This article describes and analyzes the collaborative design of a citizen science research project through cocreation. Three groups of secondary school students and a team of scientists conceived three experiments on human behavior and social capital in urban and public spaces. The study goal is to address how interdisciplinary work and attention to social concerns and needs, as well as the collective construction of research questions, can be integrated into scientific research. The 95 students participating in the project answered a survey to evaluate their perception about the dynamics and tools used in the cocreation process of each experiment, and the five scientists responded to a semistructured interview. The results from the survey and interviews demonstrate how citizen science can achieve a “cocreated” modality beyond the usual “contributory” paradigm, which usually only involves the public or amateurs in data collection stages. This type of more collaborative science was made possible by the adaptation of materials and facilitation mechanisms, as well as the promotion of key aspects in research such as trust, creativity and transparency. The results also point to the possibility of adopting similar codesign strategies in other contexts of scientific collaboration and collaborative knowledge generation Este artículo describe y analiza el diseño colaborativo de un proyecto de investigación de ciencia ciudadana a través de la cocreación. Tres grupos de estudiantes de centros de educación secundaria y un equipo de científicos idearon de forma participada tres experimentos sobre comportamiento humano y capital social en espacios públicos y urbanos. El objetivo del estudio es abordar cómo pueden integrarse en una investigación científica el trabajo interdisciplinar y la atención a preocupaciones y necesidades sociales, así como la construcción colectiva de preguntas de investigación. Los 95 estudiantes participantes en el proyecto respondieron una encuesta para evaluar su percepción sobre las dinámicas y herramientas utilizadas en el proceso de cocreación de cada experimento, y los cinco científicos respondieron a una entrevista semiestructurada. Los resultados de las encuestas y entrevistas demuestran cómo la ciencia ciudadana puede alcanzar una modalidad «cocreada» más allá del paradigma habitual «contributivo», el cual únicamente suele implicar al público o amateurs en la recopilación de datos. Esta modalidad de ciencia más colaborativa con la ciudadanía fue posible gracias a la adecuación de materiales y mecanismos de facilitación, así como al fomento de aspectos clave en una investigación como pueden ser la confianza, la creatividad y la transparencia. Los resultados apuntan también hacia la posibilidad de adoptar estrategias similares de codiseño en otros contextos de colaboración científica y generación colaborativa de conocimiento

<p class="3">This article provides an overview of the current state of repositories of open educational resources (ROER) in higher education at international level. It analyses a series of educational indicators to determine whether ROER can meet the specific needs of the education context, and to clarify understanding of the reuse of open educational resources (OER) provided by ROER. The aim of the study is to assess ROER by combining these two perspectives, and to form a basis for discussion among the universities that are responsible for these repositories.</p><p class="3">The method was based on content analysis and consisted of two phases: an exploration of international sources, and an analysis of 110 ROER using the proposed set of indicators. The results focus on data from the analysis of ROER websites and some models of good practices. They are presented according to three core dimensions for evaluating ROER: general factors to establish types of ROER, a focus on drivers for OER reuse, and a focus on educational aspects.  It was found that most of the ROER that included one or more of the proposed reuse indicators were created exclusively for educational resources. Educational aspects are not yet firmly embedded into ROER. The few repositories that seem to have successfully included them are those that provide other educational metadata and use educational standards.</p>

Gema Santos-Hermosa realiza su tesis doctoral sobre "Desarrollo y uso de los recursos educativos abiertos en la docencia universitaria española" en la Universidad de Barcelona (UB). Documentalista en la Biblioteca Virtual de la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) y colaboradora docente de los Estudios de Ciencias de la Información y la Comunicación de la misma universidad. Licenciada en historia y en documentación por la UB y master en sociedad de la información y el conocimiento por la UOC. Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC)Rambla Ernest Abadal es decano y catedrático de la Facultat de Biblioteconomia i Documentació de laUniversitat de Barcelona, licenciado en filosofía, diplomado en biblioteconomía y documentación, y doctor en ciencias de la información. Co-director del grupo de investigación "Acceso abierto a la ciencia" (http://accesoabierto.net) y coordinador del grupo de investigación consolidado "Cultura y contenido digitales". Es investigador principal de diversos proyectos del Plan Nacional I+D+I. ResumenSe presenta una revisión bibliográfica, estado del arte, historia, características, desarrollo, proyectos y líneas de investigación de los recursos educativos abiertos (OERs), así como su disposición en repositorios y su uso en la práctica educativa universitaria. Los OERs han tenido dos fases: una inicial, preocupada por el acceso, y otra más actual, centrada en su incorporación a la práctica educativa. Palabras claveAcceso abierto, Recursos educativos abiertos, OER, Repositorios institucionales, Práctica educativa, Educación superior. Title: Open educational resources: repositories and use AbstractA bibliographic review, state of the art, history, characteristics, development, projects and research lines of open educational resources (OERs) are presented, as well as their storage in repositories and their use in university educational practice. OERs have had two phases: an initial one concerned about providing access, and the more current one, focused on their incorporation into educational practice. KeywordsOpen access, Open educational resources, OER, Institutional repositories, Educational practice, Higher education.Santos-Hermosa, Gema; Ferran-Ferrer, Núria; Abadal, Ernest. Recursos educativos abiertos: repositorios y uso. El profesional de la información, 2012, marzo-abril, v. 21, n. 2, pp. 136-145. http://dx.doi.org/10.3145/epi.2012.mar.03 Recursos educativos abiertos: repositorios y uso Los OERs son un denominador genérico que incluye cursos y programas curriculares, módulos didácticos, guías de estudiante, libros de texto, artículos de investigación, vídeos, podcasts, herramientas de evaluación, materiales interactivos (como simulaciones), bases de datos, software, aplicaciones (incluyendo aplicaciones móviles) y cualquier otro material educativo diseñado para uso en la enseñanza y el aprendizaje (OECD, 2007). En este sentido, no deben confundirse con los contenidos del proyecto OpenCourseWare (OCW), un conjunto de materiales educativos de alta calidad organizados en cursos que a me...

