Static and Dynamic Poverty in Spain, 1993-2000

We focus on the statics and dynamics of poverty in Spain using data from the first eight waves of the European Community Household Panel from 1994 to 2001, a period not sufficiently covered by recent literature. The results confirm the pattern of poverty changes noted by other authors for the early nineteen-nineties. After this period poverty reduces slightly in incidence and intensity, but 2000 is the turning point. In the dynamic perspective, the pattern revealed is one of much mobility, but most of it short-range.ECHP, exit rate, income distribution, poverty dynamics, re-entry rate, Spain, static poverty.

Static and Dynamic Poverty in Spain, 1993-2000

We focus on the statics and dynamics of poverty in Spain using income data from the first eight waves of the European Community Household Panel. These data are for the years 1993-2000, a period not sufficiently covered by recent literature. The results confirm the pattern of poverty changes noted by other authors for the early nineteen-nineties. After this period poverty reduces slightly in incidence and intensity, but 2000 is a turning point. In the dynamic perspective, the pattern revealed is one of much mobility, but most of it short-range.ECHP, income distribution, poverty dynamics, re-entry and exit rate, static poverty.

The audiovisual knowledge pill as a gamification strategy in second language online courses

ste artículo presenta el impacto que tuvo la incorporación de grabaciones Vokis en los cursos virtuales de una serie de asignaturas de lenguas extranjeras (Inglés, Alemán, Francés e Italiano) en los grados de Estudios Ingleses y Turismo de la UNED, la Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, cuyas enseñanzas regladas son fundamentalmente en línea. Se plantea la hipótesis de que en un entorno de aprendizaje eminentemente textual como es el de los cursos virtuales de la plataforma oficial aLF, y en particular para lenguas extranjeras, la introducción de píldoras informativas audiovisuales con un componente de gamificación como el que proporciona la herramienta Voki, haría mejorar la actual dinámica de los cursos virtuales y su valoración por parte de los estudiantes. Este artículo describe la propia perspectiva de los estudiantes al respecto, el proceso de diseño e implementación de Vokis por parte de los equipos docentes para insertar información clave de tipo metodológico y epistemológico en sus cursos virtuales de lenguas extranjeras de forma lúdica, así como el efecto y la impresión causados por este experimento en el conjunto de los estudiantes que participaron en él.This article discusses the impact of the incorporation of Voki recordings into the virtual courses of a series of foreign language subjects (namely: English, German, French, and Italian) on the English Studies and Tourism degrees at UNED, the Spanish national distance university, whose formal courses are all fundamentally online. It is argued by the authors that in an essentially text-only learning environment like the virtual courses in the institutional e-Learning platform aLF, particularly for foreign language learning subjects, introducing informative audiovisual pills with a gamification component, such as those provided by the Vokitool, would improve both the dynamics and the students’ perception of the virtual courses. This article presents the students’ view on this issue, the process of designing and implementing Vokisto deliver methodological and epistemological information within the context of the virtual courses of foreign languages, and the effect and the impression of the whole experiment caused on the students who took part in it

'Thinking about learning': exploring the use of metacognitive strategies in online collaborative projects for distance professional English learning

This article explores the use of metacognitive strategies in the context of online collaborative language projects, on the basis of the authors’ claim that they can unveil spurious conventional assumptions on the general nature of online language learning, and thereby enable informed, self-regulated, and potentially effective individual learning processes. This research is situated in a recently completed pilot project called The Professional English Workbench, which involved task-based group formation and a rubric-based multi-cyclic (self- and hetero-) evaluation process that aimed at eliciting and enhancing the use of metacognition. As explained in the article, this project was undertaken by volunteer students from a number of subjects related to professional English in three Tourism subjects at UNED (according to a tertiary distance education institution which uses a blended learning methodology focusing on online learning via its virtual platform). Both the mechanics of the project and the analysis of the results are presented, making reference to the initial research questions, which were related to the students’ view on the collaborative tasks undertaken and the potential improvement of metacognitive competence in the context of the whole second language learning process.Este artículo explora el uso de estrategias metacognitivas en un contexto de proyectos lingüísticos colaborativos en línea, partiendo de la premisa de que pueden desvelar ciertas presuposiciones falsas relativas al aprendizaje de lenguas en línea y por tanto propiciar procesos de aprendizaje autónomo documentados, auto-regulados y potencialmente efectivos. Esta investigación parte de un proyecto piloto finalizado recientemente llamado The Professional English Workbench, que incluyó agrupaciones de alumnos basadas en tareas y un proceso de evaluación (tanto propia como externa) multi-cíclico, basado en el uso de rúbricas que tenían como objetivo principal la activación y mejora del uso de la metacognición. Tal y como se explica en el artículo, en este proyecto participaron estudiantes voluntarios de tres asignaturas relacionadas con el inglés profesional del grado de Turismo de la UNED, una institución de educación superior a distancia que hace uso de metodología de aprendizaje mixto centrada en la educación en línea a través de su plataforma virtual. Tras presentar tanto el funcionamiento del proyecto como el análisis de los resultados, se da respuesta a las preguntas de investigación iniciales, relacionadas con la opinión de los alumnos acerca de las tareas de colaboración llevadas a cabo y las posibilidades de mejora de la competencia metacognitiva en el contexto del proceso de aprendizaje de una segunda lengua

