Category: Projects

The mirror: what is reflected by what we do

Posted on by lindacq@um.es

The Mirror is the third seminar in the Educational Optics series, and the first one where the series changes direction a little with this title:

The Mirror: Teaching is Deciding — What Digital Competence Reveals About HigherEd

In The Prism and The Lens, there was quite a lot of my research and of the ideas I have been using for some time to try to understand Educational Technology. This time, I wanted to go back to some of the things we have done, many of them in applied research projects, and see what they reflected back to me now.

Hence the mirror. I did not want to make a retrospective of projects, or simply use them as examples, but to go back to things we have built, tested, adapted and used, and ask myself what I could see in them now that perhaps was not what we were looking for when we did them. And when I put some of those projects in front of the mirror, four reflections started to appear: shape, contextualise, enact and take collective responsibility.

And I mean doing things in the most prosaic sense of the term. We had to build a game, define a competence, design a toolkit, adapt a European framework, think about how to certify it, create examples that could work for academics from completely different disciplines, understand why one administration used a tool and another decided not to, design institutional strategies, work with students, train those who make decisions…

While preparing the seminar, I realised that this obligation to take ideas somewhere concrete has been an enormous source of learning for me. Because as soon as you try to do something with a definition, a framework or a policy, problems start.

It is not enough to define: when you define, you are shaping something. What looked like a question of adaptation ends up forcing you to think seriously about what contextualising actually means. Frameworks do not simply land in places; people do things with them, and they also change what people see and do: they are enacted. And when you try to develop someone’s competence, you inevitably end up looking at those who create — or do not create — the conditions in which that competence can develop: responsibility starts to become collective.

But while preparing the ending, I wanted to do that exercise that appeared with the crack in the prism (which appeared first here on the blog and then in the seminar), and I decided to use as a critique something uncomfortable that belongs to mirrors themselves… the aberrations of manufactured mirrors… Because, in addition, all the mirrors in the presentation are manufactured mirrors…

I had chosen some projects and not others, I had placed them in a particular order, and I was looking at work from very different moments through the questions I have today. Also, although all these projects are collective work, on the stage it was only me telling their stories.

And then the mirror stopped being just a nice metaphor. A manufactured mirror selects according to where it is placed, it needs light to show some things and not others, and it gives you back an image from a particular position. Mine does too. That is why I end by saying that the reflection I had constructed was not false, but neither was it innocent.

And I left a question: If you look into these mirrors from where you stand, what do they reflect back to you?

Simon (Simon Buckingham Shum) was the first to answer: “I was hearing systems everywhere.” I had put four words in the mirror. He saw something else. And I think that was a great way to finish.

Here is the recording in case you are curious… and, as you know, comments are very welcome.

And Then I Decided to Record It

Posted on by lindacq@um.es

When I finished writing Teaching Is Deciding, I thought the text had more or less found its form. Or at least the form I was capable of giving it. Because, in truth, this book never really had much of a vocation to be a “book”, as I explained in a previous post (in fact, I still think it is more of a “pamphlet” than a book), even once it was clear that it would eventually be published. I suppose that is because I still do not experience it as an academic text that closes debates, organizes a field, or proves very much of anything.

It was born more as a long conversation with myself. And maybe that is why, while I was writing it, I often had the feeling that I was “hearing” it more than writing it. As if the natural tone of the text was not exactly that of academic writing, but something closer to talking with someone for hours about teaching, universities and pedagogy (those of you who know me know that talking is very much my thing). I suppose that is how the idea of the audiobook appeared.

At first, just as a kind of experiment, I recorded a few fragments to see what happened when the text left the page and returned to the voice. And I realized something slightly strange: some parts actually worked better when listened to than when read. Or at least they changed. They became less forceful and more conversational. Closer to doubt than to categorical statements. And I think that was good for the text.

I was also very interested in the idea that it might accompany people who care about these issues but simply do not have the time (if there is one thing teachers do not have, it is time). That it could be listened to while walking, driving, or doing almost anything else. That it would not require sitting down to “study” a pedagogy book. Because an important part of this text comes precisely from my discomfort with certain ways of turning pedagogy into something inaccessible, excessively technical, or full of languages that operate almost like barriers to entry. So I decided to record the whole thing.

And yes, it has been recorded very much “with sticks and string”. At home. In spare moments. Sometimes struggling with background noise, with my voice, or with the very strange sensation of hearing myself speaking slowly for hours (I have genuinely tried to sound like a proper narrator and leave behind the machine-gun speaking mode that usually characterizes me). Although I think it still preserves a very “Linda” tone (a friend recently told me that the audiobook “sounded very Linda”, and I think that pleased me more than I expected), because deep down what I wanted was precisely that: for it to continue feeling like a conversation, and not like a solemn or over-produced version of the text.

Today I uploaded the introduction and acknowledgements of the audiobook/podcast. And from June 1st onwards, the rest will begin to appear: four parts and an epilogue. Each week one part will be published, and throughout those days the chapters that compose it will appear.

All of it openly available.

General Enseñar es decididorAnd, if everything goes well, the full text of the book will also be available that same day. For the moment it is only available in Spanish, at least in this first version.

In case anyone feels like listening to it, it will appear here: https://www.lindacastaneda.com/mushware/podcasts/esdecidir/

And also on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and iVoox.

