How can I learn more when I collaborate in a virtual group?

Learning in virtual groups has been a process studied and analysed long from multiple perspectives. However, the literature is scarce when we look for models to explain information problem solving skills in online collaboration. A descriptive model of cognitive skills involved in individual information problem solving while using internet information can be found in recent research. The purpose of this study was to find out what information problem solving skills (IPS) students apply when working collaboratively online, and secondly, to analyse what differentiates students who do well on their knowledge tests after collaboration, in relation to these IPS skills. We conducted a research with more than 40 students in 10 virtual groups to analyse the correlation between learning and IPS skills applied by students during an online task that lasted more than 4 weeks. Students completed a weekly self-report with actions related to IPS skills and time devoted to the collaborative task. Findings show that students applied more frequently the skill to check the communication (30%), secondly, read de information (22%), in the third place exchange information (20%), followed by write the information (15%), analyze the information (8%), and finally, search for information (5%). However, only three skills correlate with learning: information exchange, analysis of information and checking communication. Two of them (exchange and check) are collaborative skills and one of them (analysis) is an information problem-solving skill. The conclusions of this study may provide guidelines for instructors and students on ways to improve learning in online collaborative group work

Teachers learn about student learning assessment through a teacher education process

This study aims to understand the extent to which university professors adopt new pedagogical voices in their learning assessment practices through a teacher education process. Participants (N = 32) were interviewed before and after the teacher education process, and data were analysed using qualitative and quantitative methods. The results of the study demonstrated, first, that teachers renamed their educational discourse about learning assessment significantly, increasing it in assessment for learning practices, particularly in the themes of timing and agents, and reducing it in all themes referred to the assessment of learning practices. And second, three clusters of faculty were identified, which differed in terms of the way they merge both learning assessment practices: professors with a slight prevalence of the assessment for learning conceptual voice, professors with a slight prevalence of the assessment for learning practical voice, and professors with a strong prevalence of the assessment for learning voice

Emotions in response to teaching online: Exploring the factors influencing teachers in a fully online university

The aim of this paper is to understand the emotions associated with the experience of teaching online in an online university and the factors that influence these emotions. Nine hundred and sixty-five (965) online teachers at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (www.uoc.edu) were surveyed. Three emotions linked to teaching online were identified: satisfaction, relief and pleasure. Multiple regression analyses were used to make inferential judgments and test the effects of the teachers' demographic and professional variables. Findings suggest that satisfaction is associated with the instructional design and learning support roles and with the knowledge building approach; relief is inversely related to the content acquisition approach; and pleasure is linked to variables such as academic background and amount of online teaching hours, as well as the knowledge building approach. The practical implications of these results are discussed

La competencia informacional desde una perspectiva psicoeducativa: enseñanza basada en la resolución de problemas prototípicos y emergentes

This article contributes from a psycho-educational perspective to the definition and characterization of the concept of informational competency in teaching and learning in school-based education and in the training of information professionals. The first section defines a competent person as one who is able to adequately solve a set of typical problems stemming from a particular social or community practice. Based on this definition, the authors then identify and characterize informational problems and the most significant incidents faced by students during their school work, which are grouped into three sections: the demand and the conditions through which it is satisfied; the presence and the activation of beliefs, conceptions and relevant knowledge; and the regulation of decisions, emotions and interactions with others. The text then presents some guidelines for training in information skills, based on authentic tasks. The article concludes by reflecting on the implementation of innovative educational experiences for the development of informational competency in the context of formal education.Se realiza una aportación desde un punto de vista psicoeducativo a la definición y caracterización de la noción de competencia informacional, a su enseñanza y aprendizaje en la educación escolar, y a la formación de los profesionales de la información. En el primer apartado, se define una persona competente como aquella que es capaz de resolver adecuadamente un conjunto de problemas característicos de una determinada práctica social y comunitaria. Seguidamente, tomando como base esta definición, se identifican y caracterizan los problemas e incidentes informacionales más significativos que deben afrontar los estudiantes durante sus tareas escolares, agrupados en tres grandes bloques: relativos a la demanda y a las condiciones de su resolución; relacionados con la presencia y la activación de creencias, concepciones y conocimientos relevantes, y referidos a la regulación de las decisiones, emociones e interacción con los otros. Siguiendo con este planteamiento, se exponen algunas directrices para una formación en las competencias informacionales, basadas en tareas auténticas. El artículo concluye aportando distintas reflexiones en torno a la implementación de experiencias educativas innovadoras para el desarrollo de la competencia informacional en contextos de educación formal

