Mercedes Rico

• PhD
• Professor (Full) at University of Extremadura

Despite the established framework of digital skills in education, there is a need for more contrastive analyses of actual DC developments in cross-disciplinary and cross-curricular ecologies: How current pedagogical approaches may vary within an exponentially growing digital world is, in fact, a key issue deserving further schol-arly attention at v...

Cultural cartography as a way to understand the relationship between cultural manifestations and maps involves visual, symbolic and cognitive mechanisms of inquiry referring to the interpretation of territorial landscapes. The introduction of geo-computation techniques has enabled users to approach map-like visualizations of the world under differe...

en Global competencies are crucial for societies to progress in a changing world. Beyond the specific language skills needed to be integrated into an international workforce, individuals should also develop the capacity to analyze and understand intercultural issues in their fields. In light of this, our paper firstly aims to pilot a problem-based...

Aplicar estrategias de gamificación implementadas en una plataforma virtual de aprendizaje como apoyo a clases presenciales, es una propuesta educativa que incrementa la motivación y compromiso en la realización de actividades y tareas autónomas haciendo divertido el aprendizaje. Esta propuesta se aplicó en la asignatura Programación I (P-I) de la...

Flipped classrooms are in vogue as an active learning methodology since they combine important pillars of modern education, such as student-centered learning and technology. This model has been applied to different areas and educational levels, though it seems most prominent at the tertiary level. However, it is not clear if it is appropriate for a...

While the globalized nature of contemporary society can be empowering for many, it may mean the maintenance of social iniquities for others, such as migrant populations. Spain, like many other European countries, has faced a high migration influx in the last decades. As a result, the government has invested in measures orientated toward social incl...

Intercultural communication is not only a necessary tool for most international workplaces, but also for higher education so as to better prepare students for their future jobs. To test how intercultural competences might be taught in engineering programmes in Spain, a country where many young people have to emigrate in order to find work, an exper...

Intercultural communication is not only a necessary tool for most international workplaces, but also for higher education so as to better prepare students for their future jobs. To test how intercultural competences might be taught in engineering programmes in Spain, a country where many young people have to emigrate in order to find work, an exper...

People live in a competitive society, searching for technical and professional expertise throughout their lifetimes. With the expansion of ICT and distance learning , educational approaches are no longer restricted to formal education; rather learners are urged to acquire new skills and to obtain official and professional recognition of these compe...

One of the overlooked motivational areas for VET hospitality students learning English is attribution theories, students’ beliefs about why they fail or succeed. Weiner identified four basic attributions that people tend to have in achievement situations (2010; 1984): ability, effort, task difficulty, and luck, which contribute to students’ motivat...

As the presence of technologies becomes more apparent in every corner of our lives, interaction and user-centered design can be a vital tool in addressing target groups with special needs. Within the realm of education, this research proposes enhanced, user-friendly hypermedia applications for young children so they can be proficient enough to hand...

Although quantitative tools are often employed to examine students’ beliefs in language learning, qualitative interviews can offer further depth and insight on these beliefs, by shedding light on the detail of the experiences behind student perceptions. This is important to understanding student motivation in the language classroom, since beliefs f...

p class="1"> Language Learning Beliefs (LLB) are an important area for foreign and second language learning research that has grown considerably over the last decade, and which spans multi-disciplinary fields across education, linguistics and psychology (Martínez Agudo, 2014). These beliefs have become more important as they affect motivation and p...

Hospitality students are the future negotiators of cultural interaction in our field, and how they imagine culture through their language studies is important. In particular, cultural con- cepts form an essential part of their motivation to learn a foreign language, in so far as it indicates their willingness to integrate into another culture, as G...

The development of cross-curricular competences is one of the challenges European higher education is facing as consequence of the establishment of the European Higher Education Area (AHEA). One of these competences is the “time management,” an instrumental ability related to manage personal and working time. Time management seems to be a significa...

The study presents a proposal for Learning English as a Foreign Language at the "Universidad Tecnológica Equinoccial" (UTE), making use of the Information Technology and based on a previous pedagogical and technological analysis. Internal diagnostics assessed the use of virtual platforms used at UTE and deepened with a diagnostic field research, in...

The study presents a proposal for Learning English as a Foreign Language at the “Universidad Tecnologica Equinoccial” (UTE), making use of the Information Technology and based on a previous pedagogical and technological analysis. Internal diagnostics assessed the use of virtual platforms used at UTE and deepened with a diagnostic field research, in...

