The use of virtual environments as an extended classroom – A case study with adult learners in tertiary education

This study was conducted in immersive 3D virtual environment Second Life®, with the support of web 2.0 tools as a complement to physical classroom - extended classroom. It was assumed that socialization is a key factor for collaborative learning and knowledge construction. The study aims to identify the variables that may influence knowledge sharing in learning contexts using virtual environments; with the aim of contributing to the improvement of learning situations using the online tools. This research is exploratory in nature and falls within the field of phenomenological studies. The study was implemented in a tertiary education institution involving regular and adult learners. We conclude that in virtual environments learners tend to feel more confident, open, participatory, creative, understanding and seem to participate in training sessions because they are indeed interested in learning. On the other hand, the possibility of providing online tutorial session allows reaching a larger number of learners. These online sessions can be established in a time and place (virtual) free of constraints and can be tailored, allowing a more effective participation from learners.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A internet na construção de conhecimento didáctico

Doutoramento em DidácticaO presente trabalho teve por finalidade analisar o modo como a Internet, nas suas vertentes de fonte de informação e meio de comunicação, pode contribuir para a construção do conhecimento didáctico de alunos futuros professores de Biologia (AFPB). Os aspectos do conhecimento didáctico em análise prenderam-se com a reestruturação das concepções de ensino que os AFPB denotam possuir e com a ligação que conseguem estabelecer entre os conhecimentos teóricos do âmbito da didáctica e a prática da sala de aula. O estudo sustentou-se na Teoria de Desenvolvimento Sociocultural de Vygotsky, considerando que as interacções sociais estabelecidas pelos AFPB via Internet, tanto em actividades de pesquisa, como pela conversação no seio duma comunidade de aprendizagem (através duma lista de discussão) poderiam contribuir e facilitar o processo de construção do conhecimento didáctico. Foi criado um sítio dedicado, o Bionet, e uma lista de discussão, a bionet_list. Durante o primeiro semestre do ano lectivo 1999/2000, no âmbito das aulas práticas da disciplina de Didáctica da Biologia, do 4º ano da licenciatura em Ensino de Biologia/Geologia da Universidade de Aveiro, 32 AFPB consultaram o Bionet e recorreram à lista de discussão com o objectivo de encontrar informação relevante para a elaboração de planificações didácticas. O estudo seguiu os aspectos metodológicos duma investigação qualitativa e interpretativa. Os dados foram recolhidos através dos percursos de navegação no sítio Bionet, de todas as mensagens de correio electrónico enviadas e recebidas na lista de discussão, de três planificações elaboradas pelos alunos envolvidos ao longo dum semestre lectivo, de 6 questionários e de entrevistas efectuadas a 5 AFPB. Da análise de conteúdo a que os dados foram submetidos e da interpretação efectuada, o estudo vem revelar que as interacções sociais estabelecidas no Bionet (i) contribuíram para que os alunos envolvidos confrontassem e reestruturassem as concepções de ensino inicialmente manifestadas, (ii) facilitaram o planeamento de estratégias de ensino mais consonantes com dados provenientes da investigação na área da didáctica das Ciências. Na sua globalidade, os resultados obtidos aportaram esclarecimentos sobre o modo como o processo de construção de conhecimento didáctico se desenvolve.The purpose of this study was to investigate the way Internet, as a communication media and as an information resource, contributes for the development of didactic knowledge of biology students, future secondary school teachers. The topics under research were related to the students' teaching conceptions and the relationship between theoretical issues and classroom practices. Based upon Vygotsky Sociocultural Development Theory, we have considered that the social interactions made by the students future biology teachers within a learning community and their searching activities in the Internet will contribute to enhance the didactic knowledge construction. It was a qualitative and interpretative study in which, during one semester (twelve weeks), 32 biology students, future teachers, have developed three lesson plans. These plans were designed and improved from information selected from a website (the Bionet) and an electronic mailing list (the bionet_list), both specially built up for this purpose. Students' teaching conceptions were identified before and after the use of Bionet for later comparison. More data were collected through six questionnaires, log files with web navigation, emails and interviews to 5 students. The analysis of the results revealed that there was a positive impact of the Internet on the progress of the biology student teachers and brought insights about the process of the development of didactic knowledge

