Valutazione della competenza digitale: che cosa fare per la scuola primaria

Assessment of Digital Competence: A Tool for Primary Schools Digital competence is now recognized as one of the most important educational goals to be pursued in the policies of the new millennium. Research is proposing numerous considerations to better define the nature of this competence and it generally stresses the need to develop theoretical models in which, together with strictly technical knowledge and skills, cognitive abilities and notions of ethics and behavior are also present. This theoretical reflection includes the problem of providing schools with tools to facilitate and assess progressive advances at various levels of age. In the European framework and within the Digital Competence Assessment (DCA), a program which also covers other school levels, the present contribution shows a questionnaire used in order to assess digital competence in primary schools, which is useful to identify areas on which to conduct immediate actions. The questionnaire, together with its accompanying instructions, is made available to schools under the Creative Commons license

Gli Open Educational Path: per una accezione epistemologica di “apertura”

L’e-learning universitario ha visto affermarsi nuovi orientamenti all’insegna di una filosofia di “apertura” (openness) intesa come libero accesso e/o gratuità: i MOOC ne sono l’esempio più noto. È questa l’unica strada che caratterizzerà l’e-learning del futuro?Il nuovo e-learning potrebbe accompagnarsi ad un miglioramento della qualità della didattica, anche in presenza. Questo contributo presenta una diversa accezione di openness in senso epistemologico, come “ristrutturazione in itinere della conoscenza posseduta”.Si propone un approccio chiamato Open Educational Path (OEPath), una variante metodologica delle Open Educational Practices (OEP), che mette al centro l’idea che gli studenti, sfruttando il web come sede di costruzione della conoscenza, possano partecipare attivamente ad arricchire il percorso di apprendimento, andando anche oltre le conoscenze fornite dal docente.Tale approccio risponde alle esigenze di equilibrio tra una didattica aperta e problematizzante e i vincoli di sostenibilità imposti dalla gestione di un alto numero di partecipanti

Quali scenari per le pratiche e-learning nell’università? Gli “Open Educational Path”

E-learning for over fifteen years has evolved from a simple instrument for virtual educational interactions (1.0) to an environment capable of promoting wide participatory experiences (2.0). Recently, Open philosophy has given rise to new ways of designing and using courses, while Open Educational Practices (OEP) have encouraged the use and reuse of online educational resources. Internet is no longer only a channel, since it increasingly appears as an environment offering new opportunities for discovering and questioning acquired knowledge. These new trends should also allow small-medium universities or individual members of teaching staff to renew institutional practices improving educational quality. In this article, we propose a modality called Open Educational Path (OEPath®), a methodological variation of e-learning, within the OEP. Openness is understood in a critical-cognitive way, as “openness to the ongoing restructuring of knowledge and its sharing”. Students are encouraged to actively participate, depending on their expertise, in enriching and revising the learning path

Specialization for support teachers. Assessing the educational innovation in a perspective of quality

The Ministry of Education in Italy has launched several initiatives to foster inclusive school system; the Specialization Course for Support Teacher (D.M. 30.09.2011) attests the institutional willingness to make this educational area an organic and unavoidable component of future teachers professionalism. In this paper we analyze the approach and outcomes of the first two cycles of the Specialization Course for Support Teacher held at the University of Florence in the years 2013-2014 and 2014-2015: they represented a test case to evaluate possibilities and problems in implementing an institutional innovation in a complex area as inclusion. We intend to provide indications for the construction of a model of quality and show how the Course will be exposed to a circular process of improvement to influence the third edition in 2017. La formazione per il sostegno. Valutare l’innovazione didattica in un’ottica di qualitàIl MIUR ha avviato diverse iniziative per favorire un sistema scolastico inclusivo; il Corso di Specializzazione per il Sostegno (D.M. 30.09.2011) attesta la volontà istituzionale di rendere questo ambito della formazione una componente organica e imprescindibile della professionalità dei futuri insegnanti. Nel presente contributo si analizzano l’impostazione e gli esiti dei primi due cicli del Corso di Specializzazione per il sostegno tenutisi presso l’Università di Firenze, negli anni 2013-2014 e 2014-2015: essi hanno rappresentato un banco di prova per valutare possibilità e criticità nell’attuare una innovazione istituzionale in un ambito complesso come quello dell’inclusione. Intendiamo quindi avanzare indicazioni per la costruzione di un modello di qualità e mostrare come il Corso possa essere sottoposto ad un processo circolare di miglioramento in grado di interessare anche la terza edizione del 2017

Innovare la formazione: il ruolo della videoeducazione per lo sviluppo dei nuovi educatori

