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Alicia García-Holgado
  • Salamanca (Spain)
  • +34 923294500 ext. 3433
  • Alicia García-Holgado received the degree in Computer Sciences (2011, University of Salamanca, Spain), a M.Sc. in Int... moreedit
ABSTRACT Informal Learning plays an important role in everyone's life and yet we often are unaware of it. The need to keep track of the knowledge acquired through informal learning is increasing as its sources become... more
ABSTRACT Informal Learning plays an important role in everyone's life and yet we often are unaware of it. The need to keep track of the knowledge acquired through informal learning is increasing as its sources become increasingly diverse. This paper presents a study on a tool developed to help keeping track of learners' informal learning, both within academic and professional contexts, This tool, developed within the European Commission funded TRAILER project, will further integrate the improvements suggested by users during the piloting phase.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Martín, M. Á. (2016). Heuristic evaluation of SocialNet, the private social network for psychiatric patients and their relatives. In F. ABSTRACT SocialNet, is a private social network for monitoring daily progress of patients by their... more
Martín, M. Á. (2016). Heuristic evaluation of SocialNet, the private social network for psychiatric patients and their relatives. In F. ABSTRACT SocialNet, is a private social network for monitoring daily progress of patients by their relatives. The goal of this paper is evaluate the usability of SocialNet in order to improve it and provide users an effective, efficient interaction and satisfactory experience. This work presents the first phase where it was used a double heuristic evaluation with one expert evaluator. This technique has provided valuable data about the usability of SocialNet especially related to consistency, design and privacy. The tool has been redesigned in order to resolve the identified problems as part of an iterative process. The use of heuristic evaluation will be complemented by a user test to be carried out in a second phase of usability study, which will not be addressed in this paper.
Research Interests:
Continued use of various technological devices has massively increased the generation of digital data, which are recorded as an opportunity for research. In the educational case, it is common to analyze data generated in Learning... more
Continued use of various technological devices has massively increased the generation of digital data, which are recorded as an opportunity for research. In the educational case, it is common to analyze data generated in Learning Management Systems which allows better understand the learning process of the participants and make informed decisions for better e-learning processes and situations in which develop. This paper analyzes participants' navigation logs in a MOOC hosted on the Coursera platform, for which a visual e-learning analytics process was performed. The results confirm that the videos of experts are an essential educational resource for learning in a MOOC, similarly, the discussion forums are an important resource which are recurrent social spaces in different navigation paths complementing other activities. CCS Concepts • Infor mat ion systems~Data an alytics • App lied computing~Ed ucation • Applied computing~Interactive learning environments
Research Interests:
The Doctoral Consortium track is linked with the Education in the Knowledge Society PhD Programme at the University of Salamanca since the first edition. This track is not closed to PhD students from this programme, but also it is open... more
The Doctoral Consortium track is linked with the Education in the Knowledge Society PhD Programme at the University of Salamanca since the first edition. This track is not closed to PhD students from this programme, but also it is open for PhD candidates from other Programmes that develop their researchers in Knowledge Society related topics. The main aim of the Doctoral Consortium is to provide a discussion space for PhD candidates in which they can share their research progress and receive feedback from senior researchers of the scientific committee. Moreover, this track fosters the relationships between the students in order to establish synergies between them.
Research Interests:
People do not learn only in formal educational institutions, but also throughout their lives, from their experiences, conversations, observations of others, exploration of the Internet, meetings and conferences, and chance encounters etc.... more
People do not learn only in formal educational institutions, but also throughout their lives, from their experiences, conversations, observations of others, exploration of the Internet, meetings and conferences, and chance encounters etc. However this informal and non-formal learning can easily remain largely invisible, making it hard for peers and employers to recognize or act upon it. The TRAILER project aims to make this learning visible so that it can benefit both the individual and the organization. The proposed demonstration will show a software solution that (i) helps the learners to capture, organize and classify a wide range of 'informal' learning taking place in their lives, and (ii) assists the organization in recognizing this learning and use it to help managing human resources (benefiting both parts). This software tool has recently been used in two phases of pilot studies, which have run in four different European countries.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The huge penetration of technological ecosystems based on Open Source software, as a technological solution to support the knowledge management of entities and institutions, presents new problems in the development and integration of new... more
The huge penetration of technological ecosystems based on Open Source software, as a technological solution to support the knowledge management of entities and institutions, presents new problems in the development and integration of new software components. The aim of this paper has been to define an architectural pattern that lays the foundations to define and implement eLearning ecosystems. The pattern definition has been realized from a comparative analysis of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of a number of real case studies developed in different contexts. As a result, we have obtained an architectural pattern composed by several layers and a set of external elements that provides a solution to the main problems identified in the development of technological ecosystems. The pattern has been tested in a real context, concretely in the Public Administration, its which has demonstrated that works properly.