 

(Español) Pensar la universidad que viene

Posted on by lindacq@um.es

Sorry, this entry is only available in Español.

En las últimas semanas he tenido muchas conversaciones sobre universidad. En pasillos, en cafés, en reuniones más o menos formales, con colegas de distintas facultades y con personas que viven la universidad desde lugares muy distintos. En muchas de esas conversaciones aparece una sensación compartida: estamos viviendo un momento de transformación profunda para las instituciones universitarias. Y al mismo tiempo seguimos enfrentándonos a problemas muy concretos y urgentes del día a día. Las universidades siempre han tenido que hacer ambas cosas a la vez: resolver los problemas del presente y, al mismo tiempo, pensar el horizonte hacia el que quieren avanzar.

No es la primera vez que las universidades cambian. De hecho, su historia es una historia continua de adaptación a nuevas formas de conocimiento, a nuevas profesiones y a nuevas expectativas sociales. Pero hay momentos en los que varias transformaciones coinciden y obligan a repensar con más cuidado cómo queremos que funcione la universidad en los próximos años. La aceleración tecnológica, la expansión de la inteligencia artificial, las nuevas formas de producir y compartir conocimiento, las tensiones burocráticas que atraviesan la vida académica o las transformaciones en las maneras de aprender de las nuevas generaciones son solo algunos de los factores que hoy están reconfigurando el trabajo universitario.

En medio de este contexto, merece la pena detenerse un momento y preguntarse qué cosas deberíamos cuidar especialmente si queremos que la universidad siga siendo un espacio relevante para la sociedad. Sin ánimo de exhaustividad, estas son cinco que me parecen especialmente importantes.

El tiempo académico

En muchas universidades, el recurso más escaso no es el talento ni las ideas. Es el tiempo. Tiempo para preparar bien una clase, para leer con calma, para pensar una investigación sin urgencias permanentes, para conversar con colegas o con estudiantes. Si queremos mejorar la docencia y la investigación, probablemente una de las tareas más importantes de cualquier institución universitaria sea proteger el tiempo académico de quienes trabajan en ella.

La docencia como responsabilidad institucional

Durante años hemos repetido que la calidad docente depende del compromiso individual del profesorado. Y en buena medida es cierto: enseñar bien requiere dedicación, preparación y una reflexión constante sobre lo que ocurre en nuestras aulas. Pero también es verdad que la buena docencia no es solo un esfuerzo individual. Es una práctica profesional que se construye colectivamente y que necesita condiciones institucionales para desarrollarse. Enseñar bien implica experimentar, revisar lo que hacemos, aprender de colegas, compartir estrategias y analizar qué funciona y qué no en contextos reales de aprendizaje. Nada de eso ocurre de manera sostenida si la institución no crea espacios para que suceda. Por eso mejorar la docencia no consiste solo en pedir más informes o más indicadores. Consiste en crear condiciones para enseñar y aprender mejor: tiempo para reflexionar sobre la práctica, oportunidades de desarrollo docente y comunidades de intercambio entre profesorado. Pero también implica algo más: que las universidades sean capaces de pensar colectivamente qué tipo de experiencia educativa quieren ofrecer a su estudiantado. No para imponer una forma única de enseñar, sino para construir un marco compartido que oriente y apoye el trabajo docente. Cuando una universidad cuida esas condiciones, la docencia deja de ser una tarea individual aislada y pasa a convertirse en un proyecto institucional compartido.

La universidad como espacio de pensamiento crítico

En un momento en que la información circula a gran velocidad y en que las tecnologías permiten producir textos, imágenes o análisis de manera cada vez más automatizada, el papel de la universidad como espacio de pensamiento crítico se vuelve todavía más importante. No se trata solo de transmitir conocimientos, sino de formar personas capaces de analizar, cuestionar, contextualizar y comprender la complejidad de los problemas contemporáneos. Ese sigue siendo uno de los grandes valores públicos de la universidad.

El desarrollo profesional a lo largo de la vida académica

La carrera académica es larga y está llena de transiciones: comenzar a enseñar, dirigir proyectos, asumir responsabilidades institucionales, acompañar a estudiantes de doctorado, abrir nuevas líneas de investigación. Sin embargo, muchas universidades siguen funcionando como si el desarrollo profesional fuese algo que ocurre de manera espontánea. Pensar seriamente en cómo acompañar y reconocer las trayectorias profesionales del profesorado y del personal universitario debería ser una parte central de cualquier proyecto institucional.

La confianza institucional

Las universidades son organizaciones complejas en las que conviven disciplinas, culturas profesionales y visiones del mundo muy distintas. Por eso funcionan bien cuando existe confianza: confianza entre personas, entre departamentos, entre equipos de gobierno y comunidad universitaria. La confianza no significa ausencia de debate ni de conflicto. Significa reconocer que la universidad se construye colectivamente y que las decisiones institucionales deben orientarse a fortalecer esa comunidad académica.

Estas cinco cuestiones —el tiempo académico, las condiciones para enseñar bien, el papel del pensamiento crítico, el desarrollo profesional y la confianza institucional— no agotan en absoluto los desafíos que enfrentan hoy las universidades. Pero sí apuntan a algo que a veces olvidamos en medio de debates administrativos, normativos o presupuestarios: que la universidad es, ante todo, una comunidad dedicada a crear conocimiento, a formar personas y a pensar críticamente el mundo.

