Accessibility evaluation of Moodle centred in visual impairements

Proceedings of: 7th International Conference on Web Information Systems and Technologies (WEBIST 2011), Noordwijkerhout, The Netherlands, May 6-9, 2011The use of new technologies has been increasing during last years in education. More specifically, the use of e-learning systems provides for students more freedom to learn through Internet when and where they prefer in each moment. However, e-learning tools are not perfect tools. Most of these e-learning tools present accessibility barriers, so not all students are able to use them completely in their studies. The goal of this paper is to evaluate if Moodle e-learning web tool is accessible for visually impaired people using assistive technologies like screen readers. The evaluation has been divided in two main objectives: first, to evaluate Moodle from a user perspective, simulating the interaction of a blind student with the system and using a screen reader; second, to evaluate Moodle from an accessibility expert perspective, analysing if Moodle is in accordance to ATAG and WCAG W3C guidelines.The work presented in this paper has been partially founded by GEMMA (TSI-020302-2010-141) and SAGAS (TSI-020100-2010-184) research projects

Accessibility barriers for users of screen readers in the Moodle learning content management system

In recent decades, the use of the Internet has spread rapidly into diverse social spheres including that of education. Currently, most educational centers make use of e-learning environments created through authoring tool applications like learning content management systems (LCMSs). However, most of these applications currently present accessibility barriers that make the creation of accessible e-learning environments difficult for teachers and administrators. In this paper, the accessibility of the Moodle authoring tool, one of the most frequently used LCMSs worldwide, is evaluated. More specifically, the evaluation is carried out from the perspective of two visually impaired users accessing content through screen readers, as well as a heuristic evaluation considering the World Wide Web Consortium's Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines. The evaluation results demonstrate that Moodle presents barriers for screen reader users, limiting their ability to access the tool. One example of accessibility problems for visually impaired users is the frequent inability to publish learning contents without assistance. In light of these results, the paper offers recommendations that can be followed to reduce or eliminate these accessibility barriers.This study has been partially funded by the MA2VICMR (S2009/TIC-1542) research project.Publicad

Anthocyanin Pigments: Importance, Sample Preparation and Extraction

Anthocyanins are naturally occuring pigments belonging to the group of flavonoids, a subclass of the polyphenol family. They are common components of the human diet, as they are present in many foods, fruits and vegetables, especially in berries and red wine. There were more studies conducted on effect of processing and storage on changes and stability of colors of anthocyanins in foods such as fruits and also for their use as natural colorants. Besides, the interest on anthocyanins is still growing also owing to their strong antioxidant activity against many chronic diseases, numerous studies about their medicinal, therapeutical and nutritional value were also conducted. There are pieces of evidence regarding the positive association of their intake with healthy biological effects. They act as antioxidants both in the foodstuffs in which they are found and in the organism that take in foods rich in anthocyanins. Many efforts have been carried out to develop new analytical techniques for identification and quantification of anthocyanins in plant materials, as well as their effects in vivo and in vitro. With this in mind, an overview to general considerations concerning (i) polyphenol and flavonoid history; (ii) chemical structure, color and intake of anthocyanins and (iii) sample preparation and extraction methods are presented in this chapter

Prolonged oral cannabinoid administration prevents neuroinflammation, lowers β-amyloid levels and improves cognitive performance in Tg APP 2576 mice

