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Abstract Social networks play a relevant role in the construction of narratives on disability and inclusive education. This paper categorises the themes of the most viral publications on Instagram, YouTube and Twitter X, with a twofold objective: to identify the social actors associated with them and to comparatively analyse the value of thematic use for the three digital platforms. Social listening techniques developed using the Twitter X API and web scraping techniques for Instagram and YouTube are applied to store the publications with the keywords education, inclusion and/or disability in Spanish and English. The database consists of 100,091 posts captured from October 2021 to September 2022, a full year. Subsequently, the 100 most viral publications from each social network are selected and a content analysis is applied. The results show a tendency towards thematic specialisation: Instagram defines the demand for rights and disseminates empathetic attitudes; YouTube collects experiences of good practices in informal contexts with a reflective function; Twitter X disseminates reports on the barriers and prejudices experienced by people with disabilities with a critical tone. The main social actors are diverse and varied with different profiles, therapists, politicians and parents with children with disabilities, among others. The impact of the narratives to face the new educational challenges that require an understanding of the network to establish long-term strategies for building a critical digital citizenship is discussed.

This paper examines initial teacher training policies in the context of youth digitalisation. Based on international ICT competency frameworks for teachers (UNESCO, 2008, 2019) and information literacy, MIL (UNESCO, 2011), we analyse how Spanish (public and private) universities represent digital innovation, and the identity practices of young people, linked to hyperconnectivity. Focusing on initial training received by future secondary teachers, the sample was selected according to the criteria of non-presential learning (online, distance, blended) applied in the teacher training process. Results confirm ongoing deficiencies in critical teacher digitalisation management, highlighting certain asymmetries between the categories constructed. Data reveals the prevalence of intervention more geared towards formal knowledge than towards decoding digital grammar (which is how digitalisation is used in education). The paper concludes by advocating convergence strategies as a circular mechanism that must underpin all teacher training policies in the age of hyperconnectivity.

This paper offers a methodological framework to research data practices in education critically. Data practices are understood in the generic sense of the word here, i.e., as the actions, performances, and the resulting consequences, of introducing data-producing technologies in everyday educational situations. The paper first distinguishes between data infrastructures, datafication and data points as three distinct, yet interrelated, phenomena. In order to investigate their concrete doings and specificities, the paper proposes a topological methodology that allows disentangling the relational nature and interwovenness of data practices. Based on this methodology, the paper proceeds with outlining a methodical toolbox that can be employed in studying data practices. Starting from nascent work on digital education platforms as a worked example, the toolbox allows researchers to investigate data practices as consisting of four unique topological dimensions: the Interface of a data practice, its actual Usage, its concrete Design, and its Ecological embeddedness - IUDE.

Contemporary educational practices have been calling for pedagogical models that foreground flexibility, agency, ubiquity, and connectedness in learning. These models have, in turn, been stimulating redevelopments of educational infrastructure –with physical contours reconfigured into novel complex learning spaces at universities, schools, museums, and libraries. Understanding the complexity of these innovative learning spaces requires an acknowledgement of the material and digital as interconnected. A ‘physical’ learning space is likely to involve a range of technologies and in addition to paying attention to these ‘technologies’ one must understand and account for their physical sites of use as well. This paper discusses the influence of materiality in learning, using an analytical approach that situates learning activity as an emergent process. Drawing on theories that foreground socio-materiality in learning and on the relational perspective offered by networked learning, we call for a deeper understanding of the interplay between the physical (material and digital), conceptual, and social aspects of learning, and their combined influence on emergent activity. The paper argues that in order to successfully design for innovative learning, educators need to develop their capacity to trace the intricate connections between people, ideas, digital and material tools, and tasks –to see the learning-whole in action.

This paper assesses the dangers of the use of the concept ‘culture’ in present political and educational rhetoric. The first section offers a critique of the use of the term ‘culture’ in the so-called intercultural educational efforts. It asserts that ‘culture’ in its present use is a proxy for ‘race’ and supports views, which ignore diversity and suggest, purposely or not, an homogeneity which can easily spread into the sphere of biological resemblances and differences. The paper, then, identifies possible alternative understandings of culture through the examination of the contribution of anthropology to cultural research. In the last section of the paper suggestions are made to overcome current approaches to intercultural education through a call to diversify the understanding of diversity to include not only ethnic/cultural differences but also, physical, and cognitive ones. To achieve this goal a turn to the ontological and the training of teachers as ‘critical experts of design’ is suggested.

Abstract The metaverse is known as the hypothetical iteration of the Internet as a single, connected, universal and immersive virtual world that can be accessed via immersive technology devices. One approach to this concept can be achieved through the use of multi-user immersive virtual reality applications. Immersive virtual reality (IVR), which uses gadgets that allow the user to visualize and interact in an enveloping way, is a very attractive technology for teaching purposes. There are many references in the scientific literature about its use for this purpose, including encouraging results in the field of medicine. However, there have not been enough studies assessing how much this type of technology really contributes to learning medicine. This work investigates the feasibility of using the metaverse as an educational tool in medicine. We propose a multi-user immersive virtual reality application for implementing a scene of the metaverse in which medical students are taught. Our work considers that in order to ensure this type of technology is useful in the education of medical students, the technology itself (multi-user IVR) must be designed and implemented for a medical student profile. They usually spend too much time for adapting themselves to use and manage this kind of technology when they are exposed to it for learning. The technology should not be a barrier to acquiring, or disseminating the academic contents themselves. It should act as a catalyst that enhances the speed and capacity for learning medical educational topics. Thus, we present design and user experience specifications that we implemented in an anatomical dissection room in the metaverse, and with which we conducted experiments with 114 sixth-grade medical students. Our results indicate that, based on the design and user experience characteristics that we propose in this paper, the metaverse can indeed serve as a useful and effective educational resource whose technological complexity is no barrier to medical teaching.

