Free software and free culture in Higher Education: pipelines and workflows for creative purposes

OpenLab ESEV is a project of the School of Education of the Polytechnic Institute of Viseu (ESEV), Portugal, that aims to promote, foster and support the use of Free/Libre Software and Open Source Software, Open Educational Resources, Free Culture, Free file formats and more flexible copyright licenses for creative and educational purposes in the ESEV's domains of activity (education, arts, media). Most of the OpenLab ESEV activities are related to the teacher education and arts and multimedia programs, with a special focus on the later. In this paper, the project and some activities are presented, starting with its origins and its conceptual framework. The presented overview is intended as background for the examination of the use of Free/Libre Software and Free Culture in educational settings, specially at the higher education level, and for creative purposes. The activities developed with students and professionals generated pipelines and workflows implemented for different creative purposes, software packages used for different tasks, choices for file formats and copyright licenses. Finished and ongoing multimedia and arts projects will be presented as real case scenarios

O Projecto NetInfância e a construção de conhecimento profissional numa licenciatura em Educação de Infância

Numa altura de alteração na formação inicial de educadores de infância que, de novo, realça a relação com a investigação e a produção de conhecimento profissional específico, apresenta-se uma análise de estudos desenvolvidos no âmbito de uma licenciatura que focaram a utilização das tecnologias de informação e comunicação (tic) na educação pré-escolar. A análise orientou-se por preocupações relativas à produção de conhecimento por professores e à necessidade de estudos que apoiem a decisão sobre a utilização das tic na educação pré-escolar. Foram apreciadas as instâncias conceptual, substantiva e metodológica dos estudos, em detrimento de uma revisão de resultados. Destacam-se características de investigação realizada por práticos e de conhecimento pedagógico de conteúdo concretizados por alguns desses estudos, bem como as combinatórias metodológicas e os procedimentos de acesso ao campo bem sucedidos. A criação de espaços de produção de investigação nos novos mestrados pode beneficiar da análise destes processos nessas dimensões

Using Free Software in Higher Education for Creative Purposes: The Case of OpenLab ESEV

OpenLab ESEV is a recent project of the Polytechnic Institute of Viseu’s School of Education that aims to promote, foster and support the use of Free/Libre Open Source Software (F/LOSS) and Free File Formats for creative and educational purposes. During its first year of existence, the project has been particularly active in the fields of document production, software training, and technical support. As an emerging project of use of F/LOSS for creative and artistic purposes, specifically the support to 3D animation students’ projects, we intend to share what we’ve learned by discussing results and some of the changes we want to implement in the near future. The paper includes some core concepts and concerns underlying the project, together with an analysis of the achievements and difficulties, including prefered software packages and workflows and some ongoing students’ work as real case scenarios

Children and technology: preoccupations, practices and participation in Early Childhood Education

Children live in a complex world where technology plays different roles and influences several spheres of their existence. Research about the presence and educational impact of technology in childhood reveals several challenges. A particular challenge is connected to the need for a high-quality pedagogy regarding technology in Early Childhood Education. This paper contributes to that discussion from a Portuguese perspective. The pedagogical and curricular framework for Early Childhood Education in Portugal supports a significant use of technology in the daily practice and in children’s play. In this context, the paper explores three main axes to understand a high-quality pedagogy for using technology with children in educational contexts: technology presented as a tool with socially authentic practices; technology as supporting multiple languages that are relevant for children to understand the world around them; and technology as an arena for children’s participation. Each axis is supported by the analysis of specific projects developed locally at the School of Education. The projects were selected for highlighting tenets of each axis. Each axis is also connected to the three content areas of the Portuguese Curricular Guidelines and to dimensions of a sociocultural pedagogy for Early Childhood Education.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A deck of cards for creative drawing based on algorithmic thinking

Deck of cards created as a pedagogical tool for the project Algolittle "Algorithmic Thinking Skills through Play-Based Learning for Future’s Code Literates" (2020-1-TR01-KA203-092333). Supports children in creating collaborative drawings based on prompts while learning concepts related to algorithms, especially conditions, and loops.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Dealing with crisis: Early childhood teachers perceived role in supporting children

The study explored how two experienced early childhood teachers support children dealing with crisis in their home environment, namely divorce, domestic violence and imprisonment of parents. The focus was on the relationship between the educational environment (organisation of space, time and relationships in an ecological perspective) and children's emotional well-being. This study builds on studies in Portugal about emotional well-being (Portugal & Laevers, 2010) and about the impact on children from imprisoned parents (Afonso, 2005, Kominsky, Pinto & Miyashiro, 2005, Tavares, 2011), domestic violence (Batista, 2014, Lisboa et al., 2002, Ribeiro, 2010) and divorce (Martons, 2010, Rego, 2008). The theoretical framework was weaved with Laevers (2004) concepts of emotional well-being and involvement and Siraj-Blatchford (2002) and Figueiredo (2013) perspective of pedagogy as including different dimensions of which the educational environment is essential. In-depth interviews with both teachers and some observations of their classroom dynamics were analysed for emerging cross themes in this qualitative study. Anonymity was preserved throughout the study by the use of codes. The study was presented to the teachers and questions were presented in advance. Both teachers expressed preference for adapting existing pedagogical tools (e.g. the classroom diary) and the daily dynamic to support children instead of using special interventions. Domestic violence was seen as the most problematic situation for its repercussions. Attention to emotional well-being, a strong relationship with the child and the families was highlighted. Pedagogy was described as answering different challenges, with a strong emphasis on children's participation. Thematising teachers' pedagogical knowledge is important