The Lesson Study approach, especially when enhanced by new technologies, is one of the most effective methods for teachers training.After a brief overview on the changes taking place in educational research and teacher education, we present a training model address to pre-service teachers which provides a circular path of gradual improvement of quality teaching supported by video recording. Then we discuss the results of this first trial.Nell’ambito della ricerca dei metodi più efficaci per la formazione dei nuovi educatori grande attenzione riceve l’approccio detto Lesson Study in particolare se potenziato da supporti forniti dalle nuove tecnologie. Dopo un breve quadro sui cambiamenti in atto nella ricerca didattica e nella formazione degli insegnanti si presenta un modello formativo per tirocinanti che prevede un percorso circolare di miglioramento progressivo della qualità dell’interazione didattica coadiuvato da videoregistrazione. Si analizzano i risultati della sperimentazione

Seismostratigraphic and structural setting of the Malvinas Basin and its southern margin (Tierra del fuego Atlantic offshore)

New multichannel seismic reflection profiles acquired off the Tierra del Fuego Atlantic margin, from the southern part of the Malvinas foreland basin to the inner sector of the Magallanes fold and thrust belt, combined with available commercial profiles and exploration wells, allowed to outline the sedimentary architecture of the foreland basin and the structure of its deformed southern margin. Five major unconformities were differentiated within the sedimentary fill of the southern Malvinas basin, which neighbours the offshore extension of the Magallanes basin in Tierra del Fuego. The unconformity-bounded units record the corresponding major evolutionary tectonostratigraphic phases of the southern part of the Malvinas basin, and the development of the Magallanes fold-and thrust belt during Mesozoic and Cenozoic times: Unit 1 - Pre-Jurassic basement; Unit 2 - Rift phase (Middle - Upper Jurassic); Unit 3 - Sag phase (Lower - Upper Cretaceous); Unit 4 - Foredeep transitional phase (Upper Cretaceous - Middle Eocene); Unit 5 - Foreland phase (Middle Eocene - Pleistocene). The southern edge of the Malvinas basin corresponds to the imbricate basement wedges of the Fuegian Cordillera, which shows a thick-skin structural style developed as a consequence of the Middle Tertiary Andean compressional tectonic phase. Large folds, with low angle NE-verging thrusts propagated the shortening basin-ward at shallow structural levels. These structures are superimposed by an array of left-lateral strike-slip lineaments pertaining to the EW trending Magallanes-Fagnano fault system. In the Tierra del Fuego region these structures represent the western segment of the South America - Scotia plate boundary. Several Neogene pull-apart basins were formed along the principal deformation zone in correspondence of step-overs and releasing bends. These basins show an evident asymmetry in the sedimentary architecture, and are bounded by sub-vertical faults that in some cases reach the sea-floor. Other transtensional features were also recognized in the inner sector of the fold-and-thrust belt together with the formation of restricted pull-apart basins

Mapping Protein Structure Changes with Cysteine Labeling Kinetics by Mass Spectrometry

Currently we observe a gap between theory and practices of patient engagement. If both scholars and health practitioners do agree on the urgency to realize patient engagement, no shared guidelines exist so far to orient clinical practice. Despite a supportive policy context, progress to achieve greater patient engagement is patchy and slow and often concentrated at the level of policy regulation without dialoguing with practitioners from the clinical field as well as patients and families. Though individual clinicians, care teams and health organizations may be interested and deeply committed to engage patients and family members in the medical course, they may lack clarity about how to achieve this goal. This contributes to a wide "system" inertia-really difficult to be overcome-and put at risk any form of innovation in this filed. As a result, patient engagement risk today to be a buzz words, rather than a real guidance for practice. To make the field clearer, we promoted an Italian Consensus Conference on Patient Engagement (ICCPE) in order to set the ground for drafting recommendations for the provision of effective patient engagement interventions. The ICCPE will conclude in June 2017. This document reports on the preliminary phases of this process. In the paper, we advise the importance of "fertilizing a patient engagement ecosystem": an oversimplifying approach to patient engagement promotion appears the result of a common illusion. Patient "disengagement" is a symptom that needs a more holistic and complex approach to solve its underlined causes. Preliminary principles to promote a patient engagement ecosystem are provided in the paper

