Teaching skills in virtual and blended learning environments

Universities are currently immersed in what is known as the process of European convergence to create the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). The aim is to establish a standardized, compatible and flexible European university system that enables graduates and undergraduates to move easily from one institution to another within Europe. As a result of evaluation mechanisms, the system will be transparent and of high quality, which will make it attractive and competitive internationally in a globalized world. In this paper, we focus on two distance learning modes that will become more important as a result of this change in universities: e-learning and b-learning. These basically involve the virtualization of learning processes through the use of computer equipment. We carried out a qualitative study using the case study method. The results indicate that teaching staff use information and communication technology (ICT) to improve student learning. Similarly, a high percentage (78%) of lecturers use some form of digital platform as a support for teaching. In conclusion, training policies should strengthen university teachers’ skills in the use of ICT equipment, tools and resources related to blended and virtual learning

Android Malware Characterization using Metadata and Machine Learning Techniques

Android Malware has emerged as a consequence of the increasing popularity of smartphones and tablets. While most previous work focuses on inherent characteristics of Android apps to detect malware, this study analyses indirect features and meta-data to identify patterns in malware applications. Our experiments show that: (1) the permissions used by an application offer only moderate performance results; (2) other features publicly available at Android Markets are more relevant in detecting malware, such as the application developer and certificate issuer, and (3) compact and efficient classifiers can be constructed for the early detection of malware applications prior to code inspection or sandboxing.Comment: 4 figures, 2 tables and 8 page

EFL teaching to school students with Asperger Syndrome: perceptions from the school community

Tesis (Profesor de Inglés para la Enseñanza Básica y Media y al grado académico de Licenciado en Educación)The present study investigated the perceptions of the school community regarding EFL teaching to Asperger (AS) Students within the mainstream classroom. This single case study was conducted in a public School in La Florida in Santiago de Chile. Three teachers and one mother from the school participated in a single oral interview. The data sources were three individual semi-structured interviews, designed for the different participants of our study. Overall, the results revealed that the school community plays an important role in AS students’ EFL learning process as each of them contribute in aspects of his or her education. Teachers feel they need to have more support from the Ministry of Education and there is lack of information about how to manage AS students in the EFL mainstream classroom. Special educational needs teachers (SEN teacher henceforth) suggest schools to have at least one SEN teacher present in a classroom when a subject is taught, which in this case would be English as a foreign language. Last but not least, parents suggest and urge teachers to take responsibility in their education and training, and prepare themselves and study specific courses that would help them to better teach and work with AS students and other SEN children. If the participants were unanimously in accord, it would be most beneficial for the AS students English learning process. In Chile, there is a Law that establishes an equality of conditions for those individuals who possess, at least, one type of disability in the physical, mental, psychic, intellectual, or sensory; whether temporary or permanent, is considered disabled.El presente estudio busca investigar la enseñanza del Inglés a niños con Asperger dentro del aula convencional. Nuestro objetivo es recolectar información acerca de las percepciones que la comunidad escolar tiene respecto a este asunto. Este estudio de caso se llevó a cabo en un colegio público de la Florida. Tres profesores y una madre pertenecientes a la comunidad escolar participaron en una entrevista oral. La recolección de datos fue por medio de tres entrevistas semi estructuradas, diseñadas de acuerdo a los diferentes participantes de nuestro estudio. En general, los resultados revelaron que la comunidad escolar desempeña un papel importante en el proceso de aprendizaje de Inglés como Idioma Extranjero (IIE) de los estudiantes con SA, ya que cada uno de ellos contribuye en aspectos de su educación.. Los maestros sienten que necesitan tener más apoyo del Ministerio de Educación y no hay información sobre cómo administrar a los estudiantes con SA en el aula convencional de IIE. Los educadores diferenciales sugieren que las escuelas tengan al menos un(a) educador(a) diferencial presente en el aula cuando se enseña una materia, que en este caso sería IIE. Por último, pero no menos importante, los apoderados sugieren e instan a los maestros a que asuman responsabilidad en su educación y capacitación, y se preparen y estudien cursos específicos que les ayuden a enseñar y trabajar de mejor forma con estudiantes con SA y otros niños con necesidades especiales. Si los participantes unánimemente están de acuerdo, sería lo más beneficioso para el proceso de aprendizaje de inglés de los estudiantes con síndrome de Asperger. En Chile, existe una Ley que establece una igualdad de condiciones para aquellos individuos que posean, al menos, un tipo de discapacidad en lo físico, mental, psíquico, intelectual, o sensorial; ya sea de carácter temporal o permanente, es considerado discapacitado

Effects of making errors in learning a foreign language

Kornell, Hays, and Bjork ([2009]. Unsuccessful retrieval attempts enhance subsequent learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 35, 989–998) showed that incorrect guesses do not necessarily harm and might even improve the retention of information on a subsequent test. We sought to replicate the finding using educationally relevant stimuli. In two experiments, our participants either translated sentences in a foreign language receiving immediate feedback (errorful condition), or copied and studied the correct translation (errorless condition). After this training phase, a final test with the same sentences showed that translating sentences wrongly during training did not lower the accuracy of the errorful as compared to the errorless condition. Overall there was evidence that errorful training produced superior learning of the meaning and grammar of the foreign language sentences. The results support the idea that search processes activate a greater network of related knowledge in the errorful than in the errorless condition.</p

Noticioso el Gobierno de los continuos robos, insultos y atrocidades... por varias quadrillas de salteadores y facinerosos...

Copia digital. Valladolid : Junta de Castilla y León. Consejería de Cultura y Turismo, 2009-2010Contiene: Plan para la formación de partidas de paysanos voluntarios pagados, que se dediquen á la persecución de malhechores -- Instrucción para el gobierno de las partidas de paisanos voluntarios con destino á la persecución y arresto de malhechore

¿Qué es el territorio? Aproximaciones teórico conceptuales y metodológicas

El presente documento forma parte del marco teórico general del proyecto de investigación 2013-2015 "Alternativas regionales y regiones alternativas como procesos complejos de desarrollo construidos desde abajo: los casos del sur de Jalisco y otras regiones asociadas". La propuesta parte de un marco epistemológico que toma en cuenta la complejidad de la vida y del mundo actual, particularmente del territorio y de quienes buscan transformarlo hacia el “buen vivir”. De ahí la importancia del pensamiento complejo y de la inter y transdisciplina en nuestro proyecto de investigación. Como concepto central, concepto ancla o articulador del eje, se encuentra la noción misma de “territorio” con sus diversas miradas o abordajes. Desde este gran concepto articulador y su relación con el buen vivir –el concepto más importante del marco teórico general- se retoman subconceptos como “territorio local-regional”, “autonomía territorial”, “poder-contrapoder territorial", “acciones colectivas territoriales alternativas”, “ecologismo territorial de los pobres”, “redes territoriales de colaboración solidaria” y “sujeto social territorial”.ITESO, A.C