PILAR: Sharing VISIR Remote Labs Through a Federation

Social demands have promoted an educational approach based on an “anywhere and anytime” premise. Remote laboratories have emerged as the answer to the demands of technical educational areas for adapting themselves to this scenario. The result has not only benefit distance learning students but has provided new learning scenarios both for teachers and students as well as allowing a flexible approach to experimental topics. However, as any other solution for providing practical scenarios (hands-on labs, virtual labs or simulators), remote labs face several constraints inherited from the subsystems of its deployment -hardware (real instruments, equipment and scenario) and software (analog/digital conversions, communications, workbenches, etc.)-. This paper describes the Erasmus+ project Platform Integration of Laboratories based on the Architecture of visiR (PILAR) which deals with several units of the federation installed in different educational institutions and devoted to analog electronics and electrical circuits. Based on the limitations of remote labs, the need for the federation will be justified and its benefits will be described.The authors acknowledge the support of the Escuela de Doctorado de la UNED, the S2013/ICE-2715 - eMadrid project, VISIR+ project Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Higher Education 2015 nº 561735-EPP-1-2015-1-PT-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP and PILAR project Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership nº 2016-1-ES01-KA203-025327 (Platform Integration of Laboratories based on the Architecture of visiR). As well as to the Education Innovation Project (PIE) of UNED, “Desarrollos Avanzados Multi-Objetivo de Laboratorios Remotos para Actividades Educativas – DAMO-LRAE”, from the Vicerrectorado de Ordenación Académica y Calidad and the Instituto Universitario de Educación a Distancia (IUED) of the UNED and to the project 2018-IEQ18 from the Escuela Superior de Ingenieros Industriales of UNED.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses)

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are free online courses available to anyone who can sign up. MOOCs provide an affordable and flexible way to learn new skills, advance in careers, and provide quality educational experiences to a certain extent. Millions of people around the world use MOOCs for learning and their reasons are various, including career development, career change, college preparation, supplementary learning, lifelong learning, corporate e-Learning and training, and so on

Rethinking Pedagogy: Exploring the Potential of Digital Technology in Achieving Quality Education

(First Paragraph) The Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP) is UNESCO’s Category 1 education Institute in the Asia-Pacific region devoted to education for peace and sustainable development, as enshrined in SDG Target 4.7. UNESCO MGIEP promotes the use of digital learning platforms where teachers and students can co-create and share a highly interactive learning experience. With the rise of the internet, there has been a proliferation of online content and digital resources intended to support teaching and learning, albeit widely varying in quality. Digital education media and resources, if carefully designed and implemented, have a significant potential to be mobilized on a massive scale to support transformative learning for building sustainable, flourishing societies

Influence of employer support for professional development on MOOCs enrolment and completion: Results from a cross-course survey

Although the potential of open education and MOOCs for professional development is usually recognized, it has not yet been explored extensively. How far employers support non-formal learning is still an open question. This paper presents the findings of a survey-based study which focuses on the influence of employer support for (general) professional development on employees’ use of MOOCs. Findings show that employers are usually unaware that their employees are participating in MOOCs. In addition, employer support for general professional development is positively associated with employees completing MOOCs and obtaining certificates for them. However, the relationship between employer support and MOOC enrollment is less clear: workers who have more support from their employers tend to enroll in either a low or a high number of MOOCs. Finally, the promotion of a minimum of ICT skills by employers is shown to be an effective way of encouraging employee participation in the open education ecosystem.JRC.J.3-Information Societ

Implementation of MOOCs as a tool for improving Climate Change Competence In Pre-Service and In service Elementary and Secondary school teachers

[ES] La sociedad actual se enfrenta al desafío del Cambio Climático (CC). En este ámbito, la promoción del Desarrollo Sostenible ha obtenido un amplio reconocimiento internacional como el camino a seguir para mitigar sus consecuencias. La ONU, a través de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible, tiene como propósito sensibilizar, educar y elaborar estrategias de acción para hacer frente a este problema global. Lograr estos objetivos implica la necesidad de establecer marcos de acción que faciliten una Educación para la participación, la concienciación y la formación crítica y responsable de la ciudadanía. Así surge la Educación del Cambio Climático, una manera estratégica y significativa de promover los principios y prácticas del Desarrollo Sostenible. A pesar de que la educación está siendo reconocida como una herramienta fundamental en la lucha contra el CC, aún no existe una estrategia clara para implementarla de manera efectiva. Por ello, la utilidad de esta investigación radica en la introducción del concepto de Competencia en Cambio Climático (C3), que tiene como objetivo desarrollar ciudadanos con una conciencia sólida sobre este problema a través de la construcción, aplicación y difusión de conocimientos, comportamientos y valores. Los elementos que forman parte de la C3 son: ● Aprender a saber: incluye conocimientos y contenidos como la física y química del CC, y cómo los científicos explican causas y consecuencias. ● Aprender a hacer: desarrolla las habilidades de adaptación y mitigación. ● Aprender a ser: busca soluciones ambientales a través de actitudes y decisiones, con juicio y responsabilidad. Para desarrollar esta competencia es necesario acercar la ciencia del CC a la comunidad educativa. Una excelente alternativa, es realizarla a través de las nuevas herramientas formativas como los cursos en línea masivos y abiertos (MOOC). El presente trabajo se realizó mediante el diseño pre-experimental pretest-postest de un solo grupo, donde se evaluó la mejora de la C3 en profesores de educación primaria y secundaria. También se evaluó en distintas poblaciones mediante dos de los tres MOOCs diseñados y creados para estas poblaciones. Estos cursos fueron “Concienciación y capacitación en materia de CC para profesores de Primaria y Secundaria” y “Ciencia de Cambio Climático.” El comportamiento de la C3 se analizó a través de las técnicas de análisis de datos multivariante. Los resultados demostraron que los estudiantes que participaron en la formación de este curso mejoraron en los elementos de la C3. Además, los docentes afirmaron que tras completar la actividad de formación se sienten más seguros y comprometidos con la enseñanza de la CC. Por lo tanto, se refuerza la idea de que es necesario crear y diseñar más actividades de formación para los profesores y público en general. Esta investigación es el comienzo del desarrollo de la C3 en el personal educativo, pues se espera que futuras investigaciones desarrollen esta competencia en los estudiantes y sociedad en general