Even though informal learning plays an important role in everyone's life, not everyone is aware of its importance. These informal activities contribute to the development of self-regulated learning that can help productivity in different... more
Even though informal learning plays an important role in everyone's life, not everyone is aware of its importance. These informal activities contribute to the development of self-regulated learning that can help productivity in different environments. As this kind of apprentices grow, the need to keep track of this developed knowledge is becoming vital. This paper presents a study on the perception and usage of a tool that would help keeping track of learners’ informal learning. This study was conducted both within academic and professional contexts and was developed within the European Commission funded TRAILER project. The contexts were similar regarding the importance and perception of informal learning, but differed concerning tool usage and the usefulness of such a platform. The overall idea of managing one’s informal learning was well accepted and welcomed, which validated the emerging need for a tool with this purpose.
The evolution of new technology and its increasing use, have for some years been making the existence of informal learning more and more transparent, especially among young and older adults in both Higher Education and workplace contexts.... more
The evolution of new technology and its increasing use, have for some years been making the existence of informal learning more and more transparent, especially among young and older adults in both Higher Education and workplace contexts. However, the nature of formal and non-formal, coursebased, approaches to learning has made it hard to accommodate these informal processes satisfactorily, and although technology bring us near to the solution, it has not yet achieved. TRAILER project aims to address this problem by developing a tool for the management of competences and skills acquired through informal learning experiences, both from the perspective of the user and the institution or company. This paper describes the research and development main lines of this project
VALS has the aims of establishing sustainable methods and processes to build knowledge partnerships between Higher Education and companies to collaborate on resolving authentic business problems through open innovation mediated by the use... more
VALS has the aims of establishing sustainable methods and processes to build knowledge partnerships between Higher Education and companies to collaborate on resolving authentic business problems through open innovation mediated by the use of Open Source Software. Open Source solutions provide the means whereby educational institutions, students, businesses and foundations can all collaborate to resolve authentic business problems. Not only Open Software provides the necessary shared infrastructure and collaborative practice, the foundations that manage the software are also hubs, which channel the operational challenges of their users through to the people who can solve them. This has great potential for enabling students and supervisors to collaborate in resolving the problems of businesses, but is constrained by the lack of support for managing and promoting collaboration across the two sectors. VALS should 1) provide the methods, practice, documentation and infrastructure to unlock this potential through virtual placements in businesses and other public and private bodies; and 2) pilot and promote these as the “Semester of Code”. To achieve its goals the project develops guidance for educational institutions, and for businesses and foundations, detailing the opportunities and the benefits to be gained from the Semester of Code, and the changes to organisation and practice required. A Virtual Placement System is going to be developed, adapting Apache Melange, and extending it where necessary. In piloting, the necessary adaptations to practice will be carried out, particularly in universities, and commitments will be established between problem owners and applicants for virtual placements.
MIH project (Multicultural Interdisciplinary Handbook: tools for learning History and Geography in a multicultural perspective) is a Comenius Multilateral Project funded with support from the European Commission that has been developed... more
MIH project (Multicultural Interdisciplinary Handbook: tools for learning History and Geography in a multicultural perspective) is a Comenius Multilateral Project funded with support from the European Commission that has been developed from 2009 to 2011. Conceived from the idea of educating lower and upper Secondary School pupils in a process of construction of a European identity by involving them in the culture of other countries, MIH project meets this need by providing new methodological and ICT tools that could help teachers and pupils to plunge deeper into both cultures and languages of another nations via their History and Geography, and opens the way to introduce a European perspective in History and Geography school curricula and classroom activities.
