Establishing a balance between knowing, knowing how to do and knowing how to be is a challenge being faced in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), which, along with the Bologna process, has sought since 1999 to ensure more comparable, compatible and coherent systems of higher education in Europe. From another perspective, the challenge is about science, technology and humanism. Classrooms, no matter the education level, are bearing witness to technological progress and, predictably, concerns about how technology is contributing to education. The change has generated new terminology that reflects the profound transformation: E-learning, Web-Based Training, Internet-Based Training, … [Read more...] about E-learning: new models, new challenges
About Víctor Manuel Pérez Martínez
The mobile society: A more mobilised society?
Mobile phones have gone from being a simple means of communication to a tool with multiple applications that have become an essential part of our professional and personal lives. As such, the advance and confluence of technology allows us to consider new perspectives through which we can understand the processes of change that are occurring in our interconnected society - other forms of interaction or focuses of interest in an environment in which it seems that everything has yet to be discovered. Mobile technologies have introduced a different dimension into social life amid a complex web of human relations in everything from politics and business to the closest and most intimate human … [Read more...] about The mobile society: A more mobilised society?
Why open Pandora’s Box?
Reforming the Constitution is a guaranteed way to open up a thousand and one debates about democracy in Spain. The 1978 referendum, in which the current Constitution was approved, was a turning point at a major crossroads in the political life of a country that aspired to be close to Europe, improve the quality of life of its citizens and take on the process of transitioning to democracy under the guidance of a parliamentary monarchy. To think that reforming the Constitution now is the only way to control the deficit is probably a reflection of the need for a renewal of the policies of the political parties, not necessarily generational change. The question is poignant: Is a reform of … [Read more...] about Why open Pandora’s Box?
World Youth Day: Between faith and criticism
The most serious criticism is not aimed at the young pilgrims who came to the Spanish capital to “display their faith” but rather at the planning, organization and financing of a “mass religious event” which could have been done at lower cost, with less religious aims, with less participation of the public sector, without the presence of ethically questionable companies and with the aim of addressing more closely the problems that affect Spanish society and the world today. Although the degree of self-financing of the event was significant it is sensible to ask the Catholic organizations involved to think about how they organize such gatherings. In most cases, there are things that could be … [Read more...] about World Youth Day: Between faith and criticism
Democracy 2.0 and the 15-M movement
The 15-M movement, organized by ¡Democracia Real Ya!, has had an important impact on Spanish public opinion and has spread to other countries. It is undeniable that new communications channels on the internet have contributed to the expansion of its ideals, but they have not been the only methods by which the movement has been fuelled and motivated. The Cocktail Analysis, a consultancy, recently published a study called Movilización y redes sociales (Mobilization and social networks) looking at how Spanish web users evaluate the 15-M movement. Contrary to what many may think, most people first became aware of 15-M on the television (51.9 percent versus 29.6 percent who found out first on … [Read more...] about Democracy 2.0 and the 15-M movement
Malcontents in search of democracy
It is a voice of alarm that brings together the feelings of several generations, nationalities, political colors and economic classes. It is probable that we are witnessing in these gatherings an exercise in real and participatory democracy. Others, however, consider that the protestors are living in a utopia outside of the reality imposed by the market economy. Nonetheless, there are some who foresee a new phase in Spanish democracy. For that reason, the protests that took place on Sunday, June 19 are a breath of fresh air in a society threatened by the economic crisis, unemployment and the indifference of the justice system to cases of corruption in certain political circles. Putting to … [Read more...] about Malcontents in search of democracy