Autonomous learning resources for ELF: what learners think

Este artículo trata sobre trabajo llevado a cabo por miembros del grupo de investigación ATLAS en el marco del proyecto SO-CALL-ME (Social Ontology-driven Cognitively Augmented Language Learning Environment). Una de las aplicaciones móviles creadas por el grupo es Eating out, un recurso educativo digital para el aprendizaje autónomo del inglés como lengua extranjera, desarrollado en Moodle. El artículo describe este recurso y pasa a continuación a explicar un experimento en el que un grupo de estudiantes universitarios de inglés trabajaron con él a lo largo de un semestre, algunos usando un ordenador y otros utilizando un dispositivo móvil. Al final del semestre los estudiantes respondieron un cuestionario sobre aspectos pedagógicos y técnicos de su experiencia con Eating out. En el artículo se comentan los contenidos del cuestionario así como los resultados del experimento. Al dar a los estudiantes la oportunidad de evaluar Eating out se buscó obtener información valor a la hora de mejorar este recurso educativo. Los resultados también nos permiten comparar la experiencia de los estudiantes que trabajaron en un ordenador con la de aquellos que lo hicieron con un dispositivo móvil y de esta manera comprobar si el mismo recurso educativo es tan válido –o no– para la enseñanza de lenguas asistidas por ordenador como para la enseñanza de lenguas asistida por dispositivos móviles.This paper reports on work carried out by members of the ATLAS research group within the SO-CALL-ME (Social Ontology-driven Cognitively Augmented Language Learning Environment) project. One of the mobile applications created by the group is Eating out, an EFL autonomous learning digital resource developed on Moodle. The paper describes this resource and then moves on to explain an experiment in which a group of EFL university students worked with it during a semester, some of them using a PC, some using a mobile device. At the end of the semester they answered a questionnaire on pedagogical and technical aspects of their experience with Eating out. The contents of the questionnaire are discussed as are the survey results. By giving the students the chance to evaluate Eating out, we seek to obtain valuable information that may help us to improve this learning resource. Additionally, the results allow us to compare the experiences of students working on a computer and those using a mobile device and thus see whether the learning resource can be run on one as well as on the other

Autonomous learning resources for ELF: what learners think

Este artículo trata sobre trabajo llevado a cabo por miembros del grupo de investigación ATLAS en el marco del proyecto SO-CALL-ME (Social Ontology-driven Cognitively Augmented Language Learning Environment). Una de las aplicaciones móviles creadas por el grupo es Eating out, un recurso educativo digital para el aprendizaje autónomo del inglés como lengua extranjera, desarrollado en Moodle. El artículo describe este recurso y pasa a continuación a explicar un experimento en el que un grupo de estudiantes universitarios de inglés trabajaron con él a lo largo de un semestre, algunos usando un ordenador y otros utilizando un dispositivo móvil. Al final del semestre los estudiantes respondieron un cuestionario sobre aspectos pedagógicos y técnicos de su experiencia con Eating out. En el artículo se comentan los contenidos del cuestionario así como los resultados del experimento. Al dar a los estudiantes la oportunidad de evaluar Eating out se buscó obtener información valor a la hora de mejorar este recurso educativo. Los resultados también nos permiten comparar la experiencia de los estudiantes que trabajaron en un ordenador con la de aquellos que lo hicieron con un dispositivo móvil y de esta manera comprobar si el mismo recurso educativo es tan válido –o no– para la enseñanza de lenguas asistidas por ordenador como para la enseñanza de lenguas asistida por dispositivos móviles.This paper reports on work carried out by members of the ATLAS research group within the SO-CALL-ME (Social Ontology-driven Cognitively Augmented Language Learning Environment) project. One of the mobile applications created by the group is Eating out, an EFL autonomous learning digital resource developed on Moodle. The paper describes this resource and then moves on to explain an experiment in which a group of EFL university students worked with it during a semester, some of them using a PC, some using a mobile device. At the end of the semester they answered a questionnaire on pedagogical and technical aspects of their experience with Eating out. The contents of the questionnaire are discussed as are the survey results. By giving the students the chance to evaluate Eating out, we seek to obtain valuable information that may help us to improve this learning resource. Additionally, the results allow us to compare the experiences of students working on a computer and those using a mobile device and thus see whether the learning resource can be run on one as well as on the other