Incorporación de las TIC en la enseñanza y el aprendizaje basados en la elaboración colaborativa de proyectos

En aquest article es presenta una exposició general sobre les principals característiques de l'aprenentatge en col·laboració basat en l'elaboració de projectes. A més, s'hi exposa el procés de disseny i desenvolupament d'aquesta metodologia didàctica quan s'hi incorporen les TIC (tecnologies de la informació i la comunicació). Hem organitzat l'exposició dels continguts en dues parts interrelacionades. En la primera part, hi resumim els principals aspectes teòrics d'aquesta metodologia didàctica. En la segona, hi presentem algunes reflexions rellevants pel que fa al disseny, l'aplicació i l'avaluació de la implementació de l'aprenentatge en col·laboració basat en projectes en l'educació superior, quan es fa amb un ús educatiu intensiu de la tecnologia.En este artículo se presenta una exposición general de las principales características del aprendizaje colaborativo basado en la elaboración de proyectos. Además, se expone el proceso de diseño y desarrollo de esta metodología didáctica cuando se incorporan las TIC (tecnologías de la información y de la comunicación). Hemos organizado la exposición de los contenidos en dos partes interrelacionadas. En la primera parte resumimos los principales aspectos teóricos de esta metodología didáctica. En la segunda parte presentamos algunas reflexiones relevantes con respecto al diseño, aplicación y evaluación de la implementación del aprendizaje colaborativo basado en proyectos en la educación superior, cuando se realiza con un uso educativo intensivo de la tecnología

Factors influencing university instructors' adoption of the conception of online teaching as a medium to promote learners' collaboration in virtual learning environments

Resultats: els tres usuaris-persona resultants s'acompanyen de descripcions i es complementen amb escenaris basats en evidències que han d'ajudar a dissenyar experiències d'usuaris. Aquests són el Marc (usuari), un estudiant adolescent que pretén codissenyar la biblioteca i que reclama activitats socials presencials; la Maria (mai usuària), una jubilada que necessita caliu humà i que fa evident la necessitat de col·laboració més estreta entre serveis socials i biblioteques, i el David (exusuari), treballador de més de trenta anys que considera que no necessita la biblioteca tot i que en desconeix la majoria de serveis que actualment li ofereix.The purpose of the study was to build a model of the factors that influence the university instructors' adoption of the conception of online teaching named 'promoting the learners' collaboration in virtual learning environments. We conducted a survey to nine hundred sixty-five higher education online instructors belonging to the Open University of Catalonia (www.uoc.edu). In this study we used three scales selected from a larger questionnaire that collected three types of information from the instructors: personal and professional data, online teaching roles, and online teaching conceptions. We identified several conceptions about online teaching through a factorial analysis from the third scale. In the present research we analyze the relationship between the instructors' conception about teaching as a medium to promote learners' collaboration (independent variable), and possible explanatory variables: gender, age, academic education, field of specialization, experience in online teaching, level of teaching, time devoted to online teaching, and instructors' perceived relevance of their online teaching roles. Correlations and preliminary multiple regression analyses were used to make inferential judgements and test the effects of the independent variable separately. Findings from correlation analysis suggest that gender, academic education, online teaching experience, time devoted to online teaching, and, more relevant, all five teaching roles: social interaction, instructional design, technology use, learning assessment and learning processes support, are relevant predictors of the adoption of this conception of teaching by online instructors

PosEdiOn: Post-editing assessment in PythOn

There is currently an extended use of postediting of machine translation (PEMT) in the translation industry. This is due to the increase in the demand of translation and to the significant improvements in quality achieved in recent years. PEMT has been included as part of the translation workflow because it increases translators' productivity and it also reduces costs. Although effective post-editing requires sufficiently high quality MT output, usual automatic metrics do not always correlate with post-editing effort. We describe a standalone tool designed both for industry and research that has two main purposes: to collect sentence-level information from the post-editing process (e.g. post-editing time and keystrokes) and to visually present multiple evaluation scores so they can be easily interpreted by a user