Las universidades necesitan, inevitablemente, resolver los problemas urgentes del presente. A veces eso significa, literalmente, apagar fuegos: responder a nuevas regulaciones, reorganizar titulaciones, resolver tensiones organizativas o adaptar procedimientos que ya no funcionan. Pero una universidad que solo apaga fuegos termina perdiendo de vista el horizonte.

Por eso es tan importante mantener viva también la conversación sobre la universidad que queremos construir dentro de diez o quince años: una universidad capaz de enseñar bien, de investigar con profundidad, de acompañar el desarrollo profesional de quienes trabajan en ella y de seguir siendo un espacio de pensamiento crítico para la sociedad.

Cuidar esa comunidad y ese horizonte es probablemente una de las tareas más importantes que tenemos por delante. Y creo que empieza por decidir, colectivamente, qué universidad queremos ser.

(Español) Cuando estudiar la universidad también implica implicarse en ella

Posted on by lindacq@um.es

Sorry, this entry is only available in Español.

Llevo muchos años investigando sobre universidad y sobre transformación universitaria, de hecho, mi tesis doctoral fue sobre Educación Superior. He investigado, entre otras cosas, cómo cambian las formas de enseñar y aprender en ella, cómo las tecnologías reconfiguran lo que ocurre en las aulas y cómo las instituciones educativas intentan adaptarse —a veces con acierto, otras con dificultad— a transformaciones sociales, culturales y tecnológicas profundas. Quienes trabajamos en este campo dedicamos mucho tiempo a analizar la universidad: leyendo estudios, comparando experiencias, conversando con colegas de otros países, intentando comprender qué condiciones hacen posible que una institución universitaria enseñe mejor, investigue mejor y cuide mejor a las personas que la forman.

A lo largo de estos años he tenido la oportunidad de colaborar con muchas universidades y equipos académicos en distintos países, aprendiendo de experiencias muy diversas sobre cómo se organizan, cómo intentan mejorar su docencia o cómo afrontan procesos de transformación institucional. Precisamente por eso llega también un momento en que una se pregunta qué significa poner ese conocimiento al servicio de la propia universidad. No creo que todas las personas que investigamos sobre educación superior debamos asumir responsabilidades institucionales. Pero sí creo que, en determinados momentos, el conocimiento acumulado sobre cómo funcionan las universidades puede —y quizá debe— ponerse al servicio de la propia institución.

En las últimas semanas he decidido asumir esa responsabilidad. He aceptado la invitación de Senena Corbalán para sumarme al equipo que aspira a liderar el gobierno de la Universidad de Murcia, con ella a la cabeza. Lo hago porque entiendo que las universidades son organizaciones complejas, hechas de tradiciones, normas, equilibrios delicados y comunidades profesionales diversas. Precisamente por eso, cualquier transformación universitaria requiere tiempo, conversación y trabajo colectivo. Mi decisión tiene más que ver con una convicción sencilla: que la universidad se mejora no solo analizándola y pensándola, sino también asumiendo responsabilidades en su cuidado y en su orientación futura, junto a otras personas comprometidas con ese mismo propósito.

Vivimos un momento especialmente exigente para las universidades.

La aceleración tecnológica, la irrupción de la inteligencia artificial en múltiples ámbitos profesionales, la creciente presión burocrática sobre la actividad académica, la transformación de las formas de aprender y de producir conocimiento… todo ello plantea preguntas profundas sobre cómo debemos enseñar, investigar y organizarnos institucionalmente. Al mismo tiempo, la universidad sigue siendo uno de los pocos espacios sociales dedicados explícitamente al pensamiento crítico, a la creación de conocimiento y a la formación de profesionales capaces de comprender y transformar el mundo en el que viven. Cuidar ese espacio es una responsabilidad colectiva.

En mi caso, además, hay una dimensión personal evidente: toda mi trayectoria académica se ha desarrollado en la Universidad de Murcia. Aquí me formé, aquí he trabajado con generaciones de estudiantes, aquí he compartido proyectos con colegas extraordinarios y aquí he aprendido gran parte de lo que sé sobre educación y sobre universidad. Por eso creo que este es también un momento para devolver parte de ese aprendizaje a la institución que lo ha hecho posible.

No entiendo esta implicación como una ruptura con mi trabajo académico. Más bien al contrario: forma parte de la misma preocupación que ha guiado mi investigación durante años. La preocupación por comprender cómo aprenden las personas, cómo se transforman las instituciones educativas y qué condiciones hacen posible una universidad más abierta, más reflexiva y más capaz de afrontar los retos de su tiempo.

Las universidades no cambian solo a través de grandes reformas o decisiones estratégicas. Cambian también a través de conversaciones, de acuerdos entre personas que piensan distinto, de pequeñas mejoras acumuladas y de una atención constante a lo que ocurre realmente en nuestras aulas, laboratorios y proyectos de investigación. Asumir responsabilidades en ese proceso es, en cierto modo, una forma más de seguir pensando la universidad y de seguir aprendiendo. En este caso, hacerlo acompañando a un equipo de personas que también creen que la universidad se construye colectivamente.

