Engineering tissue barrier models on hydrogel microfluidic platforms

Tissue barriers play a crucial role in human physiology by establishing tissue compartmentalization and regulating organ homeostasis. At the interface between the extracellular matrix (ECM) and flowing fluids, epithelial and endothelial barriers are responsible for solute and gas exchange. In the past decade, microfluidic technologies and organ-on-chip devices became popular as in vitro models able to recapitulate these biological barriers. However, in conventional microfluidic devices, cell barriers are primarily grown on hard polymeric membranes within polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) channels that do not mimic the cell¿ECM interactions nor allow the incorporation of other cellular compartments such as stromal tissue or vascular structures. To develop models that accurately account for the different cellular and acellular compartments of tissue barriers, researchers have integrated hydrogels into microfluidic setups for tissue barrier-on-chips, either as cell substrates inside the chip, or as self-contained devices. These biomaterials provide the soft mechanical properties of tissue barriers and allow the embedding of stromal cells. Combining hydrogels with microfluidics technology provides unique opportunities to better recreate in vitro the tissue barrier models including the cellular components and the functionality of the in vivo tissues. Such platforms have the potential of greatly improving the predictive capacities of the in vitro systems in applications such as drug development, or disease modeling. Nevertheless, their development is not without challenges in their microfabrication. In this review, we will discuss the recent advances driving the fabrication of hydrogel microfluidic platforms and their applications in multiple tissue barrier models

A 3D bioprinted hydrogel gut-on-chip with integrated electrodes for transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) measurements

Conventional gut-on-chip (GOC) models typically represent the epithelial layer of the gut tissue, neglecting other important components such as the stromal compartment and the extracellular matrix (ECM) that play crucial roles in maintaining intestinal barrier integrity and function. These models often employ hard, flat porous membranes for cell culture, thus failing to recapitulate the soft environment and complex 3D architecture of the intestinal mucosa. Alternatively, hydrogels have been recently introduced in GOCs as ECM analogs to support the co-culture of intestinal cells in in vivo-like configurations, and thus opening new opportunities in the organ-on-chip field. In this work, we present an innovative GOC device that includes a 3D bioprinted hydrogel channel replicating the intestinal villi architecture containing both the epithelial and stromal compartments of the gut mucosa. The bioprinted hydrogels successfully support both the encapsulation of fibroblasts and their co-culture with intestinal epithelial cells under physiological flow conditions. Moreover, we successfully integrated electrodes into the microfluidic system to monitor the barrier formation in real time via transepithelial electrical resistance measurements

Strategies for the communication and collaborative online work by university students

The impact that Information and Communications Technologies have in the way today’s young people communicate and interact is unquestionable. This impact also affects the educational field, which is required to respond to the needs of twenty first century students by training them in acquiring new skills and strategies to deal with a changing and uncertain future. In this study, which involved 2,054 university students from all Spanish Universities, it delved into the knowledge of networking strategies and tools used by these students for the effective development of communication processes and the implementation of strategies for collaboration and communication. It has been developed a nonexperimental quantitative methodology and the technique used for collecting information was a questionnaire. The results show that all of them use the Internet to communicate and they have a great use of basic tools to collaborate and interact, but they prefer social networks for being in contact with their peers and establishing relationships. It has been found that students do not have the idea of the Internet as a place to learn. This fact implies new challenges to be solved by Universities, to optimize the possibilities of the networks and institutional platforms as an environment to learn collaboratively

Strategies for the communication and collaborative online work by university students