Peer interaction in mixed age groups: a study in the computer area of an early childhood education center in Portugal

The study was developed as a teacher-research project during initial teacher education – Masters Degree of Early Childhood and Primary Education, in Portugal. It analysed the interactions between children of 3 to 6 years old, during the use of the computer as a free choice activity, confronting situations between peers of the same age and situations between peers of different ages. The focus of the analysis was the collaborative interactions. This was a qualitative study. Children could choose the computer, amongst other interest areas, and work for around an hour in pairs. In the computer, children used mainly educational games. During four weeks, the interactions between the pairs were audio recorded. Field notes and informal interviews to the children were also used to collect data. Eleven children were involved in the study with ages ranging from 3 to 6 years old. Baseline data on children’s basic computer proficiency was collected using the Individualized Computer Proficiency Checklist (ICPC) by Hyun. The recorded interactions were analysed using the types of talk offered by Scrimshaw and Perkins and Wegerif and Scrimshaw: cumulative talk, exploratory talk, disputational talk, and tutorial talk. This framework was already used in a study in an early childhood education context in Portugal by Amante. The results reveal differences in computer use and characterize the observed interactions. Seven different pairs of children's interactions were analysed. More than a third of the interactions were cumulative talk, followed by exploratory talk, tutorial talk and disputational talk. Comparing same and mixed age pairs, we observed that cumulative talk is the more present interaction, but in same age pairs this is followed by exploratory talk whereas in the mixed age pairs it is tutorial talk that has the second largest percentage. The pairs formed by the children were very asymmetrical in terms of age and computer proficiency. This lead to the more tutorial interactions, where one children showed the other or directed him/her on how to play. The results show that collaboration is present during the use of a computer area in early childhood education. The free choice of the children means the adults can only suggest pairing suited to specific interactions between the children. Another way to support children in more exploratory talk interactions could be by discussing the way the older children can help the younger ones beyond directing or correcting their work

Castro Lusitano Virtual: Software Livre e Património Virtual

O presente texto apresenta os objetivos e atual estado de desenvolvimento do projeto Castro Lusitano Virtual, um ambiente tridimensional interativo representativo de um povoado da Idade do Ferro da região Centro de Portugal, juntamente com a descrição de alguns conceitos que constituem o respetivo enquadramento e fundamentos do projeto. A Arqueologia e o Património Virtual são convocados nesse sentido, assim como a ecologia de conceitos e práticas em torno do Software Livre, incluindo cultura livre. O Castro Lusitano Virtual pode ser considerado como um recurso educacional aberto (Open Educational Resource), discutindo-se ideias sobre a sua utilização, nomeadamente distinguindo o aluno como explorador e como criador de ambiente tridimensionais. A utilização do projeto é focada, neste artigo, no contexto escolar, nomeadamente no ensino da História

Animação Livre: uma proposta para uma pipeline e fluxo de trabalho baseados em Software Livre

OpenLab ESEV is a project of the Polytechnic Institute of Viseu’s School of Education that aims to promote, foster and support the use of Free/Libre and Open Source Software (F/LOSS), Free file formats and more flexible copyright licenses for creative and educational purposes. This paper presents a description and an evaluation of the pipeline and workflow implemented by OpenLab ESEV to support students' animation work and projects. The presented detailed view and evaluation might be of interest to schools and studios, teachers and independent animators interested in exploring the potential of Free Software alternatives to the standard proprietary software pipeline for animation and media production. The first part of the paper presents information about the workflow and pipeline. The description includes a diagram portraying the workflow, software packages used for different tasks, adopted file formats and chosen copyright licenses. It provides a complete view of the pipeline and workflow, from pre-production to post-production, from the presentation of the initial idea to the distribution of the final work, using finished and ongoing students’ works as real case scenarios. The second part presents a first draft of an ongoing analysis and evaluation of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) of the pipeline. We'll share and discuss the results of a SWOT analysis carried out within the project coordination team and students involved with the project as users of the pipeline

OpenLab ESEV - A Narrative of Libre Software and Free Culture in a Portuguese Higher Education Institution

OpenLab ESEV is a project of the School of Education of Viseu (ESEV) that aims to promote, foster and support the use of Free/Libre and Open Source Software (F/LOSS), Free Culture, Free file formats and more flexible copyright licenses for creative and educational purposes in the ESEV’s domains of activity (education, arts, media). Although its roots can be traced to individual initiatives organized by some teachers in previous years, OpenLab came to existence in the end of 2009. It emerged in an environment characterized by the lack of knowledge of the existing Libre alternatives and by work habits exclusively built around proprietary software. In this paper, the project is presented, starting with its origins, dwelling in its conceptual framework, and finishing with some of its activities