Walking CUTIE Together: A UMU Story

Posted on by lindacq@um.es

CUTIE is finishing on this 30th of December, and this is my little celebration of this time together.

Taking part in the CUTIE project from the University of Murcia has been a deeply enriching experience. Not only because it has allowed us to advance in our understanding and dissemination of Digital Teaching Competence (DTC) and broader educational digital transformation within our institution, but also because it has opened up spaces to talk, reflect and build together from a very practical, close, flexible perspective — always grounded in a strong educational commitment.

The UMU team in CUTIE has been very directly involved in the project’s communication and outreach. From the very beginning, when we first imagined the project, we knew we didn’t want “dissemination” in the traditional sense. What we wanted was to genuinely contribute to the wider conversation about educational digital transformation. That is how this “entity” we called the CUTIE Channel was born: a set of social media profiles (Instagram, LinkedIn, X, Mastodon) together with our CUTIE Podcast, where we ended up producing eight episodes. It has been a part of the work that I particularly loved, because it allowed us to share what we were doing in an open, fresh and approachable way, while also bringing into our conversations the perspectives of experts from all over the world (thank you to all of them). It was never meant to be a showcase, but rather a way of sharing processes, ideas and learning… and, above all, sparking conversation.

Another contribution from Murcia was helping coordinate the use of the CUTE Canvas in both WP2 and WP3 — a conceptual and practical tool inherited from the previous CUTE project (in which I also participated). Although CUTIE has an international, collaborative and complex structure, we have always insisted that educational transformation must be concrete and very local. In Murcia, in addition to the joint project tasks, we focused on developing materials to support a deeper understanding of DTC among different university actors: faculty, students and institutional decision-makers. We were convinced that, to create real impact, we needed to speak to each group from their own starting point, making visible needs that were often not even articulated as such.

This is why a fundamental part of our work at UMU was creating a Spanish version of the course materials, not simply as a translation, but as a deep adaptation: incorporating contextualised references, connecting with the Spanish University Digital Teaching Competence Framework, and including CUTIE materials developed directly in Spanish. We believe these resources not only enrich our own institution but may also serve as inspiration and support for others.

CUTIE has given us the space to pause and think together — from our diverse professional backgrounds — about how we talk about digital competence, how we understand it institutionally, how teachers and students experience it, and what institutional leaders need to foster sustainable transformation processes.

And perhaps what I value most from this experience is something that never appears in official reports: the personal touch — the CUTIE people. It is not often that we get to work with such an extraordinary group of people. Our monthly online meetings and our in-person gatherings became wonderful spaces for learning, professional growth, fun and warm personal connection.

30I hope everything we have produced from our project can be useful to others. That is, after all, the essence of an ERASMUS project: that what we do in one small corner — in our case, Murcia — might open conversations and support digital transformation processes elsewhere.

I have learned so much personally, and I will miss the CUTIE people dearly… at least until we meet again. Our path together has taken us from beaches to mountains to castles to snowy landscapes, reminding me that diversity —of places, cultures and ideas— has been CUTIE’s greatest strength. It has been a privilege to walk that path with the CUTIE people.

You can find all the information about the CUTIE project on its website https://cutie.unak.is/, and all the Spanish-language resources developed at UMU on the CUTIE at UMU site https://www.um.es/cute/

Professorship Defense: my references

Posted on by lindacq@um.es

As I mentioned in the previous post, on the 10th, I defended my university professorship. I didn’t want to include a section for acknowledgements in the document because I didn’t want to introduce “such sentimentality” into a document that is so “formal and academic.” I fear it might undermine the importance, the imprint of effort, and the rigour (yes, I know I sometimes get carried away with formality and take myself too seriously), but instead, I included a final section, like an epilogue, to honour what I wanted to call “My Sources,” and I reproduce it here for you:

“Reaching this professional milestone results from constant and conscious work following a dynamic vision of what is essential in and for the university. This vision has gifted me with the best I have: my sources of inspiration.

First and foremost, I want to highlight my students as a source of inspiration. Each course, each subject, is a challenge. Trying to make the subject and our work in class memorable and worthwhile is an obsession. I sincerely hope to be quickly forgotten as a person, but I need the experience my students have at university, including in my class, to be professionally transformative. This goal drives me.

The curriculum that evidences my professional trajectory is the story of all the stories that have brought me to this moment. For me, it is much more than a sum of things—although it may be so for current academic evaluation models, I refuse to let my career be summarized as a sum of things. My professional journey is the residue of many classes—both received and given—tons of conversations, many discussions, thousands of defences, hours of chat, and the patience and wisdom of many people whose contributions form the layers that have built the vantage point from which I now view the world.

This project and my curriculum are a story of growth in a field of knowledge, of an epistemological, ideological, methodological, and academic proposal, of a way of doing, sharing, resisting, and attempting to influence.

I have the privilege of having worked—and continue to work—with dozens of people around the world (far beyond what a research group or usual network includes). All the people listed in my CV as co-authors—and many who are not listed—have gifted me moments that have helped me grow, reflections that have illuminated new perspectives, corrections that make me more readable, readings that have opened my eyes, doubts that have made me think more, questions that have made me ponder deeply, habits and quirks that have changed me. The projects included in this proposal—like most of the ones I undertake—have been discussed with many people, and I am inspired by the long and short moments these people have gifted me.

