Self-Perceptions on Digital Competences for M-Learning and Education Sustainability: A Study with Teachers from Different Countries

The current international landscape shows that the most common alternative for the continuity of formative learning processes during the coronavirus pandemic has been the use the of e-learning to support children's learning in environments outside of school. This forced change in teaching methods has consolidated the recognition that the digital skills of teachers are a relevant factor for the sustainability of education, both during the pandemic and in a future post-pandemic period or in other emergencies. In this sense, the objective of this study carried out between May and September 2020 was to determine the perceptions of 427 teachers from 15 countries about their digital competences in working with m-learning in primary education using a Montessori approach. The results of the questionnaire showed that teachers perceive their digital competences as inert and not very effective for innovation compared with the subsistence of traditional pedagogical practices, to deal with unpredictable situations or to generate differentiated adaptations for an inclusive education. The results of this study also serve as empirical support for establishing four training dimensions that can be considered priorities for the construction and implementation of a teacher training model that contributes to the sustainable development of education

Children with Disabilities Attending Montessori Programs in the United States

Early childhood education plays a critical role in establishing positive social-emotional behaviors and promoting the development of skills needed to succeed in elementary school. Although inclusion of children with disabilities (CWD) in early childhood classrooms is increasing throughout the world, numerous social, logistical, and political factors continue to present challenges to full inclusion. The Montessori educational approach, established at the beginning of the 20th century and now applied widely throughout Europe and the United States, may present a highly suitable learning context for CWD, particularly given its historical basis in efforts to meet the needs of underprivileged and cognitively delayed children. On a theoretical level, the inclusion of CWD should be an accepted practice for Montessori programs yet reports of the number and characteristics of CWD attending Montessori programs are scarce. This paper reports upon the findings of a survey of U.S. Montessori early childhood programs’ current enrollment of CWD. The survey indicated that CWD represent 3.75% of the infant and toddler (0–3 years) population and 8.49% of the preschool/early childhood (3–6 years) population at responding institutions. Additionally, although school directors indicate that their teachers generally feel confident and competent including CWD in their classrooms, they expressed a need for ongoing professional development and additional support from special education experts to further empower the inclusion of CWD in all aspects of Montessori education

Children with Disabilities Attending Montessori Programs in the United States

Early childhood education plays a critical role in establishing positive social-emotional behaviors and promoting the development of skills needed to succeed in elementary school. Although inclusion of children with disabilities (CWD) in early childhood classrooms is increasing throughout the world, numerous social, logistical, and political factors continue to present challenges to full inclusion. The Montessori educational approach, established at the beginning of the 20th century and now applied widely throughout Europe and the United States, may present a highly suitable learning context for CWD, particularly given its historical basis in efforts to meet the needs of underprivileged and cognitively delayed children. On a theoretical level, the inclusion of CWD should be an accepted practice for Montessori programs yet reports of the number and characteristics of CWD attending Montessori programs are scarce. This paper reports upon the findings of a survey of U.S. Montessori early childhood programs’ current enrollment of CWD. The survey indicated that CWD represent 3.75% of the infant and toddler (0–3 years) population and 8.49% of the preschool/early childhood (3–6 years) population at responding institutions. Additionally, although school directors indicate that their teachers generally feel confident and competent including CWD in their classrooms, they expressed a need for ongoing professional development and additional support from special education experts to further empower the inclusion of CWD in all aspects of Montessori education

Early Childhood Education according to Abdurrahman An-Nahlawi and Maria Montessori

This research is motivated by the concept of Early Childhood Education offered by various educational figures to impact the emergence of increasingly dynamic educational theories. Issues on this concept did not escape the attention of Abdurrahman An-Nahlawi and Maria Montessori. The two figures have similarities and differences in their underlying points of view and approaches, and these cannot be separated from the philosophical study behind them. Based on the above, this study explores the two figures’ thoughts to give birth to a new paradigm of education for early childhood. The research method used was a literature study by collecting various references that can support research. From the research results, it can be found that, philosophically, the concept of Early Childhood Education, according to Abdurrahman An-Nahlawi, is attached to the perennial normative approach, while Maria Montessori’s notion is more towards a constructivism approach. The two approaches have different points of view in highlighting the educational side. The similarity in the points of view of these two figures is an understanding of the concept of education, which should be integrated and contextual, and position the child as the main subject in education

La pertinencia de la instrucción diferenciada y las inteligencias múltiples al diseñar actividades para la clase de inglés como lengua extranjera: Programación Anual y Unidad Didáctica

En la tarea de diseño de actividades para la clase de inglés, la consideración de la instrucción diferenciada así como de la existencia distinta inteligencias resulta de gran importancia para los docentes en su deber de conocer y atender las necesidades individuales de los estudiantes y facilitar un aprendizaje efectivo, sobretodo teniendo en cuanta que la diversidad está muy presente en nuestra sociedad y las aulas son un reflejo de ésta