The increasing popularity of hypermedia games is reaching far beyond the boundaries of entertainment and edging its way into many educational domains. The growth in game technologies has created new teaching environments through proposals combining learning with fun and motivating expectations which make the use of digital games a relevant trend in...

The 21st century is the generation of Digital Game-Based Learning, a generation growing up with technologies and contributing to the prevalence of digital games [Chuang et al. 2010]. Thus, the use of mobile consoles (Nintendo DS or SONY PSP) for entertainment at all ages has increased dramatically, as has the availability of games that meet specifi...

La adaptación de los estudios universitarios al Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior nos exige nuevos enfoques metodológicos que transformen nuestro sistema educativo, basado en la enseñanza de contenidos, en un nuevo modelo basado en el aprendizaje. Este nuevo paradigma se hace asimismo evidente en el campo de la evaluación, la cual, lejos de ent...

La introducción de las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación (TIC) ha provocado una revolución radical en el sistema educativo actual, tanto en los medios y recursos utilizados para presentar los contenidos, como en la ubicuidad en la que puede enmarcarse dicho aprendizaje. Centrándonos en el uso de dispositivos móviles y la aplicación de...

One of the key changes of European Higher Education Area is the implementation of a competence-based educational system. Students are now more than ever the axis around which the university system orbits. The competences that students should acquire during their studies include transversal competences, which are those competences related to leaders...

Based on the assumption that educational software addressing Primary school learners must comprise a set of features to encourage children’s creativity and development, the appropriate design of second language hypermedia adaptive games for Primary School children can pose a wide range of challenges both for the language teacher and computer specia...

Departing from the changing educational context we are moving in, Problem-Based Learning (PBL), combined with other teaching approaches, such as collaborative learning and e-learning, is an educational paradigm that promotes the development of valuable competences and enhances students‟ autonomy, reflection and team skills. In this paper we describ...

One of the key elements at the European Higher Education Area is the acknowledgement of the need to monitor and measure student activity throughout the learning process. To do this, we conducted a study at University of Extremadura in Mérida and developed an application for a Tablet PC in which students record the amount of time devoted to study di...

Los Sistemas Hipermedia Adaptativos (SHA) se presentan como una clara tecnología para el desarrollo de software educativo ya que posibilitan una enseñanza personalizada, adecuada al nivel de conocimiento, características y necesidades del alumno y presentan el material instruccional a través de audio, video, animaciones y texto (multimedia), lo que...

Resumen Se realizó una investigación con estudiantes del Grado en Ingeniería en Diseño Industrial y Desarrollo de Productos de la Universidad de Extremadura en España durante dos años consecutivos para evaluar la adquisición de competencias transversales. El estudio se enmarca en el contexto del nuevo sistema de enseñanza basado en competencias que...

E-portfolios have experienced growth and expansion due to importance of web technologies and the benefits that they have brought to teaching practices. In education, e-portfolios are mainly used to improve students' learning processes and to support teachers' assessment. In this sense and although there is a large number of tools that encourage the...

In the European higher education area, the student is placed at the centre of the teaching/learning process, developing an active role, initiative and a critical thinking. On the other hand, ICT can offer new possibilities to develop necessary competences to reach student's objectives. In this sense, once competences are identified, we can see the...

El Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior (EEES) y la legislación actual en educación universitaria indican que a lo largo de los grados deben trabajarse y adquirirse, tanto competencias específicas de los estudios como transversales, y por tanto, la evaluación del alumnado debe hacerse en base a esas competencias. Está claro que el profesorado nece...

Plenary conference.

p>Exposure real life language experiences forms an integral part of the acquisition process. Authentic materials – those derived from the culture of the target language rather than specially produced for language learners – increase the relevance of the learning experience by reusing texts taken directly from the target culture. Web 2.0 technologie...

The development of transversal competences is currently considered a key point within the European Area of Higher Education adaptation process. However, course and curricula design that accounts for such competences (e.g., team work, digital competence and ICT, critical thinking, leadership, and the like) remains a challenge and a field open to exp...

How to monitor learning in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) is one of teacher's concerns with the new trends at university education. We propose to use an electronic portfolio to record the student learning process in a determined task. Students are organized in groups and they are responsible to build their own portfolio and use it adequa...

