Tablet-based math application for primary school pupils in Grade 1 and Grade 2

Applied project submitted to the Department of Computer Science, Ashesi University, in partial fulfillment of Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science, April 2019Education is one of the basic needs of a child. The knowledge imparted through education is key to the recipient’s growth and skilfulness. In most cases, education is attained by attending a school (face to face) where several subjects are taught. Of all the subjects taught in schools, mathematics is a fundamental subject that cuts across all disciplines, hence a significant field for all school-going children. For some children, they find it easy to understand basic mathematical concepts and excel tremendously in the subject. However, quite a number struggle to learn both deep mathematical concepts and the most essentials skills such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, fractions, and decimals. As a result, this project seeks to develop a tablet-based math application for primary school pupils in grade 1 and grade 2, based on the Ghanaian education system. The app simplifies addition, subtraction and object grouping for pupils by making it fun through interactive game like activities.Ashesi Universit

JARIMU Application as a Self-Development Medium for Children with Intellectual Disabilities

Introducing money is a self-development skill for children with intellectual disabilities that is very important in their lives. However, this is often a problem and is misunderstood by children with intellectual disabilities. This confusion occurs because they are often presented directly as money, while their value and function are not well understood. As a result, the direct use of money as a medium becomes less attractive, has no meaning, and is only used as a toy that has no direction. The purpose of this research is to develop an Android-based learning medium that can help people with intellectual disabilities understand money as a whole. This study uses a mixed method with a sequential exploratory model design. This application test uses the Black Box, and the results show that the JARIMU application can be used operationally properly. Based on the feasibility test, the JARIMU application has a very good acceptance rate with a percentage of 86.029%. The implications of these findings are suggested to be applied by schools or teachers in introducing money for children with intellectual disabilities

Smartphone Apps in the Context of Tinnitus: Systematic Review

Smartphones containing sophisticated high-end hardware and offering high computational capabilities at extremely manageable costs have become mainstream and an integral part of users' lives. Widespread adoption of smartphone devices has encouraged the development of many smartphone applications, resulting in a well-established ecosystem, which is easily discoverable and accessible via respective marketplaces of differing mobile platforms. These smartphone applications are no longer exclusively limited to entertainment purposes but are increasingly established in the scientific and medical field. In the context of tinnitus, the ringing in the ear, these smartphone apps range from relief, management, self-help, all the way to interfacing external sensors to better understand the phenomenon. In this paper, we aim to bring forth the smartphone applications in and around tinnitus. Based on the PRISMA guidelines, we systematically analyze and investigate the current state of smartphone apps, that are directly applied in the context of tinnitus. In particular, we explore Google Scholar, CiteSeerX, Microsoft Academics, Semantic Scholar for the identification of scientific contributions. Additionally, we search and explore Google’s Play and Apple's App Stores to identify relevant smartphone apps and their respective properties. This review work gives (1) an up-to-date overview of existing apps, and (2) lists and discusses scientific literature pertaining to the smartphone apps used within the context of tinnitus

Exploring Software Developers’ Experiences in Startups: The Philippine

Though there may be a proliferation of technology startups, it is a sad fact that most of them fail. Because startups depend on people, there is a need to study not only the factors that lead to the success or failure of these startups, but also the experiences of the people on which these startups depend. This study explores the experiences of software developers in technology startups in the Philippines, a developing country that has consistently ranked highly in the annual Tholons Top Outsourcing Destinations Ranking and the Kearney Global Services Location Index. Thematic analysis of interview data revealed 7 themes: Startups are characterized by (1) Rapid Search, which refers to the need to look for or develop something innovative and useful under time pressure. Rapid Search in turn requires a lot of (2) Feedback, highly flexible (3) Development Strategies, a high degree of (4) Collaboration, and a lot of (5) Learning. To cope well with all the uncertainties that startups must face, startup software developers’ (6) Motivations are more intrinsic than extrinsic, and are derived from a strong sense of (7) Community, from all the Learning (theme 5) that the software developer makes because he or she must, and from the internal gratification of having found or developed something innovative and useful, i.e., Rapid Search, which is theme 1

Una aplicación móvil para estudiantes con dificultades de aprendizaje: diseño y validación