Adopting Circular Economy Current Practices and Future Perspectives

The development of a closed-loop cycle is a necessary condition so as to develop a circular economy model as an alternative to the linear model, in order to maintain the value of products and materials for as long as possible. For this motive, the definition of the value must be demonstrated for both the environment and the economy. The presence of these analyses should be associated with the social dimension and the human component. A strong cooperation between social and technical profiles is a new challenge for all researchers. End of life of products attract a lot of attention, and the final output could be the production of technologies suitable for managing this waste

The impact of emotions on student participation in an assessed, online, collaborative activity

There is growing recognition of the importance of emotions in academic online learning contexts. However, there is still little known about the role of emotions in social and collaborative online learning settings, especially the relationship between emotions and student participation. To explore this relationship, this study used a prospective longitudinal research design to follow 46 distance learning students throughout a 3-week assessed, online, collaborative activity. This approach allowed the fluctuating and dynamic aspects of emotions to be explored as well as the relationship between emotions and student participation in the collaborative activity. Self-report data were gathered using a semistructured online diary at five time points throughout the task (once at the start of the collaborative activity, three times during the activity, and the final entry after the activity had finished). Findings revealed that learners generally perceived pleasant emotions (such as relief, satisfaction and enjoyment) to have positive impacts, or no impact, on participation, whereas unpleasant emotions (such as anxiety, frustration, and disappointment) were generally perceived to have negative impacts, or no impact, on participation. Interestingly, however, anxiety, and to a smaller extent frustration, were perceived by a number of students to have positive impacts during the activity. To conclude this paper, implications for educators are highlighted

Session 1 - Vocational Education and Training: basics for teaching and research in Vocational Education and Training at universities

This session highlights the basics of Vocational Education and Training (VET). Each university has its own characteristics. The contributions seek to encourage various forms of VET. Challenges for universities and other institutions are emphasised. The contributions help draw conclusions for the Further structuring of VET in Sub-Saharan Africa. Other country-specific articles from the session concentrate on the characteristics and orientation of VET systems, thereby helping create an overall picture of the status of VET in all participating countries. The participants endeavored to analyze the current situation of VET in Sub-Saharan Africa by exploring the character and individual design of the current VET systems in the participating countries

MOOCKnowledge: Establishing a large-scale data-collection about participants of European Open Online Courses

While MOOCS have emerged as a new form of open online education around the world,there are still no cross- provider and large-scale data collections that provides reliable information about demographic details of the population of MOOC participants on the one hand, and their motivation, intentions, social context, lifelong learning profile and impact on study success and career development on the other hand. The MOOCKnowledge project is an initiative to establish a large-scale data-collection about participants of European MOOCs. In this paper we describe the motivation behind the project and discuss the research focus. We explain the structure of the survey instrument, report about the data collection process and provide an outlook on potential future developments of the project.JRC.J.3-Information Societ

Pending issues from digital inclusion in Ecuador: challenges for public policies, programs and projects developed and ICT-mediated teacher training

The policies of digital inclusion in Ecuador had a rebound since 2007, placing technology as a priority axis for government management. Despite this, there are still pending issues to be developed. This study is based on a qualitative approach that, through documentary research, bibliographic analysis and critical review of literature, can generate contributions that allow the identification of challenges and possible gaps to be faced by government entities in Ecuador when proposing actions that link education and technology. As main findings, it can be mentioned that the impacts and results from the application of the National Development Plans must transcend the figures, which allow to deepen the analysis in relation to this topic, together with initiatives and proposals that regarding digital inclusion cannot be developed in isolation and need to have comprehensive long-term management. Finally, it is essential to understand that it is not necessary to create only platforms, it is relevant to work from integral pedagogical designs that start by understanding teachers from their experiences, accompaniment and motivation for the design of a contextualized training structure on digital mediation issues