In order to disseminate the findings and recommendations from their studies, researchers publish papers in scientific journals in their subject area. Research communities thus emerge as a result of the communication between authors who cite other relevant papers. This study focuses on the relationships between Spanish and English research communities in the specific field of Educational Technology. We explore as hypotheses whether there are signs of scientific journal communication between authors in these two communities, and if the English authors reciprocate citations by Spanish authors. In order to verify them, a social network analysis was conducted by considering outgoing and incoming citations in eight open access journals (four in English and four in Spanish) published over ten years (2007-2016). The sample includes 3,407 articles, which were analysed using UCINET and Gephi software. The results show partial confirmation of the hypotheses, since two separate research communities were recognized, with almost no communication between them. However, the Spanish community was presented as more connected than the English one. We interpret these results by considering not only language factors, but also the journal roots and the particular subject field under consideration. Finally, we highlight some general recommendations to enhance future communication between these two education research communities.

This paper examines practices of teaching and learning in the era of digitalization. More specifically, it addresses practices of teaching and learning for students with professional experience who work alongside their studies. Based on the assumption that digitalization is a means of allowing more open and flexible pathways for teaching and learning in higher education, the paper focusses on the perspectives and perceptions of both students and teachers in digital supported teaching and learning environments as forms of blended learning. It brings together findings from two qualitative empirical studies: one focused on students’ perspectives of their development over the course of their studies; the second addressed teachers’ perspectives and their teaching strategies and activities. Based on the findings of these two research studies, the paper outlines future perspectives for teaching and learning and the role of digitalization, with a particular emphasis on programs of lifelong learning at universities.

Abstract The circumstances in which humans live and learn are subject to constant change. Given these cycles of change, educational designers (teachers, instructional designers, and others) often search for new models and frameworks to support their work, to ensure their designs are in alignment with valued forms of learning activity. Our research foregrounds the entanglement of people (the relational), tasks (the conceptual) and tools (the digital and material) in formal and informal learning settings. In this paper, we explore the use of the ACAD toolkit with the aim of understanding how this analytical tool supports design for learning. A thematic analysis of five workshops attended by 40 educators from diverse professional and academic backgrounds in Spain and Argentina, reveals how ACAD supports educational designers in four distinctive ways: encouraging dynamic engagement with key elements and concepts; supporting the visualization of (dis)connections and (in)coherence in designs; prompting critical reflection on past practices and contexts; and stimulating discussion about future teaching practices. A key contribution of this article is the discussion about how the ACAD toolkit helps educators see the ways in which all learning is situated, subject to constraints and affordances at multiple scale levels, and oriented towards certain pedagogical purposes or values.

This article sets out to conduct a systematic review of the current literature on active video games as potential educational tools for physical education or physical activity. To begin with, research on active video games for educational and physical purposes has been examined with the purpose of verifying improvement of attitudes, intellectual skills, knowledge, motor skills and physical properties associated with physical activity and physical education. A second aim will be to determine the effectiveness of active video games compared with traditional approaches to physical activity. From this perspective, a systematic literature search from relevant international databases was conducted from January to July 2015 in order to find papers published in journals or conference proceedings from January 2010 onwards. Then, 2648 references were identified in database searches and 100 of these papers met the inclusion criteria. Two main conclusions are to be drawn from this research. Firstly, controlled studies demonstrate that active video games increase capacities in relation to physical activity and education. Secondly, Research also shows that physical activity interventions designed and measured using behavioural theories are more likely to be successful in comparison with traditional exercise activities.

The flipped classroom model is an innovative and increasingly popular pedagogical approach in higher education. However, despite its increasing popularity, few studies have elaborated on specific strategies to implement a flipped classroom model. This study has as its purpose to investigate the effect of an extended flipped classroom model for fully online learning and its interaction with working memory capacity on students’ reading comprehension by means of a quasi-experimental study with a 2 x 2 factorial design in which a total of one hundred and twelve students participated for nine weeks. The two-way analysis of variance revealed that students’ reading comprehension ability increased significantly in the extended flipped classroom model compared to that of students in the original flipped classroom. Students with a high WMC also largely outperformed their counterparts with a low WMC in reading comprehension, an interaction effect being thus identified between the instructional model and WMC as well. This paper concluded with a call to implement an extended flipped classroom model in reading courses and to undertake more specific types of research into the effectiveness of this model across different settings and language skills.