This document presents a brief overview of the eLearning penetration in Spain. It has been made by the GRIAL Research Group of the University of Salamanca as partner in the Lifelong Learning Programme – Leonardo da Vinci VETPRO Project... more
This document presents a brief overview of the eLearning penetration in Spain. It has been made by the GRIAL Research Group of the University of Salamanca as partner in the Lifelong Learning Programme – Leonardo da Vinci VETPRO Project “ELearning in flamenco rhythm” (Ref. 872A8A24631B9423).
Within the scope of European policies and to combat educational disadvantages for migrant children, numerous actions have been taken to improve the position of migrant children in education. In secondary education the emphasis lies on... more
Within the scope of European policies and to combat educational disadvantages for migrant children, numerous actions have been taken to improve the position of migrant children in education. In secondary education the emphasis lies on diversification of the offered teaching methods and extra guidance of the pupils. Some schools in Europe have set up measures to increase the continuity of the educational support in terms of migrant pupil inclusion and orientation. Despite these measures, dropout rates are still high among migrant youth and compared to their native peers a disproportionately large number attend the lowest levels of secondary school after completing primary school. The disappointing results of regular guidance are partly the reason for the development of more innovative forms of guidance.The project aims to promote strategies and methods that help students with a migrant background at risk of ESL to maintain their motivation through the development, testing and validation of an Intercultural Mentoring Programmebased on the empowered peer education methodology.
The Intercultural mentor profile will be adapted to different European contexts, developed in collaboration with at least 100 school staff members (headmaster and secondary school teachers from 5 different European countries) and tested with at least 50 students with a migrant background trained as Intercultural Mentors.
Religious and cultural diversity are today more than ever a critical and political challenge as the recent emergencies related to geo-political and economical global transformations clearly show. European countries are concerned by a big... more
Religious and cultural diversity are today more than ever a critical and political challenge as the recent emergencies related to geo-political and economical global transformations clearly show. European countries are concerned by a big immigration flow that demands an educational effort in order to foster the mutual understanding and integration.
According to Toledo guiding principles, IERS project meets the needs of an innovative approach in teaching about religions and beliefs at school by providing teachers of humanistic disciplines with new tools that help teachers and pupils to plunge deeper into religions and cultures of non-european countries, as well as raising the knowledge of the religious traditions that contributed to the common European cultural Identity, promoting it in the best way suited for encourage intra -and extra- European cultural dialogue attitudes.
The Project aims to support the development of social, civic and intercultural transversal key competences by educating towards a positive understanding of cultural and religious differences, a readiness to engage in dialogue and to avoid or manage conflicts. By encouraging teachers and pupils to expose themselves to the differences and commonalities of religious topics, it promotes also the values of democracy, equality and human rights as it deals with social and civic dimensions of both intercultural and interreligious dialogue.
EHISTO (European history crossroads as pathways to intercultural and media education) is concerned with the mediation of history in popular (science) media and the question of social and political responsibility of journalists and other... more
EHISTO (European history crossroads as pathways to intercultural and media education) is concerned with the mediation of history in popular (science) media and the question of social and political responsibility of journalists and other mediators of history, especially teachers, in the field of commercial presentation of history. The project responds to the increasing significance of a commercialised mediation of history within the public historical culture and reflects the fact that these representations, which do not always meet the EU standards for history education, can have a lasting impact on the young generation’s understanding of history.
Using the example of popular history magazines, the project shall, besides the necessary basic research, develop didactically reflected materials for both history education in school as well as initial and inservice teacher training. On one hand enable a media-critical examination of history magazines and on the other hand, by working with the history magazines, the project addresses itself to popular interpretations of history from the participating countries and reflects their similarities and differences in European cultures of remembrance. Therefore, this approach not only trains media-critical competences but furthermore enables a multi-perspective and comparative access to history.
