José Bidarra

Exploratory learning with geodromo: design of emotional and cognitive factors within an educational cross-media experience

Abstract In this paper we present Geodromo, a prototype of an educational multimedia system, part of the Portuguese Ciência Viva (Live Science) educational program, which is aimed at young people and designed with innovative characteristics. The project is based on a robotic multimedia simulator and an online puzzle game aimed at the exploratory learning of geology, climate, biology, and archeology associated with a Portuguese National Park. The development of the prototype was challenging, as it involved the interweaving of advanced technology and multimedia content with online resources, based on research that promotes the design of emotional and cognitive factors in educational communications. Independent of the scientific relevance of the topics and the inherent technocultural appeal of the project, the aim was to bring students closer to an “undercover” reality, as authentic as it gets with digital media representations, and allow them to convey emotions naturally. We found these to be major success factors in the establishment of an effective relationship between the technology and the pedagogy required to study those particular topics.

Designing ebook interaction for mobile and contextual learning

Given the global spread of mobile platforms, such as iOS and Android, it is relevant to consider the potential of these devices in teaching and learning. Our exploratory research was designed to evaluate the possibility of using common ebook formats to create gamebooks (gamified books) that are effective in teaching and learning. After analyzing the features available in many free or open tools, we decided to use iBooks Author to built a first model of a dynamic book that may function as an educational game for “Environmental Studies”, aimed at children in the 4th grade, mostly 9-10 years old, in Portuguese schools. This paper presents the design and features of this interactive book titled “Adventures in the Guadiana River”, developed using the Apple iBook format, and especially set for the iPad retina. Because this is a proprietary format we also built a prototype following the EPUB3 standard and developed new ways to interact with content within this universal format. Preliminary tests with our prototypes revealed very good usability and promising pedagogical potential in the proposed models.

The development of a gamebook for education

Abstract Mobile technologies are becoming very accessible to students, due to advances in the development of technology and a simultaneous decline in hardware costs. In this way, it is relevant to consider the potential of these devices in teaching and learning. Our research was designed to evaluate the possibility of creating gamebooks (gamified books) that are effective in teaching and learning. After analyzing the features available in many free or open tools for making ebooks we find out that these tools were not appropriate creating gamebooks. This paper presents a novel interactive book, the gamebook (g-book): a book with a story that can be read sequentially or not. The main difference refers to the ability to choose different paths to the main characters or the unfolding of the history, as happens in games. We built a model of a dynamic book that functions as an educational game for “Environmental Studies”, aimed at children in the 4th grade, mostly 9-10 years old, in Portuguese schools. This paper presents the design and features of this g-book titled “Adventures in the Guadiana River”, implemented with the Unity3D platform that can be explored in iPhones, iPads, Android mobile devices and web browsers for the OSX and Windows platforms. Preliminary tests with our prototypes revealed very good usability and promising pedagogical potential in the proposed models.

Virtual Sign – A Real Time Bidirectional Translator of Portuguese Sign Language

Abstract Promoting equity, equal opportunities to all and social inclusion of people with disabilities is a concern of modern societies at large and a key topic in the agenda of European Higher Education. Despite all the progress, we cannot ignore the fact that the conditions provided by the society for the deaf are still far from being perfect. The communication with deaf by means of written text is not as efficient as it might seem at first. In fact, there is a very deep gap between sign language and spoken/written language. The vocabulary, the sentence construction and the grammatical rules are quite different among these two worlds. These facts bring significant difficulties in reading and understanding the meaning of text for deaf people and, on the other hand, make it quite difficult for people with no hearing disabilities to understand sign language. The deployment of tools to assist the daily communication, in schools, in public services, in museums and other, between deaf people and the rest may be a significant contribution to the social inclusion of the deaf community. The work described in this paper addresses the development of a bidirectional translator between Portuguese Sign Language and Portuguese text. The translator from sign language to text resorts to two devices, namely the Microsoft Kinect and 5DT Sensor Gloves in order to gather data about the motion and shape of the hands. The hands configurations are classified using Support Vector Machines. The classification of the movement and orientation of the hands are achieved through the use of Dynamic Time Warping algorithm. The translator exhibits a precision higher than 90%. In the other direction, the translation of Portuguese text to Portuguese Sign Language is supported by a 3D avatar which interprets the entered text and performs the corresponding animations.

Towards a Pedagogical Model for Science Education: Bridging Educational Contexts through a Blended Learning Approach.