Internationally, there is an under-supply of intellectual capital to provide for STEM-related employment. One contributing factor is the low number of female students selecting STEM school subjects and careers. Despite the literature recommending students engage in STEM activities earlier, many initiatives are not implemented until high school. This paper reports on an Australian project named MindSET-do which provided students with early positive STEM experiences prior to high school to raise awareness of, interest in, and aspirations for STEM-related subjects and careers. The case study surveyed n = 107 Year 6 boys’ and girls’ interests, ability beliefs and expectations in STEM school subjects and careers. Students’ awareness and interest in STEM-related subjects and careers increased significantly following experiences with inquiry-based STEM activities, χ2(1, n = 107) = 4.57 to 63.67, p < .05. Expectancy for success in mathematics was significantly higher for males than for females (U = 1125, p = .044, r = .2). Expectancy for success in science was slightly lower for the female group, but p > .05. Logistic regression found females were 24 percent less likely to have a positive view of mathematics than males (p = .003). Gender differences in STEM ability versus ability beliefs and expectancies for success are discussed, with recommendations for earlier positive experiences with STEM tasks.

This article provides a ‘lineage’ of decisions related to education policy which takes comparison as its motive, knowledge and method. A conceptual chain of world system, internationalization, convergence in education and globalization is briefly outlined. The paper examines decision-making in education policy according to agreement, mainstreaming and production criteria, taking Latin America as the linkage and the European Community as the construction. Reasoning and enlightenment are gathered in different fields of history: culture, economics, politics and education. The present paper applies a core structuring epistemology –culled from a variety of academic domains– with comparison and decision underpinning a complex rationale where time, space, materiality, knowledge, ideas, action, and evaluation all intersect.

Semantic Web technologies have been applied in educational settings for different purposes in recent years, with the type of application being mainly defined by the way in which knowledge is represented and exploited. The basic technology for knowledge representation in Semantic Web settings is the ontology, which represents a common, shareable and reusable view of a particular application domain. Ontologies can support different activities in educational settings such as organizing course contents, classifying learning objects or assessing learning levels. Consequently, ontologies can become a very useful tool from a pedagogical perspective. This paper focuses on two different experiences where Semantic Web technologies are used in educational settings, the difference between them lying in how knowledge is obtained and represented. On the one hand, the OeLE platform uses ontologies as a support for assessment processes. Such ontologies have to be designed and implemented in semantic languages apt to be used by OeLE. On the other hand, the ENSEMBLE project pursues the development of semantic web applications by creating specific knowledge representations drawn from user needs. Our paper is consequently going to offer an in-depth analysis of the role played by ontologies, showing how they can be used in different ways drawing a comparison between model patterns and examining the ways in which they can complement each other as well as their practical implications

This paper’s objective was to teach the Equivalence Testing applied to Educational Research to emphasize recommendations and to increase quality of research. Equivalence Testing is a technique used to compare effect sizes or means of two different studies to ascertain if they would be statistically equivalent. For making accessible Equivalence Testing, this technique was explained with two examples by conducting manual calculations, using an online calculator, the software R, the software SPSS, and a t table. Furthermore, the software R with an Equivalence Testing code was used, and its results were graphed and discussed with details. Among other recommendations given, Equivalence Testing can be a useful tool for comparing means and effects within certain bounds that could hopefully imply a practical significance to provide meaning to findings. The results of Equivalence Testing can indicate that two treatments´ effects are statistically equivalent or not. Thus, the Equivalence Testing can be a channel to replicate studies and observe if there is a possible pattern regarding the appearance of a phenomenon.

Leisure activities shared by grandparents and grandchildren provide important benefits. The health and humanitarian crisis caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has made it necessary to use digital tools to alleviate the lack of contact between adults and children. This paper had as its aim to identify the digital leisure shared by grandparents and their pre-adolescent grandchildren (10-12 years old) before and during the pandemic, as well as its contribution to intergenerational well-being from a holistic paradigm, ultimately aiming to determine whether that digital leisure constitutes an experience of human development for young and old people alike. The sample was made up of 153 grandparents of 10-to-12-year-old children living in the north of Spain. Alongside the use of an ad hoc questionnaire, descriptive and inferential analyses were carried out. Most intergenerational leisure activities ceased to be performed during the lockdown, except for those that could be carried out remotely, thanks to information and communication technologies, which ensured the continuity of social and family interactions. Technological connectivity between generations provided greater support to communication and meaningful relationships, additionally facilitating active aging processes.

The creation and implementation of innovation proposals in education can provide a new key towards sustainable development. We are aware that schools perform very different innovations but often, with very low levels of impact and dissemination in their community. There are not many studies that describe, put a value on, categorize or analyse the innovations. This study sought to gain insight into the ICT innovations produced in Spanish primary and pre-primary schools. A quantitative approach based on a questionnaire was used to collect the data, named MANEDUIN, completed by 86 teachers selected by stratified random sampling (public - private, rural - urban). The reliability and the construct-related validity was evaluated from the questionnaire and the validity of content decided by means of experts’ judgment. Our findings point to a good consistency in the questionnaire (Cronbach’s Alpha: 0.848). The descriptive statistics and the analysis were made by factorial categories. The results of the factorial analysis confirm the dimensions proposed in the design of the questionnaire in the categories of the factors included in the innovation (social cohesion, interaction with the community, technologies, and success), the innovative schools and their characteristics, the topic and the type of innovation (on resources, direction, materials and time), as well as the obstacles to the innovation. This paper concludes that the questionnaire MANEDUIN is a valid and reliable tool to measure the management of schools’ innovations.