The impact that Information and Communications Technologies have in the way today’s young people communicate and interact is unquestionable. This impact also affects the educational field, which is required to respond to the needs of twenty first century students by training them in acquiring new skills and strategies to deal with a changing and uncertain future. In this study, which involved 2,054 university students from all Spanish Universities, it delved into the knowledge of networking strategies and tools used by these students for the effective development of communication processes and the implementation of strategies for collaboration and communication. It has been developed a nonexperimental quantitative methodology and the technique used for collecting information was a questionnaire. The results show that all of them use the Internet to communicate and they have a great use of basic tools to collaborate and interact, but they prefer social networks for being in contact with their peers and establishing relationships. It has been found that students do not have the idea of the Internet as a place to learn. This fact implies new challenges to be solved by Universities, to optimize the possibilities of the networks and institutional platforms as an environment to learn collaboratively

Escape room as a methodological strategy to work on inclusion in a 3rd grade Primary Education

El presente artículo analiza y reflexiona sobre la puesta en práctica de una estrategia sustentada en el Aprendizaje Basado en el Juego (ABJ), concretamente en una habitación de escape educativa (educational escape room) para mejorar el proceso de inclusión del aula intervenida. En este estudio se ha empleado una metodología cualitativa, basada en el uso de un diario de campo y una ficha de registro de información (textual y audiovisual). Para el tratamiento de los datos se ha realizado un análisis de contenido con el software Atlas.ti 8. El proceso de codificación y categorización ha dado como resultado numerosos códigos y citas textuales y audiovisuales distribuidas en dos redes semánticas (básica y compleja). Los resultados alcanzados evidencian que se han conseguido una relativa mejora en cuanto a la relación entre discentes y con ello, el clima de inclusión. Por lo tanto, el uso puntual de esta estrategia metodológica, junto con una técnica de aprendizaje cooperativo (tutoría entre iguales, en este caso) puede brindar diferentes beneficios al proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje. Por último, se ofrece una visión crítica sobre la implementación de la escape room, y ciertas propuestas para implicaciones futuras.This article analyzes and reflects on the implementation of a strategy based on the GameBased Learning (GBL), specifically in an educational escape room to improve the process of inclusion of the intervened classroom. In this study, a qualitative methodology was used, based on the use of a field diary and a record of information (textual and audiovisual). For the treatment of the data, a content analysis was carried out with the Atlas.ti software 8. The coding and categorization process has resulted in numerous codes and textual and audiovisual citations distributed in two semantic networks (basic and complex). The results obtained show that a relative improvement has been achieved in terms of the relationship between students and with it, the climate of inclusion. Therefore, the occasional use of this methodological strategy, together with a cooperative learning technique (peer tutoring, in this case) can provide different benefits to the teaching-learning process. Finally, it offers a critical view on the implementation of the escape room, and certain proposals for future implications

Uso de Facebook en Educación Superior: análisis de la relación entre participación y calificaciones

Social networks in Higher Education have enormous educational potential, within the framework of a teaching process that values communication between educational agents, collaboration as a teaching methodology and active participation as a means of achieving more meaningful and contextualised learning. Within the framework of an experience of educational innovation based on the use of Facebook in early childhood education Degree at University of Murcia (Spain). From the implementation, the relationship between the participation of students on this social network and their mark in the subject “Medios, Materiales y TIC” is analyzed. For this purpose, a quantitative methodology is used, with an ex post facto research design based on the marks obtained by the students (n=172), with which a multiple correlation analysis has been carried out. The results show significant differences in the grades obtained by the three groups of the subject, as well as in the relationship between participation in the social network Facebook and the final grade of the subject, showing that the students who obtain the best grades are those who have participated most in the social network. The experience carried out shows the potential of Facebook as a complementary resource as part of a reflective and planned process. Likewise, it raises the need to complete research such as this with cutting-edge research approaches that allow the differences in terms of the methodology used by the teaching staff to be accounted for. Las redes sociales en educación superior presentan un enorme potencial didáctico, en el marco de un proceso didáctico que ponga en valor la comunicación entre los agentes educativos, la colaboración como metodología de enseñanza y la participación activa como medio para lograr un aprendizaje más significativo y contextualizado. En el marco de una experiencia de innovación educativa basada en el uso de Facebook en el Grado en Educación Infantil de la Universidad de Murcia (España se analiza la relación entre la participación del alumnado en esta red social y sus calificaciones en la asignatura “Medios, Materiales y TIC”. Se ha empleado una metodología cuantitativa con un diseño de investigación ex post facto a partir de las calificaciones obtenidas por los estudiantes (n=172), con las que se ha llevado a cabo un análisis de correlaciones múltiple. Los resultados ponen de manifiesto las diferencias significativas existentes en las calificaciones obtenidas por los tres grupos de la asignatura, así como en la relación existente entre la participación en la red social social Facebook y la calificación final de la asignatura, evidenciándose que los alumnos que obtienen mejores calificaciones, son los que más han participado en la red social. La experiencia llevada a cabo evidencia las potencialidades de Facebook como recurso complementario como parte de un proceso reflexivo y planificado. Asimismo, plantea la necesidad de completar investigaciones como la presente con planteamientos de investigación de corte que permita dar cuenta de las diferencias en función de la metodología empleada por el profesorado

