela. Y repasamos las innovaciones que en el ámbito de la Formación Profesional se están desarrollando en otros contextos tanto nacionales como internacionales. Nuestra investigación se basa en un estudio de caso descriptivo, etnográfico e ideográfico que se centra en el análisis de la implementación de herramientas tecnológicas con estrategias didácticas activas en Formación Profesional Inicial, y su contribución a la mejora en la adquisición de las competencias profesionales, sociales y personales del alumnado. En este trabajo utilizamos una metodología mixta, también denominada multimétodo: cualitativa y cuantitativa. Se analiza, contrasta y estudia las distintas fases de una innovación educativa, con estrategias de aprendizaje basado en problemas, estudios de casos, aprendizaje basado en proyectos, utilizando herramientas de la Web 2.0 y sistemas de gestión de aprendizaje: Google Apps, Blog y Moodle alojados en servidores externos. Todos estos recursos son gratuitos en la actualidad y se encuentran al alcance de cualquier persona o institución. En la sociedad de la información y del conocimiento en la que nos encontramos las tecnologías alcanzan a todos los sectores de la sociedad. En la actividad empresarial han tenido una gran expansión. La mayoría de los procesos administrativos que realizan las empresas son realizados mediante las herramientas tecnológicas. Esto hace necesario la adquisición de nuevas competencias profesionales (alfabetización informacional, aprender a aprender, toma de decisiones, ) y competencias personales y sociales para adecuarse a los nuevos modos de trabajo y de organización de las empresas, organismos, etc. (trabajo en equipo, colaborativo, responsabilidad, adaptabilidad, iniciativa, ). 19

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