An exploration of teachers' use of assistive technology in inclusive classrooms within the context of universal design for learning and students' response to these methods and tools

Teachers must employ instructional approaches and tools that assist all students in accessing the curriculum, engaging in learning activities, and demonstrating their achievements. Universal design for learning and assistive technology make the curriculum and instructional practices accessible and engaging for all students. As there is little research examining the use of assistive technology in inclusive environments, this exploratory study uses semi-structured interviews with teachers, focus groups with students, and classroom observations to examine how elementary teachers implement assistive technology in general education classrooms within the context of universal design for learning and the supports and challenges that influence these practices

Beyond Discipline: Positioning Design Practice and Education for the Twenty-first Century

Design practice in the UK has changed dramatically in the past two decades. Boundaries between design disciplines have dissolved and it could be argued that many contemporary design studios now defy classification. Whilst these groundbreaking and successful studios are reconfiguring the design landscape, undergraduate design education is still dominated by a unidisciplinary mindset and structure. This situation is creating a disconnection between design practice and education, and poses critical questions for the immediate future of design learning and teaching in higher education. This doctorial study explores this disconnection. An initial scoping exercise draws on interviews with leading commentators from the UK design sector, examining the evolution of design practice over the last ten years and possible future directions for undergraduate education. Findings from the exercise indicate that (a) UK policy for creative education has placed undergraduate design courses in potential crisis, (b) current approaches in the university system are outdated, and (c) it is now necessary to re-define the skills and processes that designers will require in the twenty-first century. Moving-on from the scoping work, the study engages with five internationally renowned creative studios that can be characterised as defying classification. These are: Ron Arad Associates; Heatherwick Studio; Jason Bruges Studio; Punchdrunk; and Assemble. In-depth ethnographic studies cross-analyse the creative processes of these studios and the perspectives of their designers on education. Findings identify key components of each studio’s process, the core skills and capabilities that are required by studio members, and innovative organisational structures and uses of studio space. They also explore studio members’ past educational experiences, present involvement in education and reflections on future directions for pedagogy. This study argues that the evident (and growing) disconnection between practice and education calls for a change to existing pedagogic models. It also proposes alternative approaches, and highlights the need for policymakers, practitioners and educators to work together to better prepare young designers to meet the design challenges of the twenty-first century

Shortest Route at Dynamic Location with Node Combination-Dijkstra Algorithm

Abstract— Online transportation has become a basic requirement of the general public in support of all activities to go to work, school or vacation to the sights. Public transportation services compete to provide the best service so that consumers feel comfortable using the services offered, so that all activities are noticed, one of them is the search for the shortest route in picking the buyer or delivering to the destination. Node Combination method can minimize memory usage and this methode is more optimal when compared to A* and Ant Colony in the shortest route search like Dijkstra algorithm, but can’t store the history node that has been passed. Therefore, using node combination algorithm is very good in searching the shortest distance is not the shortest route. This paper is structured to modify the node combination algorithm to solve the problem of finding the shortest route at the dynamic location obtained from the transport fleet by displaying the nodes that have the shortest distance and will be implemented in the geographic information system in the form of map to facilitate the use of the system. Keywords— Shortest Path, Algorithm Dijkstra, Node Combination, Dynamic Location (key words

La telepresencia en un programa doctoral en red: Perspectivas de estudiantes, docentes y administrativos

Con la finalidad de formar investigadores de alto nivel que contribuyan al desarrollo científico del país, un consorcio de tres universidades colombianas se constituyó para desarrollar un programa doctoral en ingeniería que incluye tres áreas de investigación: automática, energía e informática. El programa recibió la aprobación del Ministerio de Educación de Colombia para ser ofrecido en modalidad presencial. Para satisfacer la exigencia de presencia física, los estudiantes asisten al campus de la universidad en la cual se encuentran inscritos y los cursos son dispensados por un profesor que se encuentra en un aula de telepresencia de cualquiera de las tres universidades asociadas. La emergencia sanitaria declarada en marzo de 2020 obligó a suprimir el requisito de la presencia física y a realizar los cursos totalmente a distancia. Esta nueva realidad fue el catalizador para que las autoridades universitarias consideraran la transformación de la forma de impartir el programa. Este trabajo presenta un análisis de esta transformación, comparando los puntos de vista de las diferentes partes interesadas. En general, los participantes valoran la posibilidad de presencia física. Resulta entonces interesante la puesta en marcha de un dispositivo de formación híbrido que integre la modalidad presencial y la formación a distancia en modo síncrono. En ese sentido, los participantes evocan la importancia del desarrollo de competencias tecnopedagógicas y de diseño instruccional para desarrollar clases que en esta modalidad. Se sugiere aprovechar la modalidad presencial para actividades complementarias a las clases