Language learning and acquisition requires exposure to a language whether in a formal or informal learning environment as well as opportunities to produce the target language in a meaningful context. Therefore, it is unsurprising that the development of tools and web-based applications that allow written, audio, visual, and audio-visual material to...

Our proposal describes ISPY, a multilateral European K2 language project based on the development of an Online Networking Platform for Language Learning (http://www.ispy-project.com/). Supported by the Lifelong Learning European Programme, the platform aims to help young adults across Europe, secondary and vocational school programs, learn a new la...

RESUMEN Desde su implantación a lo largo del curso académico 2005-2006 la plataforma de aprendizaje y software libre Moodle ha servido como soporte para las asignaturas impartidas en las distintas titulaciones ofrecidas por la Universidad de Extremadura, convirtiéndose en una herramienta clave para el acceso del alumno tanto al material elaborado p...

The ability to connect mobile devices to any application or web utility is increasingly important. If in the education sector, virtual learning environments such as Moodle are surprisingly widespread. In light of this, this work aims to explore a new possibility to make the afore mentioned integration possible, enabling such applications to become...

Training programs and technologies have evolved in relation to students' demands to learn languages through Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). In the context of online education, digital platforms like Moodle play a leading role as these management systems include applications and tools which allow us to create and evaluate language...

Under the auspices of the 3D virtual platform Second Life, our proposal, centred on the learner capacity to act within online environments, consists of applying innovative ideas for second language acquisition and examines the potential of various pedagogical aspects in the design of tandem English/Spanish language courses for specific professional...

The ability to connect mobile devices to any application or web utility is increasingly important. If in the education sector, virtual learning environments such as Moodle are surprisingly widespread. In light of this, this work aims to explore a new possibility to make the afore mentioned integration possible, enabling such applications to become...

Web 2.0 technologies are described as new and emerging for all fields of knowledge, including academia. Innovative e-learning formats like on-demand video, file sharing, blogs, Wikis, podcasting and virtual worlds are gaining increasing popularity among educators and students due to their emphasison flexible, collaborative and community-building fe...

Nowadays e-learning developments use web portals as the primary source to manage knowledge support. However the creation of independent applications to enhance student skills is still necessary in current research, serving both as isolated tools and as constituting global platform modules. We believe that slideshows are a useful means when exposing...

Technology is changing the way today's children learn. Based on our experience in the development of educational software for children, it is our belief that computer interaction should consider the factors that affect children's cognitive abilities and take an active part in the realm of the methodological process of hypermedia design. Departing f...

The progress of online education has led us to a point where one of the few remaining steps to accomplish is to include alternatives for physical activities, simulations, role plays and educational tasks which can be done from management learning platforms. Though nowadays there are an increasing amount of virtual environments, mostly in games and...

Web 2.0 technologies are described as new and emerging for all fields of knowledge, including academia. Innovativee-learning formats like on-demand video, file sharing, blogs, Wikis, podcasting and virtual worlds are gaining increasing popularity among educators and students due to their emphasis on flexible, collaborative and community-building fe...

Web 2.0 technologies are described as new and emerging for all fields of knowledge, including academia. Innovativee-learning formats like on-demand video, file sharing, blogs, Wikis, podcasting and virtual worlds are gaining increasing popularity among educators and students due to their emphasis on flexible, collaborative and community-building fe...

Web 2.0 technologies are described as new and emerging for all fields of knowledge, including academia. Innovative e-learning formats like on-demand video, file sharing, blogs, Wikis, podcasting and virtual worlds are gaining increasing popularity among educators and students due to their emphasis on flexible, collaborative and community-building f...

Abstract: Technologies have burst wide open for Internet users to participate, share, communicate and collaborate with one another in order to spread knowledge and learning experiences. Emerging technologies as the so-called Web 2.0 have helped to change the traditional concept of education, assuming a methodological approach wherein students colla...

Considerando que moodle se ha afianzado como plataforma educativa para la gestión de la enseñanza/aprendizaje on-line en la mayoría de las universidades españolas (Correa Gorospe, 2005), y que la comunidad de usuarios que utiliza esta plataforma crece cada día, como indica el informe del ITC (Instructional Technology Council) de 2007 (Lokken, Womer...

In addition to performing the function for which they were created, handheld devices are also provider of all kind of material through its integrated internet connectivity, enabling users to access and play multimedia information (pictures, videos, music, podcast, etc.), read news on screen, and complete educational activities. Regarding its role o...

