Jaime Sánchez

Problem solving and collaboration using mobile serious games

This paper presents the results obtained with the implementation of a series of learning activities based on Mobile Serious Games (MSGs) for the development of problem solving and collaborative skills in Chilean 8th grade students. Three MSGs were developed and played by teams of four students in order to solve problems collaboratively. A quasi-experimental design was used. The data shows that the experimental group achieved a higher perception of their own collaboration skills and a higher score in the plan execution dimension of the problem solving cycle than did the non-equivalent control group, revealing that MSG-based learning activities may contribute to such learning improvements. This challenges future research to identify under which conditions learning activities based on mobile serious games can promote the development of higher order skills.

Interactive 3D sound hyperstories for blind children

Interactive software is currently used for learning andentertainment purposes. This type of software is not very commonamong blind children because most computer games and electronictoys do not have appropriate interfaces to be accessible withoutvisual cues. This study introduces the idea of interactive hyperstoriescarried out in a 3D acoustic virtual world for blind children. Wehave conceptualized a model to design hyperstories. ThroughAudioDoom we have an application that enables testing cognitivetasks with blind children. The main research question underlyingthis work explores how audio- based entertainment and spatial soundnavigable experiences can create cognitive spatial structures inthe minds of blind children. AudioDoom presents first person experiences through explorationof interactive virtual worlds by using only 3D auralrepresentations of the space.

ICT & learning in Chilean schools: Lessons learned

By the early nineties a Chilean network on computers and education for public schools had emerged. There were both high expectancies that technology could revolutionize education as well as divergent voices that doubted the real impact of technology on learning. This paper presents an evaluation of the Enlaces network, a national Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and education initiative designed as part of a series of programs to overcome inequity and quality issues of public education in Chile, by integrating teachers and learners into the knowledge society. Data gathered and the results obtained in four major areas of educational policies - infrastructure, digital literacy, conditions of learning, and the impact on school learning of major national and international tests - are presented and fully analyzed. The strengths and weaknesses of Enlaces as a visible component of the educational system and educational reform are also discussed. Enlaces has provided basic infrastructure tools, connectivity, ICTs, and teacher training to a huge number of schools, but critical results are narrow in terms of classroom learning and no additional competencies have been observed. Data and results are limited by structural bottlenecks in the educational and social system. Finally, the lessons learned after more than 15 years of implementing technology in Chilean schools are presented and fully discussed.

Does the New Digital Generation of Learners Exist? A Qualitative Study.

This paper seeks to contribute to the discussion on the current generation of students and their relationship to technology, providing qualitative, empirical information obtained in the Chilean context. The study analyses and discusses the ideas regarding the emergence of a new generation of learners, or digital natives, as characterised by wide-ranging access to digital media and by having new skills and abilities. In-depth interviews held with students and teachers from four different cities in the country are analysed. The data shows evidence of a generation of learners without shared traits, with segments of learners presenting practices that do not characterise the entire generation. In addition, the data shows that the skills and abilities described in the literature do not represent a precise description of those that the students exploit when using technology. Beyond the ability to work simultaneously on several tasks, some learners have the ability to manage the attention that they pay to their work on the computer in sophisticated ways, and although some prefer images to words on paper, among others, there is still a taste for reading actual printed books. All in all, students and teachers describe a certain distance and conflict between the practices with the use of ICTs and their everyday school experiences.

Mobile messenger for the blind

An increasing number of studies have used technology to help blind people to integrate more fully into a global world. We present software to use mobile devices by blind users. The software considers a system of instant messenger to favor interaction of blind users with any other user connected to the network. Input/Output implementation modules were emphasized creating a 9-button virtual keyboard and associated Text-to-Speech technology (TTS). The virtual keyboard helps to write into the pocketPC without needing external devices, representing a real challenge for novice blind users. The TTS engine was adapted to blind users by adjusting the engine. Usability evaluation of these modules was iteratively applied to end-users. As a result, the integration of the designed modules into a communication system helped us to create a messenger system specially tailored to people with visual disabilities.