Present-day society calls for new student-centred didactic methodologies that make the student an active participant in their learning process. Strategies aimed at training citizens and professionals must adapt and respond to a society that is constantly changing. In this context, self-regulated learning and educational co-design emerge as key concepts in the development of new educational approaches. The present study seeks to identify the elements shared by models of self-regulation and educational co-design in technology-enhanced learning environments. To this end, a systematic review of the scientific literature during the period 2014-2019 has been conducted. The search was carried out using five databases: (1) Ebsco Host; (2) Web of Science; (3) Scopus; (4) ERIC; (5) Dialnet. A total of 830 references and 21 papers meeting the criteria for inclusion were identified. An analysis of the studies selected enabled us to identify the self-regulation models associated with co-design learning processes, as well as the elements they have in common. These include planning, motivation, cognition, task management, collaboration, and degree of success. The results provide the first steps for the construction of a co-design model, which includes guidelines for the creation of personalised learning pathways in technology-enhanced environments.

This paper aims at exploring the educational scholarly writing on the teacher-student relationship and performance within the use of Social Network Sites (SNSs) for educational purposes. To that end, a systematic review of 111 journal articles focused on young people, and found in ten relevant databases (ERIC, SCOPUS, WOS, JCR (SSCI), DOAJ, EBSCO, ISOC, REDIB, JSTOR, and PsycARTICLES), has been performed. The results show continuity in the roles of educators and students between physical and virtual spaces. This homogeneous conceptualisation is grounded on student-centred theories. Also, the existence of a theoretical confrontation between the figurative dichotomy of vertical (distance) and horizontal (closeness) teacher-student relationship is revealed and discussed. While most of the reviewed studies focused on requirements for technical training, the need for acquiring digital cultural knowledge is stressed. Finally, some of the educational implications of the ethical dimension of the teacher-student relationship in digital spaces are exposed.

The distinction between face-to-face and distant digitally-mediated educational engagement is a complex one, and the two modes are often combined in practice, via ‘blended learning’ or the use of a VLE to support campus-based teaching. The current Covid-19 pandemic has thrown this distinction into relief, in a context where educationalists have been forced to move to fully distant engagement in a very short timeframe. This paper explores how this predicament has brought to the fore the nature of our engagement with digital knowledge practices and screen-based communication, arguing that the notion of ‘virtual learning’ is a flawed one. Instead, adopting a sociomaterial perspective, it argues that all aspects of digital engagement are in fact grounded in material and embodied entanglements with devices and other artefacts.

This work presents the design and validation process for a tool to evaluate educational mobile applications for autistic learners. The project was developed in several stages. First, we reviewed and analysed the literature. Second, we conducted a Delphi study with experts (n=12) from different backgrounds (educational technology, accessibility, app developers and autism specialist teachers) selected using the calculated expert competence coefficient. And finally, we conducted a pilot test with trainee (n=51) and in-service (n=9) teachers who evaluated a selection of 11 apps. The data collected was used to study the factor structure of the tool, its reliability and usability. In this paper we present the resulting questionnaire consisting of 36 items grouped into six sections: “Information about the evaluator”, “Technical and descriptive characteristics”, “Pedagogical characteristics in relation to autism”, “General pedagogical characteristics”, “Characteristics for educational inclusion and accessibility”, and “Professional satisfaction”. The results condense the questionnaire to two factors and indicate that the tool is valid, reliable and useful for assessing the properties of apps and for facilitating the learning process of people with autism.

This paper seeks to study curriculum as a form of organization of the learning process from the perspective of the learner, in online learning contexts. Departing from a theoretical and conceptual analysis of curriculum, understood as the conception, organization and structuring of the learning process, we analyzed different adults’ representations of online learning and their general conceptions of curriculum. The empirical data came from the application of a questionnaire, distributed online (study I, 833 participants), and semi-structured interviews (study II, seven participants). The results contribute to the reflection on curriculum in a digital context, and to describing the curriculum organization of the learning process adopted by each individual. We found that space and time, in addition to strategies and actors are the most dynamic curriculum components in these circumstances. The formal contexts in which institutionalised learning and the curricula in force therein, occur are central to the development of the personal learning curriculum. This leads us to question the possibilities and ways of reconfiguring curriculum, of conceiving it differently, in digital learning contexts.

Western European countries have made impressive gender equality (GE) progress in education during the last few decades. Unfortunately, the implementation of gender mainstreaming (GM) in higher education has not been satisfactory. This paper describes a survey-based research study designed to explore student teachers’ perceptions of training for GE in teacher education (TE) using the Sensitive Assessment for Gender Equality (SAGE) index. The study firstly aims to analyse the factor invariance across degree of the SAGE and secondly tries to describe the status of GM implementation in teacher education programmes from students’ perspectives. Data were collected from 398 student teachers (84% female) aged 21.44, enrolled on two TE programmes from a public higher education institution in the Autonomous Region of Valencia (Spain). Using single and multi-group CFA the study revealed that the proposed three-factor structure of the SAGE fitted well to early childhood and elementary school student teachers’ data, thus suggesting equivalence between its components in both samples. Early childhood students scored significantly higher than elementary school student teachers in their reported perceptions of gender equality training and awareness of gender inequalities. Results will be displayed in terms of identifying institutional and curricular needs for GE education practices as findings reveal a clear demand for change.