Protocol technologies present a wide range of challenges for educators and learners, from course design to teaching practices to assessment. Having moved beyond traditional teaching approaches, hypermedia, enhancing a more goal directed learning format, grants people the chance to learn greater amounts of information more quickly. In this context,...

Desde su implantación a lo largo del curso académico 2005-2006 la plataforma de aprendizaje y software libre Moodle ha servido como soporte para las asignaturas impartidas en las distintas titulaciones ofrecidas por la Universidad de Extremadura, convirtiéndose en una herramienta clave para el acceso del alumno tanto al material elaborado por el pr...

En diálogo con Gulliver’s Travels de Jonathan Swift y Moby Dick de Herman Melville, y teniendo en mente la imagen degradada de la Estatua de la Libertad, a la que se compara con una ramera, Ana Lydia Vega en “Encancaranublado,” nos ofrece una personal perspectiva sobre las migraciones económicas que se desplazan de Latinoamérica a Estados Unidos. L...

As information technology rapidly makes its way into every corner of modern society educational means and methods are researched and applied in order to successfully keep up. Of the many resources encountered in Internet is Second Life (SL), created in 2003 by Philip Rosedale, CEO of Linden Research, Inc. SL is a 3D virtual world of social interact...

p>Foreign language learning at the pre-school level is a pressing reality in Europe's crosscultural curricula. Along with competency demands, developed by European Union commissions and the various Boards of Education of individual member-states, revolutionary multimedia tools are being implemented in early age bands such as for 3-5 year olds. Howe...

Since their availability, audiovisual, multimedia, broadcast and technological devices have been used to promote language learning -to capture language samples, to provide access to authentic speech and material, to enhance worldwide communication, and the like. Likewise, as technologies continue to evolve, the tendency to shrink in size and become...

Introducción Solo con introducir en Google el texto Second Life aparecerán 560 millones de enlaces que nos hablan de este mundo. Encontraremos mucha y desordenada información sobre él, algo normal teniendo en cuenta su más que reciente creación. Este mundo virtual fue creado por Linden Lab en el año 2003. Como primera aproximación, podemos decir qu...

Muchas han sido las acciones propiciadas por el Consejo de Europa desde su creación en 1994 para el establecimiento de bases adecuadas para proteger y desarrollar la pluralidad lingüística europea, destacando, dentro de la política europea actual, la apuesta por una homologación de niveles y competencias lingüísticas entre todos los países miembros...

Considerando que los ordenadores están volviéndose habituales en todos los niveles educativos y en una amplia escala de modalidades de enseñanza, este artículo presenta formas y líneas de trabajo para lograr prácticas de comunicación oral para el aprendizaje de idiomas en un entorno on-line. Basados en la utilización de la plataforma Moodle, sistem...

Children at L2 primary levels acquire knowledge and language skills associated with different abilities through educational games. The game introduces learning activities by using playful elements as a source of motivation. The success of the game depends on an optimum relationship between challenge, fantasy, curiosity and control. This is also app...

The use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) is spreading inside the classrooms at all educational levels. As this integration has extended to young learners (3 to 5 years), the authorities have recommended their use so that children can acquire knowledge and dexterities they will use all their lives. Keeping in mind that it is at t...

This paper describes the integration of hypermedia adaptive systems for foreign language learners at an early age Our research project is concerned with exploring the relationship between language learning and information technology according to six different phases: a preliminary study of the plausible adaptive system; the development of lesson...

Second language learning through hypermedia at an early age may pose a wide range of challenges for both the computer specialist and the language teacher. Thus, considering that technological experiences with children are still rather recent, an analysis of factors that may influence the learning process (educational context, learning styles, cogni...

The aim of this study is to offer a quantitative analysis of the time needed by students to understand different types of oral comprehension items involved in second language (L2) listening processes. The duration data models will allow us to focus on this fundamental variable, analyzing the time and degree of acquisition of the different linguisti...

La aparición y desarrollo del Inglés para Fines Específicos (IFE -ESP: English for Specific Purposes en terminología inglesa-), viene determinada por el aumento producido en los últimos años de profesionales que necesitan dominar la lengua inglesa en áreas, contextos y campos específicos. Sin embargo, la rápida expansión del inglés específico no vi...

One of the conclusions drawn from the first European conference on using ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies) in Preschool Education (Brussels 2002) was that technologies can encourage children's development and increase the learning capabilities at this age. In the light of the claims above, our research team is developing SHAIEx, a w...