Online tutorial – meeting students’ needs

Pretendemos dar a conhecer um estudo piloto que foi desenvolvido com alunos do ensino superior e cujo objectivo passou pelo ensejo de potenciar o trabalho colaborativo entre os mesmos, bem como as suas capacidades de pesquisa. Os recursos informáticos utilizados foram espaços virtuais de colaboração, uma vez que são espaços com grandes potencialidades ao nível da colaboração e da interacção. O grupo-alvo foi constituído por estudantes de primeiro ano do ensino superior politécnico. Os estudantes estavam divididos em turmas: um grupo a tempo inteiro e outro em pós aboral, ambos frequentando o mesmo curso e a mesma unidade curricular. A estratégia de tutória adoptada iniciou-se com a apresentação de um desafio por parte da docente. Após o desafio lançado os estudantes pesquisaram acerca da temática e partilharam, no Diigo, os links/documentos que encontraram e consideraram serem pertinentes para o desenvolvimento do tema. No final, os estudantes tinham que escrever um artigo acerca do tema, tendo em conta as pesquisas desenvolvidas, as leituras efectuadas e as discussões colaborativas realizadas. Para facilitar o desenvolvimento de uma compreensão partilhada, os estudantes, além de disponibilizarem e comentarem a informação no Diigo, também participaram em sessões virtuais de discussão na plataforma Second Life®. O estudo piloto conduzido, e descrito neste documento, permitiu reunir indicadores sobre as mais valias das ferramentas online utilizadas, nomeadamente no que se refere ao grau e qualidade da participação, colaboração e interacção dos estudantes, aliados à inexistência de constrangimentos de ordem temporal e/ou física.This article will present a pilot study that was developed with students from higher education on approaches to increase the collaborative work between students, and to enhance their research skills. The methodology we are evaluating is designed around collaborative virtual spaces which offer some benefits for deeper collaboration and interaction. The target group was students from the 1st year of a Higher Level Course. One group of students was in full-time education and a second group was mature students in part-time education. Both groups are engaged on an identical course. The tutorial strategy adopted began with the teacher setting the class a challenge. Students were then invited to research the question and post whatever links/documents they consider relevant using a Diigo group, and comment on what they found (using the share and comment capabilities). The task for students was to write an article about the topic based on their research, readings and collaborative discussions. To facilitate the development of a shared understanding the students posted information and participated in virtual on-line meetings (Second Life®). The pilot study implemented, and described in this article, demonstrated some gains from the use of online tools, in particular related with the level and quality of participation, collaboration and interaction among students. The use of virtual environments allows students to participate in richer interactions at times that are more convenient to their work/study patterns, with no physical restrictionsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Ambientes Imersivos em contextos de aprendizagem – abordagem conectivista

Estamos a desenvolver um projecto de investigação com o intuito de alcançar métodos melhores e mais eficientes para facilitar o ensino e a prendizagem ao nível do ensino superior. Optámos pelo uso de ambientes virtuais, com particular ênfase para a plataforma Second Life®, para a implementação do estudo. Este ambiente tem algumas características que chamaram a nossa atenção: é imersivo; é um simulador da vida real; é uma rede social; permite comunicação, colaboração,cooperação e interacção em tempo real; é um ambiente seguro e controlado. Por entendermos a potencialidade destas características acreditamos que contextos de aprendizagem imersivos podem ser integrados nas práticas pedagógicas de hoje em dia. No entanto, antes de podermos sugerir e aplicar melhores práticas, é fundamental conhecer o ambiente Second Life®. É necessário caracterizar e compreender como as interacções e as relações sociais são estabelecidas entre os utilizadores deste ambiente virtual. Procedemos a algumas observações preliminares no que toca ao comportamento dos utilizadores em Second Life®, incluíndo situações de contextos de aprendizagem informais ou naturais. Esta análise preliminar levou-nos à teoria do Conectivismo, definida como sendo a teoria de aprendizagem para a era digital. Este artigo pretende discutir o uso de ambientes imersivos em contextos de aprendizagem e analisá-los à luz da teoria do Conectivismo. Na nossa opinião, o Conectivismo pode dar-nos indicadores para ajudar a compreender e a reunir meios mais interessantes para o uso destes ambientes de forma a transformar o ensino e a aprendizagem na era digital.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Influência das relações da vida real na construção de conhecimento em mundos virtuais – Estudo preliminar

Esta comunicação pretende apresentar uma investigação que está a ser desenvolvida pelas autoras no âmbito de um programa doutoral, com o intuito de determinar formas de aperfeiçoar as situações de ensino‐aprendizagem no ensino superior, baseadas em experiências levadas a cabo em mundos virtuais imersivos. As autoras aperceberam‐se que, hoje em dia, os cursos de ensino superior nem sempre preenchem as necessidades da maioria dos estudantes. Eles pertencem a uma geração multitarefa e em rede, e o que recebem das estratégias de ensino‐aprendizagem de hoje em dia não os prepara para serem cidadãos críticos nem lhes fornece as competências necessárias para que sejam autónomos e construtores de conhecimento. Pensamos que poderemos retirar vantagem dos recursos disponíveis nos mundos virtuais imersivos para ultrapassar esta situação e transferir para a vida real. Para atingirmos este fim necessitamos, numa primeira instancia, de perceber como ocorrem as interacções sociais nestes ambientes (em particular em Second Life), como crescem e como se desenvolvem. O que apresentamos aqui é uma amostra preliminar do que pretendemos com a investigação. Lançaremos algumas questões, as mesmas que nos despertaram para a exploração deste assunto.This paper intends to present a PhD research that is being developed by the authors, with the intention to determine how to improve teaching and learning situations, at the university level, based on experiences in immersive virtual worlds. The authors have realized that nowadays courses don’t fulfill our students’ needs. They belong to a networked and multitasking generation, and what they get from today’s teaching strategy doesn’t prepare them to be critical citizens and professional workers on their specialty, nor give them the skills and competences needed to be autonomous and creators of knowledge. It is our belief that we can take advantage from the immersive virtual worlds’ resources to overcome this situation and there for to transfer it to real life. In order to achieve this we need, at the first instance, to understand how social interactions occur in these environments (in particular at Second Life®), how they grow and how they are developed. What we present here is a preliminary sample of what we intend to work on. We will launch some questions, the same ones that make us very excited to explore this subjectinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