Abstract This paper proposes a design framework to support science education through blended learning, based on a participatory and interactive approach supported by ICT-based tools, called Science Learning Activities Model (SLAM). The development of this design framework started as a response to complex changes in society and education (e.g. high turnover rate of knowledge, changing labour market), which require a more creative response of learners to the world problems that surround them. Many of these challenges are related to science and it would be expected that students are attracted to science, however the contrary is the case. One of the origins of this disinterest can be found in the way science is taught. Therefore, after reviewing the relevant literature we propose the SLAM framework as a tool to aid the design of science courses with high motivational impact on students. The framework is concerned with the assumption that science learning activities should be applicable and relevant to contemporary life and transferable to ‘real-world’ situations. The design framework proposes three design dimensions: context, technology and pedagogy, and aims at integrating learning in formal and informal contexts through blended learning scenarios by using today’s flexible, interactive and immersive technologies (e.g. mobile, augmented reality, virtual reality).

The development of an eBook for teaching and learning mathematics

Mobile devices, smartphones, phablets and tablets, are widely available. This is a generation of digital natives. We cannot ignore that they are no longer the same students for which the education system was designed traditionally. Studying math is many times a cumbersome task. But this can be changed if the teacher takes advantage of the technology that is currently available. We are working in the use of different tools to extend the classroom in a blended learning model. In this paper, it is presented the development of an eBook for teaching mathematics to secondary students. It is developed with the free and open standard EPUB 3 that is available for Android and iOS platforms. This specification supports video embedded in the eBook. In this paper it is shown how to take advantage of this feature, making videos available about lectures and problems resolutions, which is especially interesting for learning mathematics.

Project Flappy Crab : an edugame for music learning

This chapter discusses some possibilities of gamification and remixing processes for music education. It also analyzes the concepts of gamification, mashup/remix and presents its possible usage in education—music teaching—through the development of the project/educational game FLAPPY CRAB. The chapter begins with a brief introduction to the concepts listed above, trying to consider them in the school context. After that, we will make the summary presentation of the music educational game FLAPPY CRAB, a clone of the GEARS Studios Flappy Bird, developed for mobile devices and other platforms with the UNITY 3D© game engine. In this chapter we’ll talk yet, albeit briefly, about the game engine used in the development of this educational application. This educational game aims to assess the possible impacts that its use has on learning and skill development related to auditory memory, qualitative discrimination of musical sound height (pitch—in the range of an octave with a central point in 440 Hz), visual identification of musical notation symbols and its relative organization according to the grammar rules of traditional music spelling. The game has been tested by a group of approximately 30 teenagers over a period of about 6 months, over which data was collected. In this chapter, we will present a review of the preliminary data collected to date.

Real Time Bidirectional Translator of Portuguese Sign Language

The communication with deaf by means of written text is not as efficient as it might seem. In fact, there is a very deep gap between sign language and spoken/written language. The deployment of tools to assist the daily communication between deaf people and the rest may be a significant contribution to the social inclusion of the deaf community. The work described in this paper addresses the development of a bidirectional translator between Portuguese Sign Language and Portuguese text and a serious game to promote the learning of the Portuguese Sign Language. The translator from sign language to text employs two devices, namely the Microsoft Kinect and 5DT Sensor Gloves in order to gather data about the motion and shape of the hands. The hands configurations are classified using Support Vector Machines. The classification of the movement and orientation of the hands is achieved through the use of Dynamic Time Warping algorithm. The translator exhibits a precision higher than 90%. In the other direction, the translation of Portuguese text to Portuguese Sign Language is supported by a 3D avatar which interprets the entered text and performs the corresponding animations. As a complement, we also present a serious game directed to assist in the difficult task of learning the Portuguese Sign Language.

Connecting Cat - A Transmedia Learning Project

In this paper we present an overview of a transmedia learning project. As part of an ongoing research project, Connecting Cat provides glimpses of a story taking place in the material, physical world, and the imaginary world through image, sound and text. Specifically targeted to English as Second Language students, the project supports entry points for learning through immersion in an adventure story and engagement in multimodal learning activities.

Serious Game on Sign Language

The quantity of educational digital content available for the hearing impaired community is very scarce. However, due to extraordinary progress of the new technologies, remarkable opportunities to bring a better quality of life to the public in general arose. Making these opportunities available to those who endure handicap and disabilities is a core concern in todays society and a must to promote equity and inclusion. The target community addressed by our work, the hearing impaired community, has its own language, known as Sign language. The work presented in this paper consists in the development of a game to make the process of learning sign language enjoyable and interactive. In order to do this, a game was created in which the player controls a character and interacts with various objects and non-player characters with the aim of collecting several gestures from the Portuguese Sign Language. These gestures can then be represented by the character. This allows the user to visualize and learn or train the various existing gestures. To raise the interactivity and to make the game more interesting and motivating, several checkpoints were placed along the level. This will provide the players a chance to test the knowledge they have acquired so far on the checkpoints by using Kinect. A High Scores system was also created as well as a history to ensure that the game is a continuous motivating process as well as a learning process.