This work presents an evaluative study on the usability of a haptic device together with a sound-based video game for the development and use of orientation and mobility (O&M) skills in closed, unfamiliar spaces by blind, school-aged children. A usability evaluation was implemented for a haptic device especially designed for this study (Digital Clock Carpet) and a 3D video game (MOVA3D) in order to determine the degree to which the user accepted the device, and the level of the user’s satisfaction regarding her interaction with these products for O&M purposes. In addition, a cognitive evaluation was administered. The results show that both the haptic device and the video game are usable, accepted and considered to be pleasant for use by blind children. The results also show that they are ready to be used for cognitive learning purposes. Results from a cognitive study demonstrated significant gains in tempo-spatial orientation skills of blind children when navigating in unfamiliar spaces.

Educational exclusion, as reflected in school dropout and school failure, is a major concern for the existing educational systems due to the negative impact it has on girls, boys, and young people from society’s most vulnerable sectors. Although current research reveals various subjective, contextual and systemic variables that may affect the student who eventually fails and/or drops out, little is known about the determining factors as well as the actual meaning of this exclusion from the perspective of the students themselves. This paper reports the results obtained from a hermeneutical-interpretive study of the configuration and assessment of the figure of the teacher as perceived by students at risk of dropping out. A total of 49 semi-structured ethnographic interviews were applied to these students, revealing a series of characteristics, attitudes and practices that lead the interviewed students to build a dichotomous notion of what a good or a bad teacher is. La exclusión escolar, en sus dimensiones de abandono y fracaso escolar, es una preocupación de los sistemas educativos debido al impacto negativo que tiene sobre niñas, niños y jóvenes provenientes de los sectores más vulnerables de la sociedad. Si bien, las investigaciones dan cuentan de diversas variables relacionadas con aspectos subjetivos, contextuales y sistémicos que afectan al estudiante que fracasa o deserta, poco se sabe sobre los significados y sentido de esta exclusión o sus factores desde la óptica de los propios estudiantes. Este trabajo informa de un estudio hermenéutico-interpretativo sobre la configuración y valoración de la figura del profesor que construyen estudiantes en riesgo de abandono escolar. A partir de entrevistas etnográficas semiestructuradas aplicadas a 49 estudiantes, emergen características relacionadas con actitudes y prácticas que llevan a los estudiantes analizados a construir una imagen dicotómica de lo que es un buen o un mal profesor.

Este artículo busca analizar la disposición para utilizar TIC que manifiestan estudiantes de carrera de pedagogía, a partir del cruce de sus creencias sobre el aporte educativo de dichas tecnologías y sus preferencias sobre lo que deben ser las clases y la manera de usar tecnologías digitales en ellas. El estudio, parte del Proyecto FONDECYT de Iniciación n°11110455, utiliza un diseño de investigación de tipo mixto que involucra inicialmente una exploración de datos sobre una muestra-tipo de 12 estudiantes, para luego profundizar el análisis con una muestra nacional de estudiantes (n=424) proveniente de 13 universidades. Los resultados muestran la existencia de una tipología con disposiciones que pueden transformarse en la base para innovar con tecnologías digitales en la formación de los futuros docentes.

A multidisciplinary university team (Chilean-Spanish) and teachers at a a public school in the region of Valparaiso (Chile) carried out an initiative to design and implement an educational sequence that, by including the use of the strategy video game Age of Empires in their activities, could mediate curricular learning in the subject areas of social science and mathematics. The application of this class design involved working with 78 students at K7 level, who made use of the video game in three ways: leveling, inquiry and evaluation. A descriptive case study methodology was used to compile and analyze data in order to identify and describe the sessions and the interaction types occurring in the relationship between peers, the role of the teacher and the contribution of the video game. The main results show, on the one hand, how important it is (i) for teachers to learn how to play, (ii) for them to take part in a co-operative forum to design new settings for learning, and on the other hand, (iii) the types of collaboration and co-operation emerging among students, and (iv) the opportunities offered by the video game to approach the facts of phenomena.

Un desafío de la formación inicial de docentes es preparar para desempeñarse en una sociedad mediada por lenguajes, interacciones y ambientes digitalizados. Los estudios señalan, sin embargo, que los egresados de pedagogía no logran la autoeficacia para utilizar TIC pedagógicamente, entre otras razones, por las pocas oportunidades, ejemplos o modelamientos propiciados por sus formadores; ¿muestra esto la baja autoeficacia de los propios formadores? Para responder, este estudio analiza las intenciones y prácticas pedagógicas con TIC de 116 formadores de la carrera de educación básica, utilizando para ello un diseño mixto, secuencial y exploratorio con aplicación de un cuestionario estandarizado y entrevistas semiestructuradas. Los resultados muestran diferentes maneras de incorporar las TIC producto de las creencias sobre el protagonismo de profesores y estudiantes, y sobre el uso colaborativo o reproductivo de las tecnologías. Se discuten las congruencias y colisiones de estas creencias y cómo influyen en la autoeficacia de los docentes-formadores.

Digital teaching competence (DTC) is key for the teaching profession at any educational level. In early childhood education, DTC poses an important challenge due to the particularities of integrating digital technologies into work with infants. This article proposes an adaptation of DigCompEdu for early childhood education. The construction of this proposal was based on international collaboration, an in-depth literature review, and the expert mediation of the authors, resulting in the adaptation of DigCompEdu’s 22 competency descriptors to the field of initial teacher training in early childhood education. Expert competence coefficient K was applied to select 22 experts for the validation process to establish its pertinence, importance, and clarity, who positively evaluated the 22 descriptors of the proposal. The results consist of a DTC proposal in accordance with the DigCompEdu framework for early childhood education students validated by experts, as a starting point for future research for assessing or self-assessment of DTC, and as a guide to define strategies in initial teacher training.