Sistemas de e-actividades para contribuir al desarrollo de competencias para la gestión de entornos personales de aprendizaje

El impacto de las TIC en la sociedad actual hace necesario el desarrollo de un conjunto de competencias en los estudiantes universitarios que implican: la búsqueda de información pertinente, la elaboración y reelaboración de la misma, el dominio de los mecanismos para compartirla, entre otras. Se necesita un estudiante capaz de solucionar problemas disímiles y complejos, y de aprender a lo largo de toda la vida. En este contexto surgen propuestas que utilizan las características de Internet en función del aprendizaje entre las que se destacan los Entornos Personales de Aprendizaje (PLE). La investigación que se presenta tiene como objetivos de investigación el diseño, implementación y evaluación de un Sistema de e-Actividades de Aprendizaje, basado en patrones de actividades que contribuya al desarrollo de los PLE de los estudiantes en la Universidad Tecnológica de La Habana “José Antonio Echeverria”, CUJAE (Cuba). Se realizó una investigación mixta dividida en cuatro fases (exploración y diagnóstico; diseño; aplicación y recogida de datos; análisis de datos y conclusiones). Los resultados obtenidos constataron el desarrollo de los PLE de los estudiantes, la aceptación del sistema propuestos y los altos niveles de motivación alcanzados con su uso. El Sistema de e- Actividades de Aprendizaje propuesto posibilita el desarrollo de competencias para la gestión de los PLE, se aprovechan las capacidades del aprendizaje formal e informal, así como la integración de los recursos y herramientas disponibles en Internet y los proporcionados por la institución. El resultado de esta investigación permite dotar a los profesores de un referente para la integración de las TIC en el proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje constituyendo una propuesta de estrategia didáctica que prepara a los estudiantes para el aprendizaje a lo largo de toda la vida.The impact of ICT in today's society makes it necessary to develop a set of competencies in university students that involve: the search for relevant information, its preparation and reworking, and mastery of the mechanisms for sharing it. You need a student capable of solving dissimilar and complex problems and of learning throughout life. In this context, proposals arise that use the characteristics of the Internet in terms of learning, among which the Personal Learning Environments (PLE) stand out. The research presented has as research objectives the design, implementation and evaluation of a System of Learning e-Activities, based on patterns of activities that contribute to the development of the PLE of students at the Technological University of Havana "José Antonio Echeverria”, CUJAE (Cuba). At a methodological level, a mixed investigation is proposed divided into four phases (exploration and diagnosis; design, application and data collection; data analysis and conclusions). The results obtained confirm the development of the students' PLEs, the acceptance of the proposed technology and high levels of motivation. The proposed System of e-Learning Activities enables the development of competencies for the management of PLEs, taking advantage of the capacities of formal and informal learning, as well as the integration of resources and tools available on the Internet and those provided by the institution. The result of this research allows teachers to provide a benchmark for the integration of ICT in the teachinglearning process and constitutes a proposal for a didactic strategy that contributes to the development of students and their preparation for learning throughout lifetime

Identification of the components of the Personal Learning Environment of engineering students