Abstract Student engagement is one of the most relevant topics within the academic and research community nowadays. Higher education curriculum, teaching and learning integrate new technology- supported learning solutions. New methods and tools enhance teacher and learner interactions and influence learner engagement positively. This research addresses the need to explore new ways of improving teaching practices to better engage students with the help of learning analytics. The paper investigates how university teachers use the data from learning analytics to observe learners and to engage them in online learning. Qualitative inquiry was chosen to approach the research problem, and semi-structured interviews with the teachers using (blended) online learning were conveyed to explore teacher practices in students’ behaviour and engagement observations online, disclosing teachers’ abilities to understand the challenging learner engagement process based on the data from learning analytics. The new evidence provided by this research highlights the successful practices in the use of learning analytics data to observe students’ behaviour and engagement and to inform teachers on the presence needed in order to develop learner–centred activities and to make curriculum changes. The limitation of this study lies in the fact that the different online teaching experiences that research participants had might have restricted their understanding of the use of LA data for curriculum development and learners’ engagement.

Abstract The deep penetration and global impact of mobile devices has led the scientific community to undertake a thorough analysis of the implications of this phenomenon. Researchers need to determine their true real effect and how they can best be used to manage information and build knowledge. This study has examined recent investigations on the subject of mobile learning and carried out a descriptive analysis of a sample of registers indexed on the Web of Science research platform in 2015–16. An exhaustive content analysis has revealed new areas where M-Learning is being implemented, especially in the teaching of foreign languages, the emergence of social interaction methodologies in Secondary Education, evolving forms of collaborative relationships, work with clearly defined student profiles and the use of virtual immersive and innovative spaces in Higher Education. This paper also emphasizes the presence of previously unknown, transcendent problems associated with M-learning, such as the collateral addiction effect, and its interference in the classroom. Finally, our study suggests that teachers could embrace these technological proposals and include them in their strategies. Indeed, it might be necessary to flip the process, so this research could be the start of the generation and design of innovative guidelines to manage these forms and content.

Abstract This paper synthesizes the characteristics of university rankings that cause pressure or ‘harassment’ on universities and analyses possible strategies for action that can be carried out in the real context of the three main university rankings (QS, THE, ARWU), suggesting the consequences for the so-called world-class universities and others (which represent 95% of the total). Although there is controversy over the criteria of the university ranking systems, many universities are establishing strategies aimed at adapting to these criteria and indicators and improving their positions. This study concludes that international university rankings should not be a relevant source of information to consider the quality of universities because this can have a negative impact on the development of medium- and long-term policies in higher education and the universities themselves. Universities should concentrate on their mission and must provide valid and reliable information to all stakeholders about the level of achievement of their goals.

Abstract In this paper, different proposals made by national and international organizations and institutions on Teacher Digital Literacy are taken into account. The 7 most commonly used competence frameworks in international contexts are presented for evaluation through expert judgment. Next, the most suitable for the subsequent realization of a t-MOOC on Teacher Digital Literacy was selected. The selection of these experts was based on seven criteria that helped to establish the expert knowledge coefficient (EKC). This strategy served to obtain the viability of the selected sample. A total of 412 people, 155 experts and 257 non-experts participated in this study. After conducting the expert judgment, in a single round, it was concluded that the European Framework of Digital Competence for Teachers DigCompEdu is the most valued and adequate to be used as reference for the formative t-MOOC, followed by INTEF. This result is logical, since the latter is inspired by the former. These findings do not question the validity of the other competency frameworks, but the preferences granted by the judges.

This paper presents a multi-case study in the field of intercultural education and it refers to a project named “Voice of children and young people in the development of intercultural education”. The cases are critical action-research projects developed with three groups of middle and high school students. They participated in dialogic processes and shared leadership with their teachers. They co-designed projects, debated and became aware of critical issues related to cultural diversity in their educational communities. The purpose of the research is to analyze participatory processes and associated changes in relation to intercultural education and students’ voice frameworks. Personal changes of the students, such as self-awareness and attention to others and to relationships, and group changes such as cohesion, were underlined, as well as changes extended to other actors —teachers, other students, staff, tutors, and other members of the community— creating collaborative relationships, solidarity, and mutual recognition. There were visible changes during the most active period in which projects were held, but sometimes impacts still endured and deepened afterwards. This stresses the relevance of youngsters’ participatory projects engaged in intercultural processes and change.

CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) —endorsed by the European Commission since 1996— constitutes the official approach to bilingual education in Spain. Intercultural learning (IL) is one of the four defining Cs in CLIL, though the literature has consistently described it as the weakest implementation area. This paper analyses the opinions of 76 Spanish secondary education students about IL through their bilingual curriculum. Their viewpoints clearly suggest that IL comes from two main sources: native assistants; and exchange programmes. These data were contrasted with the views of school principals and bilingual coordinators, who declared that both of these valuable ‘resources’ for IL are scarce due to administrative difficulties and lack of budget. Our conclusions reveal how improving these areas can lead not only to improved scores but also to a better implementation of the intercultural axis in CLIL, if the goal consists in educating 21st century citizens.

