A technical and conceptual framework is currently under development to augment the activity of reading at schools with digital media such as images, sounds and light effects. The technical framework is STREEN. In this paper, we present IRIS, the pedagogical conceptual framework that describes how to employ STREEN in the classroom. We assume that STREEN/IRIS can motivate and foster reading comprehension of primary school students. In this paper, we also describe an eight-weeks' study carried out with third-grade students using IRIS. This study follows a quasi-experimental pre-post design that took place at a German primary school with 56 students from three different third-grade classes to compare results between an IRIS instruction and two conventional reading instructions. The findings show that students in the experimental group improved in word and sentence comprehension and lowered their task error rate. Furthermore, their intrinsic reading motivation increased while extrinsic reading motivation decreased significantly.
Authors: Pedro Ribeiro (Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences), Anna Michel (Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences), Cristina Sylla (CIEC-ITI/LARSyS, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal), Ido Iurgel (Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences), Wolfgang Müller (University of Education), Christian Ressel (Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences), Katharina Wennemaring (Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences),
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This study actually produced and developed a computer role-playing game which aimed at 108 first-year college students. It discovered the relationship between the perceptual usefulness and ease of use of digital game-based learning and students' learning motivation, learning attitude, and learning satisfaction. In this study, a questionnaire survey method was applied to analyze the relationship between the research variables and the input hypothesis verification for the 108 questionnaire data recovered. The following conclusions were obtained: (1) "Usefulness" positively affects "learning motivation," "learning attitude," and "learning satisfaction." (2) "Ease of use" does not affect "learning motivation," "learning attitude," and "learning satisfaction." (3) The research infers that students are now familiar with the operation of computer role-playing games. Whether it is easy to use is not an important consideration. However, in terms of teaching strategies, teachers should pay attention to the usefulness of learners' perceptions. If the perceptions are useful, teachers can greatly increase the chances of success in teaching, and can enable students to have equivalent learning motivation, attitude, and satisfaction.
Authors: Chun-Hsiung Huang (Ling Tung University),
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When we think of educational games, data analytics is not what comes first to our mind. However, a fundamental feature of all types of games is the data. When playing, the game system is constantly collecting data from the users, about the current state of the game and making predictions and decisions based on that data. This is what data analytics is all about. Games are an amazing way for scientists and educators to communicate with multiple data sets, as well as a great way for developers to get a wealth of relevant information to inspire the development of new algorithms and theories. The main goal of this investigation is to propose and validate techniques that allow the application of data analytics concepts to improve digital educational environments, especially the ones related to storytelling. In this paper, we discuss the development and implementation process of specific analytical techniques applied to a set of story apps for children, which is the first step in order to develop a set of guidelines to optimize the evaluation of the efficiency of educational games using data analytics.
Authors: Flávio Lima Faria (Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave - EST), Eva Oliveira (Polytechnic Institute of Cavado and Ave), Cristina Sylla (Research Centre on Child Studies - ITI/LARSyS), Maite Gil (Research Centre on Child Studies, Universidade do Minho),
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Virtual reality is used to support teaching in the professional caregiver educations. Virtual reality can visualize the anatomical part of the body and pro- vide interactive content that support and motivate students. In this study we fol- low the development of two new virtual and augmented reality applications with teaching material about leg ulcer and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. We have conducted workshops and interviews with a total of 7 teachers at a care- giver program who have provided information about the potential uses of virtual and augmented reality including their design ideas and feedback on a prototype of the applications. This have contributed to insights into how future solutions should be designed and how these may support teaching. The results indicate that virtual and augmented reality can be useful for achieving many different learning goals. It also indicates that it is not always and advantage to use immersive virtual reality or augmented reality, but it is possible to achieve at least similar results using a none- immersive version through mobile phones or tablets
Authors: Anders Kalsgaard Møller (Aalborg University), Eva Brooks (Dept. of Learning and Philosophy Aalborg University Kroghstraede 3 DK-9220 Aalborg Ø),
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Towards the development of AI based generative design tools and applications In recent years, several projects that take advantage of Artificial Intelligence as a design tool have arisen. However, most designers lack the technical knowledge necessary to profit from Artificial Intelligence in their design process fully. Through the development of GANSta, a tool with a graphical user interface that facilities the design and training of Generative Adversar-ial Networks. And the use and application of such a tool in different stages of the design process. By engaging in both iconographic branding element design and typographic font design projects. Participants of the Gesign lab initiative of Chiba University's System Planning Laboratory, explore the current and future opportunities that Generative Adversarial Networks pre-sent for their particular design process. Proving that previous knowledge in programming or machine learning is not necessary for designers to take ad-vantage of the benefits that this technology presents from a generative de-sign perspective.