La necesaria transformación educativa en función del desarrollo de competencias para el aprendizaje ubicuo y permanente con TIC lleva al surgimiento de los Entornos Personales de Aprendizaje (PLE). Los PLE son una estrategia metodológica que coloca al estudiante en el centro del proceso de enseñanza - aprendizaje y potencia la construcción de un escenario de aprendizaje mediante la interacción con otras personas, materiales y recursos en general. El presente trabajo busca identificar las herramientas tecnológicas que conforman los PLE de los estudiantes, así como los objetivos de su uso. Se emplea una metodología de investigación mixta aplicada a una muestra de 92 estudiantes del 5to año de la carrera de Ingeniería Informática. Se incluye el diseño de un cuestionario validado mediante juicio de expertos y análisis del coeficiente de consistencia interna. Como resultado se obtienen las herramientas más utilizadas con fines personales y académicos. Sobresalen los buscadores, los procesadores de texto, las herramientas para la creación de presentaciones colectivas y para leer y enviar correos electrónicos. El uso de estas herramientas es orientado por los profesores en actividades docentes. Estos resultados demuestran que es posible desarrollar el PLE de los estudiantes desde las actividades intencionalmente diseñadas en las diferentes asignaturas.The necessary educational transformation based on the development of skills for ubiquitous and permanent learning with ICT leads to the emergence of Personal Learning Environments (PLE). PLEs are a methodological strategy that places the student at the center of the teaching-learning process and enhances the construction of a learning scenario through interaction with other people, materials, and resources in general. The present work seeks to identify the technological tools that make up the PLE of the students, as well as the objectives of their use. A mixed research methodology applied to a sample of 92 students from the 5th year of the Computer Engineering degree is used. The design of a questionnaire validated by expert judgment and analysis of the internal consistency coefficient is included. As a result, the most used tools for personal and academic purposes are obtained. Excel search engines, word processors, tools for creating collective presentations, and for reading and sending emails. The use of these tools is guided by teachers in teaching activities. These results demonstrate that it is possible to develop the PLE of the students from the intentionally designed activities in the different matters

Teaching differently: The digital signal processing of multimedia content through the use of liberal arts

Generally, the curriculum design for undergraduate students enrolled in digital signal processing (DSP)-related engineering programs covers hard topics from specific disciplines, namely, mathematics, digital electronics, or programming. Typically, these topics are very demanding from the point of view of both students and teachers due to the inherent complexity of the mathematical formulations. However, improvements to the effectiveness of teaching can be achieved through a multisensorial approach supported by the liberal arts. By including the development of art and literacy skills in the curriculum design, the fundamentals of DSP topics may be taught from a qualitative perspective, compared to the solely analytical standpoint taken by traditional curricula. We postulate that this approach increases both the comprehension and memorization of abstract concepts by stimulating students' creativity and curiosity. In this article, we elaborate upon a methodology that incorporates liberal arts concepts into the teaching of signal processing techniques. We also illustrate the application of this methodology through specific classroom activities related to the digital processing of multimedia contents in undergraduate academic programmes. With this proposal, we also aim to lessen the perceived difficulty of the topic, stimulate critical thinking, and establish a framework within which nonengineering departments may contribute to the teaching of engineering subjects.This research is part of the 17th Call to Support Experiences on Innovative Teaching at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M), Spain, in 2019-2020 and partially funded by the Spanish Government-MinECo project TEC2017-84395-P. This project gathered members from UC3M, the Havana University of Technology, José Antonio Echeverría, Cuba, and Technische Universität Berlin, Germany

Undergraduate curriculum to teach and provide research skills on hardware design for SDR applications in FPGA technology

Software Defined Radio (SDR) technologies play today an important role in modern wireless networks due to their flexibility to implement re-configurable hardware designs. In light of the importance to operate and develop such technologies, academic programs in the communications engineering field demand an introduction to Digital Signal Processing (DSP) and SDR communication schemes accordingly. Typically, the teaching of this subject is afforded through projects and hands-on activities in classrooms. However, provided their relevance in the current state-of-the-art, this topic also provides a framework to teach soft skills concerning research abilities in students. This paper introduces an academic program to the development of SDR functionality as well as research skills based on exposure to state-of-the-art research. Through projects, hands-on activities are conducted to teach digital signal processing designs using Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technology. The course aims to develop technical skills to implement communication system blocks. Besides, workshops and seminars are prepared to support the development of research and communication skills. The proposed course is flexible to incorporate on a given academic program as an elective subject to further support topics related to communication theory and discrete-time signals. Learning outcomes are designed to develop enhanced technical skills in SDR design and simultaneously a critical discussion of the devised solutions in light of the state-of-the-art. Also, skills related to identifying, formulating, and discussing engineering problems are further reinforced. Results from supported projects developed in the classroom exhibit completed assignments superior to 90% of participant students. Learning objectives concerning the technical skills were successfully covered (90%) in comparison to research and communicating skills (80%). Additionally, research skills and the ability to disseminate knowledge gradually improved in seminars. Finally, results of the current course exhibit improvements of 25% regarding the acquired skills in digital signal processing in comparison to previous courses.This work was supported in part by the Spanish National Project Hybrid Terrestrial/Satellite Air Interface for 5G and Beyond-Areas of Diffcult Access (TERESA-ADA) through the [Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (MINECO)/Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI)/Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), Unión Europea (UE)] under Grant TEC2017-90093-C3-2-R.Publicad