I’ve shared as much as I could these years and will continue to do so in the most orthodox formats and all those I consider relevant or interesting at any given moment. Beyond what “counts,” beyond what is “fundable,” I will continue doing so. Disseminating these years in varied formats, in diverse contexts, has taught me many things that I’ve put into practice in my way of researching my way of teaching, and it has made what we do reach places and people where research published in articles doesn’t usually go.

Having the opportunity to apply for a University Professorship represents an immense privilege and responsibility for me. I’ve reached this point in a concrete manner, which has implications that I accept and a price that I will continue to pay; it is my mission to be worthy of that privilege and that responsibility. Thanks to all the people and institutions that support me every single day to make this possible.”

And here in this post, taking advantage of this happy moment, and since it is no longer a formal context, I want to thank, besides my sources of inspiration—all of you who gift me with your conversation and time—my friends, those from Valencia, the Old Glories, the gang members, those from a thousand places who have been more than my co-authors and share my days and joys, those who wrapped me up when it was cold, those who made me feel surrounded even when I was alone, those who always believe in me and have the patience to love me despite being just me.

Thank you to everyone who has shared your joy over this achievement with me and feels it as their own. Thank you for the wonderful things you have said to me these days.

To my original family, my parents –my mom– for the privileges that allowed me to get here, and our family’s history that partly made me who I am. To my in-laws—brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, and nieces and nephews (who make me an aunt even though I have no siblings)—to my in-laws—Arturo and Alicia—who are always with me in these “final” moments but live with me through all the intermediates, thanks for making me feel how proud you are of me.

To my family. To Alejandro, who makes me a better version of myself, who only cares that I’m happy, who is always on my team. To Raquel, who accompanies me to infinity and beyond, has gifted me some of the most exciting and fun conversations, the boldest plans I can think of, and has “rearranged” the world, our world, happily in many ways.

Gracias Totales.

The images in this gallery are a series of postcards I created amid my concern of giving meaning to the CV beyond the idea of “farther, longer, more, higher.” I will publish the details of how I made them AND the slideshow in case you are interested in knowing. Yes, they are only in Spanish 😉

Professorship Defense ” Statement and Disclaimer”

Posted on by lindacq@um.es

Today, I successfully applied for a professorship in my area of expertise—Didactics and School Organization—at the Faculty of Education at the University of Murcia.

When I completed my work for the position of Associate Professor, I shared with you part of the process—it’s available in my post from September 12, 2018–. Today, that approach doesn’t make much sense to me (I can’t contribute much more, mainly due to the variety of processes and approaches in Spanish universities). However, I would like to share some reflections on how I prepared for the exam and what the document I’ve presented as my “Proyecto de Cátedra” means to me  (my university’s regulations require this document). To do this, I will share with you a section of this document (which you will find here in a piecemeal fashion) that I’ve titled:

Professorship Statement and Disclaimer

“This work (referring to the project I presented to the panel who examined me)  aims to be an academic reflection of what it means for me to aspire to a university professorship in Educational Technology. Perhaps because of this, I do not intend to make a definitive theoretical or epistemic stance. This work is not meant to be ‘my legacy’ or a declaration of what I intend my research to be from now on, precisely because the mission of an academic, at least from my point of view, should be reviewed, rethought, and redirected continuously.

It is an integrated proposal with short—or medium-term research projects that will likely evolve soon, and I hope it will continue to help me evolve in my understanding of the problems around me and the educational reality in a broad sense.

In this case, I intend to take a practical approach (without implying that all research should be “useful”) and an exploratory and critical approach. Although what I present is, in fact, a short-term bet, I believe it should reflect not only my current thematic and reflective stance but also my understanding of how research in Educational Technology should be conducted and the guiding questions I ask myself daily to pursue this field.

Hence, I understand that this proposal must respond to a series of fundamental characteristics:

  • Address a substantive issue that affects or pertains to fundamental questions about the impact of technology on education, where the effect on education should be the priority.
  • Be coherent, meaning to seek, develop, and give space to the paths opened by the research history.
  • Dare to be innovative means looking in diverse places for different things. This implies advanced technology and an awareness of the most advanced problems. It also means exploring, sometimes even without knowing if there is something on the other side.
  • Be epistemically committed, generating theoretical, methodological, and educational structures that give substance to new paths we must blaze in education. The goal is to light up areas others can walk through and, if possible, turn those paths into “roads.” This means keeping an eye on all new developments, but without rushing to any trend, and ensuring that someone follows the paths we trace…
  • Be socially committed to the development of the context, in this case, to the development of my institution, my classroom, but also to other institutions like mine, and of course, to public education and what it entails.
  • It should be bold, meaning rigorous, but also willing to find, test, learn, and even fail or find paths that cannot be travelled.
    Interdisciplinary, understanding that education is not done solely by educators, giving place in the research to professionals who educate and those who shape the technological present, but keeping clearly in mind that the education of people (subjects in the community) is the priority in that multiple perspectives.
  • It must be communicated, transferred, and made usable by all those who may be addressed by it, not only by other researchers. For this, it must be open and frank, and I must make an effort to disseminate it.