The project EHISTO will last two years and is funded by the EU Lifelong Learning Programme with about 300,000 euros. Partners from six European nations take part in the project.
El software como servicio y la orientación 2.0, con independencia del dominio, constituyen la realidad tecnológica de las instituciones. Existen aplicaciones Open Source potentes que cubren la mayoría de las necesidades TIC de cualquier... more
El software como servicio y la orientación 2.0, con independencia
del dominio, constituyen la realidad tecnológica de las instituciones.
Existen aplicaciones Open Source potentes que cubren la mayoría de las necesidades TIC de cualquier entidad, tanto para su operatividad como para la gestión de sus procesos internos. Por tanto, el problema no reside en la falta de soluciones tecnológicas sino en lograr que la integración no sea ad-hoc. En este punto entra en juego el concepto de mashup, que considera un sistema de información web como una combinación de componentes de varias fuentes para conformar un servicio completo.
Este trabajo busca cómo obtener mashups con una alta flexibilidad y
adaptabilidad a las necesidades tanto del usuario final como del técnico o especialista. Este tipo de solución constituye un ecosistema tecnológico, donde cada uno de los componentes del sistema es un organismo con un ciclo de vida independiente, y el medio físico donde se relacionan abarcará la integración y los flujos de información entre dichos componentes. Para ello se estudian soluciones en diferentes ámbitos como empresas, la Administración Pública o instituciones educativas. Con los principales resultados y conclusiones de estos estudios se define un patrón arquitectónico para un ecosistema tecnológico de aprendizaje que se aplica en un
nuevo dominio.
Currently, there exist very powerful Open Source software applications that cover most of the ICT needs of any institution, both for its operation and internal processes management. In this context, the technological effort of companies... more
Currently, there exist very powerful Open Source software applications that cover most of the ICT needs of any institution, both for its operation and internal processes management. In this context, the technological effort of companies and institutions is not in the development of new software tools but to create their own technological ecosystem using available software components. This paper presents an architectural pattern to implement learning technological ecosystems with the ability to adapt to the changing requirements of the organizations.
Learners do not only learn in the institutions, they learn during their live in different contexts, with different resources and from the interaction with different persons. This kind of learning that is not always intentionally carried... more
Learners do not only learn in the institutions, they learn during their live in different contexts, with different resources and from the interaction with different persons. This kind of learning that is not always intentionally carried out is known as informal learning. The application of Information and Communication Technologies to learning and teaching processes facilitates making visible such kind of learning for the institutions. However the nature of formal and non-formal, coursebased, approaches to learning has made it hard to accommodate these informal processes satisfactorily. The project aims to facilitate first the identification by the learner (as the last responsible of the learning process), and then the recognition by the institution, in dialogue with the learner, of this learning. To do so a methodology and a technological framework to support it have been implemented and tested.
The Spanish Public Administration has a decentralized structure organized in different levels: local government, regional government and central government. There is a huge amount of public institutions and organizations in each level and... more
The Spanish Public Administration has a decentralized structure organized in different levels: local government, regional government and central government. There is a huge amount of public institutions and organizations in each level and some of them share similar functions. Thus far there not existed a simple way to connect all the institutions in order to share their expertise and collaborate to improve the whole Administration. The knowledge management ecosystem for the Public Administration aims to address this problem by providing to the public employees a set of tools and information flows in order to promote the informal learning between them. This paper describes the technological ecosystem defined and implemented by the Research Group in InterAction and eLearning of the University of Salamanca in collaboration with the National Institute of Public Administration.
La alta penetración de los ecosistemas tecnológicos basados en software Open Source, como solución tecnológica para dar soporte a la gestión del conocimiento en entidades e instituciones, plantea nuevos problemas en el desarrollo e... more
La alta penetración de los ecosistemas tecnológicos basados en software Open Source, como solución tecnológica para dar soporte a la gestión del conocimiento en entidades e instituciones, plantea nuevos problemas en el desarrollo e integración de componentes software. El objetivo de este trabajo ha sido elaborar un patrón arquitectónico que permita sentar las bases para definir e implementar ecosistemas eLearning. Para la definición del patrón se ha partido de un análisis comparativo de las Debilidades, Amenazas, Fortalezas y Oportunidades de una serie de casos de estudio reales desarrollados en diferentes ámbitos. Como resultado, se ha obtenido un patrón arquitectónico formado por varias capas y un conjunto de elementos externos que permite dar solución a los principales problemas detectados en el desarrollo de ecosistemas tecnológicos. El patrón ha sido probado en un contexto real, concretamente una Administración Pública, lo que ha permitido demostrar su correcto funcionamiento.