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.-- et al.[Background]: Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain shows an ongoing inflammatory condition and non-steroidal anti-inflammatories diminish the risk of suffering the neurologic disease. Cannabinoids are neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory agents with therapeutic potential. [Methods]: We have studied the effects of prolonged oral administration of transgenic amyloid precursor protein (APP) mice with two pharmacologically different cannabinoids (WIN 55,212-2 and JWH-133, 0.2 mg/kg/day in the drinking water during 4 months) on inflammatory and cognitive parameters, and on 18F-fluoro-deoxyglucose (18FDG) uptake by positron emission tomography (PET). [Results]: Novel object recognition was significantly reduced in 11 month old Tg APP mice and 4 month administration of JWH was able to normalize this cognitive deficit, although WIN was ineffective. Wild type mice cognitive performance was unaltered by cannabinoid administration. Tg APP mice showed decreased 18FDG uptake in hippocampus and cortical regions, which was counteracted by oral JWH treatment. Hippocampal GFAP immunoreactivity and cortical protein expression was unaffected by genotype or treatment. In contrast, the density of Iba1 positive microglia was increased in Tg APP mice, and normalized following JWH chronic treatment. Both cannabinoids were effective at reducing the enhancement of COX-2 protein levels and TNF-α mRNA expression found in the AD model. Increased cortical β-amyloid (Aβ) levels were significantly reduced in the mouse model by both cannabinoids. Noteworthy both cannabinoids enhanced Aβ transport across choroid plexus cells in vitro. [Conclusions]: In summary we have shown that chronically administered cannabinoid showed marked beneficial effects concomitant with inflammation reduction and increased Aβ clearance.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology (SAF 2005-02845 to M.L.C). A.M.M-M. was recipient a fellowship from the Ministry of Education and Science.Peer Reviewe

Informational literacy and digital competence in teacher education students

España es uno de los mayores consumidores de contenidos digitales de todo el mundo, especialmente contenidos audiovisuales compartidos en redes sociales, pero la competencia multimedia e informacional de su ciudadanía todavía resulta insuficiente. Paralelamente, son cuantiosos los estudios que evidencian que existe un vacío formativo al respecto en el ámbito universitario. Por ello, en este trabajo hemos querido analizar la percepción que tienen los estudiantes del área de educación -futuros graduados en Educación Infantil y Primaria- en relación con su competencia digital docente, detectar carencias e identificar su nivel competencial en materia de alfabetización mediática en convergencia con la competencia digital. Los estándares utilizados como referente nos los proporcionan el «Marco Común de Competencia Digital Docente» del Instituto Nacional de Tecnologías Educativas y la «Orientación Normativa y Estratégica de la Alfabetización Mediática e Informacional» de la UNESCO. En base a ellos, se ha elaborado un cuestionario online cuyos resultados evidencian que los alumnos de la Universidad Internacional de Valencia vinculados al magisterio muestran un nivel competencial avanzado en las áreas de información, comunicación y creación de contenidos audiovisuales, lo que garantiza competencias tanto multimedia e informacionales como digitales. Mientras que las habilidades más bajas están vinculadas con la seguridad y la innovación tecnológica. Asimismo, la autopercepción apriorística de los futuros maestros sobre su competencia digital supera las capacidades que manifiesta esta investigación mediante las evidencias proporcionadas por las respuestas del cuestionario.Spain is one of the largest consumers of digital content worldwide, especially audiovisual content shared on social networks, but the media and information literacy of its citizens is still insufficient. In addition, there are many studies showing that there is a training gap on this subject at the university level. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze future Early Childhood and Primary education graduates’ perception regarding digital literacy in order to identify their shortfalls and assess their level of competence in media literacy in conjunction with digital literacy. As reference standards, we used the «Marco Común de Competencia Digital Docente» by the Instituto Nacional de Tecnologías Educativas and the «Orientación Normativa y Estratégica de la Alfabetización Mediática e Informacional» by UNESCO. From that point, an online questionnaire was implemented as an instrument for the development of this study. The results showed that Universidad Internacional de Valencia’s education students have an advanced level of competence in the areas of information, communication and audiovisual content creation, which ensures good media, information literacy and digital competences. They showed to have, however, poorer safety and technological innovation skills. Likewise, the future teachers’ personal perception about their digital competence is higher than the actual findings of this research show

Vascular Dysfunction in a Transgenic Model of Alzheimer's Disease: Effects of CB1R and CB2R Cannabinoid Agonists