I know many topics are not addressed in this text, but they are always there as a backdrop and a horizon to which to aspire. To name a few, I would start by saying that the redefinition of my field of knowledge—Educational Technology—that I tackled in my Associate Professor project and later worked on thoroughly with Professors Salinas and Adell (Castañeda et al., 2020) remains a crucial factor that must be kept fresh in any analysis of this nature. The training of teachers, which will be mentioned in the more distant futures of the last part of this document, is an irreplaceable horizon of extraordinary importance but one that we cannot address in this proposal. There is also a vast area of work related to the generation of knowledge by students—yes, referring to the DCCU—which we do not address in this work but should be addressed.

Additionally, many organizational, social, political, and economic constraints condition and limit—or try to limit—my research, but they do not depend on me. However, I have been aware of these constraints for many years and have been fortunate to conduct research that influences my immediate and not-so-immediate context, so I hope to continue dealing with them as I have so far and continue to influence them for the better.”

As you can see, it is a statement of intentions that I hoped would represent me. Because if there’s one thing I believe was necessary on a day like today—when the ANECA accreditation already says you’ve jumped farther, higher, better—it was a declaration of who I am and what I believe has brought me to this point and what I will do from here on. It is not very different from what I have been, but part of the charm, I suppose, lies in what I am willing to continue to be.

Última página del proyecto de Cátedra de Linda Castañeda

University Digital Teaching Competence Framework

Posted on by lindacq@um.es

In December, we announced with great enthusiasm the availability of the first of the developments of the DIGCOMPEDU Training and Accreditation (DigCompEdu FyA) project, the Framework for Digital Competence in University Teaching (MCDDU). Creation and validation (only in Spanish).

Yesterday, 24th April, we had the opportunity to “present it in society” in the Salón de Grados of the Faculty of Medicine of the Complutense University of Madrid.

Marco de Competencia Digital Docente Universitario. Creación y validación
www.bit.ly/MCDDU2023

This document represents the culmination of one of the fundamental milestones in the construction of the project materials, with the active collaboration of various universities (35 Spanish universities) committed to digital transformation in higher education.

Accurately detailing the meticulous process of adapting the European DigCompEdu framework to the Spanish context, materialised in the Reference Framework for Digital Competence in Teaching (MRCDD), the MCDDU emerges as a fundamental milestone in the confluence of theory and practice for promoting digital competence in teaching at the—university level.

This report not only breaks down the methodology, actions implemented and changes made during the creation of the MCDDU, but also comprehensively presents the framework itself, outlining its formative and accrediting elements. It is an indispensable resource for those involved in the planning and implementation of digital educational strategies in the university context.

By exploring the pages of this report, readers will gain a detailed overview of ongoing actions, planned future initiatives and strategic recommendations for continued development in the field of digital educational transformation. We hope that this joint effort and the effort to share not only the results, but also our working methodology can lead to a better definition of the path towards the digital transformation of Higher Education that we all seek.

Coordination of the DIGCOMPEDU FyA project
Juan Ramon Velasco
Pedro M. Ruiz
María Isabel Hartilo Hermoso

Emiliano Pereira González
Antonio Ruiz Martínez

Report and Technical Coordination
Linda Castañeda y Núria Vanaclocha.
Universidad de Murcia

Proyecto Competencias Digitales del Profesorado- Formación y Acreditación. DigCompEdu-FyA.
Real Decreto 641/2021, de 27 de julio, por el que se regula la concesión directa de subvenciones a universidades públicas españolas para la
modernización y digitalización del sistema universitario español en el marco del Plan de Recuperación, Transformación y Resiliencia
Ministerio de Universidades. BOE-A-2021-12614

Permanent link to the Report at the UM  DIGITUM Repository  https://lnkd.in/dUMwUc6d

 

 

The DALI Project is finished!

Posted on by lindacq@um.es

On 30 December 2023, the DALI project -Data Literacy for Citizenship- (https://dalicitizens.eu/ ) officially ended a project that we have been working on at UM for the last three years and in which our challenge was to develop practical educational materials and resources for the development of Data Literacy in adults of all age ranges, i.e. to promote how people use and engage with the data they encounter in their daily lives as citizens.

In these three years, we have developed in the four official languages of the project (and therefore also in Spanish)

And much more…

And EVERYTHING is now available for free and open use on our website.

I have been the project’s contact person for the UM team and had the immense good fortune to work on it. I have had the opportunity to learn, meet, laugh, work hard and generate, with my project partners, a lot of material that I firmly believe is useful to face one of the most critical challenges posed by the current and imminent future technological reality, how people should relate healthily with the data that is generated around them?

Since the first time, we were asked for a workshop “for the healthy use of social networks” back in the first decade of the 21st century, I have always been convinced that the only way to become more human in a world with technology is to emancipate ourselves to be better humans, to make better decisions, to be able to make human decisions –being empowered– in this world and WITH technology. … and I believe that DALI does all of this. Furthermore, I think that it does it with deep pedagogical roots that give more substance to this emancipatory and empowering perspective… it is an educational project… of educational technology.

It has been a precious experience; I feel very proud of the work we have done from Murcia (thanks to Inma Haba-Ortuño especially). It is also a project in which many people have been able to work, collaborate and feel involved… Even my students have been able to work with the games! So, all the better…

As I said above, all the materials are open and licensed to be modified for further use.