En los últimos años, el uso de tecnologías y dispositivos portátiles se ha generalizado en muchos campos y también en la educación. Hay además muchas investigaciones que demuestran la enorme difusión del uso y la popularidad de los dispositivos móviles entre los jóvenes. La tecnología móvil ofrece la capacidad de apoyar el aprendizaje y también ofrece tanto a los estudiantes como a los profesores oportunidades de aprendizaje personalizadas. Los principales factores para la adopción e implementación del M-Learning en las escuelas son la disposición y disposición de los maestros. Hay muchos estudios que demuestran las actitudes y percepciones positivas de los profesores de secundaria sobre el uso de dispositivos móviles en la escuela. Es más, un gran número de encuestas indican que el uso de tecnologías móviles, afecta positivamente la educación de los niños con necesidades educativas especiales como el autismo, dislexia, etc. Esta tesis doctoral tiene como objetivo el diseño y la evaluación de una aplicación educativa para Android que se espera ayude a los estudiantes de escuela secundaria griega con dificultades de aprendizaje a adquirir habilidades adicionales en matemáticas. En primer lugar, se han analizado las actitudes y percepciones de los profesores griegos de educación especial sobre el uso de las TIC en clase para asegurarse, por una parte, de que el conocimiento de los profesores en este campo es adecuado, teniendo en cuenta el hecho de que el conocimiento de las TIC no es una habilidad previa para convertirse en profesor. Esta etapa se realiza a través de cuestionarios estructurados y el análisis de los datos de las respuestas se ha realizado con el software IBM SPSS Statistics. En segundo lugar, en el marco de la elaboración de la tesis se ha creado una nueva aplicación tecnológica Android, destinada a ayudar a los estudiantes con dificultades de aprendizaje en el campo de las matemáticas. La herramienta de desarrollo de aplicaciones que se ha utilizado es Android Studio, el IDE oficial (Entorno de Desarrollo Integrado) para la plataforma Android. El lenguaje de programación que se ha utilizado es Java. Antes de su implementación la aplicación fue evaluada por 7 docentes especializados tanto en el área de informática como en matemáticas a través de un cuestionario estructurado. Se implementó su uso durante dos meses en escuelas de secundaria educación . Después de su implementación se evaluaron los resultados a través de entrevistas a profesores de educación especial y cuestionarios dirigidos a estudiantes con dificultades de aprendizaje con el fin de estimar, por un lado, las opiniones e impresiones de los estudiantes y profesores y, por otro lado, las habilidades potenciales que los estudiantes podían haber adquirido. El análisis estadístico de los cuestionarios de evaluación docente reveló que los profesores de matemáticas e informática tienen una actitud positiva hacia la aplicación “Love2LearnMaths”. El mismo punto de vista positivo hacia la aplicación se puede observar en las respuestas de los profesores entrevistados, que son los docentes de matemáticas para estudiantes con NEE. Los estudiantes de los departamentos de integración, por otro lado, parecen estar positivamente entusiasmados con el uso de la aplicación “Love2LearnMaths” como lo revela el análisis de los cuestionarios de los estudiantes para la evaluación de la aplicación.In recent years the use of portable technologies and devices has become widespread in many fields, such as in the economy, tourism, entertainment, but also in education. There are many surveys that prove the huge spread of use and popularity of mobile devices (mobile phones, tablets and laptops) among young people. On the other hand, mobile phones are mostly preferred compared to other mobile devices by secondary school students. Mobile technology offers the ability to support learning and also offers to both students and teachers personalized learning opportunities. The main factors for the adoption and implementation of M-Learning in schools are the willingness and readiness of teachers. There are many studies that prove the positive attitudes and perceptions of secondary school teachers on the use of mobile devices in school. However, specifically for Greece much fewer studies have been carried out. What is more, a great number of surveys indicate that the use of mobile technologies, affects positively the education of children with special educational needs such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia etc. Therefore, this PhD dissertation aims at the design and evaluation of an educational Android application that is expected to help Greek gymnasium’s students with learning difficulties to acquire extra skills in mathematics. Firstly, the attitudes and perceptions of Greek special education teachers about the use of ICTs in class have been analyzed to make sure on the one hand that teachers’ knowledge on this field is adequate, considering the fact that ICTs’ knowledge is not a prerequisite skill for becoming teacher. Additionally, teachers’ attitudes towards the use of ICTs in class have been clarified. This stage is carried out via structured questionnaires and the data analysis of the answers has been made with IBM SPSS Statistics software. Secondly, in the framework of the thesis’ elaboration, a new technological Android application has been created, aiming at assisting students with learning difficulties in the field of mathematics. The application development tool that has been used is Android Studio, the official IDE (Integrated Development Environment) for the Android platform. The programming language that has been used is Java, while XML’s knowledge was required in order to customize the formatting and the appearance of the application. The application was to be implemented in integration departments of two secondary Greek schools within a period of six months (finally the period was reduced to two due to covid-19 restrictions). Before its implementation the application was evaluated by 7 teachers specialized in both the area of informatics and mathematics via a structured questionnaire. After its implementation the results were evaluated via interviews with special education teachers and questionnaires addressed to students with learning difficulties in order to estimate on the one hand the opinions and impressions of the students and teachers because of its use and, on the other hand the potential skills that the students may have acquired. The statistical analysis of teachers' evaluation questionnaires revealed that mathematicians and informatics’ teachers have a positive attitude towards the application “Love2LearnMaths”. Similar attitudes towards mobile devices and apps in general had been announced by the Special Education teachers of the first phase of our research. The same positive point of view towards the application “Love2LearnMaths” can be observed in the answers of the interviewees, who are the special education mathematicians. Students of integration departments on the other hand, appear positively enthusiastic about the use of the application “Love2LearnMaths” as revealed by the analysis of Students’ questionnaires for the evaluation of the app.