The Use of Current Mobile Learning Applications in EFL

AbstractTechnological developments in ubiquitous computing and wireless communication together with the adoption of mobile multimedia devices and applications have translated into huge opportunities for English as a foreign language (EFL). Operating systems like Google's open source Android, Apple's iOS, and Microsoft's Windows 7 are getting more sophisticated and now have the potential to dramatically change this field. These handheld devices support individual and collaborative learning and offer the opportunity to develop technology that will assist students to learn anytime and anywhere and a large amount of applications for mobile phones, tablets and i-pod players has already been widely employed in EFL.Mobile learning (m-learning) refers to the use of mobile technologies for educational purposes. These devices can offer learning opportunities that are: spontaneous, informal, contextual, portable, ubiquitous, pervasive, and personal (Kukulska- Hulme et al., 2011). Thus, as Pilling-Cormick and Garrison (2007) explained, learners take primary responsibility and control of their learning process, including setting goals and evaluating outcomes. They are no longer the passive recipients of education, but consumers making choices in the learning market.However, although the stimuli from multi-channels (sound, image, interaction, etc.) may be very advantageous for the learner, mobile technologies also require the thoughtful integration of EFL pedagogy. In this paper, we intend to examine both the qualities and limitations of some mobile applications available by assessing their features from a pedagogic and technical point of view with the aid of a quality rubric. The results here presented are the starting point for the development of MALL (Mobile Assisted Language Learning) applications for EFL teaching/learning as part of the work carried out by linguists and IT engineers within the context of the SO-CALL-ME project in Spain

Genre Realized in Theme: The Case of News Reports and Commentaries

The purpose of this paper is to analyze how the clausal thematic features observed in two newspaper genres —news reports and commentaries— can be interpreted as textual signals of their different generic characterization. This is done through the qualitative and quantitative analysis of a sample consisting of thirty-three English texts, divided into two groups of seventeen news reports and sixteen commentaries, respectively. The analysis focused on the following thematic features: (1) the experiential elements selected as Thematic Heads; (2) the semantic nature of the nominal elements realizing these Heads and their internal structure; (3) the textual and interpersonal thematic choices as part of a multiple theme. The analysis reveals that each newspaper genre prefers certain thematic features and that the differences between the two genres are statistically significant. It is suggested that these thematic preferences can be attributed to genre-related variables such as the communicative purpose or the subject matter of the text

REALL: Rubric for the evaluation of apps in language learning

Rubrics, or documents for standardized assessment have been generalized in education in the past decade, and several benefits can be drawn from their use: a more objective assessment, a clear understanding of the criteria used, a homogenization of expectations and desirable features, etc. Thus, there have been several attempts to create rubrics for evaluating educational apps (see, for example, Avatar Generation, 2012 or Santiago, 2012) but not much has been done specifically in the field of Foreign Language Teaching (FLT). Our contribution seeks to fill that gap by presenting a rubric which includes criteria that are educational but also linguistic

