Use of Mobile Technologies in Personal Learning Environments of Intercultural Contexts: Individual and Group Tasks

Effects of COVID-19 on the Perception of Virtual Education in University Students in Ecuador; Technical and Methodological Principles at the Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja

The confinement and migration from face-to-face to open access, online or blended/hybrid education modality caused because of the coronavirus crisis has forced a readaptation of education with enormous deficiencies at all levels. This work analyzes the viewpoint of a group of students from the Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja (Ecuador) regarding the current state of emergency from a descriptive and correlational quantitative methodological conception, based on the application of an instrument made up of six thematic blocks: socio-demographic situation, use of ICT, importance of ICT, methodology, didactic techniques, and study modality. The main results show that students are not yet convinced that a virtual modality is better than face-to-face. However, there are groups that value positively the use of ICTs mainly for recalling information, self-learning, and motivation. The techniques most valued by students are the traditional ones: teacher explanation and individual work. However, they give a low value to individualization as a methodological principle under which these techniques are based.

Online Tools for the Creation of Personal Learning Environments in Engineering Studies for Sustainable Learning

This work describes an educational experience in which personal learning environments (PLEs) were created as a tool for the acquisition of subject contents in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) areas. For this, the same methodology was developed for different subjects in order to teach the use of some digital tools, learn about the concepts related to the PLE, and apply the PLE to educational content promoting sustainable learning. Two questionnaires were designed to obtain information about the tools, activities, and subjects. The results of the questionnaires were analyzed using the Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin test and Pearson’s correlation. Then, several factors and the relationships between them were defined. In addition, this paper shows that because the PLE is based on a learning model in which the learner is the protagonist, its use is linked to sustainable learning. Therefore, the use of PLEs allows the development of the competences of “collaborative work” and “information management and organization”, which are both related to sustainable learning. In addition, the use of PLEs promotes understanding of the subjects and academic results in the subjects.

Cyberbullying Analysis in Intercultural Educational Environments Using Binary Logistic Regressions

The goal of this study is to analyze how religion, ethnic group, and race influence the likelihood of becoming either a cybervictim or cyberbully in intercultural educational environments. In the research, 755 students in secondary education were analyzed in the south of Spain through the Cyberbullying Scale for students with Cultural and Religious Diversity (CSCRD). The analyses were carried out using the Statistical Package SPSS and the STATA software. The results obtained from the Kruskal–Wallis H test showed significant differences according to these aspects, for both the cybervictim and cyberbully parameters. The results stemming from binary logistic regressions confirmed such differences and regarded those students who belong to the Muslim religion, the gypsy ethnic group and the Asian race as being more likely to become cybervictims. Furthermore, these analyses showed that Gypsy and Asian students were also more likely to be cyberbullies than other groups. The main conclusions state that minority groups are more likely to suffer cyberbullying in intercultural educational environments, and that students from these groups are also more likely to become cyberbullies.