Targeting Inflammation With Nanosized Drug Delivery Platforms in Cardiovascular Diseases: Immune Cell Modulation in Atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis (AS) is a disorder of large and medium-sized arteries; it consists in the formation of lipid-rich plaques in the intima and inner media, whose pathophysiology is mostly driven by inflammation. Currently available interventions and therapies for treating atherosclerosis are not always completely effective; side effects associated with treatments, mainly caused by immunodepression for anti-inflammatory molecules, limit the systemic administration of these and other drugs. Given the high degree of freedom in the design of nanoconstructs, in the last decades researchers have put high effort in the development of nanoparticles (NPs) formulations specifically designed for either drug delivery, visualization of atherosclerotic plaques, or possibly the combination of both these and other functionalities. Here we will present the state of the art of these subjects, the knowledge of which is necessary to rationally address the use of NPs for prevention, diagnosis, and/or treatment of AS. We will analyse the work that has been done on: (a) understanding the role of the immune system and inflammation in cardiovascular diseases, (b) the pathological and biochemical principles in atherosclerotic plaque formation, (c) the latest advances in the use of NPs for the recognition and treatment of cardiovascular diseases, (d) the cellular and animal models useful to study the interactions of NPs with the immune system cells

Superinfections caused by carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales in hospitalized patients with COVID-19: a multicentre observational study from Italy (CREVID Study)

Objectives To describe clinical characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 patients who developed secondary infections due to carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE). Methods Retrospective observational study including COVID-19 patients admitted to 12 Italian hospitals from March to December 2020 who developed a superinfection by CRE. Superinfection was defined as the occurrence of documented bacterial infection >48 h from admission. Patients with polymicrobial infections were excluded. Demographic, clinical characteristics and outcome were collected. Isolates were classified as KPC, metallo-beta-lactamase (MBL) and OXA-48-producing CRE. A Cox regression analysis was performed to identify factors independently associated with 30 day mortality. Results Overall, 123 patients (median age 66 years, IQR 59-75) were included. The majority of infections occurred in the ICU (81, 65.9%), while 42 (34.1%) in medical wards. The most common types of infection were bloodstream infections (BSI) (n = 64, 52%), followed by urinary-tract infections (UTI) (n = 28, 22.8%), hospital-acquired/ventilator-associated pneumonia (HAP/VAP) (n = 28, 22.8%), intra-abdominal infections (n = 2, 1.6%) and skin infections (n = 1, 0.8%). Sixty-three (51.2%) infections were caused by KPC-, 54 (43.9%) by MBL-, and 6 (4.8%) by OXA-48-producing CRE. Thirty-day mortality was 33.3% (41/123). On Cox regression analysis, HAP/VAP compared with UTI (HR 7.23, 95% CI 2.09-24.97, P = 0.004), BSI compared with UTI (HR 3.96, 95% CI, 1.33-11.77, P = 0.004), lymphopenia on admission (HR 3, 95% CI 1.44-6.26, P = 0.003) and age (HR 1.05, 95% CI 1.02-1.08, P = 0.002) were predictors of 30 day mortality. Conclusions Superinfections by CRE were associated with high risk of 30 day mortality in patients with COVID-19. HAP/VAP was the strongest predictor of death in these patients

Ceftolozane/Tazobactam for Treatment of Severe ESBL-Producing Enterobacterales Infections: A Multicenter Nationwide Clinical Experience (CEFTABUSE II Study)

Background. Few data are reported in the literature about the outcome of patients with severe extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacterales (ESBL-E) infections treated with ceftolozane/tazobactam (C/T), in empiric or definitive therapy.Methods. A multicenter retrospective study was performed in Italy (June 2016-June 2019). Successful clinical outcome was defined as complete resolution of clinical signs/symptoms related to ESBL-E infection and lack of microbiological evidence of infection. The primary end point was to identify predictors of clinical failure of C/T therapy.Results. C/T treatment was documented in 153 patients: pneumonia was the most common diagnosis (n = 46, 30%), followed by 34 cases of complicated urinary tract infections (22.2%). Septic shock was observed in 42 (27.5%) patients. C/T was used as empiric therapy in 46 (30%) patients and as monotherapy in 127 (83%) patients. Favorable clinical outcome was observed in 128 (83.7%) patients; 25 patients were considered to have failed C/T therapy. Overall, 30-day mortality was reported for 15 (9.8%) patients. At multivariate analysis, Charlson comorbidity index >4 (odds ratio [OR], 2.3; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.9-3.5; P = .02), septic shock (OR, 6.2; 95% CI, 3.8-7.9; P < .001), and continuous renal replacement therapy (OR, 3.1; 95% CI, 1.9-5.3; P = .001) were independently associated with clinical failure, whereas empiric therapy displaying in vitro activity (OR, 0.12; 95% CI, 0.01-0.34; P < .001) and adequate source control of infection (OR, 0.42; 95% CI, 0.14-0.55; P < .001) were associated with clinical success.Conclusions. Data show that C/T could be a valid option in empiric and/or targeted therapy in patients with severe infections caused by ESBL-producing Enterobacterales. Clinicians should be aware of the risk of clinical failure with standard-dose C/T therapy in septic patients receiving CRRT