The MIH (Multicultural Interdisciplinary Handbook) project provides new tools for helping teachers and pupils plunge deeper into the culture and the language of another nation via its history and its landscape/geography. The Digital... more
The MIH (Multicultural Interdisciplinary Handbook) project provides new tools for helping teachers and pupils plunge deeper into the culture and the language of another nation via its history and its landscape/geography. The Digital Modules are the most innovative tool of the project. Throughout the chapter, the authors present all stages to develop MIH Digital Modules: (1) the definition of the Learning Object Model based on IEEE LOM; (2) the framework design in order to provide quality digital contents; (3) the Digital Modules production process both during the project and after the end of the project; (4) the tutorials that support all the creation process; and last, but not least, and (5) the multicultural perspective of the Digital Modules.
The application of information technologies (specially the Internet, Web 2.0 and social tools) make informal learning more visible. This kind of learning is not linked to an institution or a period of time, but it is important enough to... more
The application of information technologies (specially the Internet, Web 2.0 and
social tools) make informal learning more visible. This kind of learning is not linked to an
institution or a period of time, but it is important enough to be taken into account. On the one
hand, learners should be able to communicate to the institutions they are related to, what skills
they possess, whether they were achieved in a formal or informal way. On the other hand the
companies and educational institutions need to have a deeper knowledge about the
competencies of their staff. The TRAILER project provides a methodology supported by a
technological framework to facilitate communication about informal learning between
businesses, employees and learners. The paper presents the project and some of the work carried out, an exploratory analysis about how informal learning is considered and the
technological framework proposed. Whilst challenges remain in terms of establishing the
meaningfulness of technological engagement for employees and businesses, the continuing
transformation of the social, technological and educational environment is likely to lead to
greater emphasis for the effective exploitation of informal learning.
El GRupo de Investigación en InterAcción y eLearning (GRIAL) de la Universidad de Salamanca nace en 2006 como resultado de la unión de tres ámbitos de investigación bien diferenciados que encuentran en este contexto una extraordinaria... more
El GRupo de Investigación en InterAcción y eLearning (GRIAL) de la Universidad de Salamanca nace en 2006 como resultado de la unión de tres ámbitos de investigación bien diferenciados que encuentran en este contexto una extraordinaria complementariedad (la Ingeniería Informática, la Educación y la Teoría de la Comunicación). De estas sinergias surgen siete líneas de investigación estrechamente vinculadas entre sí de manera transversal. Estos ámbitos son sistemas interactivos para el aprendizaje, las tecnologías para el aprendizaje, la ingeniería web y la arquitectura del software, la metodología del aprendizaje online, la calidad y evaluación en educación, la teoría de la comunicación y la gestión estratégica del conocimiento de la tecnología. Estas líneas dan lugar al desarrollo de un gran número de proyectos de investigación, tanto nacionales como internacionales, los más relevantes de los cuales se detallan en estas páginas. Por último, GRIAL desarrolla una ingente labor de transferencia cuyas principales líneas se ilustran en el último apartado.
People do not learn only in formal educational institutions, but also throughout their lives, from their experiences, conversations, observations of others, exploration of the Internet, meetings and conferences, and chance encounters etc.... more
People do not learn only in formal educational institutions, but also throughout their lives, from their experiences, conversations, observations of others, exploration of the Internet, meetings and conferences, and chance encounters etc. However this informal and non-formal learning can easily remain largely invisible, making it hard for peers and employers to recognize or act upon it. The TRAILER project aims to make this learning visible so that it can benefit both the individual and the organization. The proposed demonstration will show a software solution that (i) helps the learners to capture, organize and classify a wide range of 'informal' learning taking place in their lives, and (ii) assists the organization in recognizing this learning and use it to help managing human resources (benefiting both parts). This software tool has recently been used in two phases of pilot studies, which have run in four different European countries.