Identificación de los componentes del Entorno Personal de Aprendizaje de estudiantes de ingeniería

The necessary educational transformation based on the development of skills for ubiquitous and permanent learning with ICT leads to the emergence of Personal Learning Environments (PLE). PLEs are a methodological strategy that places the student at the center of the teaching-learning process and enhances the construction of a learning scenario through interaction with other people, materials, and resources in general. The present work seeks to identify the technological tools that make up the PLE of the students, as well as the objectives of their use. A mixed research methodology applied to a sample of 92 students from the 5th year of the Computer Engineering degree is used. The design of a questionnaire validated by expert judgment and analysis of the internal consistency coefficient is included. As a result, the most used tools for personal and academic purposes are obtained. Excel search engines, word processors, tools for creating collective presentations, and for reading and sending emails. The use of these tools is guided by teachers in teaching activities. These results demonstrate that it is possible to develop the PLE of the students from the intentionally designed activities in the different matters.La necesaria transformación educativa en función del desarrollo de competencias para el aprendizaje ubicuo y permanente con las TIC lleva al surgimiento de los Entornos Personales de Aprendizaje como una estrategia metodológica que permite colocar al estudiante en el centro del proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje permitiéndole construir un escenario de aprendizaje propio mediante la interacción con otras personas, materiales de enseñanza y recursos de información en general. El presente trabajo busca identificar las herramientas tecnológicas que conforman los PLE de los estudiantes, así como los objetivos del uso. Los datos obtenidos pueden contribuir al desarrollo de estrategias y propuestas metodológicas para lograr la gestión de los PLE de los estudiantes desde las diferentes asignaturas del currículo. Como resultado se obtuvieron las herramientas más utilizadas con fines personales y académicos. Sobresalen las herramientas usadas por orientación docente como los buscadores, los procesadores de texto, las herramientas para la creación de presentaciones colectivas y las herramientas para leer y enviar correos electrónicos. Lo anterior demuestra la validez de incluir en el diseño didáctico de las asignaturas actividades dirigidas al desarrollo de los PLE de los estudiantes

Aprendizaje basado en tareas aplicado a la enseñanza de las Telecomunicaciones

The Task-based Learning pedagogic strategy can be applied as a complement in regular courses. In this way the teaching-learning process could be more focused on the student activation and the attention to student's individualities. Task-based Learning also improves student's motivation for the course subjects, encourages self learning and helps to develop the abilities required for the student's professional work. This paper presents a model for the application of the strategy in courses of the Telecommunications Engineering career. Also describes the use of the proposed model to the «Networks 2» course of this career. Finally some results of the experience are presented and recommendations for future work are given.El aprendizaje basado en tareas (TDL) puede ser aplicado como un complemento para cursos presenciales. Con esto se busca lograr un proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje más centrado en el estudiante, donde sea posible prestar atención a las individualidades, lograr la motivación hacia los temas tratados por la asignatura y desarrollar un conjunto de habilidades necesarias para su inserción en la sociedad actual y su desempeño profesional. El presente trabajo propone un modelo para la aplicación del aprendizaje basado en tareas en asignaturas presenciales en la carrera de ingeniería en Telecomunicaciones y Electrónica. Describe la aplicación del modelo en la asignatura Redes 2 de la disciplina Telemática de dicha carrera. Por último se analizan los resultados obtenidos y se hacen recomendaciones para futuras investigaciones