The Use of Current Mobile Learning Applications in EFL

Technological developments in ubiquitous computing and wireless communication together with the adoption of mobile multimedia devices and applications have translated into huge opportunities for English as a foreign language (EFL). Operating systems like Google’s open source Android, Apple’s iOS, and Microsoft’s Windows 7 are getting more sophisticated and now have the potential to dramatically change this field. These handheld devices support individual and collaborative learning and offer the opportunity to develop technology that will assist students to learn anytime and anywhere and a large amount of applications for mobile phones, tablets and i-pod players has already been widely employed in EFL. Mobile learning (m-learning) refers to the use of mobile technologies for educational purposes. These devices can offer learning opportunities that are: spontaneous, informal, contextual, portable, ubiquitous, pervasive, and personal (Kukulska- Hulme et al, 2011). Thus, as Pilling-Cormick and Garrison (2007) explained, learners take primary responsibility and control of their learning process, including setting goals and evaluating outcomes. They are no longer the passive recipients of education, but consumers making choices in the learning market. However, although the stimuli from multi-channels (sound, image, interaction, etc.) may be very advantageous for the learner, mobile technologies also require the thoughtful integration of EFL pedagogy. In this paper, we intend to examine both the qualities and limitations of some mobile applications available by assessing their features from a pedagogic and technical point of view with the aid of a quality rubric. The results here presented are the starting point for the development of MALL (Mobile Assisted Language Learning) applications for EFL teaching/learning as part of the work carried out by linguists and IT engineers within the context of the SO-CALL-ME project in Spain

A scrutiny of the educational value of EFL mobile learning applications

Mobile learning is without any doubt the next step in the evolution of educational technology as it offers modern methods of support to the process of learning through the use of mobile instruments. However, although there are a huge number of educational applications in the market at the moment, the educational value of many of them is rather questionable. The final aim of the SO-CALL-ME ((Social Ontology-based Cognitively Augmented Language Learning Mobile Environment) (FFI 2011-29829) research project is to design and create EFL mobile applications that successfully combine technical skills and a solid pedagogy. In this light, the present study is the third phase of a line of research which started in 2012. In the first phase 67 MALL applications in the context of EFL were assessed by means of a rubric not on their technical features but on their pedagogic goals. The results gave us an idea of the qualities and limitations of the apps examined. In the second phase, a quality guide was created as the basis for a more elaborate evaluation rubric. Out of the EFL apps previously analyzed with the first rubric, we chose four that fulfilled the features considered most important for the apps to be developed in a final stage of the research project. In the third phase, a rubric was used to evaluate the linguistic adequacy of EFL apps for listening. The present study offers the evaluation of a higher number of apps using the rubrics created in phases 2 and 3 in order to corroborate the first impressions as a final step before using the quality guide for the creation of EFL applications

REALL: Rubric for the evaluation of apps in language learning

Rubrics, or documents for standardized assessment have been generalized in education in the past decade, and several benefits can be drawn from their use: a more objective assessment, a clear understanding of the criteria used, a homogenization of expectations and desirable features, etc. Thus, there have been several attempts to create rubrics for evaluating educational apps (see, for example, Avatar Generation, 2012 or Santiago, 2012) but not much has been done specifically in the field of Foreign Language Teaching (FLT). Our contribution seeks to fill that gap by presenting a rubric which includes criteria that are educational but also linguistic

The Parkinson's disease-associated GPR37 receptor interacts with striatal adenosine A2A receptor controlling its cell surface expression and function in vivo

G protein-coupled receptor 37 (GPR37) is an orphan receptor associated to Parkinson's disease (PD) neuropathology. Here, we identified GPR37 as an inhibitor of adenosine A2A receptor (A2AR) cell surface expression and function in vivo. In addition, we showed that GPR37 and A2AR do oligomerize in the striatum. Thus, a close proximity of GPR37 and A2AR at the postsynaptic level of striatal synapses was observed by double-labelling post-embedding immunogold detection. Indeed, the direct receptor-receptor interaction was further substantiated by proximity ligation in situ assay. Interestingly, GPR37 deletion promoted striatal A2AR cell surface expression that correlated well with an increased A2AR agonist-mediated cAMP accumulation, both in primary striatal neurons and nerve terminals. Furthermore, GPR37−/− mice showed enhanced A2AR agonist-induced catalepsy and an increased response to A2AR antagonist-mediated locomotor activity. Overall, these results revealed a key role for GPR37 controlling A2AR biology in the striatum, which may be relevant for PD management