Ensuring inclusive education, which is one of the priorities of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, is not possible without teachers. Teachers' perceptions influence the way they organise and develop their professional activity and the commitment they ultimately give to cultural diversity in educational practice. In this paper, we study the perceptions about cultural diversity which are held by teachers working in compulsory education with Roma students in the Italian city of Messina. The study involved 182 teachers from four educational centres for primary education and the first grade of secondary education. It is a quantitative descriptive study in which a questionnaire has been used as the instrument to collect information. The results obtained highlight, among other issues, the fact that the teachers who were involved in the study favour theoretical and practical perspectives which encourage cultural diversity. In addition, they reveal that there are significant differences in teachers’ perceptions according to the educational level they teach.

Inclusive education represents the way forward to achieving high quality education systems, which are fair and equitable. This paper analyzes the barriers to learning and the current participation of schools in the promotion of inclusion from the perspective of future teaching professionals, specifically, 86 students from three Masters Courses in the Faculty of Education of the University of Murcia. A questionnaire was utilized in order to ascertain their perceptions of the limitations and obstacles present within the school context, the attitudes, the availability of resources and the adequacy of the educational response offered by the educational centres in which they had carried out their teacher training placements, with the aim of improving the future training of other students. A non-experimental narrative method was used. The results show many barriers and obstacles in the educational centres such as a lack of teacher training, which is needed to respond to the needs of all the students, the consideration that the diversity of the students is a problem, physical barriers, underuse of existing resources, as well as an educational response lacking in organizational and didactic strategies which does not take responsibility for a just and inclusive curriculum for all students.

The use of hypermedia educational materials in education has gained relevance in recent years and is the object of numerous research activities. In the context of teaching and learning Mathematics, there are diverse works detailing their potential to improve both student learning and student attitude towards the subject. In this article, the results obtained through a case study carried out in a first-year course of Mathematics at a School of Engineering are shared, for which a hypermedia material was designed and then its impact in the classroom was analysed. To that end, a quanti- qualitative analysis framework was designed. An experience was carried out with two groups of students: one of these (n=101) used this material, and the other (n=111) served as control group. The students gave a positive overall assessment as regards to the experience carried out with the hypermedia material, but not to the extent expected. However, observations and the interviews carried out with the educators revealed that the hypermedia material positively contributed to several student learning aspects: it allowed using a mathematical software application as an exploratory tool and it promoted critical thinking among the students, who used the application to check their pen-and-paper work, using the semiotic representation conversions.

We live in a world permeated by digital technologies. Still, however, this digitization is not always reflected in the learning environments of higher education institutions, which raises questions about the adequacy of the instructional outcomes. In this paper, I maintain that the concept of the inverted or flipped classroom may be a fruitful path to including learning “hands-on” with technology even in learning environments absent of any technological resources. The rationale for this proposition is that flipped elements transfer the demand for technology from the teaching environment to the student. I report on a design-based research project to put this claim to a first test. The qualitative and quantitative data collected all support the idea that flipped classroom elements may help overcome differences in terms of availability of technology in different learning environments. The implications for universities and higher education teachers are discussed.

Integrating digital media into classroom practice requires consideration on many levels, how young people access and engage with digital media at the level of media, mode and genre is complex and may redefine how literacy practices in the classroom are perceived. Young people use digital media in their everyday literacy practices and a failure to embrace new technologies in the classroom may lead to a disjuncture between their everyday and college-assessed literacy practices. Following an analysis of communicative interactions that looked at multi-layered media, modes and their affordances, this paper offers insights from recent research. It looks carefully at the congruence and incongruences that exists between the two literacy practices with the aim to offer rich insights into meaning making in what are comparatively new, digital literacy practices. A major conclusion is that some assessment tasks do have congruence with young people’s everyday literacy practices but at times they either do not take account of the students ‘funds of knowledge’ (Moll et al.,1992) to the full which is likely to cause confusion and possible under performance.

Much research on bullying behaviour in schools among students has been carried out since the 1970’s, when Olweus started a large-scale project in Norway which is now generally regarded as the first scientific study on bullying. Yet, there has been little research on how teachers respond to reports of bullying and tackle bullying behaviour in post-primary schools. This paper reports on a preliminary study investigating teacher empathy levels and their preparedness for tackling bullying in a post-primary school in Ireland. There were two research questions central to this research. The first looked at how empathic are teachers in this school? The second examined to what extent it prepares them for tackling bullying? In answering these questions we relied on the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) to gather data on empathy levels among teachers (n=10), with findings related to existing research in the field. The results showed that teacher empathy is an important factor in creating and maintaining a positive school climate, which in turn leads to a prevention of bullying situations.

Schools have a duty of care to all students and to directly prevent and intervene with bullying amongst children and adolescents. The emergence of cyberbullying escalates this responsibility as the strategies that have become appropriate at national levels for bullying do not always parallel over to online environments. The impact on mental health is the most obvious concern for those responsible for reducing bullying, however, input from psychologists and mental health professionals is scant and often limited on this topic. This paper outlines what bullying is and the devastating impact it can have on the mental health of those involved. It will outline the most common anti-bullying initiatives as well as the current psychological and educational techniques, which could also be used to alleviate distress associated with bullying involvement. We will focus specifically on the role of mindfulness techniques and argue for more of such exercises to be included in whole-school bullying programmes. We conclude by arguing the need to investigate components relevant to both mindfulness and anti-bullying programmes (e.g., empathy, perspective-taking) as active ingredients for reducing the impact of bullying on mental health.