Factors affecting school teachers' perceptions of the instructional benefits of digital technology

The potential benefits of digital technology for teaching and learning in schools have been extensively characterized in the academic literature. However, little is known about the factors that affect teachers' perceptions of these benefits. This state of affairs is problematic since we know that teachers' perceptions have an impact on their teaching practices. The ultimate aim ofthis study was to develop and test a model of the factors affecting primary and secondary school teachers' perceptions about the instructional benefits of digital technology in their teaching practices. Instructional benefits are defined here as the contribution of digital technology in several aspects of curriculum development such as the formulation of learning goals, the development of curriculum content and learning activities, the allocation of educational resources, and the adoption of new methods of assessment. This study used survey data gathered from 702 teachers from a 356 primary and secondary schools in Spain. The study aimed at exploring the relationship between teacher' perceptions of the benefits of using digital technology for curriculum development and individual and school-level conditions. Correlation analyses examined the relationship between overall variables and teachers' perceptions. Several significant relations were identified. Preliminary findings suggest that factors such as teaching area, digital literacy, educational ICT training, and Internet access are important predictors of teachers' perceptions of the instructional benefits of digital technology. The outcomes of the study will help schools and teachers to enhance the use of digital technology in their teaching and learning practices

Pengaruh Budaya Organisasi terhadap Kualitas Pelayanan Publik di Sekretariat Daerah Kabupaten Gowa

ABSTRAK Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui Pengaruh Budaya Organisasi terhadap Kualitas Pelayanan Publik. Jenis penelitian ini adalah penelitian deskriptif dengan desain penelitian kuantitatif. Teknik pengumpulan data dilakukan melalui observasi, kuesioner dan dokumentasi. Teknik analisa data yang digunakan terdiri atas analisis deskriptif, analisis statistik inferensial dan regresi linier sederhana. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa pengaruh budaya organisasi terhadap kualitas pelayanan publik di sekretariat daerah kabupaten gowa ada pada kategori baik sesuai dengan hasil penelitian di lapangan yang didasarkan pada 8 indikator yang menjadi fokus penelitan peneliti yaitu 1) Inisiatif Individual, 2) Pengarahan, 3) Integrasi, 4) Dukungan Dari Manajemen, 5) Pola-Pola Komunikasi, 6) Toleransi Terhadap Konflik, 7) Kontrol, dan 8) Sistem Imbalan. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian dari 8 indikator, menunjukkan hasil regresi linier Y= 23,8+0,383X dengan demikian budaya organisasi berpengaruh positif dan signifikan terhadap kualitas pelayanan publik di sekretariat daerah Kabupaten Gowa. Saran pegawai di kantor sekretariat daerah Kabupaten Gowa agar kiranya dapat disiplin dalam melaksanakan pekerjaannya supaya pekerjaan yang menjadi tanggung jawab pegawai dapat terorganisir dengan baik

Gestió d'incidents docents crítics a l'aula virtual

Se trata de presentar a los participantes una pauta de reflexión sobre cómo caracterizar y reflexionar en el momento en que ocurre un "incidente crítico" en el aula virtual relacionada con los procesos de enseñanza y aprendizaje, y también cómo planificar la resolución de este incidente teniendo en cuenta los roles, percepciones, estrategias y emociones de los/las participantes (profesor/a y estudiante/s).Es tracta de presentar als participants una pauta de reflexió sobre com caracteritzar i reflexionar en el moment en que té lloc un "incident crític" a l'aula virtual relacionada amb els processos d'ensenyament i aprenentatge, i també com planificar la resolució d'aquest incident tenint en compte els rols, percepcions, estratègies i emocions dels participants (professor/a i estudiant/s).This is to introduce participants to a pattern of thinking about how to characterize and reflect on the time of occurrence of a "critical incident" in the virtual classroom related to teaching and learning processes, and how to plan for the resolution of this incident having into account the roles, perceptions, strategies and emotions / participants (teacher and student)