Background: Provision of follow-up and care during treatment of people with suicidal intentions is a challenge for health professionals and experts in information and communications technology (ICT). Therefore, health professionals and ICT experts are making efforts to carry out these activities in collaboration by using mobile apps as a technological resource. Objective: This study aimed to descriptively analyze mobile apps aimed at suicide prevention and to determine relevant factors in their design and development. In addition, it sought to analyze their impact on the support of treatment for patients at risk for suicide. Methods: We considered 20 apps previously listed in the article “Mobile Apps for Suicide Prevention: Review of Virtual Stores and Literature” (de la Torre et al, JMIR mHealth uHealth 2017;5[10]:e130). To find the apps in this list, the most popular app stores (Android and iOS) were searched using the keyword “suicide prevention.” The research focused on publicly available app information: language, platform, and user ratings. The results obtained were statistically evaluated using 16 parameters that establish various factors that may affect the choice of the user, and the consequent support that the app can offer to a person at risk for suicide. Results: Of the 20 mobile apps, 4 no longer appeared in the app stores and were therefore excluded. Analysis of the remaining 16 apps sampled showed the following: (1) a high percentage of the apps analyzed in the study (n=13, 82%) are provided in English language; (2) the sampled apps were last updated in 2017, when only 45% of them were updated, but the constant and progressive update of treatments should be reflected in the apps; and (3) the technical quality of these apps cannot be determined on the basis of the distribution of scores, because their popularity indices can be subjective (according to the users). User preference for a particular operating system would require further, more specific research, including study of the differences in the technical and usability aspects between both platforms and the design of medical apps. Conclusions: Although there are positive approaches to the use of apps for suicide prevention and follow-up, the technical and human aspects are yet to be explored and defined. For example, the design and development of apps that support suicide prevention should be strongly supported by health personnel to humanize these apps, so that the effectiveness of the treatments supported by them can be improved.

This paper presents a new interdisciplinary approach to support context modeling in context-awareness software developments. The premise of this approach relies on the idea that understanding a complex socio-technical ecology, while adapting the software to its behavior and evolution, is a primary challenge to address. Thus, the paper proposes an activity theory-based approach to aid in the conception, design, development, and evolution of emerging context-aware socio-technical ecologies. The concepts and notations used by the proposed approach are illustrated through a proof of concept that demonstrates the essential ideas and their use in real scenarios. Also, the feasibility of this approach is measured empirically through an experiment. Preliminary results show how, for a context-aware software design and development team, the proposal provides a better understanding of context than alternatives and helps to outline context models by establishing relationships and interactions between socio-technical components and by anticipating potential conflicts among them. The key ideas of the proposed approach result in the ability to analyze and model social and technological contexts around perpetually evolving system ecologies as useful representations for understanding operating environments closely tied to human actions, with software as a mediator component.

This paper proposes an interdisciplinary approach aimed to bring into practice some novel Software Engineering theoretical paradigms. The premise of these news paradigms is based on the idea of “ecologies” as realities that take place in the environment of a Software product. These “ecologies” are understood as tight but flexible interactions between the human, social, and technical components involved, where Software is just another component. However, the theoretical paradigms discussed do not offer a viable way to make sense of these ecologies into the practice of Software design and development. Thus, as a more operationalized approach, this paper proposes a framework based on Networks of Activities, a concept derived from Activity Theory, as a resource to help in the design, development, and evolution of these new emergent complex socio‐technical ecologies. This framework has been conceived as a tool for the design, capture, and, especially, to analyze the evolution of these ecologies. The concepts and notations used by the proposed approach are illustrated through a proof of concept that shows the essential ideas and their use in real scenarios. In this way, the concepts discussed contribute to the improvement of related fields like Requirements Engineering, Human‐Computer Interaction, or Software Architecture, among others.

El proyecto denominado Ecología Gamificada (ECOGAMI) se orienta al diseño, desarrollo e implementación de productos educativos digitales y no-digitales empleando el concepto de gamificación. El objetivo es proponer una alternativa educativa de complemento a la iniciativa - Mi Escuela está cerca del bosque - desarrollada por el Parque Natural Metropolitano (PNM), la cual procura fomentar y mejorar la enseñanza de la educación ambiental en estudiantes de primaria. Los resultados obtenidos indican un impacto positivo de esta propuesta en el proceso de enseñanza - aprendizaje en los estudiantes.