Game-based learning is an innovative methodology that takes advantage of the educational potential offered by videogames in general and serious games in particular to boost training processes, thus making it easier for users to achieve motivated learning. The present paper focuses on the description of the Game to Learn Project, which has as its aim not only to promote the use of serious games and digital mini-games for the development of Multiple Intelligences, but also to analyse whether this methodology results in increased learning. Teachers assessed the level achieved by primary education students (N=119) in each learning category, before and after participating in the project, by means of a qualitative instrument. Finally, after corresponding analysis through descriptive statistical techniques, bivariate correlations, and ANOVA, the results showed significant differences between children’s learning levels in logical-mathematical, naturalistic and linguistic abilities before and after their participation in this innovative project, thus revealing a widespread increase in every indicator.

This paper presents the findings of a training programme based on an Action-Research methodology that has been applied in two subjects of Event Organization, Protocol and Institutional Relations undergraduate and Master’s degrees. Through a teaching methodology called «learning by doing», students are encouraged to understand, internalise and apply the potential of technology in this field of knowledge, by means of building their personal brand as a key for digital literacy and professional empowerment. Thus, firstly this work proposes a review of the use of technology in teaching, with the goal of resignifying the concept of educational e-innovation from a transdisciplinary approach, which promotes progress in education ranging from technological to social innovation (technological-education-cultural-relational). Then, both the specific features and activities designed to build the students’ personal brands during the course as well as the research methodology applied to analyze the results are described. The methodology is based on a longitudinal «ex post-facto» approach through a panel sample survey. Finally, results demonstrate how this training programme has allowed graduates to improve their employability and career development opportunities from then on, encouraging active participation and self-directed learning. Initial conclusions encourage us to apply this experience to larger groups and new university degrees in the higher education context.

In response to the increase of Higher Education support provided to tutoring programs, this paper presents the design, implementation and evaluation of a tutoring program to improve the academic performance of at-risk students enrolled in the last year of a nursing degree characterized by academic failure (failed courses). A controlled experimental study was carried out to evaluate a tutoring program that included a minimum of nine meetings performed by an expert professor as tutor. A questionnaire for assessing the academic needs was designed and interventions were performed when responses were: nothing, a little or something. Medium to large effects were found in the progress of failed course to passed course (p =.000, rφ = .30), improving the information about courses (p < .001, d = 2.01), the information comprehension (p < .001, d = 0.85) and the strategies to improve academic performance (p < .001, d = 1.37). The intervention group students’ response highlighted program satisfaction and effectiveness. The significance of the study lies in reinforcing the formal tutoring as a tool to improve academic performance in at-risk students.

This paper is intended to study the self-regulated learning (SRL) process in personal learning environments (PLEs) among students participating in the Graduate Program for Preschool Education at the University of Granada (Spain). The study is focused on self-regulatory actions carried out by students, and on their self-regulated learning achievements, during the phases of action and reflection of this process. A Likert scale questionnaire was applied to a random cluster sample of the population. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were performed based on the collected data, as were non-parametric correlation and analysis of variance tests. The results confirm the importance of individual learning in the self-regulated process, and highlight the importance of digital tools in all three phases of self-regulation. Furthermore, the results show that teachers’ suggestions are related to the use of digital tools and recording of reflections on the learning process, and establish relationships between learning management tools and cognitive and metacognitive processes. The results also permit classification of students into three subgroups, based on their achievements. Analyses are consistent with the theory that explains the cyclical nature of self-regulated learning and the influence of social relationships on individual self-regulatory processes.

We seem to have a problem in arts education at pre-school level: the lack of specific training for teachers teaching this subject to very young children. The future preschool teachers’ training seems to be focused on the teaching and learning aspects of artistic education however they receive little training on methodologies and philosophies. Therefore, when teachers have to face the classroom, the methodologies they use are usually quite traditional and do not favour the development of critical thinking skills in the students. There are different philosophies of arts education that might embed opportunities for reflection, art interpretation, experimentation, expression of emotions and feelings that if, in the case these philosophies, reach the classroom, may doubtlessly enrich the student’s artistic training. Thus a conceptual framework based on one of these philosophies, named Reggio Emilia, arises. A systematic review of the literature which has been developed by categorising criteria from research papers and from examples of good practices. This categorisation might allow us to establish a framework that can be useful in the classrooms and can establish parameters of action that may have an impact on students, teachers and teachers’ practice in general.

This paper makes a reflection on the assessment of historical thinking in compulsory education. First, the article reflects on the type of knowledge that is being evaluated (memory or understanding). According to current thinking, assessment should meet the teaching aims set out by the teacher, it should be another means of monitoring and improving students' learning, of correcting mistakes made during the process and of taking relevant decisions. Secondly, there will be an analysis of the cognitive model of learning history proposed by international studies. The application of educational competences to assessment processes needs to be adjusted to the epistemological, pedagogical and cognitive fundaments of each subject. Finally, the article will make some proposals for evaluation, firstly by using methods of inquiry, problem-based learning and related teaching strategies, in addition to the use of tools to assess more complex skills of historical thinking with students´argumentation. Historical thinking requires a variety of assessment tools that are able to capture the different capacities of the students in their interpretation of the past and their historical skills.

