Background: Aging of the global population is slowly paving the way for new markets for care products and services. The desire of older people to maintain their independence while remaining at home is boosting the development of ambient assisted living (AAL) solutions. Lack of user awareness of AAL solutions paired with an insufficient use of user-centered and participatory design approaches in the development of these products has hindered the uptake of these solutions by end users. Objective: This study aims to describe the usability and users' experiences within a novel platform, ActiveAdvice, aimed at offering advice and a holistic market overview of AAL products and services. Methods: Usability tests were performed on the developed platform among identified prospective end users, with 32 older adults and informal carers from 4 European countries being part of the user tests. The usability and appeal of the web interface design, information flow, and information architecture were analyzed by collecting both objective and subjective measures. These would include pretest and posttest surveys, along with a series of think-aloud tasks to be performed within the platform. Results: The outcomes suggest that the ActiveAdvice platform's objectives and functionalities are mostly aligned with the needs and expectations of end users, who demonstrated interest in using it, stressing its purpose along with its simple and intuitive interaction. Task completion rates were high, and participants had good satisfaction rates when navigating the platform. However, the tests still advocate for an improved design at some points and better disclosure of information. Conclusions: Our findings shed light on a few peculiarities of interface design, information architecture, user needs, and preferred functionalities, which should be applied to future developments of similar platforms with related services. The AAL field could benefit from tools supporting the dissemination of available AAL solutions and how they can improve one's quality of life. These tools may benefit not only older adults but also caregivers, business owners, and governmental employees.
A consciência da importância da formação inicial tem crescido nos últimos anos e a formação em investigação surge como uma dimensão a investir para a qualidade da formação e do ensino. É também sabido que os contextos nacionais têm impacto na maneira como a formação inicial de professores é estruturada e, portanto, na maneira como a investigação é valorizada. Pretende‑se comeste trabalho descrever e discutir a relação que se estabelece entre a investigação e o ensino na formação inicial de professores em dois cursos, em instituições com características distintas e em dois países diferentes – Portugal e Inglaterra. Os dados foram recolhidos com estudantes e formadores/as dos dois cursos através de entrevistas individuais e de grupo, e de grupos de discussão focalizada. Os resultados permitem concluir que o valor atribuído à investigação varia de país para país e de instituição para instituição. Os dados portugueses sugerem uma perspetiva de investigação mais próxima da investigação académica e os de Inglaterra uma perspetiva mais associada à prática. Em ambos os casos surgem inquietações relativamente à visão tecnicista do ser professor/a e à presença tardia da investigação nos programas de FIP.
BACKGROUND The world population is experiencing a demographic shift, which translates into a rising proportion of older people among their inhabitants. This is slowly making way for new markets for care products and services to open. The desire of older people to maintain their independence, while remaining at home, boosted the development of Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) solutions, which can assist them in a variety of ways, in line with their needs when growing older. OBJECTIVE The lack of dissemination of the area, paired with an absence of user-centered and participatory design approaches in these products' development, sided by the low level of adoption of technology by older adults, hinders the uptake of these solutions. The ActiveAdvice platform aims to deliver a web environment for older adults and their relatives, AAL business representatives, as well as governments and municipalities involved in ageing issues across Europe, offering a holistic market overview of AAL products and services, and combining it with a group of valuable functionalities. METHODS Usability tests were performed on the developed platform among a section of its identified end users, in order to evaluate the level of interest, feasibility and usability. The general goal was ultimately to identify the extent to which the interface facilitated a user's ability and motivation to navigate the platform. Therefore, the tests aimed to analyze the usability and attractiveness of the web interface design, information flow, and information architecture by resourcing to the collection of both objective and subjective measures. These would include pre and post-test surveys, along with a series of think-aloud tasks to be performed within the platform. RESULTS Outcomes clarified that the platform's functionalities are mostly aligned with the needs and expectations of the selected end users, as they are actually interested in using it, provided the interaction is simple and familiar. The tests still advocate for an improved design at some points and better disclosure of information, although task completion rates were high, and participants had a satisfying experience when navigating the platform, mostly brought by the recognition of a sense of purpose. CONCLUSIONS The AAL field could definitely benefit from more tools of knowledge and promulgation, so there is a need to create a functional platform which is to be used not only by older adults but also caretakers, business owners and governmental employees. Not only that, but simultaneously being responsible for disseminating the importance of AAL, available solutions, and how they can improve one's quality of life. It can be challenging, but the findings enlightened us on a few peculiarities on interface design, information architecture, user needs and preferred functionalities, which should be applied on future developments of similar platforms with related services.
During the past few years, higher education institutions have been working to strengthen the link between research and teaching, which is widely referred to as the research-teaching (RT) nexus. This nexus is important because engagement with research is a distinctive feature of learning in higher education and because, in the specific case of teacher education, it is a crucial element for the professional development of teachers, contributing to enhancing their professional practices and, at the same time, improving the status of the teaching profession. The aim of this paper is to identify the perspectives of student teachers regarding the RT nexus within initial teacher education. To accomplish this, data were collected through semi-structured group interviews with Portuguese and English student teachers in different initial teacher education programmes in order to highlight their perspectives and their contributions to understanding and strengthening the RT nexus. The analysis shows that national contexts play a significant role in the way initial teacher education programmes are organized, the way research is valued, and, consequently, how student teachers are engaged with research.
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