I hope you can browse and use any of the materials we have produced and that you find them useful.

SOME ACADEMIC PAPERS FROM DALI PROJECT

  • Castañeda, Linda, Inmaculada Haba-Ortuño, Daniel Villar-Onrubia, Victoria I. Marín, Gemma Tur, José A. Ruipérez-Valiente, and Barbara Wasson. 2024. ‘Developing the DALI Data Literacy Framework for Critical Citizenry’. RIED-Revista Iberoamericana de Educación a Distancia 27 (1). doi:10.5944/ried.27.1.37773. (Online First) https://doi.org/10.5944/ried.27.1.37773
  • Castañeda, L., Villar-Onrubia, D., Haba-Ortuño, I., Postigo-Fuentes, A. Y., & Arnab, S. (2022). Game-based Networked Learning. Proceedings For The Thirteenth International Conference On Networked Learning, 273–277 https://dalicitizens.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Game-based-Networked-Learning.pdf
  • Castañeda, L.; Arnab, S.; Tur, G.; Klykken, F.; Wasson, B.; Haba-Ortuño, I.; Maloszek, R.; De Benito-Crossetti, B. (in press) Co-creating pedagogically informed games for data literacy. Revista de Educación. (IN PRESS)

The DALI project is an Erasmus+ Strategic Action for Adult Education project (KA204-076492) coordinated by the University of Bergen and involving four other European universities: Coventry University (UK), Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (Germany), Universitat de les Illes Balears (Spain) and Universidad de Murcia (Spain).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ACAD Toolkit Print&play in Spanish for starters

Posted on by lindacq@um.es

Over the last few years, we have been immersed in the fascinating world of ACAD (Activity Centered Analysis and Design Framework), exploring its possibilities and above all looking for ways to invite more people to use these kinds of tools that we believe are interesting for thinking together about teaching and learning situations.

This journey led us to translate the ACAD toolkit into Spanish, a collaborative work led by Goodyear, Peter; Carvalho, Lucila; Yeoman, Pipa; Castañeda, Linda, & Adell, Jordi (2021), which provided us with a solid basis for our work.

In addition, we recently shared the fruits of our labour in a detailed study, reflected in the publication by Carvalho, Lucila, Linda Castañeda, & Pippa Yeoman (2023) entitled ‘The “Birth of Doubt” and “The Existence of Other Possibilities”: Exploring How the ACAD Toolkit Supports Design for Learning’ in the Journal of New Approaches in Educational Research. This study delves into how the ACAD toolkit supports design for learning, providing valuable insight into its applicability and benefits.

However, as we progressed in our research, we realised a significant obstacle: manually creating a toolkit (all those handwritten letters) tailored to the specific needs of an individual or institution required considerable effort. It was then that the idea of developing a “starter” version of the ACAD toolkit was born, at least of its Spanish version, with the aim of making this powerful tool more accessible.

Trying to remain faithful to the spirit of the original toolkit, we created a downloadable document, similar to the print&play that we have designed in the DALI project. This document allows anyone interested to download, print and use the ACAD toolkit in a practical and efficient way. We recognise that, although the printed boxes have their charm (and we have printed a few), the print&play format presents itself as the most useful option for those who are looking for a quick and adaptable solution and who read us from anywhere in the world.

The print&play has instructions on what and how to print it… and we think it is VERY convenient.

imagen del print&play de ACAD toolkit en castellanoimagen del print&play de ACAD toolkit en castellano

We want this starter version of the ACAD toolkit to be a gateway for educators, instructional designers and teaching professionals. We believe that by making these tools available to everyone, we are helping to democratise instructional design and foster innovation in pedagogy.

I am really pleased to share this resource with the community. You can find the downloadable document at https://digitum.um.es/digitum/bitstream/10201/135851/1/ACADToolkit_Espanol_P%26P.pdf (the permanent link to the UM repository is http://hdl.handle.net/10201/135851 ) and we encourage you to explore the possibilities offered by the ACAD toolkit on your journey towards continuous improvement in teaching and learning.

Download, print and discover the potential of the ACAD toolkit today!

Referencess:

  • Goodyear, P., Carvalho, L., Yeoman, P., Castañeda, L., & Adell, J. (2021). Una herramienta tangible para facilitar procesos de diseño y análisis didáctico: Traducción y adaptación transcultural del Toolkit ACAD. *Píxel-Bit. Revista De Medios Y Educación.* [DOI: 10.12795/pixelbit.84457](https://doi.org/10.12795/pixelbit.84457)
  • Carvalho, L., Castañeda, L., & Yeoman, P. (2023). ‘The “Birth of Doubt” and “The Existence of Other Possibilities”: Exploring How the ACAD Toolkit Supports Design for Learning’. *Journal of New Approaches in Educational Research, 12*(2), 340–359. [DOI: 10.7821/naer.2023.7.1494](https://doi.org/10.7821/naer.2023.7.1494)

(I want you to know that ChatGPT gave me a hand writing this post -I never have time to blog- and deepl helped me with the translation…)

ACAD toolkit impreso "bonito"

High Level Group of Education and Training Meeting

Posted on by lindacq@um.es

In May, during my participation in a conference in Barcelona (EDuTech Cluster Conference) I was asked by the Ministry of Education and in particular by Acción Educativa Exterior to participate as a Speaker for the EU High Level Group on education and training in the first event of the Spanish presidency of the European Council.