Uso didáctico de las TIC en los colegios rurales agrupados de la Región de Murcia

Today, we live in an increasingly digital society, where Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are causing an impact at all ranges, in the educative even. The school must take on the challenge of effectively integrating ICT, promoting situations enriched with technologies in which methodology was the key factor in educational innovation processes. Rural schools must take up this challenge, assuming existing inequalities, but with the firm intention of overcoming them. From this perspective, the article presents a descriptive study of the use of ICT in rural schools in the Region of Murcia. The methodology chosen is mixed, and the collection of information has been carried out through an ad hoc questionnaire constructed for research. From the analysis of data, we have been able to know the needs in the availability of resources, and the didactic use that the teachers of the rural schools grouped together in the Region of Murcia make of the ICT, confirming that it is still difficult for them to leave behind traditional methodologies to give way to the educational innovation, through emerging technologies.Actualmente, vivimos en una sociedad cada vez más digital, donde las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación (TIC) están provocando un impacto en todos los niveles, también en el educativo. La escuela debe asumir el reto de integrar eficazmente las TIC, promoviendo situaciones enriquecidas con tecnologías en las que la metodología constituya el factor clave de los procesos de innovación educativa. La escuela rural debe hacer frente para ello a las desigualdades existentes, con el firme propósito de superarlas. Desde esta perspectiva, el artículo presenta un estudio descriptivo del uso que en las escuelas rurales de la Región de Murcia se hace de las TIC. La metodología escogida es la mixta, y la recogida de información se ha realizado a través de un cuestionario ad hoc construido para la investigación. Con los resultados obtenidos, hemos podido conocer las necesidades en la disponibilidad de recursos, y el uso didáctico que hacen de las TIC los docentes de los colegios rurales agrupados (CRA) en la Región de Murcia, constatando que aún les cuesta dejar atrás metodologías tradicionales para dar paso a la innovación educativa, a través de tecnologías emergentes

Improvements and needs of an educational escape room in initial teacher training

Las habitaciones de escape educativas son una estrategia metodológica emergente en la educación superior, lo cual conlleva un diseño minucioso de la propuesta de innovación. A través del presente trabajo se recogen y se analizan las principales necesidades que han reflejado los participantes de «JUMANTIC», una educational escape room para estudiantes de los Grados de Educación Infantil y Primaria de la Universidad de Murcia para asignaturas de Tecnología Educativa. Se aplicó un cuestionario Ad Hoc, a partir del cual se genera una red semántica con Atlas.ti V.8., de la que se extraen 4 categorías, 17 códigos libres y se analizan 79 unidades textuales. Finalmente, los resultados evidencian otros factores complementarios a los ya referenciados. Por lo tanto, este trabajo expone que es es necesario valorar otros aspectos como el espacio, la temperatura, la agrupación, etc. para así garantizar un óptimo diseño e implementación de una propuesta de innovación basada en una habitación de escape educativa