The elderly and the digital inclusion: A brief reference to the initiatives of the European union and Portugal

Background: The world and Europe, in particular, are aging very fast, and in the same vein, digitization is moving very quickly into citizens’ routines. Given the fact that the elderly are the largest group of citizens who are info-excluded, this reality is worrying because it will quickly make them socially excluded. This article briefly presents the main initiatives of the European Union and Portugal to promote greater and faster digital inclusion of the elderly people. In the final section, there is a critical reflection on technology acceptance Model, the concept of universal design and usability in order to propose clues and strategies that can and/or may facilitate the use and access of technologies and digital resources by the elderly.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Impact of technological facilitators in the design and artisanal production processes. The Guarda Ninhos Project - craft and design of Gonçalo’s basketry

This research project analyses the impact of the use of prototyping and digital manufacturing tools in the development of new products based on the theme of Gonçalo's basketwork, in Guarda, Portugal [1]. Guarda Ninhos is an inclusive entrepreneurship project, the aim of which was to develop, produce and promote new local handicraft products. Solutions based on the socio-cultural, ecological and economic heritage of this region, knowledge immaterial heritage and expertise of their communities. Reinventing the culture of this place as a way of creating social and economic value, with the people who live there, was the followed line of action. Based on the results obtained, an attempt was made to outline forms of cooperation between this type of artisanal activities, with the most recent concepts of "industry 4.0" and industrial development methodologies - namely, (A) verifying the beneficial impact that the use of prototyping and digital fabrication tools can play in the design process of these products, optimising the development and production processes without jeopardising the premises that define the artisanal product; (B) contributing to the registration of ancestral knowledge and consolidation of artisanal processes and (C) showing how a strategic plan that aims to bring together and sustain the interdisciplinary artisan-designer relationship can be implemented.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Science and Team Development

This paper explores a new idea about the future development of science and teams, and predicts its possible applications in science, education, workforce development and research. The inter-relatedness of science and teamwork developments suggests a growing importance of team facilitators’ quality, as well as the criticality of detailed studies of teamwork processes and team consortiums to address the increasing complexity of exponential knowledge growth and work interdependency. In the future, it will become much easier to produce a highly specialised workforce, such as brain surgeons or genome engineers, than to identify, educate and develop individuals capable of the delicate and complex work of multi-team facilitation. Such individuals will become the new scientists of the millennium, having extraordinary knowledge in variety of scientific fields, unusual mix of abilities, possessing highly developed interpersonal and teamwork skills, and visionary ideas in illuminating bold strategies for new scientific discoveries. The new scientists of the millennium, through team consortium facilitation, will be able to build bridges between the multitude of diverse and extremely specialised knowledge and interdependent functions to improve systems for the further benefit of mankind

Ratava\u27s line: Emergent learning and design using collaborative virtual worlds

Ratava\u27s Line is an online, 3D virtual world fashion and interactive narrative project created collaboratively by students at both the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York City and at Interactive Arts at Simon Fraser University (SFU) in Vancouver, Canada, using emergent, collaborative 2D and 3D systems. This distance learning project, developed over two months and culminating in an online event in multiple, remote locations, integrated three key design elements: the translation of original 2D fashion designs from FIT students into 3D avatar space; exhibits of artwork of student and professional artists from New York City and Vancouver in virtual galleries; and creation of an interactive narrative "fashion cyber-mystery" for online users to participate in and solve in a culminating, cyber-physical event. The overall project goal was to explore how online collaboration systems and virtual environments can be used practically for distance learning, fashion and virtual worlds design, development of new marketing tools including virtual portfolios, and creation of cross cultural online/physical events. The result of this process was an interdisciplinary, cross-institutional, international effort in collaborative design in virtual environments, and a successful exercise in emergent, collaborative distance learning. © ACM, 2004. This is the author\u27s version of the work. It is posted here by permission of ACM for your personal use. Not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in International Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques, page 25. (2004). http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1186107.118613

Optimización de sistemas de prevención de riesgos laborales en entornos de trabajo conectados e inteligentes. Aplicación a la construcción 4.0