This meeting (Jerez de la Frontera, 29 June 2023) was the first event prior to the start of the Spanish presidency of the EU and focused on two fundamental issues: European values and digital transformation. For this reason, they asked two people: a German colleague who gave a presentation on artificial intelligence and values, and myself, who gave a presentation on the digital transformation of the classroom, to participate with papers for the discussion.

The ministry asked me for a vision of what the research says about the integration of technology in the classroom, trying to overcome the more catastrophic or naive views of transformation, but always based on research. It was 25 minutes of presentation and 1 hour of conversation with the members of the High Level Group. Here is my full slide presentation (there are many slides that I skipped due to time constraints)

2023 Higher Level Group of Education and Training from Linda Castañeda

Most of the elements are familiar to those of you who have read my work, basically because I don’t pretend to invent the wheel and because I think it is worth trying to be coherent in my discourse. Moreover, much of it is precisely the result of the research I have carried out over the years (here is the list of bibliography that I also referred to https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gOiEZvqRQmKbe6hsdPAMv6qOp1H3nETpYDtnkBUS0UY/edit?usp=sharing) .

The truth is that it is probably the most intimidating experience I have had in terms of responsibility and protocol, but it was also a fantastic moment to be able to contribute in some way to a debate that goes beyond my immediate context and before an audience that has a lot of work to do and that expects your speech to be of some use to them… I have learned a lot doing it, preparing it, eating nerves, and being there.

As I said in the chronicle I made of this moment on Instagram (Instagram video only in Spanish https://www.instagram.com/reel/CucdHG2uuVK/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== ), I think it went well, I feel honoured and proud, I sincerely hope at least I have not given ideas to make the European policy of digital transformation in education worse and I have contributed in some way to this debate. So far, I have learned a lot.

 

ESSENCE Project – Multiplier Event

Posted on by lindacq@um.es

The ESSENCE project is coming to an end and after these 3 years of work and pandemic, we want to share with you what we have done and present you the results of this work.

The ESSENCE project (www.um.es/essenceeu) has tried during these years to find ways to help schools by trying to generate and structure learning assessment tools and strategies for students, which can be useful specifically for entrepreneurship-related competences. We wanted to help teachers to better face the difficult task of assessing these competences, which are increasingly included explicitly in our curriculum.

To do so, we have worked with organisations from 7 European countries, schools, teachers, experts in the development of competences related to entrepreneurship, experts in education and educational technology, to try to achieve all the objectives we have set ourselves.

And what have we done that can be useful to you? Well, that is precisely what we want to talk to you about and present the materials and experiences we have made. We are sure that some of them may be useful to you. We will also take the opportunity to present you a tool, respectful with the use of data, to assess with rubrics that is completely open and that, although it is currently designed with rubrics of sub-competences of the entrepreneurship competence, you can use it with the rubrics that you consider most appropriate.

In the Spanish speaking context, we have planned 2 identical one and a half-hour online events on two different days and at different times so that you can attend the one that suits you best (wherever you are in the world, here you can check the time of the event in your part of the world).

Tuesday, 13 July, from 10:00h to 11:30h (Spanish mainland time)
Thursday, 15 July, from 17:00h to 18:30h (Spanish Mainland Time)

 

ANd… what about an ERC project?

Posted on by lindacq@um.es

Following the line of my last post (and video), this one (recorded the same day, as you can see hehehehe), dedicated to what I think is the most demanding call for Horizon projects, the call for projects of the ERC (European Research Council).

I am an unredeemed optimist, so in that invisible thread of “ALMOST” lies my hope this time… and I think that if I fail I will try again… why? why? because I like to learn… here I leave you my testimony…(just in Spanish, sorry, maybe subtitles could help)

Big kisses to my European projects office at UM (our dear OPERUM) for their help, and don’t despair, when I know the result I’ll tell you ;-D (after the depressing period, off course)

Why to do Erasmus + Projects?

Posted on by lindacq@um.es

Part of my work as an academic, at least from my point of view, is disseminating what I do so that I can contribute to the learning of others through my experience… as part of my learning community (yes, all that peripheral legitimate participation staff…).  That’s why I share openly my reflections from my stays, or I’ve told before how I teach my classes.

However, these days I wanted to make a series of videos to talk about why it is worth trying and participating in European projects… so I am going to tell you about my experience, with no other pretensions than that, to share the experience.

In this video, I share with you my experience and vision about why it is great to participate in Erasmus + Projects. I hope you find it interesting.

(Yes I know is only in Spanish… well, maybe subtitles  could help…)

 

The CUTE Project

Posted on by lindacq@um.es

Since October 2019, I have had the opportunity to be the contact person for the CUTE Project “Competencies for Universities – using Technology in Education” (ERASMUS+: Strategic Partnership KA203-867FE04B) at the University of Murcia and to have as associate partners in Spain none other than INTEF (National Institute of Educational Technology and Teacher Training). We are working hard (and having fun) and I wanted to have the opportunity to present you the project of which you have all the information on the website https://cute.ku.dk (also in Spanish).

Hope you find it interesting!