Immersive Environments – A Connectivist Approach

We are conducting a research project with the aim of achieving better and more efficient ways to facilitate teaching and learning in Higher Level Education. We have chosen virtual environments, with particular emphasis to Second Life® platform augmented by web 2.0 tools, to develop the study. The Second Life® environment has some interesting characteristics that captured our attention, it is immersive; it is a real world simulator; it is a social network; it allows real time communication, cooperation, collaboration and interaction; it is a safe and controlled environment. We specifically chose tools from web 2.0 that enable sharing and collaborative way of learning. Through understanding the characteristics of this learning environment, we believe that immersive learning along with other virtual tools can be integrated in today’s pedagogical practices. However, before we can apply and suggest best practices we need to get to know the virtual environments we intend to use (2D and 3D). We must characterize and understand how interactions and relationships are established, in particularly, between the users of this Multi-User Virtual Environment. We have made preliminary observations of residents’ behaviour at Second Life®, including some informal or natural learning contexts. Our analysis of those observations led strongly to theory of Connectivism approach, which is defined as a learning theory for the digital age.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Extending collaborative learning beyong the boundaries of the physical classroom through virtual environments

In this paper we outline some of the potentialities and barriers of 3-D immersive virtual worlds when used in a learning context combined with other online tools. Classrooms can be extended from physical to virtual space in order to fulfill students’ needs and to facilitate a more collaborative learning style. Immersive learning allows us to learn in 1st person, allows us to have control over what we want to learn, how and when. The use of immersive 3-D virtual worlds allows students to participate in richer interactions at times that are more convenient to their work / study patterns, with no physical restrictions. Online web 2.0 tools, by being available at anytime and anywhere and user friendly, can enhance students’ collaboration and sharing, promote students’ socialization and improve classroom cohesion.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

ANAIS_EBV2017

ANAIS do Encontro de Bibliotecas Virtuais 2017<br><br>Dias:<br>28 e 29 de Setembro de 2017<br><br>Locais:<br>Biblioteca Virtual Paul Otlet e Universidade Virtual de Aveiro - na plataforma Second Life.<br><br>Realização:<br><br>PPGCI/Universidade Federal da Paraíba (Brasil)<br>Universidade de Aveiro (Portugal)<br>Biblioteca Virtual Paul Otlet<br>LTI - Laboratório de Tecnologia Intelectuais (UFPB)<br>GeTic - Grupo de Pesquisa em Tecnologia da Informação e Comunicação (UFPB)<br><br><br><br

Reduction of cardiac imaging tests during the COVID-19 pandemic: The case of Italy. Findings from the IAEA Non-invasive Cardiology Protocol Survey on COVID-19 (INCAPS COVID)

Background: In early 2020, COVID-19 massively hit Italy, earlier and harder than any other European country. This caused a series of strict containment measures, aimed at blocking the spread of the pandemic. Healthcare delivery was also affected when resources were diverted towards care of COVID-19 patients, including intensive care wards. Aim of the study: The aim is assessing the impact of COVID-19 on cardiac imaging in Italy, compare to the Rest of Europe (RoE) and the World (RoW). Methods: A global survey was conducted in May–June 2020 worldwide, through a questionnaire distributed online. The survey covered three periods: March and April 2020, and March 2019. Data from 52 Italian centres, a subset of the 909 participating centres from 108 countries, were analyzed. Results: In Italy, volumes decreased by 67% in March 2020, compared to March 2019, as opposed to a significantly lower decrease (p &lt; 0.001) in RoE and RoW (41% and 40%, respectively). A further decrease from March 2020 to April 2020 summed up to 76% for the North, 77% for the Centre and 86% for the South. When compared to the RoE and RoW, this further decrease from March 2020 to April 2020 in Italy was significantly less (p = 0.005), most likely reflecting the earlier effects of the containment measures in Italy, taken earlier than anywhere else in the West. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic massively hit Italy and caused a disruption of healthcare services, including cardiac imaging studies. This raises concern about the medium- and long-term consequences for the high number of patients who were denied timely diagnoses and the subsequent lifesaving therapies and procedures