La inmersión de la sociedad en la era digital ha influido de manera decisiva en las formas de comportarse de las personas, en el ámbito del trabajo, de la economía, del entretenimiento y de la enseñanza. La educación superior está sufriendo una gran transformación debido al desarrollo tecnológico en el que estamos sumergidos, y esos continuos cambios han evidenciado la necesidad de mantenernos actualizados de forma permanente, adoptando así la idea de aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida. Cada persona tiene un abanico de posibilidades, amplio y diverso para formarse y para aprender, lo que exige a los individuos tomar cada vez más el control de su propio proceso de aprendizaje. El concepto de ecologías de aprendizaje proporciona un marco de análisis para saber cómo aprendemos, y qué contextos y/o elementos empleamos para formarnos, con el fin de proporcionarnos nuevas oportunidades de aprendizaje. Ser conscientes de los elementos y/o contextos que configuran nuestras ecologías de aprendizaje puede ser una estrategia muy útil que nos ayude a actualizarnos de forma autodirigida y efectiva. Esto nos ha llevado a realizar un estudio bibliográfico dirigido a identificar algunos de los aspectos que caracterizan las nuevas formas en que aprendemos, lo cual nos permitirá comprender el papel que debe jugar la universidad en la sociedad actual.

This study analyses the extent to which faculty use the technological resources that make up their Learning Ecologies to encourage their teacher professional development. The interest of this research is the growing impact of Learning Ecologies as a framework to examine the multiple learning opportunities provided by the complex digital landscape. Global data referred to the use of technological resources grouped in three dimensions (Access, Search and Information Management resources, Creation and Content Editing resources, and Interaction and Communication resources) has been identified. In addition, the influence of different variables such as gender, age, years of teaching experience and the branch of knowledge were also examined. The methodology used has been quantitative through a survey. The sample consisted of 1,652 faculty belonging to 50 Spanish universities. To meet the aim of the study, descriptive and inferential analysis (ANOVA) were carried out. On the one hand, it is noted a moderate use of technological resources for professional development and, on the other hand, significant differences are observed on all variables analysed. The results warn of the need to promote, both at individual and institutional level, more enriched Learning Ecologies, in such a way that each teacher can take better advantage of the learning opportunities, provided by the networked society. En este estudio se analiza en qué medida el profesorado universitario utiliza los recursos tecnológicos que configuran sus Ecologías de Aprendizaje para propiciar su desarrollo profesional como docentes. El interés de esta investigación radica en el creciente impacto del constructo de las Ecologías de Aprendizaje como marco para examinar e interpretar las múltiples oportunidades de aprendizaje que ofrece el complejo panorama digital actual. Además de identificar los datos globales referidos al uso de los recursos tecnológicos agrupados en tres dimensiones (recursos de acceso, búsqueda y gestión de la información, recursos de creación y edición de contenido, y recursos de interacción y comunicación), también se examina la influencia de diferentes variables como el género, la edad, los años de experiencia docente y la rama de conocimiento. La metodología empleada ha sido de corte cuantitativo a través de encuesta. La muestra está compuesta por 1.652 profesores pertenecientes a 50 universidades españolas. Para dar respuesta al objetivo del estudio se llevaron a cabo análisis descriptivos e inferenciales (ANOVA). Se constata un empleo moderado de los recursos tecnológicos para el desarrollo profesional y, además, se observan diferencias significativas en función de las variables analizadas. Los resultados alertan de la necesidad de fomentar, tanto a nivel individual como institucional, Ecologías de Aprendizaje más enriquecidas, de manera que cada docente pueda aprovechar mejor las posibilidades de aprendizaje que ofrece la sociedad en red.

In addition to attempting to verify gender differences, this study aims to examine the explanatory potential of boys' and girls' attitudes toward mathematics on their performance. The sample comprised 897 students in the 5th and 6th years of primary education (450 boys and 447 girls). The results confirm what previous research has suggested, that girls tended to exhibit less positive attitudes about mathematics than their male classmates, in particular lower motivation, worse perception of competence, and higher rates of anxiety, although in all cases the effect sizes were small. Even though there no significant gender differences in academic performance, as expected, the explanatory power of attitudes toward mathematics was clearly more significant in boys than in girls (R 2 = 0.194 and R 2 = 0.103, respectively). The results of the regression analysis for each sample reinforce the well-known positive impact of perceived selfefficacy on mathematics performance and introduce the effect of achievement emotions of academic performance. Test anxiety in mathematics seems to only have a negative effect on boys' grades, as this variable does not appear in the regression equation when explaining girls' performance. In the light of control-value theory, we discuss the contingency of perceived competence and its involvement in anxiety and academic performance. Boys' results could be affected by the levels of anxiety inasmuch as they tend to be confident in their abilities, motivated to stand out, and interested in mathematics. Whereas despite girls reporting high rates of anxiety, what may have a negative impact on their results might have more to do with a higher value placed on mathematics, as their perception of control may be low.

Currently, the concept of engagement is crucial in the field of learning and school achievement. It is a multidimensional concept (e.g., behavioral, emotional, and cognitive dimensions) that has been widely used as a theoretical framework to explain the processes of school engagement and dropout. However, this conceptual framework has been scarcely used in the field of homework. The aim of the present study was to analyze the role of intrinsic motivation, perceived homework utility, and personal homework attitude as precursors of student homework engagement (behavioral engagement) and, at the same time, how such engagement is the precursor of academic achievement. Seven hundred and thirty students of Compulsory Secondary Education (CSE) (7th to 10th grade) from fourteen schools northern Spain participated. A structural equation model was elaborated on which intrinsic motivation, perceived utility and attitude were observed variables, and student engagement (time spent on homework, time management, and amount of teacher-assigned homework done) and academic achievement (Mathematics, Spanish Language, English Language, and Social Science) were latent variables. The results reveal that (i) intrinsic motivation is a powerful precursor of student behavioral engagement (also perceived utility and attitude, although to a lesser extent), and (ii) academic achievement is closely linked to the level of student engagement, qualifying the results of many of the previous studies conducted from a task-centered perspective (as opposed to a person-centered perspective).

School engagement occupies a place of reference in recent educational psychology research owing to its potential to address poor school results and school dropout rates. However, there is a need for a unifying theoretical framework. The study proposed the characterization of school engagement and explored the extent to which different profiles are associated with academic performance and self-regulation. With a sample of 717 5th and 6th year primary school students, this study was carried out via the latent profile analysis (LPA). Two groups of low school engaged students—one characterized by low behavioral engagement (5.02%) and the other by low emotional engagement (6.55%)—were distinguished. The majority of participants showed moderately high (31.95%) or moderate (56.48%) levels of school engagement in its three dimensions. Students with high engagement had the best grades and managed their time and study surroundings better, were the most strategic in seeking information, and showed less maladaptive regulatory behavior. The differences between students exhibiting low behavioral and emotional engagement and those exhibiting moderate levels in these dimensions may center upon the management of contextual resources and management of information and help. This research supports the need to approach the study of school engagement by observing the combination of its emotional, behavioral, and cognitive dimensions.