In this paper we describe a browsing and searching personalization system for digital libraries based on the use of ontologies for describing the relationships between all the elements which take part in a digital library scenario of use. The main goal of this project is to help the users of a digital library to improve their experience of use by means of two complementary strategies: first, by maintaining a complete history record of his or her browsing and searching activities, which is part of a navigational user profile which includes preferences and all the aspects related to community involvement; and second, by reusing all the knowledge which has been extracted from previous usage from other users with similar profiles. This can be accomplished in terms of narrowing and focusing the search results and browsing options through the use of a recommendation system which organizes such results in the most appropriate manner, using ontologies and concepts drawn from the semantic web field. The complete integration of the experience of use of a digital library in the learning process is also pursued. Both the usage and information organization can be also exploited to extract useful knowledge from the way users interact with a digital library, knowledge that can be used to improve several design aspects of the library, ranging from internal organization aspects to human factors and user interfaces. Although this project is still on an early development stage, it is possible to identify all the desired functionalities and requirements that are necessary to fully integrate the use of a digital library in an elearning environment.

Andrea Rosales, PhD, is a postdoctoral researcher at IN3-UOC. Since 2014 she has combined ethnographic explorations and tracked data analysis, with an intergenerational perspective. She highlights the importance of critical analysis of smartwatch logs and experiences in understanding how to design smartwatch apps that take older people's interests into account. AbstractWhile wearable technologies, such as smartwatches, are seen as an opportunity to solve some problems often related to older people (65+), e.g. emergencies, physical activity, or isolation, little is known about how older people would domesticate such new technologies. In this study we provided eleven older individuals with smartwatches and tracked their expectations and initial experiences using two interviews. According to our preliminary findings, previous experience with ICTs along with optimistic attitudes toward technology were key to initial domestication of the new technology and overcoming initial problems. Moreover, use was closely related to expectations and personal habits. Participants in this study used smartwatches in similar ways to to those described in previous studies with adults (18-64), including managing notifications and sports' tracking. Additionally, users reported that the smartwatch provided a boost in social status (associated with attributes such as cool, snobbish, young) and created some fashion opportunities and/or concerns. KeywordsExpectations; Domestication; Appropriation; Smartwatches; Wearables; Older people. ResumenLas tecnologías wearables, como los smartwatches (relojes inteligentes), se han visto como una oportunidad para resolver problemas, a menudo relacionados con las personas mayores (55+), tales como manejo de emergencias, falta de actividad física, y soledad. Sin embargo poco se sabe sobre en qué medida tales personas apropiarían estos dispositivos. Dotamos a 11 personas mayores con relojes inteligentes y seguimos sus primeras experiencia principalmente con dos entrevistas. De acuerdo con los resultados, las experiencias previas con otras tecnologías de la información y la comunicación, y las actitudes positivas hacia la tecnología fueron fundamentales para una primera apropiación de la nueva tecnología, y para superar los primeros problemas. Además el uso estuvo muy relacionado con las expectativas y los hábitos personales. Los participantes usaron los relojes en forma similar a la descrita en estudios previos con adultos (18-64), que incluye el manejo de notificaciones y los sistemas para seguimiento deportivo. El reloj proveía a la mayoría de los participantes un status social (asociado a ser guay, snob o joven), y creaba oportunidades o preocupaciones sobre el estilo personal. Palabras clave

Participa en proyectos de investigación competitiva sobre ciencia abierta (Acceso abierto), ciencia ciudadana (Stem4Youth), participación política de los jóvenes en las redes sociales (Eurika) y uso de dispositivos móviles (ACT).

Personal information behavior has been studied within a large number of different contexts; however, individuals show different information‐related competencies in their professional, academic or daily life contexts. Literature suggests that if a person is information‐related competent in one context, then he or she will be competent in the rest of the contexts of action. But this is only true for a basic level of information competencies. This article reports results from 24 interviews performed to mature e‐learning students and suggests that in a more advanced level of information competencies, some competencies that appear in one context are not manifested in another context. Several factors have been found to be related with information competencies transfer between contexts. Attitude is a key factor and feelings regarding Internet use is another critical factor. Specifically in learning environments, the results suggest that canned content and planned learning strategies can discourage a proactive attitude and enthusiasm for information and communication technologies, and therefore the acquisition of information‐related competencies. Understanding the differences and common patterns between these contexts may be useful for designing better information systems, services and instruction.

This work outlines the design process of a user centered learning object repository. A repository should foster the development and acquisition of both generic and specific informational competencies. The results of the first stage of the user centered design process are presented which provide a clear understanding of user and task requirements and the context of use. A user study was conducted using quantitative and qualitative methodologies. A qualitative approach was performed through the content analysis of 24 in-depth interviews achieved through a random stratified sampling method. Regarding the quantitative approach, more than 5 million student navigation sessions were processed in order to know the real information behavior accomplished in the virtual campus and more specifically all the services and resources used and the search actions carried out by users. Our aim is to achieve a thorough informational behavior analysis that involves access, treatment, integration, evaluation, creation and communication of information for learning purposes which will be useful for integrating learning object repositories in virtual learning environments.