Los programas de Horizonte 2020 y el conjunto de líneas de investigación propuestas internacionalmente relacionadas con la Cuarta Revolución Industrial o Industria 4.0, reflejan el interés y necesidad de ampliar el alcance de la gestión de los riesgos ocupacionales en los sistemas productivos desde el punto de vista de la digitalización y automatización para asegurar la protección integral del trabajador. Partiendo de esta situación, y teniendo en cuenta el auge que en los últimos años está teniendo la Industria 4.0 a través del inicio de la Cuarta Revolución Industrial en todos los sectores de actividad, habría que plantearse (1) cuáles son los facilitadores tecnológicos y digitales más idóneos para alcanzar la automatización y digitalización fomentada para el alcance de los sistemas de construcción inteligentes (Construcción 4.0), (2) cómo conseguir una integración eficiente entre tecnología y trabajador (productos inteligentes, wearables) y (3) la forma de configurar dicha integración, como solución al rápido aumento de la incorporación de nuevas tecnologías, sistemas TIC y digitalización. En este contexto se desarrolla el presente artículo: teniendo en cuenta que el diseño actual de los dispositivos inteligentes aún no está adaptado a entornos ocupacionales y considerando los nuevos retos para la construcción 4.0.The Horizon 2020 programs and the set of internationally proposed research lines related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0 reflect the interest and need to broaden the scope of the management of occupational risks in the production systems from the point of view of digitization and automation to ensure the full protection of the worker. Starting from this situation, and taking into account the boom that Industry 4.0 is having in recent years through the start of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in all sectors of activity, we should consider (1) what the technological and digital facilitators are best suited to achieve the automation and digitalization promoted for the scope of intelligent construction systems (Construction 4.0), (2) how to achieve an efficient integration between technology and worker (intelligent products, wearables) and (3) how to configure such integration, as a solution to the rapid increase in the incorporation of new technologies, ICT systems and digitalisation. In this context the present article is developed: bearing in mind that the current design of intelligent devices is not yet adapted to occupational environments and considering the new challenges for construction 4.0

Challenges while MOOCifying a HE eLearning course on Universal Accessibility

There are some similarities in developing a traditional Higher Education (HE) eLearning course and MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), due to the use of the basis of eLearning instructional design. But in MOOCs, students should be continually influenced by information, social interactions and experiences forcing the faculty to come up with new approaches and ideas to develop a really engaging course. In this paper, the process of MOOCifying an online course on Universal Accessibility is detailed. The needed quality model is based upon the one used for all online degree programs at our university and on a variable metric specially designed for UNED MOOC courses making possible to control how each course was structured, what kind of resources were used and how activities, interaction and assessment were included. The learning activities were completely adapted, along with the content itself and the on-line assessment. For this purpose, the Gardner's Multiple Intelligences Product Grid has been selected

Moving singing for lung health online in response to COVID-19: experience from a randomised controlled trial

Introduction Singing for Lung Health (SLH) is a popular arts-in-health activity for people with long-term respiratory conditions. Participants report biopsychosocial benefits, however research on impact is limited. The ‘SHIELD trial’, a randomised controlled, single (assessor) blind, trial of 12 weeks SLH vs usual care for people with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) (n=120) was set-up to help to address this. The first group (n=18, 9 singing and 9 controls) started face-to-face (5 sessions) before changing to online delivery (7 sessions) due to COVID-19 related physical distancing measures. As such, the experience of this group is here reported as a pilot study to inform further research in this area. Methods We conducted semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis regarding barriers, facilitators and key considerations for transitioning from face-to-face to online delivery. Pilot quantitative outcomes include attendance, pre and post measures of quality of life and disease impact (SF-36, CAT score), breathlessness (MRC breathlessness scale, Dyspnoea-12), depression (PHQ9), anxiety (GAD-7), balance confidence (ABC scale) and physical activity (clinical visit PROactive physical activity in COPD tool, combining subjective rating and actigraphy). Results Attendance was 69% overall, (90% of the face-to-face sessions, 53% online sessions). Analysis of semi-structured interviews identified three themes regarding participation in SLH delivered face-to-face and online, these where 1) perceived benefits; 2) digital barriers (online); 3) digital facilitators (online). Findings were summarised into key considerations for optimising transitioning singing groups from face-to-face to online delivery. Pilot quantitative data suggested possible improvements in depression (treatment effect -4.78 PHQ9 points, p< 0.05, MCID 5) and balance confidence (treatment effect +17.21 ABC Scale points, p=0.04, MCID 14.2). Discussion This study identifies key considerations regarding the adaptation of SLH from face-to-face to online delivery. Pilot data suggest online group singing for people with COPD may deliver benefits related to reducing depression and improved balance confidence