Authors: Juan Carlos Chacon Quintero (Chiba University), Hisa Martinez Nimi (Chiba University), Kenta Ono (Chiba University), Bastian Kloss (Chiba University),
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To dress adequately may be a necessary condition in social interaction. The way we dress may have an impact in the way people see us. Recognizing and matching clothes in order to dress properly can be a hard and daily stressful task for blind people. How do they recognize and identify the garments attributes to perform an outfit without help? In order to overcome this stressful situation, we present a project to help blind people in the identification and selection of garments.
Authors: Daniel Rocha (Algoritmi R&D, University of Minho, Guimarães, Portugal), Vítor Carvalho (Polytechnic Institute of Cávado e Ave), Filomena Soares (University of Minho), Eva Oliveira (Polytechnic Institute of Cavado and Ave),
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People currently exist mainly indoors, detached from their natural surroundings. During times of rapid growth, globalization and digitalization, it has never been more important to investigate how to reconnect to our natural environment. In this paper we develop a design to investigate how a lighting design concept can act as a tool to understand the geometry of sunlight on Earth and thereby meet human needs to be in touch with the environment. A design is developed by redefining an ancient analogue technology, the sundial. The path of the Sun is translated into a design concept and is demonstrated in a three dimensional time and sight specific prototype. This design concept creates embodied experiences where viewers interact with their ever-changing daylight and surroundings. The aim with this exploratory design is to create a visual tool for learning about complex natural phenomena and understanding our relation to Earth and the Sun. It thereby discusses how a design can put humans in touch with their natural surroundings to satisfy individual biological needs in order to better understand contemporary environmental needs at large.
Authors: Emma Strebel (Aalborg University), Ellen Hansen (AAU),
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In this article, we first review the work carried out in the field of intergenera-tional digital games experiences as well as in the identification of the design factors involved. They are valued according to their applicability to put a common point to generate Intergenerational playful experiences based on digital games for interactive spaces. Starting from that point, “The Fantastic Journey”, a game created to be played in an interactive space where tangible interaction on tabletops, physical interaction with real objects as well as body and gesture interaction is supported, is valued as a possible intergenera-tional digital game experience. Two play sessions and a workshop carried out with grandparents and their grandchildren have allowed us to confirm the findings in the literature about the potential and the factors around intergen-erational play and have served to legitimize The Fantastic Journey as a true intergenerational digital game experience.
Authors: Felipe Bacca (Universidad de Zaragoza), Eva Cerezo (Universidad de Zaragoza), Rosa Gil (Universitat de Lleida), Antonio Aguelo (Universidad de Zaragoza), Ana Cristina Blasco (Universidad de Zaragoza), Teresa Coma (Universidad de Zaragoza), Maria Angeles Garrido (Universidad de Zaragoza),
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In recent years, digital games have increasingly become an important part of children's lives. As a consequence, digital game-based learning (DGBL) activities have also been merged into the school context and tried out by teachers in various ways. The pedagogical and didactical values of integrating DGBL in education are however not yet concluded. In this paper we examine how groups of teachers construct ideas about digital game-based learning as a teaching method and base for developing teaching activities. The study is drawn from a couple of creative workshops with Swedish and Danish school- and preschool teachers, in which their pedagogical design processes while evaluating and trying out different game apps have been studied. The research questions we ask in this paper are: 1). In what ways do teachers concretise their comprehension of digital game-based learning in their discussions of educational games for school children? And; 2). How are different discourses about the learning process and/or didactical potential in relation to digital games constructed in teachers' discussions while assessing game apps? Using a discourse analytical approach, the results of the study show that the teachers’ were stuck by their preconceptions about games as offering different learning qualities compared to their traditional teaching practice. Teachers acknowledged that DGBL is a complex issue as also designers' preconceptions are tied to traditional qualities of game design.
Authors: Jeanette Sjöberg (Halmstad University), Eva Brooks (Aalborgs university),
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Interactive story apps are becoming popular, especially among children. Due to its multimodality, interactive story apps offer a good opportunity to promote the development of cognitive and language skills. Here, we present the theoretical framework and the initial design decisions that support the development of a pedagogical game, which aims at enhancing students’ reading competences related to multimodal texts. The game complements an interactive story application directed to pre and primary school children and a digital manipulative that aim at promoting young children’s literacy, especially focusing on the development of language and storytelling competences in the context of multi-culturalism. The development of the game follows a design-based research me-thodology and a user-centered approach. The conceptualization and the devel-opment of the game, as well as of the story app, are informed by theories of embodiment, socio-constructivist and constructionist theories, as well as multi-literacies and multimodality theories.