BACKGROUND Provision of follow-up and care during treatment of people with suicidal intentions is a challenge for health professionals and experts in information and communications technology (ICT). Therefore, health professionals and ICT experts are making efforts to carry out these activities in collaboration by using mobile apps as a technological resource. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to descriptively analyze mobile apps aimed at suicide prevention and to determine relevant factors in their design and development. In addition, it sought to analyze their impact on the support of treatment for patients at risk for suicide. METHODS We considered 20 apps previously listed in the article “Mobile Apps for Suicide Prevention: Review of Virtual Stores and Literature” (de la Torre et al, 2017;5[10]:e130). To find the apps in this list, the most popular app stores (Android and iOS) were searched using the keyword “suicide prevention.” The research focused on publicly available app information: language, platform, and user ratings. The results obtained were statistically evaluated using 16 parameters that establish various factors that may affect the choice of the user, and the consequent support that the app can offer to a person at risk for suicide. RESULTS Of the 20 mobile apps, 4 no longer appeared in the app stores and were therefore excluded. Analysis of the remaining 16 apps sampled showed the following: (1) a high percentage of the apps analyzed in the study (n=13, 82%) are provided in English language; (2) the sampled apps were last updated in 2017, when only 45% of them were updated, but the constant and progressive update of treatments should be reflected in the apps; and (3) the technical quality of these apps cannot be determined on the basis of the distribution of scores, because their popularity indices can be subjective (according to the users). User preference for a particular operating system would require further, more specific research, including study of the differences in the technical and usability aspects between both platforms and the design of medical apps. CONCLUSIONS Although there are positive approaches to the use of apps for suicide prevention and follow-up, the technical and human aspects are yet to be explored and defined. For example, the design and development of apps that support suicide prevention should be strongly supported by health personnel to humanize these apps, so that the effectiveness of the treatments supported by them can be improved.

Ante la urgente necesidad de abordar los desafíos ambientales que enfrenta nuestra sociedad, es innegable la importancia de promover una educación ambiental eficaz y comprometida. La complejidad de esta empresa radica en reconocer que la educación es un ecosistema en sí mismo, donde diversos elementos interdependientes deben articularse armoniosamente para alcanzar sus objetivos. Sin embargo, esta armonía no siempre se logra debido a factores contextuales y paradigmas arraigados en la educación tradicional. Es en este contexto que se plantea la efectividad en el uso de nuevas estrategias, como la gamificación, para potenciar la motivación y el compromiso del alumnado en la educación ambiental. Este trabajo explora cómo la gamificación, al fusionar aprendizaje, diversión e interactividad, puede transmitir conocimientos y fomentar conductas sostenibles de forma dinámica y efectiva. Se describe una investigación experimental llevada a cabo durante tres años en el Parque Natural Metropolitano de Panamá donde se empleó la gamificación como estrategia de enseñanza en el programa de educación ambiental dirigido a estudiantado de 10 a 12 años. El estudio contribuye principalmente con el desarrollo de modelos innovadores para la implementación de la gamificación en la enseñanza de la educación ambiental y propone un proceso de estimación de resultados para evaluar su efectividad. Las conclusiones sugieren un efecto positivo y prometedor de la gamificación como estrategia para mejorar el compromiso, la motivación y el aprendizaje significativo en el ámbito de la educación ambiental. [Given the urgent need to address the environmental challenges our society is facing, the importance of promoting effective and engaged environmental education is undeniable. The complexity of this endeavor lies in recognizing that education itself functions as an ecosystem, where various interdependent elements must harmoniously come together to achieve its goals. However, such harmony is not always attainable due to contextual factors and entrenched paradigms of traditional education. It is within this context that the effectiveness of innovative strategies, such as gamification, is considered to enhance student motivation and engagement in environmental education. This article explores how gamification, by blending learning, fun, and interactivity, can dynamically and effectively convey knowledge and foster sustainable behaviors. It describes an experimental study conducted over three years at the Metropolitan Natural Park in Panama, where gamification was employed as a teaching strategy in an environmental education program aimed at students aged 10 to 12. The research contributes primarily by developing innovative models for implementing gamification in environmental education and proposing a results-assessment process to evaluate its effectiveness. The conclusions indicate a positive and promising effect of gamification as a strategy to enhance engagement, motivation, and meaningful learning in environmental education contexts].