Discourse, Materiality, and the Users of Mobile Health Technologies: A Nigerian Case Study

mHealth, which is the use of mobile phones and other handheld information and communication technologies (ICTs), has been increasingly advocated as the solution to the problems, primarily infrastructure and personnel, facing the healthcare sector of many low-to-lower-middle-income countries (LMICs). Following a series of United Nations Foundation research and advisory publications (in 2012, 2014 and 2016) arguing that mobile phones are approaching ubiquity in Nigeria and across the world, the UN strongly recommended that LMICs undertake mHealth initiatives. Subsequently, Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) published a National Health ICT Strategic Framework (Strategic Framework), 2015-2020; the rallying call of this document is that “Health ICTs will deliver universal healthcare [in Nigeria] by 2020.” The document takes a techno-optimistic position that celebrates and advocates for the creation of mHealth technologies, yet it fails to acknowledge the dire lack of the basic, necessary infrastructures for such electronic health systems, particularly in rural areas, including a scarcity of reliable electrical systems or the trained personnel who would understand how to use such technologies. This creates and sustains a healthcare precarity for poor and rural Nigerians. The rhetoric of health and medicine has taken up precarity as a framework for understanding how modern discourses contribute to the material positioning of humans with respect to technological systems. Using material-discursive critique and precarity as analytical frameworks, I tie the history of western medicine in Nigeria to the prevailing top-down approach which created widespread healthcare deserts. Using Critical (Policy) Discourse Analysis, I also examine discursive positioning of agents, e.g., “stakeholders” in the Strategic Framework and “heroes” in an mHealth technology developed and advertised locally in Nigeria, to reveal how policy documents and popular advertisements around mHealth are manipulated to camouflage these healthcare deserts with techno-optimistic rhetoric. Only when we address both the actual material conditions and the rhetorical and linguistic silencing of the people in these rural or poor areas will we be able to approach the promised benefits of mHealth systems in universal healthcare

Tratamiento del TDAH a través del uso de las TIC en la Educación: Revisión Bibliográfica

El TDAH es un trastorno neurobiológico de inicio en la infancia. Dentro de la sintomatología de este trastorno se encuentran la inatención, la hiperactividad y la impulsividad, lo que genera estereotipos hacia el alumnado como considerar que son vagos o traviesos, además de dificultades en su aprendizaje. A través de este estudio se pretende conocer las posibilidades de los recursos TIC en el ámbito académico mediante la realización de una síntesis de investigaciones e intervenciones. También se pretende identificar herramientas TIC, actividades y metodologías y determinar el impacto de las mismas en el aprendizaje del alumnado TDAH. Para la realización de este estudio se llevó a cabo una búsqueda de artículos en diferentes repositorios como ERIC, Punto Q, Google Académico y Dialnet, entre otros, fechados entre 2010 y 2020 redactados tanto en inglés como en español. Los resultados obtenidos han sido satisfactorios puesto que se ha podido comprobar que la utilización de las TIC en el aula con alumnado TDAH supone una mejora en el rendimiento académico gracias a factores como la motivación o la individualización de la enseñanza. Además, los recursos TIC favorecen el aprendizaje colaborativo, la inclusión educativa y facilita el proceso de aprendizaje. Ha quedado demostrado que el alumnado reduce pérdidas de tiempo en cuanto a la preparación previa a una tarea si éstas son realizadas en ordenador en vez de en papel. Los recursos TIC más destacados a lo largo del estudio son los software educativos, los Serious game o los videojuegos digitales.ADHD is a neurobiological disorder that is childhood onset. Within the symptomatology of this disorder are inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity, which generates stereotypes towards students and difficulties in their learning. This study aims to know the possibilities of ICT resources in school by carrying out a synthesis of research and interventions. It is also intended to identify ICT tools, activities and methodologies and determine their impact on ADHD students' learning. For the realization of this study, a search was carried out on articles in different repositories such as ERIC, Punto Q, Google Academic and Dialnet, among others, dated between 2010 and 2020 written in both English and Spanish. The results have been satisfactory since it has been proven that the use of ICTs in the classroom with ADHD students represents an improvement in academic performance thanks to factors such as motivation or individualization of teaching. In addition, ICT resources promote collaborative learning, educational inclusion and facilitate the learning process. It has been shown that students reduce time wasted in terms of pre-task preparation if they are made on a computer rather than on paper. The most outstanding ICT resources throughout the study are educational software, serious game, or digital video games

Learning Trend Methodologies from BC Greek Sophists to 2000s’ Blended Open Source Schooling: A Comparative Analytic Study

The period of recorded history extends to 5,000 years BC, where Sumerian-Akkadian script confirmed the fact of being the oldest discovered record of coherent writing from the preliterate period around the 3000 BC (SE Alcock, 2001; Woods, 2010). Since that date of early basic literacy of human history, B.C pioneers, philosophers, leaderships and professionals exerted every efforts to advance their local environments in politics, state identity, public administration, urban centers, culture and faith, education, innovative thoughts and arts, and civic daily life. Consequently, B.C significant ancient states and civilizations arose and flourished into world sovereign empires, exceeding in several fields their contemporary counterparts the so-called “Big Powers” in the 21st century A.C. Even these “Big Powers” proved helpless in resisting the invisible virus “Corona”, which caused the death of hundreds of thousands of persons, and is threatening millions of others in facing health problems or termination later. The status of world states (powerful or marginal) is determined by the quality of its educational systems. Further, the future of civic and productive students as adults is dependent upon the rigor of schooling methodologies, which encompass: learners who are dedicated to learn; teachers who guide and teach; peers who are collaborative learning partners; curricula, which are served by textbooks and material in the classrooms; methods, techniques and technologies as communicative tools of education and management messages; and school environments, which physically host most education factors, processes and services. Hence, this research article examined the educational methodologies cumulative from BC Sophists to the ICTs revolution at 2000+ A.C. a Comparative analytic review was conducted to specify the advances and setbacks accrued during the extended 500B.C-2000+A.C years in the lives of generations as future crucial professional, leaderships and pioneer assets of society