Open University of Catalonia

About: Open University of Catalonia is a education organization based out in Barcelona, Spain. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Collaborative learning & Educational technology. The organization has 1943 authors who have published 4646 publications receiving 64200 citations. The organization is also known as: Universitat Oberta de Catalunya & UOC.

Teaching Communication Technologies and Standards for the Industrial IoT? Use 6TiSCH!

Abstract: The IETF 6TiSCH stack encompasses IEEE802.15.4 TSCH, IETF 6LoWPAN, RPL, and CoAP. It is one of the key standards-based technologies to enable industrial process monitoring and control, and unleash the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). The 6TiSCH stack is also a valuable asset for educational purposes, as it integrates an Internet-enabled IPv6-based upper stack with stateof- the-art low-power wireless mesh communication technologies. Teaching with 6TiSCH empowers students with a valuable set of competencies, including topics related to computer networking (medium access control operation, IPv6 networking), embedded systems (process scheduling, concurrency), and wireless communications (multipath propagation, interference effects), as well as application requirements for the IIoT. This article discusses how the 6TiSCH stack can be incorporated into existing and new curricula to teach the next generation of electrical engineering and computer science professionals about designing and deploying such networks. It also gives a comprehensive overview of the 6TiSCH stack and the tools that exist to support a course based on it.

El cambio educativo ante la innovación tecnológica, la pedagogía de las competencias y el discurso de la educación emocional. Una mirada crítica

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to analyse the pressures placed upon the education system in order for it to adapt to the needs of the economic world. Therefore, we shall investigate what directions that system is taking nowadays on three different levels. First, we analyze the role of educational innovation linked to the development of technological applications, which is not only configuring new teaching and learning models, but also business opportunities inspired by the entertainment industry, thus threatening the continuity of the educational system and as we know it today. Secondly, we examine the pedagogical approach to competencies that, beyond promoting changes in school culture, favors the development of a pragmatic and economic vision of education. Finally, and based on the discourse about competency education and the theory of multiple intelligences, we analyze the role that the promotion of emotional competencies in education is taking from the influence of positive psychology and the happiness industry. The connections between these three levels underline how it contributes to configure the functional subjectivities according to the neoliberal rationality that governs us. Facing these tendencies, it appears necessary to claim the renewal of the pedagogical commitment with the new generations. This commitment has to provide more than only a free election of a formative menu for the professional development or the development of an educational culture interested mainly in the emotional competencies and the promotion of the spirit of entrepreneurship. In opposition to the current pedagogical tendencies that only encourage a model of individualistic and psychological citizenship, we claim -like Hannah Arendt- a pedagogical commitment relating the subject with culture, the desire of knowledge and the opening to a common world.

Perception of audio-visual speech synchrony in Spanish-speaking children with and without specific language impairment

Abstract: Speech perception involves the integration of auditory and visual articulatory information, and thus requires the perception of temporal synchrony between this information. There is evidence that children with specific language impairment (SLI) have difficulty with auditory speech perception but it is not known if this is also true for the integration of auditory and visual speech. Twenty Spanish-speaking children with SLI, twenty typically developing age-matched Spanish-speaking children, and twenty Spanish-speaking children matched for MLU-w participated in an eye-tracking study to investigate the perception of audiovisual speech synchrony. Results revealed that children with typical language development perceived an audiovisual asynchrony of 666 ms regardless of whether the auditory or visual speech attribute led the other one. Children with SLI only detected the 666 ms asynchrony when the auditory component preceded [corrected] the visual component. None of the groups perceived an audiovisual asynchrony of 366 ms. These results suggest that the difficulty of speech processing by children with SLI would also involve difficulties in integrating auditory and visual aspects of speech perception.

Participation in protected areas: a social network case study in Catalonia, Spain

Abstract: Local participation of stakeholders in governance of protected areas is considered to be important to natural resource management and biodiversity conservation. Social network analysis (SNA) is a useful tool for analysis because it allows the understanding of stakeholders’ relationships, interactions, and influences through communication networks. We combine quantitative and qualitative data to undertake a SNA for the natural park of Sant Llorenc del Munt in Catalonia, Spain. This is aimed at (1) assessing the structure of the communication network; (2) comparing the informal communication network with the formal participatory bodies of the natural park; and (3) selecting participants for subsequent analyses of the adequate governance structure of the natural park. The results suggest that an informal network of communication, which is reasonably well represented in participatory bodies, exists. However, this communication network is not functioning perfectly because stakeholders experience a lack of trust in the governance bodies of the park, which they perceive to be ineffective. Our results show that SNA is an effective tool to support the creation of a broad representation of stakeholders in participatory processes.

Embedding emotion awareness into e-learning environments

Abstract: In this work we investigate the importance of emotion awareness in e-learning environments, with emphasis to Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) activities. Our presented solution involves a new conceptual model of emotions of interest in e-learning context. In the basis of this model, a computational model has been implemented employing self-report of emotions, affective feedback and effective emotion visualizations. Both models have been tested in real education settings, contributing to the research agenda.