Vânia Carlos

OriGami: A Mobile Geogame for Spatial Literacy

Spatial literacy, the skill of learning about and improving interaction with one’s surroundings, is an inherently transdisciplinary competency transcending from STEM to social sciences and arts. Spatial literacy is central in primary and secondary school curricula in many countries, and not only possesses the potentials of individual success but also fosters the importance of spatial information use in society. There is wide agreement on the transdisciplinary power of spatial thinking: Goodchild (2006) pointed out its importance for curricula in all subjects: from STEM, to social sciences and arts. Many tasks in the most recent PISA study (OECD 2014) on general problem-solving refer to spatial problems. The National Research Council (NRC) report “Learning to think spatially” suggests solutions for geographic information systems (GIS) as a support system to think spatially (Committee on Support for Thinking Spatially 2006). Approaches using minimal GIS for all grade levels at school, when particular spatial concepts were used incidentally, follow this direction in several studies (Bartoschek et al. 2010; Battersby et al. 2006; Marsh et al. 2007). Curricula all over the world reflect spatial competency training, although there are large differences in the way countries implemented this; the spatial tasks, level of abstraction, and learning stage of lessons in spatial literacy differ substantially.

Fostering Geogaming Pedagogical Integration: A Case Study Within a Portuguese School

This paper presents results emerged from the ENAbLE project. The project was focused on the development of a Geogaming app - the OriGami tool – with the intention of contributing to students’ spatial literacy. The app was developed by a multidisciplinary team (educational researchers, experts in technology, experts in Geography; and teachers and students from a Portuguese school. Following a case study, data was collected (2015 to 2017) in order to evaluate the usability of the OriGami tool and to identify the impact of the project (e.g., development of spatial literacy of students). Following a research-based-design approach, teachers and students were involved in the evaluation process of the app. Potentials, constrains and suggestions for improvement of the OriGami tool emerged through the monitoring activities (e.g., usability tests, virtual meetings and teacher-training workshops with students and teachers). Results showed that the coordinator’ leadership, and the active involvement of project’s team, allowed to sustain the outcomes of the project (e.g., the involvement of teachers and students of this school in upcoming projects focused on the development of spatial literacy).

Edulabs AGIRE Project--Evaluation of ICT Integration in Teaching Strategies.

Abstract The AGIRE project, under the Edulab concept, aims to promote the adoption of innovative teaching practices. This paper reports the support strategies used to evaluate the teacher practices at the end of a teacher training course (TTC) and analyse its impact on teacher technology integration, using a design-based methodology. Teachers’ initial perception was gathered using an online questionnaire comprising ICT personal and professional competencies. The questionnaire results and the classroom observations showed that the majority of teachers were at the level of ICT adoption, before attending the TTC, reaching the adaptation level of integration of ICT, after the TTC. A variety of teaching strategies (flipped classroom, collaborative work, …) and technologies (interactive white boards, tablets, videos, …) were explored. The results sustain the thesis that, with proper support, ICT can be integrated in educational contexts in an innovative way and contribute to the development of teachers’ digital literacy.

Augmented Reality and Mobile Learning in a Smart Urban Park: Pupils’ Perceptions of the EduPARK Game

The EduPARK game is developed under a game-based learning methodology. It is designed for outdoor learning settings by employing geocaching principles and mobile Augmented Reality technologies. The game aims to develop users’ authentic and autonomous learning about diverse interdisciplinary themes in a smart urban park. It integrates learning guides for different target groups of basic education. The purpose of this paper is to present the game prototype development, which followed a design-based research approach. The evaluation of the game involved 74 pupils from two school levels (aged 9–10 and 13–14). They explored the game and their reactions were registered. Focus groups were conducted at the end of the experience. The evaluation allowed identifying positive characteristics of the game, such as immediate feedback and collaborative dynamics. Some questions included in the learning guides were perceived as difficult to understand and also some features came out to be considered for future improvements.