Teaching the Blind to Find Their Way by Playing Video Games

Computer based video games are receiving great interest as a means to learn and acquire new skills. As a novel approach to teaching navigation skills in the blind, we have developed Audio-based Environment Simulator (AbES); a virtual reality environment set within the context of a video game metaphor. Despite the fact that participants were naïve to the overall purpose of the software, we found that early blind users were able to acquire relevant information regarding the spatial layout of a previously unfamiliar building using audio based cues alone. This was confirmed by a series of behavioral performance tests designed to assess the transfer of acquired spatial information to a large-scale, real-world indoor navigation task. Furthermore, learning the spatial layout through a goal directed gaming strategy allowed for the mental manipulation of spatial information as evidenced by enhanced navigation performance when compared to an explicit route learning strategy. We conclude that the immersive and highly interactive nature of the software greatly engages the blind user to actively explore the virtual environment. This in turn generates an accurate sense of a large-scale three-dimensional space and facilitates the learning and transfer of navigation skills to the physical world.

Subway mobility assistance tools for blind users

In this study, we introduce software for blind users that represents a subway system in a desktop computer. A user can organize and prepare a travel with the assistance of the software before riding the subway. After a usability study and cognitive evaluation, we detected the need for creating a mobile solution with similar goals as the desktop app.lication. This software for mobile devices has also the capacity to help the user to solve mobility and orientation problems in real subway stations. In order to design a handheld version it was necessary to consider new features such as travel duration, tickets fare, and the estimated time duration of the travel. Conclusions from the usability study revealed the importance of using interface elements such as the audio-based hierarchy menu, the travel simulation, and the information about the subway network, stations and their surroundings. The cognitive study results revealed important gains in the development of orientation and mobility skills to use the subway system in blind users, which help them to be more integrated to the society.

Virtual environment interaction through 3D audio by blind children.

Interactive software is actively used for learning, cognition, and entertainment purposes. Educational entertainment software is not very popular among blind children because most computer games and electronic toys have interfaces that are only accessible through visual cues. This work applies the concept of interactive hyperstories to blind children. Hyperstories are implemented in a 3D acoustic virtual world. In past studies we have conceptualized a model to design hyperstories. This study illustrates the feasibility of the model. It also provides an introduction to researchers to the field of entertainment software for blind children. As a result, we have designed and field tested AudioDoom, a virtual environment interacted through 3D Audio by blind children. AudioDoom is also a software that enables testing nontrivial interfaces and cognitive tasks with blind children. We explored the construction of cognitive spatial structures in the minds of blind children through audio-based entertainment and spatial sound navigable experiences. Children playing AudioDoom were exposed to first person experiences by exploring highly interactive virtual worlds through the use of 3D aural representations of the space. This experience was structured in several cognitive tasks where they had to build concrete models of their spatial representations constructed through the interaction with AudioDoom by using Legotrade mark blocks. We analyze our preliminary results after testing AudioDoom with Chilean children from a school for blind children. We discuss issues such as interactivity in software without visual cues, the representation of spatial sound navigable experiences, and entertainment software such as computer games for blind children. We also evaluate the feasibility to construct virtual environments through the design of dynamic learning materials with audio cues.

AudioBattleship: blind learners collaboration through sound

A growing number of audio-based applications for blind learners have being produced in the last few years. Many of them focus on the development of 3D audio interfaces to map the entire surrounding space. Other studies center on the impact of sound interaction on cognition by evaluating the usability of these applications. No previous work has centered on using spatialized sound to develop collaborative skills in blind learners. This ongoing research study introduces AudioBattleShip, an interactive audio-based environment to enhance collaboration and cognition in blind learners. AudioBattleship mimics the traditional game battleship for sighted people but without visual cues. A preliminary pilot study has been implemented showing that blind children collaboration can be enhanced through the interaction with spatialized sound.

3D sound interactive environments for blind children problem solving skills

Audio-based virtual environments have been increasingly used to foster cognitive and learning skills. A number of studies have also highlighted that the use of technology can help learners to develop effective skills such as motivation and self-esteem. This study presents the design and usability of 3D interactive environments for children with visual disabilities to help them solve problems in Chilean geography and culture. We introduce AudioChile, a virtual environment that can be navigated through 3D sound to enhance spatiality and immersion throughout the environment. 3D sound is used to orientate, avoid obstacles, and identify the positions of various characters and objects within the environment. We have found during the usability evaluation that sound can be fundamental for attention and motivation purposes during interaction. Learners identified and clearly discriminated environmental sounds to solve everyday problems, spatial orientation, and laterality.