Learning to coexist continues to be one of the challenges faced by the current educational system, especially for those schools located in contexts at risk of social exclusion where the violence rate increases on a daily basis. The main aim sought by the present study consists in assessing the impact of a program developed at an educational center located in a vulnerable neighborhood of the city of Valencia (Spain). It is a quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest research with a control group that involved a total of 109 teachers and students. It deserves to be highlighted that this paper forms part of a broader research initiative, for which reason the results obtained in the qualitative part through the implementation of a content analysis are presented. The results show the success of the program applied in accordance with the perceptions of the teachers and students involved, who state that all the program strategies have significantly improved school coexistence.

This paper creates a novel link between research on linguistics and education by discussing what we know about the sound system of heritage language users of Spanish and how these findings can inform practices implemented in heritage Spanish courses in the USA. First, we provide an overview of terminology associated with heritage language research, situating heritage Spanish programs within the educational context of the USA, and explaining why heritage Spanish phonetics and phonology remain relatively unexplored. Next, we delve into previous linguistic research on the heritage Spanish sound system in terms of individual vowels and consonants, as well as at the level of intonation, rhythm, and stress, while highlighting any observed differences between the system of heritage Spanish and those of Spanish speakers of other backgrounds. Finally, motivated by the phonetic/phonological insight of previous work, in addition to existing pedagogical and curricular research on heritage Spanish, we consider how and why the inclusion of specific types of sound-system-based commentary and practice in the educational experience of heritage users of Spanish could be beneficial.

This article reports results from a study in which two groups of college level students were exposed to interactions with Apple’s Siri in order to foster dialogue about their dialectal features. In this paper, the methodology and procedural challenges behind one of the activities that the participants completed are studied. These activities had been designed to present to them the historical dimensions of the Historical California Spanish dialect, or Californio Spanish, and pursue two different outcomes for the participants: 1) to foster the interest in discovering a dialectal past, and 2) to increase linguistic self-esteem, as a result of an external validation provided by technology.

This paper aims at studying the leadership behaviors reported by principals and observed by teachers and its relationship with management experience of principals. A quantitative method was used in this study. The target population included all principals and teachers of guidance schools and high schools in the Dashtiari District, Iran. A sample consisting of 46 principals and 129 teachers was selected by stratified sampling and simple random sampling methods. A leadership Behavior Description Questionnaire (LBDQ) developed by Kozes and Posner (2001) was used for data collection. The obtained data were analyzed using one sample and independent t-test, correlation coefficient and crosstabs pearson Chi-square test. The results showed that teachers describe leadership behaviors of their principals relatively well. However, principals themselves evaluated their leadership behaviors as very well. Comparing between leadership behaviors self-reported by principals and those observed by teachers, a significant difference was found between the views and evaluations of teachers and principals on all components of leadership behaviors of principals, except that regarding empowerment. In fact, principals described their leadership behaviors better and at a more appropriate level than teachers. From the perspective of both teachers and principals, there was no significant relationship between any of the components of leadership behaviors and management experience of principals.

This paper presents the findings of a study carried out in the academic year 2014-2015 at the faculty of Education of the University of Murcia with first year degree students in Primary Education studying Research and ICT. The study started with the application of the DIGCOM questionnaire to analyze the digital competences of 134 students. The questionnaire served as an initial task to help students reflect on their digital competences. The subject was developed around tasks which adopted a transversal approach and used the nature of the contents itself to direct and improve students’ digital competencies. Finally, the initial questionnaire was reformulated and run in order to ascertain the students’ self-perception of their improvement in these competencies through the tasks they had performed. Below we present the tasks carried out, the organization of each subject and the most relevant data regarding the self-perception of digital competencies of the future primary school teachers enrolled at the University of Murcia. The data reveal, on the one hand, that the students participating consider themselves to be competent in the most basic aspects of digital competencies and, on the other, their perception that the work done in the subject has helped them quite a lot in improving their competencies.

A large number of emergent technologies have been acquiring a strong impulse in recent years. One of these emergent technologies is Augmented Reality (RA), which will surely have a high level of penetration into all our educational centers, including universities, in the next 3 to 5 years, as a number of different reports have already highlighted. The present paper shows various elements which, in our opinion, play an essential role when it comes to the incorporation of Augmented Reality into teaching, stressing the fact that this incorporation should not entail a technological problem but an educational and didactic issue. A mention is additionally made of several studies which have been performed with regard to the didactic exploitation of this emergent technology, as well as to the potential that it offers us. Our study forms part of an R&D&I initiative undertaken within the framework of the Plan Estatal de Fomento de la Investigación Científica y Técnica de Excelencia 2013-2016 [2013-16 State (National) Plan for the Promotion of Excellence Scientific and Technical Research], with reference EDU2014-57446-P.

In recent years, a large number of educational systems, following the recommendations of international organisations, have introduced a competence-based emphasis into their traditionally subject-based curriculum. This move, beyond what any document can deal with, does not seem to find its way into everyday school practice easily or with instant results. This paper explores encounters and clashes between policy and practice regarding a competence-based curriculum framework. We refer firstly to the notions about information processing and digital competence held by international organisations and the Spanish and Catalan Ministry of Education, and the implications of said notions for teaching. Then, from evidence collected through class observations, interviews with students and teachers, and documents analysis in a case study, we draw on four teaching and learning scenarios where ICT is regularly used. Promoting students’ digital competence is one of the key competences prescribed in the curriculum; however, our study showed that the backgrounds and educational views of teachers, as well as the teaching culture and organisation of schools, should be deeply challenged to foster this competence.