Hacia un nuevo paradigma de aprendizaje de segundas lenguas móvil, abierto y social

This article explores the design and development of an innovative didactic paradigm for second 12languages at a distance, social and open (with a triple linguistic, methodological and technological 13dimension), whose core is defined by mobile technology and the Learning of Languages Assisted 14by Mobile or MALL, not only as an additional tool that can be used to perform certain tasks (in a 15more or less structured way), but asthe main way in which distance students of second languages 16can interact and carry out their learning in a way effective.Este artículo explora el diseño y desarrollo de un innovador paradigma didáctico para segundas lenguas a distancia, social y abierto (con una triple dimensión lingüística, metodológica y tecnológica), cuyo núcleo quede definido por la tecnología móvil y el Aprendizaje de Lenguas Asistido por Móviles o MALL, no sólo como una herramienta adicional que puede ser utilizada para desempeñar ciertas tareas (de manera más o menos estructurada), sino como la principal forma en la que los estudiantes a distancia de segundas lenguas pueden interaccionar y llevar a cabo su aprendizaje de manera efectiva

Hacia un nuevo paradigma de aprendizaje de segundas lenguas móvil, abierto y social

This article explores the design and development of an innovative didactic paradigm for second 12languages at a distance, social and open (with a triple linguistic, methodological and technological 13dimension), whose core is defined by mobile technology and the Learning of Languages Assisted 14by Mobile or MALL, not only as an additional tool that can be used to perform certain tasks (in a 15more or less structured way), but asthe main way in which distance students of second languages 16can interact and carry out their learning in a way effective.Este artículo explora el diseño y desarrollo de un innovador paradigma didáctico para segundas lenguas a distancia, social y abierto (con una triple dimensión lingüística, metodológica y tecnológica), cuyo núcleo quede definido por la tecnología móvil y el Aprendizaje de Lenguas Asistido por Móviles o MALL, no sólo como una herramienta adicional que puede ser utilizada para desempeñar ciertas tareas (de manera más o menos estructurada), sino como la principal forma en la que los estudiantes a distancia de segundas lenguas pueden interaccionar y llevar a cabo su aprendizaje de manera efectiva

Country differences in the gender effect on poverty in Europe

This paper evaluates to what extent differences in population and structural characteristics between countries can explain country differences with respect to the gender effect on poverty. Our study aims to advance research on the structural dimension in the predominantly individually-oriented study field of poverty. To facilitate an approach that integrates individual and structural context dimensions we take advantage of multilevel techniques to test differences among a large number of countries regarding the effect of the gender gap on the risk of being poor, entering into poverty, and exiting from poverty. We use the European Union Survey on Income and Living Conditions for the years 2007-2008. From our analyses, we conclude that structural effects seem to be more relevant than individual effects in explaining country differences with regard to the gender poverty gap.The financial support from Spanish Ministry of Education through grant ECO2009-11117 and Junta de Andalucía though grant P07-SEJ-03261

Mobile and Massive Language Learning

This chapter explores the relationship between mobile language learning and massive open online courses (MOOCs) and suggests how they may be combined. Over the past decade or so, mobile devices have become more powerful and potentially valuable for second language learning. Improvements in network bandwidth for such devices has also opened the door for them to be used as clients for online courses, social networks and social media, and more recently LMOOCs (or language MOOCS), thereby potentiating the mobility that they offer to language learning students. The authors argue and illustrate that Mobile-Assisted LMOOCs (or MALMOOCs) could improve the language learning experience for many people through task-based online and situated learning, including activities that encourage learners to collaborate and to capture and share their language experiences from everyday life

Códigos impositivos, desigualdad y bienestar

En este artículo, a partir de la descomposición del índice de Gini, se analiza el efecto que tiene la aplicación de un código impositivo sobre los niveles de desigualdad y de bienestar, en una población de la que se considera una partición en subpoblaciones homogéneas respecto a un conjunto de características, distintas de la renta, que tienen incidencia fiscal. Classification-JEL : D63.código impositivo, desigualdad, bienestar.

The Distributional Effects of Devolution in the U.S. Welfare Reform

The passage of the PRWORA in 1996 devolved responsibility for the design of welfare programs from the federal to state governments in the U.S. Some of the strategies implemented to achieve the main goals of the reform –promoting higher levels of labor participation and decreasing levels of welfare dependency– might have had the effects of reducing the protection received by the most vulnerable households and increasing differences in benefit levels across states. We estimate these effects using TANF data covering the two decades after the PRWORA\u27s enactment. We measure the contribution of each state to inequality in adequacy rates. We provide an interpretation of the decomposition of the change in inequality in adequacy rates in terms of progressivity and re-ranking components, and we analyze the convergence in TANF adequacy rates. We also estimate the conditional convergence of adequacy ratios with respect to the change in labor participation, poverty rates, and caseloads. We find that differences in adequacy rates increased and that a downward divergence path took place ensuing devolution of welfare reform in the U.S