There is evidence of altered vascular function, including cerebrovascular, in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and transgenic models of the disease. Indeed vasoconstrictor responses are increased, while vasodilation is reduced in both conditions. β-Amyloid (Aβ) appears to be responsible, at least in part, of alterations in vascular function. Cannabinoids, neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory agents, induce vasodilation both in vivo and in vitro. We have demonstrated a beneficial effect of cannabinoids in models of AD by preventing glial activation. In this work we have studied the effects of these compounds on vessel density in amyloid precursor protein (APP) transgenic mice, line 2576, and on altered vascular responses in aortae isolated ring. First we showed increased collagen IV positive vessels in AD brain compared to control subjects, with a similar increase in TgAPP mice, which was normalized by prolonged oral treatment with the CB1/CB2 mixed agonist WIN 55,212-2 (WIN) and the CB2 selective agonist JWH-133 (JWH). In Tg APP mice the vasoconstriction induced by phenylephrine and the thromboxane agonist U46619 was significantly increased, and no change in the vasodilation to acetylcholine (ACh) was observed. Tg APP displayed decreased vasodilation to both cannabinoid agonists, which were able to prevent decreased ACh relaxation in the presence of Aβ. In summary, we have confirmed and extended the existence of altered vascular responses in Tg APP mice. Moreover, our results suggest that treatment with cannabinoids may ameliorate the vascular responses in AD-type pathology.This work was supported by the Council of Madrid (S- BIO/0170/2006 and P2010/BMD-2349 to MLC) and by Instituto de Salud Carlos III/FISS (PI12/00590 to TT). AM received a fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science and JN-D from FISS. Dr. R. Martínez-Murillo is acknowledged for preliminary EM experiments.Peer reviewedPeer Reviewe

Alfabetización informacional y competencia digital en estudiantes de magisterio

Resumen:España es uno de los mayores consumidores de contenidos digitales de todo el mundo, especialmente contenidos audiovisuales compartidos en redes sociales, pero la competencia multimedia e informacional de su ciudadanía todavía resulta insuficiente. Paralelamente, son cuantiosos los estudios que evidencian que existe un vacío formativo al respecto en el ámbito universitario. Por ello, en este trabajo hemos querido analizar la percepción que tienen los estudiantes del área de educación -futuros graduados en Educación Infantil y Primaria- en relación con su competencia digital docente, detectar carencias e identificar su nivel competencial en materia de alfabetización mediática en convergencia con la competencia digital. Los estándares utilizados como referente nos los proporcionan el «Marco Común de Competencia Digital Docente» del Instituto Nacional de Tecnologías Educativas y la «Orientación Normativa y Estratégica de la Alfabetización Mediática e Informacional» de la UNESCO. En base a ellos, se ha elaborado un cuestionario online cuyos resultados evidencian que los alumnos de la Universidad Internacional de Valencia vinculados al magisterio muestran un nivel competencial avanzado en las áreas de información, comunicación y creación de contenidos audiovisuales, lo que garantiza competencias tanto multimedia e informacionales como digitales. Mientras que las habilidades más bajas están vinculadas con la seguridad y la innovación tecnológica. Asimismo, la autopercepción apriorística de los futuros maestros sobre su competencia digital supera las capacidades que manifiesta esta investigación mediante las evidencias proporcionadas por las respuestas del cuestionario. Abstract:Spain is one of the largest consumers of digital content worldwide, especially audiovisual content shared on social networks, but the media and information literacy of its citizens is still insufficient. In addition, there are many studies showing that there is a training gap on this subject at the university level. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze future Early Childhood and Primary education graduates’ perception regarding digital literacy in order to identify their shortfalls and assess their level of competence in media literacy in conjunction with digital literacy. As reference standards, we used the «Marco Común de Competencia Digital Docente» by the Instituto Nacional de Tecnologías Educativas and the «Orientación Normativa y Estratégica de la Alfabetización Mediática e Informacional» by UNESCO. From that point, an online questionnaire was implemented as an instrument for the development of this study. The results showed that Universidad Internacional de Valencia’s education students have an advanced level of competence in the areas of information, communication and audiovisual content creation, which ensures good media, information literacy and digital competences. They showed to have, however, poorer safety and technological innovation skills. Likewise, the future teachers’ personal perception about their digital competence is higher than the actual findings of this research show

La competencia digital en estudiantes de magisterio. Análisis competencial y percepción personal del futuro maestro

