The GIR of the University of Burgos DATAHES and the UIC No. 348 of the Junta de Castilla, participated in the XI International Congress of Psychology and Education held at the Faculty of Psychology and Speech Therapy of the Universidad de València.
Under the title "Psychological well-being and digitalisation: the great challenge of Psychology today", the congress was organised by the Scientific Association of Psychology and Education (ACIPE) and chaired by the Professor of Developmental Psychology and Education at the Universidad de València., Dr Francisco Alcantud Marín, and by the Professor of Developmental Psychology and Education at the Universidad Complutense of Madrid (UCM), Dr Juan Fernández Sánchez.
The panel of experts "Early Intervention and Digitalisation in Spain" was coordinated by Dr María Consuelo Sáiz Manzanares, director of the GIR of the UBU DATAHES and of the Consolidated Research Unit UIC 348 - Educational and Health Psychology: application of Artificial Intelligence Techniques, made up of researchers from the universities of Burgos and Valladolid.
Among the speakers was the president of Autismo Burgos, Simona Palacios Antón, who presented the Miradas Programme developed for 7 years in collaboration with the Neuropaediatric Service of the University Hospital of Burgos (HUBU), the Primary Care Services, the Educational Services, and the Infant Schools of Burgos.
The programme uses eye tracking technology to analyse gaze tracking in children aged between 9 and 48 months in different play activities. The results are analysed in collaboration with the GIR of the UBU GRINUBUMET led by Dr Joaquín Pacheco, which applies Artificial Intelligence algorithms.
The results indicate important advances in the early detection of possible problems of Autism Spectrum Disorder that will soon be published in scientific journals.
The results indicate important advances in the early detection of possible problems of Autism Spectrum Disorder that will soon be published in scientific journals.
Palacios stressed the importance of networking and the commitment of the institutions, as well as the collaborative work between the different agents involved.
For her part, Almudena Solórzano Mulas, speech therapist in the Early Intervention programme of ASPACE Salamanca presented the early intervention model that is being developed by her association within the framework of the collaboration agreement with the Social Services Management and the Base Centre of Salamanca. The intervention is carried out in outpatient care in the rural area of Salamanca. This is carried out in the homes of the families, in health centres or on the premises of the town councils.
The intervention model focuses on working with families in both the assessment and intervention processes by designing roadmaps and establishing strategies based on synergies of intervention in natural contexts, enhancing the empowerment of the family in the intervention process. Solórzano highlighted the importance of the use of digital tools in the assessment and intervention process, such as the eEarlyCare web application.
This web application has been developed by UBU professors Sáiz-Manzanares, Marticorena Sánchez, Arnaiz-González and Díez Pastor with funding from ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) within the calls for proposals Prueba Concepto: Impulso a la valorización y comercialización de resultados de investigación del Plan T-CUE de la Junta de Castilla León y de la UBI en las ediciones VI, VII, VIII y "Iniciativa Campus Emprendedor" Accesit en la categoría "Premio Especial Nuevos Emprendedores" para entidades sin ánimo de lucro propuesta 'Aplicación web para la evaluación e intervención en edades 0-6 años (e-EarlyCare)' 2021.
Dr Sáiz Manzanares pointed out the importance of training and updating, especially in digitalisation techniques and artificial intelligence, for professionals working in the field of early care and intervention.
In this updating process, he stressed the importance of knowledge of technologies such as eye tracking and automatic learning techniques (supervised and unsupervised) and Artificial Intelligence and highlighted the value of the project, co-financed by the European Union and led by the University of Burgos, eEarlyCare-T, in which training modules and virtual laboratories are being developed for the aforementioned purpose.
These materials will be used in the teaching of the Master of Continuing Education in Early Childhood Assessment and Intervention from the Application of Intelligent Systems (IoT, IPA, Health Smart, AI) of the UBU, which is taught in virtual teaching mode.
This research was also presented at the Congress within the invited symposium coordinated by Professor Sáiz Manzanares on "Effectiveness of the use of digital resources and artificial intelligence techniques in educational and health contexts", together with the papers: "Effectiveness of the use of virtual laboratories and gamification techniques in the learning of university students of Health Sciences" and "Training of early care professionals in technology and artificial intelligence". More extensive information on these presentations will be available in the book chapter "Digitalisation and Instructional Psychology" which will soon be published by Editorial Síntesis as part of the monograph of the CIPE 2023 congress.
The panel also included the participation of Ignacio Campoy Cervera, Advisor to the Royal Board on Disability, Professor at the Carlos III University of Madrid, on secondment, and member of the Board of the Institute of Human Rights "Gregorio Peces-Barba" of the same University, who addressed the legislative framework in Early Intervention in Spain, referring to the State Action Plan for the Implementation of the European Child Guarantee (2022-2030) and highlighting the importance of the recognition of the universal subjective right to early intervention and social inclusion free of charge for all citizens.
Finally, Francisco Alcantud Marín, Professor of Developmental and Educational Psychology and Coordinator of the ACCESO Research Unit of the Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology of the University of Valencia, made a historical review of the development of Early Intervention from 1987 to the present day, placing special emphasis on the fact that different research units and centres with the CUDAT of the University of Valencia have been developing different computer and digitalisation tools over these years, which have a functional life while the projects that have allowed them to be developed are in force, but which then disappear due to lack of funding. This is really worrying, as it means the loss of public and private resources and the time of the researchers involved.
In this updating process, she stressed the importance of knowledge of technologies such as eye tracking and automatic learning techniques (supervised and unsupervised) and Artificial Intelligence and highlighted the value of the project, co-financed by the European Union and led by the University of Burgos, eEarlyCare-T, in which training modules and virtual laboratories are being developed for the