The University of Burgos' own degree "Master of Lifelong Learning in Early Childhood Assessment and Intervention from the Application of Intelligent Systems (IoT, IPA, Health Smart, AI)" celebrated last week the graduation ceremony of its first graduating class.
This first promotion is made up of 15 professionals from ASPACE Salamanca (Association of Parents of People with Cerebral Palsy and Related Encephalopathies). On 13 June, the graduation of six professionals from the ASPACE ACTIVA centre took place, who work in the field of early care, two in the "Early Care Programme under an agreement with the Social Services Management of Castilla y León, aimed at meeting the needs of children in rural areas"; and another four in the clinical practice of the ACTIVA Salud early care centre. Its aim is to improve functional development processes in the motor, sensory and cognitive areas, in order to promote the greatest possible integral development.
The second graduation was held the following day at the "El Camino" Special Education, Care and Rehabilitation Centre in Villamayor (Salamanca). The nine professionals who obtained this degree from the UBU work in the field of early care with children with multiple disabilities (physical, mental and sensory) in specific or combined schooling.
Delivered online, this first edition has been developed within the framework of the project co-financed by the European Union "Specialized and updated training supporting advance technologies for early childhood" (eEaryCare-T) Reference: 2021-1-ES01-KA220-SCH-000032661 and the collaboration agreement between the University of Burgos and the ASPACE SALAMANCA association, dated 17 October 2022.
Both graduations were presided over by the director of the ASPACE Salamanca Centres, Juan José García Fernández, and by the director of the Master's Degree in Lifelong Learning and principal investigator of the eEaryCare-T project, Dr María Consuelo Sáiz Manzanares. Irene González Díez, another researcher of the project, also participated.
On the occasion of these ceremonies, working meetings were held in both centres with management teams and rehabilitation and intervention professionals. Both the Association and the UBU stressed the need to promote research projects that promote the training of professionals and implement technologies such as integrated multichannel eye tracking, intelligent personal assistants, etc., and artificial intelligence in special and specific education environments, as well as in treatment and outpatient rehabilitation in rural areas at an early age, all with the ultimate goal of full inclusion.
Positive assessment
One of the objectives of the eEarlyCare-T project is to facilitate the development of materials for training and specialisation in the field of early care. In the context of the "Master of Lifelong Learning in Early Childhood Assessment and Intervention from the Application of Smart Systems (IoT, IPA, Health Smart, AI)" it has trained five professionals with less than three years of experience and an update of ten professionals with more than ten years of experience in the field of early care 0-6 years.
The high level of materials and digital resources, thanks to EU funding, was evident in the selection of the eEarlyCare-T project in the SALTO Awards 2023, in the Digital Transformation category.
This quality was reaffirmed in the students' evaluation of the degree. Professionals with fewer years of activity have highly valued both the theoretical materials and the practical self-regulated virtual laboratories and its methodology based on the development of learning in a self-regulated simulation environment, with avatars that facilitate tutoring and learning in real time, and the use of self-checking learning questions.
For their part, professionals with more than 10 years of experience, in addition to highlighting these same aspects, have contributed ideas for the expansion of training in the use of technological resources applied to the treatment and rehabilitation of children aged 0-6 years.
About eEarlyCare-T
The project ‘Specialized and updated training supporting advance technologies for early childhood’ (eEarlyCare-T) is integrated by researchers from three European universities (University of Burgos, University of Roma Tre (Italy) and Croatian University of Sveuciliste u Rijeci), with the participation of the Spanish companies Gestionet Multimedia S.L. and Kveloce I+D+i. This interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary and innovative project focuses on updating the training of practising professionals and new professionals in the field of early childhood care (ages 0-6 years). The training activities will apply innovative teaching methodologies based on the use of different technological resources (avatars, gamification, laboratories and virtual reality). In addition, the entire training process will be carried out within a virtual learning environment (VLE) that will apply different tools that allow the user self-assessment and personalised learning.
More information on the results of the project
Regarding the first intellectual product, an open access book has been produced in Spanish and English, published by the Publications Service of the University of Burgos.
Sáiz-Manzanares, M.C., & Santamaria Vázquez, M. (2024). Formación y Especialización en Atención Temprana: uso de Recursos Tecnológicos y de Inteligencia Artificial. Burgos: Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Burgos.
The book can be downloaded free of charge at the following link
Sáiz-Manzanares, M.C., & Santamaria Vázquez, M. (2024). Training and Specialisation in Early Intervention: use of Technological Resources and Artificial Intelligence. Burgos: Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Burgos.
The book can be downloaded free of charge at the following link
The second intellectual product, "Manual for the development of self-regulated virtual laboratories", will soon be available in open access in English and Spanish.