Educational policies have highlighted digitalcompetence as a key for citizens at anyformative stage. In this way, teachers musthave developed their own digital skills tobe able to contribute to the student’s developmentof their digital competence. Inthis study, we aimed to analyze the integrationof Information and CommunicationTechnologies within Early Childhoodand Primary Education degrees and thetechnological training which teachers hadreceived. The main objective of this study,based on the available policies, is to explorethe perception that the students ofEducational Degrees have of their own digitalcompetence, using as a reference theDigital Competence Framework for Educators published by the Spanish Ministry ofEducation. We have designed a questionnaire,which has been answered by 104students from the Early Childhood EducationDegree and the Primary EducationDegree. Results show that students (andfuture teachers) have, in general terms, anintermediate level of digital competence,showing good marks in the areas of Informationand Communication. The lowestrates are linked to safety, problem solvingand creation of technological contents. Itis important to highlight that there are differencesbetween the personal perceptionof the future teachers about their own digitalcompetence and the real abilities thatthe marks show.La competencia digital del ciudadano se ha convertido en un elemento clave en las políticas educativas de cualquier etapa formativa. En este sentido, que el profesorado que imparte docencia en las diferentes enseñanzas haya adquirido y desarrollado sus propias destrezas en este ámbito, se postula como un prerrequisito básico para que los estudiantes puedan adquirir también esta competencia. En este trabajo se analiza la integración normativa de las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación en las etapas de Educación Infantil y Educación Primaria, así como el planteamiento que se realiza de la formación tecnológica del profesoradocomo base para el estudio posterior. El objetivo principal de este trabajo, partiendo de la regulación normativa, es explorar la percepción que tienen los estudiantes de los títulos de Magisterio acerca de su propia competencia digital, interpretando los resultados en base a la propuesta del Marco Común de Competencia Digital Docente del Ministerio de Educación,Cultura y Deporte. Para ello, se ha diseñado un cuestionario ad-hoc, que ha sido respondido por 104 estudiantes de los Grados de Educación Infantil y Educación Primaria. Los resultados evidencian que los estudiantes (y futuros docentes) tienen, de modo global, un nivel de competencia digital intermedio, obteniendo mayores puntuaciones en las áreas de informacióny comunicación y mayores carencias en las áreas de seguridad, resolución de problemas y creación de contenidos. Es importante resaltar, asimismo que hay divergencias entre la percepción personal de los futuros maestros sobre su competencia digital y las capacidades reales que demuestran los resultados

Toxic Effects of the Cylindrospermopsin and Chlorpyrifos Combination on the Differentiated SH-SY5Y Human Neuroblastoma Cell Line

Due to climate change and anthropogenic activities, the levels of pollution of aquatic and terrestrial environments have increased in the last decades. In this sense, the rise of cyanobacterial blooms, which release secondary metabolites with toxic properties, and the global use of pesticides for agricultural purposes have a negative impact on ecosystems. Thus, it would be interesting to study the concomitance of both types of toxicants in the same sample, since it is possible that they appear together. The aim of the present work was to state the effects of the interaction between the cyanotoxin cylindrospermopsin and the pesticide chlorpyrifos in differentiated SH-SY5Y neuronal cells to assess how they could affect the nervous system. To this end, cytotoxicity, morphological, and acetylcholinesterase activity studies were performed during 24 and 48 h. The results revealed a concentration-dependent decrease in viability and interaction between both toxicants, together with clear signs of apoptosis and necrosis induction. In this sense, different stages on the differentiation process would lead to differences in the toxicity exerted by the compounds both isolated as in combination, which it is not observed in non-differentiated cells. Additionally, the acetylcholinesterase activity appeared not to be affected, which is a clear difference compared to non-differentiated cells. These results show the importance of studying not only the toxicants themselves, but also in combination, to assess their possible effects in a more realistic scenario.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación PID 2019-104890RB-I0

Designing a comprehensive methodology to integrate sustainability issues in CDIO projects

We present in this study the first steps in the design and implementation of a new methodology that aims to consider systematically the different dimensions of sustainability, including ethical and strategic aspects, attempting to balance all them. The pilot methodology was implemented in the course 2014-15 in the ?INGENIA? course, a 12 ECTS compulsory subject taught in the first year of the master in industrial engineering of the Technical University of Madrid. As this is an on-going process, we also introduce some practical guidelines we are currently addressing to the students by means of taking into account various approaches in particular socio-economic contexts or to differentiate specificities by industrial sectors or activity fields. Ultimately, we aim at enabling our INGENIA-CDIO students to raise reflections and assessments about the related impacts of their engineering projects