The evolution of new technology and its increasing use, has for some years been making the existence of informal learning more and more transparent, especially among young and older adults in both Higher Education and workplace contexts.... more
The evolution of new technology and its increasing use, has for some years been making the existence of informal learning more and more transparent, especially among young and older adults in both Higher Education and workplace contexts. However, the nature of formal and non-formal, coursebased, approaches to learning has made it hard to accommodate these informal processes satisfactorily. The project aims to facilitate first the identification by the learner (as the last responsible of the learning process), and then the recognition by the institution, in dialogue with the learner, of this learning. To do so a methodology and a technological framework to support it have been implemented. This project have been tested in several context and it is possible to say that an informal learning dialogue between learners and people in chargé of the institutions is possible.
Despite official educational guidelines, improved linguistic skills have been limited in all partner countries due to cuts in their national budgets. As a consequence, fewer CLIL experiences have been supported, to the benefit of those... more
Despite official educational guidelines, improved linguistic skills have been limited in all partner countries due to cuts in their national budgets. As a consequence, fewer CLIL experiences have been supported, to the benefit of those involving English. Another reason for this project resides in the difficulty in modifying the guidelines of national programmes, which are often
short-sighted as far as other cultures are concerned. Finally, all European reports point out the shortage of materials and ICT-based contents suitable for interdisciplinary and multicultural education at school. The Multicultural Interdisciplinary Handbook (MIH) project meets these needs by providing new tools that will help teachers and pupils to plunge deeper into the culture and the
language of another nation via its history and its landscape/geography. Moreover, it intends to promote a common European identity, as it introduces a European perspective in the schools’ History and Geography syllabuses, which are usually limited to national borders.
The emergence of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) make new tools available for users to manage information and knowledge. These tools are used in different contexts, with varying degrees of success. One of these potential... more
The emergence of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) make new tools available for users to manage information and knowledge. These tools are used in different contexts, with varying degrees of success. One of these potential application contexts are teaching and learning processes supported by learning platforms. Learning platforms are a way for institutions to provide teachers and learners with a wide range of educational applications and services. However, students’ learning is not only limited to a specific institution or period of time; instead, learning is a lifelong process and encompasses the use of many different tools. Therefore institutional learning environments should be open in order to enable the export of functionalities and import of information and interaction from outside the institution. In order to do so, this study proposes a service-based framework, which uses interoperability specifications and web services to facilitate opening of the institutional learning systems. Such framework has been tested in educational and technical scenarios with similar results, learning platforms can be open and the exportation of functionalities from them to personal contexts can enrich students learning and increase their participation.
Informal Learning plays an important role in everyone's life and yet we often are unaware of it. The need to keep track of the knowledge acquired through informal learning is increasing as its sources become increasingly diverse. This... more
Informal Learning plays an important role in everyone's life and yet we often are unaware of it. The need to keep track of the knowledge acquired through informal learning is increasing as its sources become increasingly diverse. This paper presents a study on a tool developed to help keeping track of learners’ informal learning, both within academic and professional contexts, This tool, developed within the European Commission funded TRAILER project, will further integrate the improvements suggested by users during the piloting phase. The two studied contexts were similar regarding the importance and perception of Informal Learning, but differed concerning tool usage. The overall idea of managing one’s informal learning was well accepted and welcomed, which validated the emerging need for a tool with this purpose.
This document presents a brief overview of the eLearning penetration in Spain. It has been made by the GRIAL Research Group of the University of Salamanca as partner in the Lifelong Learning Programme – Leonardo da Vinci VETPRO Project... more
This document presents a brief overview of the eLearning penetration in Spain. It has been
made by the GRIAL Research Group of the University of Salamanca as partner in the Lifelong
Learning Programme – Leonardo da Vinci VETPRO Project “ELearning in flamenco rhythm”
(Ref. 872A8A24631B9423).
Research Interests: