Pio Alfredo Di Tore

E convinzione diffusa che la realta aumentata e la realta virtuale abbiano trovato nel campo dell’educazione un’area in cui dispiegare compiutamente il proprio potenziale. L’efficacia degli ambienti VR e AR nel contesto educativo sarebbe legata principalmente all’idea di simulazione. L’idea di simulazione coinvolge una ridefinizione della natura della rappresentazione; questo lavoro affronta il tema della corporeita, o meglio dell’embodiment, come elemento chiave del passaggio dalla rappresentazione all’immersione. In un contesto in cui la ricerca in ambito educativo sembra essersi riappropriata della dimensione embodied dell’apprendimento, appare opportuno iniziare una riflessione, in ambito didattico-pedagogico, sul ruolo del corpo e della corporeita nel contesto virtuale o aumentato: nel momento in cui, come accade negli ambienti VR e AR, l’intero corpo diviene protagonista dell’interazione, si passa dal dominio della rappresentazione a quello dell’embodiment.

The rationale of this work combines the concepts of role playing and storytelling in the creation of an interactive virtual environment aimed at assessing and training students' perspective taking skill, or the ability of students in primary and secondary level to take the point of view of the characters of a narrative. The ability to take the perspective of others is extremely important from the cognitive point of view. Piaget has suggested that the moment we abandon the egocentric perspective in favor of the ability to take another point of view, takes place not earlier than seven years of age. Subsequent researches challenged the findings of Piaget. For this reason, the project will address children in the last years of primary school (aged 8-10) and the first level of secondary school (aged 11-13). From 8 years old then, in fact, the child, in the opinion of many researchers who have addressed this issue, should be out of the egocentric stage and should have acquired the ski...

Learning today is no longer related to the “classroom” as the physical environment; it is instead an “across spaces” place characterized by the possibility to build serendipitous, pervasive and seamless experiences. Such experiences are in fact no more constrained to space-time limits and bounds but focused on context and situation awareness to enhance the learning process. Also, these experiences are often associated with next generation technologies which well fit to a paradigm shift marked by seamless continuity of learning. The interest in context-aware educational settings mainly based on mobile and sensor systems has led researchers to investigate new ways to recognize issues mainly related to the definition of “learner's contextual information” (profile information in situation) and, on the basis of this information, to identify the “types of adaptation”. In this work, we present the first theoretical and applicative results that the Italian scientific community has achie...

Research on narrative and interaction with pedagogical studies which refer to disciplines that require strong immersion for the acquisition of knowledge in areas such as museum education lead scholars to question the importance of perspective taking. This work represents the evolution for educational purposes of a narrative video game designed for the measurement of perspective taking skills. Perspective taking skills, or the ability to change point of view, involve the need for a mental rotation, in relation to the environment or to an object in the environment, while maintaining a main perspective environment in question. This is the key feature, for Alain Berthoz, of empathy. Empathy is a dynamic process that requires a doubling, it is to adopt an egocentric point of view, but after an allocentric manipulation, while inhibiting the emotional contagion, which is rather typical of sympathy. Empathy is a process considered to be particularly relevant in the field of education. Histo...

This study is part of a larger project designed to assess the effectiveness of the use of exergames in the teaching of motor activities. The project starts with an overview of the state of the art of exergames and the influence of psychological models of the movement in software design. The experimental section of the project involves the creation of 3 exergames educational, of which:an exergame related to visuomotor integration, on the basis of tests as Bender Gestalt and VMI, an exergame dedicated to test, in augmented / virtual environments, some commonly accepted principles in motor control (speedaccuracy trade-off, Hick's law, stimulus – response compatibility, Fitts' law), and an exergame related to the acquisition of cognitive skills through the involvement of the whole body (reading – writing skills). In this general framework, this study locates itself as the scientific starting basis, providing an overview of the literature on exergames (from which does not seem to...

This paper presents the results of a research on perspective taking, aimedto investigate two specific themes: the age when the child leaves perceptiveegocentrism, and gender differences in the management of spatial referencesystems. The innovative contribution of this work is that it has addressedthe issue with a not abused tool for this field: the videogame, whichhas been the data collecting instrument for the experimental research project.The paper addresses the issue of the representation of space in the child,from Piaget to neurosciences, describing the reference systems competingin the representation of space and the Piagetian conceptual framework, andreporting the scientific debate on the "three mountains task" and the spatialtheory of empathy.Once described the conceptual framework, the text presents the researchdesign, the path for design and development of the videogame, the methodsfor data collection and discusses the results obtained. The experimentalprocess has...

The learning is no longer related to the structural setting of traditional classroom; it is instead an “across spaces” place characterized by the possibility to build ubiquitous experiences. Such experiences are in fact no more subject to space-time limits and bounds but focused on context – student relation and on situation awareness to enhance the learning processes. Also, these experiences are often associated with next generation technologies, mobiles, wereables and interactives, which well fit to a paradigm shift marked by learning situations in enactive, embodied and readable by the student learning. In this work, we present the first theoretical and applicative results that the Italian scientific community has achieved as part of the research lines that involve around the concept of Situation Awareness and Cognitive Awareness, constituent a seamless learning.

This article aims to describe a possible scenario for the applications of e-learning solutions to the field of Physical Education. Knowledge related to Physical Education is here defined as enactive knowledge, codified in the form of motor responses and acquired in the action, not mediated by the iconic and symbolic plan. The iconic and symbolic dimension, typical of Graphical User Interfaces, has been a barrier to the creation of e-learning strategies in Physical Education. The new paradigms of Human Computer Interaction such as Natural Interfaces, the spread of “everyday’’ technologies that retrieve to HCI the physical dimension, and the diffusion of exergames in education, now make it possible to imagine large-scale creative and collaborative elearning-based physical education. The article describes coarse-grained theoretical and methodological approaches underlying learning of motor skills and indicates the possible technological scenario, according to the type of interaction de...

In the last decade we saw a heated debate on the implementation of complex learning theories in Physical Education. In the educational field there has been the difficulty to apply in the teaching practice a conception of the knowledge and learning which, on a theoretical level, has recognized the role of the body in movement, while it struggles, on the operative level, to define methodologies and tools usable in everyday’s activities. The constructivist hypothesis in Physical Education has faced serious difficulties in educationally interpreting the nature of the motor experience. This paper focuses on the concept of action and on the reversal of the process of perception-action operated by the phenomenological tradition (Merleau-Ponty), which has been confirmed in more or less recent neuroscientific evidences (Berthoz, Decety, Jeannerod). In this perspective, the subject builds his world according to his basic needs and action tools. From this point of view, faced with insurmountab...

Scientific literature highlighted gender differences in spatial orientation. In particular, men and women differ in terms of the navigational processes they use in daily life. Scientific literature highlighted that women use analytical strategies while men tend to use holistic strategies. According to classical studies, males show a net advantage at least in the two categories of mental rotation and spatial perception. Subsequently, brainimaging studies have shown a difference between males and females in the activity of brain regions involved in spatial cognition tasks. What we can say with certainty is that, given the complex nature of the sub processes involved in what we call spatial cognition, the gender differences recorded by numerous scientific studies conducted in this field are closely related to specific measured abilities. The evidence that emerges with certainty from diverse studies is, however, that of a huge variety of strategies that differ according to sex, context,...

The first product of the project presented here was a prototype of video games, named IKeWYSE, which constituted the data collection tool for the experimental research project. The videogame prototype realized requires the user to navigate in a three-dimensional space through an avatar. User deals with three different tasks, two of which are designed to measure the skills of perspective taking, while the third task is calibrated on the ability of mental rotation. The default point of view is a semi-subjective view with the camera following the avatar. The player has the option to select other views, going through semi-subjective, subjective and objective point of view. The game was tested between January and March 2015, with a group of 70 children, 35 males and 35 females, from the third, fourth and fifth primary school class and from a first secondary school class of the Istituto Comprensivo San Valentino Torio, in the province of Salerno. Each user performs 10 attempts for each ta...

This paper discusses the theoretical framework underlying the design of an educational video game, being developed at the University of Salerno, designed to assess the skills of perspective taking and mental rotation of players. These skills, in the theoretical framework which this paper refers, are essential skills involved in the empathic relationship. The project, in fact, refers to a precise definition of empathy, due to Alain Berthoz and the spatial theory of empathy, and aims to assess the educational implications. We present the spatial theory of empathy, describes the spatial reference systems provides a quick review of the literature on the representation of space in the child and the representation of space in video games. Finally, the paper describes the prototype of videogame created, in which the player is faced with three different tasks, two of which are designed to measure the ability of perspective taking, while the third task is calibrated on the ability of mental ...

In modern society about 10% of children suffer from a neuro-developmental disorder called dyslexia, which implies difficulties in learning to read. According to recent research, playing action videogames can be a valid teaching tool to improve the reading skills of dyslexic children through forms of engagement and interaction. This paper describes the design, implementation, validation and experimentation of an educational action game oriented to promote phonological and visuo-spatial attention training in dyslexic subjects aged between 7 and 9.