Authors: Marcelo Salaberri (Universidade do Minho), Maitê Gil (Research Centre on Child Studies, Universidade do Minho), Cristina Sylla (Research Centre on Child Studies - ITI/LARSyS, Universidade do Minho),
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Collaboration is an important skill for children to learn. In this paper we present a small-scale study exploring how technology can be used to elicit collaboration between children. We developed a prototype of a tablet-based robot (‘surfacebot’) that tried to perform a specific task, while children acted as tutors by giving feedback on the surfacebot’s actions. The surfacebot used the feedback to improve its actions by means of reinforcement learning. A pilot study with an early prototype showed that children were engaged and provided consistent feedback to the surfacebot, but showed little collaboration. Instead they made individual decisions and took turns in providing feedback. Based on these observations we made several changes to the prototype that were meant to stimulate collaboration between the children. In our main study with the revised prototype, we measured collaboration using an annotation scheme based on a collaborative problem solving framework. The results suggest that the revisions of the prototype indeed led to more extensive collaborative behavior, with 4 of the 9 participating pairs of children establishing a division of roles that necessitated perspective taking and mutual exchange of information.
Authors: Wouter Kaag (University of Twente), Mariët Theune (Human Media Interaction, University of Twente), Theo Huibers (Human Media Interaction, University of Twente),
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Increasing use of digital tools in university teaching has attracted scholarly attention on the interaction between pedagogic design and digital technologies. The accelerated transition to online learning following the crisis of COVID-19 has raised a number of questions regarding the tie between technological affordances and learning strategies, especially with regard to the role of dialogue in learning. Based on a questionnaire with 51 postgraduate students in a PBL-university, where collaborative interaction and dialogic processes are regarded as integral to the PBL-method, this study investigates how students navigated the altered learning environment. We found that students’ experiences with online teaching denote reduced affordances for learning. They experienced decreased co-involvement in decision-making, decreased dialogic collaboration and a changed pedagogic setup that did not support learning through discursive meaning negotiations. Thus, whilst dialogues can be transformed by digital technology, these changes are not necessarily productive when taking into account the ideal of democratic discourse. Arguably, the digital transformation will continue to evolve and to influence the quality of university teaching. The paper concludes by discussing the potential of democratic dialogic teaching to stimulate learning ecologies in online and hybrid learning environments.
Authors: Anette Lykke Hindhede (Aalborg University), Vibeke Andersen (Aalborg University), Dorina Gnaur (Aalborg University),
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This study outlines how a serious game was implemented using trans-media storytelling to engage students in a Danish gymnasium when reading the mandatory novella The Hosier and His Daughter, written by the Danish author St. St. Blicher in 1829. The study is based on 52 students from two gymnasium Danish classes. The study’s novelty and importance lie in its focus on using a participatory design approach to involve the teachers as co-designers at a very early stage. The transmedia setup was based on the following procedure: read seven pages of the story in the textbook, play seven pages as a game that includes reading and voice-overs and then read the rest of the story in the textbook. A formative evaluation was administered using a questionnaire after the first read-ing and after the gameplay. Furthermore, there were in-depth interviews with both teachers and students. The findings indicate that the serious game improved reading engagement, leading to much higher immersion levels, ease of reading and enjoyment of reading the story. The story in the game was well told, and the learning outcome was achieved through increased engagement.
Authors: Mads Petersen (Aalborg University), Niklas Hansen (Aalborg University), Gustav Jakobsen (Aalborg University), Thomas Bjørner (Aalborg University),
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A well-reputed course prepared according to sound instructional design prin-ciples and successfully delivered multiple times in a traditional face-to-face classroom mode failed to stimulate students’ motivation to learn in a com-pletely online delivery mode amidst the COVID-19 outbreak. Therefore, a motivational framework developed according to the processes outlined in the ARCS model, implemented, and tested using a single-case study. A cohort of seventy-five undergraduate students aged between 24 to 29 years from dif-ferent program majors enrolled in a six-week mandatory IT in Business course. A blend of traditional, flipped classroom and gamified teaching methodologies applied in alignment with the ARCS model’s four motivation-al factors: attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction, associated pro-cess, and strategies. Before, during, and after treatment surveys based on the original Instructional Material Motivation Survey (IMMS) with 36 questions conducted to determine the effectiveness of blended teaching methodologies on students’ motivation. As a result, the teaching resources of the selected course were systematically aligned as required. We found that the blended teaching methodologies based on ARCS model, process, and strategies have enhanced and/or sustained students’ motivation and kept the subject interest-ing in an online environment and ultimately improved their learning.
Authors: Usman Durrani (Ajman University), Muhammad Mustafa Kamal (Coventry University),
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