This work represents the evolution for educational purposes of a video game designed for the measurement of perspective taking skills. The prototype of the game from which this study started has been developed by the University of Salerno and is aimed at assessing the age at which students develop perspective-taking and mental rotation skills. The shift from the scope of measurement to that of training required the software to be capable to adaptively suggest effective strategies appropriate to the user's profile. Notwithstanding the theoretical framework and the approach to the representation of spatial reference systems, the specific educational needs have led to a complete re-design of the application and to the introduction of a semantic layer that can adaptively support user. This paper, therefore, in the first part presents the theoretical framework behind the project and briefly describes the prototype of the game aimed at measuring the perspective taking skills, and, in the second part, presents the design of a specific ontology for the educational version.

Muovere forme sonore consente al soggetto di realizzare un processo originale di significazione dinamica attraverso il quale il corpo diventa un “biologically designed mediator” in grado di trasferire l’energia fisica del suono a un livello mentale e di restituire la rappresentazione mentale in una forma materiale (Leman, 2008). Nell’ottica della embodied music cognition il concetto di percezione appare recepire la riflessione scientifica piu recente che ruota intorno all’assunto per cui “what happens in perception can be understood in terms of action” (Jeannerod, 1994; Berthoz, 1997; Prinz and Hommel, 2002; Decety and Jackson, 2004). Il framework concettuale del lavoro recepisce, in tal senso, la prospettiva della semplessita (Berthoz, 2011) in campo didattico, ovvero la possibile fruizione di principi capaci di semplificare l’azione didattica, utilizzando complessita accessorie (Berthoz, 2011) che siano in grado di fronteggiare la complessita dell’esperienza formativa (Sibilio, 2013). Questo approccio che si fonda sulla visione bioeducativa della didattica (Frauenfelder & Santoianni, 2002), riconoscendo nell’esperienza formativa il significato delle corporeita didattiche (Sibilio, 2011), tenta di capitalizzare la dimensione dinamica del suono musicale, disegnando immagini fisse di un flusso in continuo movimento (Godoy, 2003). Sul piano didattico, infatti, l’accoppiamento di azioni, forme e sonorita, sollecita i processi di significazione attraverso l’ampliamento dello spazio della conoscenza. La proposta progettuale intende realizzare una versione fruibile didatticamente di NodeBeat, uno strumento interattivo di creazione musicale basato su forme e suoni da costruire e manipolare, prevedendo la LIM come strumento di supporto alla realizzazione dell’esperienza formativa nelle prime classi della scuola primaria.

This work aims to provide a tool for measuring the relationship among teachers, students and new technologies in the classroom. More precisely, we think that we could find out some indicators of teacher’s and student’s activity with tech- nologies. These indicators are space and time. Technologies in the classroom are modifying space and time management in teachers’ experience? And how? And is there any relationship among this modi- fication, teaching quality and learning performances? How to measure space and time of teacher’s utilization of technology in the classroom? This paper describes the design and the development of a software aimed to quantify teacher’s (or students’) movements, for identifying recurrent patterns associated to some action types. The software was developed as part of the MOTUS project. The aim of MOTUS (MOnitoring Tablet Utilization in School) Project, involving 12 primary and sec- ondary schools in the Northern and Mid part of Italy, is to provide teachers’ train- ing and evaluation in schools, choosing to implement tablets in the classrooms according to a “one-to-one” way of utilization. So we decided to name MOTUS also the software we developed for enabling Microsoft Kinect technology to allow us the measurements we have to do in our research.

The perspective-taking skills require the ability to manipulate spatial reference systems and are the basis of the empathetic process. Empathy, in its relations with space representation and manipulation of spatial reference systems, is the investigation subject of this work, whose aim is the design of a videogame aimed at the measurement of the player's perspective taking skills. The idea of creating a video game on perspective taking is based on a classic Piagetian task, the three mountains problem, object of recent attention by the Italian scientific community that is involved in research in education. The current stage of the project has produced a video game, now in alpha testing release. The article discusses the software theoretical framework (spatial theory of empathy), describes the choices made in the design stage and comment on first results obtained during the alpha testing.

The ability to play action videogames – not directly related to phonological or orthographic training – seems to be a teaching tool able to intervene specifically on spatial attention and drastically improve the reading skills of dyslexic children. The MADRIGALE project aims at the design and development of an action game, simultaneously involving both phonological and attention training in order to adapt educational game strategies for special needs.Within the MADRIGALE project, the design of the prototype was presented at the International Conference on Intelligent Networking and Collaborative Systems, while an experimentation about educational effectiveness of the prototype, conducted using ‘Prove MT2’ as a benchmarking tool for measuring accuracy and speed of reading, was published in the International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (iJET). This paper is an extension of the work presented in SIREM – SIEL 2014 Conference, and presents the results of a Game Evaluatio...