Pedagogical Practices with Social Impact in the Computer Science School of the National University of La Plata: Interdisciplinary Articulation for the Development of a Digital Communicator for Autistic Children

The involvement of public universities in the solution of problems in society and the participation in the processes of social and production development of the country are goals of university education in Argentina. The use of ICTs as instruments that contribute to Independence, quality of life and inclusion of persons with disabilities is a topic of concern for many disciplines worldwide. This paper presents HERMES, a project involving the articulation of two subjects of the Computer Science School of the National University of La Plata – “Diseño Centrado en el Usuario” (“User-Centered Design”) and “Laboratorio de Software” (“Software Laboratory”) and the civil organization CEDICA, a referent in the province of Buenos Aires regarding the application of AAT (Animal- Assisted Activities) among people with disabilities (physical, cognitive, sensory, psychological and social). HERMES consists on the development of a digital communicator based on pictograms, available for tablets, aimed at children and teenagers with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) attending CEDICA. This project involves students and teachers of both subjects and CEDICA professionals, families, and children and teenagers with an ASD, in the process of design and development of the communicator. Currently, the first prototype of HERMES is under evaluation. We conclude that this type of initiatives tend to complement the academic training of students, promoting an open and integrating culture within the computer science community, accepting diversity in all contexts and contributing to the solution of the problems in its community.IV Workshop de Innovación en Educación en Informática (WIEI)Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Enhancing Learners’ Engagement with Educational Apps

Technology-enabled learning environment provides increased opportunities for enhancing learners’ engagement, interaction and collaboration. With the advent of technology, educational applications (apps) have become popular in learning, teaching, and research at all levels of education. Learning through the use of apps is therefore gaining momentum as it affords flexible learning opportunities, coupled with 21st century learning paradigm. The nature of educational apps is varied, be it an app downloadable on a mobile device or customized apps, designed to provide bite sized information or a learning activity based on learning design. The core function of these apps remain the same, which is to provide learners an engaging and meaningful interaction with content and interface such that it enhances not only the learning experience but also success in learning. In short, apps are designed to enhance learning efficiency and effectiveness. The use of apps, from early childhood education through to higher education, provides continuous opportunities to enhance learners’ engagement with learning materials (Diliberto-Macaluso, & Hughes, 2016; Hirsh-Pasek, Zosh, Golinkoff, Gray, Robb, & Kaufman, 2015; Pechenkina, Laurence, Oates, Eldridge, & Hunter, 2017), however there is a need for more research in this area (Hirsh-Pasek et al, 2015; Pechenkina et al, 2017). Hamari, Koivisto, and Sarsa (2014) reported that integration of gamified elements into apps has the potential to engage students and motivate them in a way that it can in turn affect other factors, which influence the learning process

A contribution to the incorporation of sociability and creativity skills to computers and robots

This dissertation contains the research and work completed by the PhD candidate on the incorporation of sociability and creativity skills to computers and robots. Both skills can be directly related with empathy, which is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. In this form, this research can be contextualized in the framework of recent developments towards the achievement of empathy machines. The first challenge at hands refers to designing pioneering techniques based on the use of social robots to improve user experience interacting with them. In particular, research focus is on eliminating or minimizing pain and anxiety as well as loneliness and stress of long-term hospitalized child patients. This challenge is approached by developing a cloud-based robotics architecture to effectively develop complex tasks related to hospitalized children assistance. More specifically, a multiagent learning system is introduced based on a combination of machine learning and cloud computing using low-cost robots (Innvo labs's Pleo rb). Moreover, a wireless communication system is also developed for the Pleo robot in order to help the health professional who conducts therapy with the child, monitoring, understanding, and controlling Pleo behavior at any moment. As a second challenge, a new formulation of the concept of creativity is proposed in order to empower computers with. Based on previous well established theories from Boden and Wiggins, this thesis redefines the formal mechanism of exploratory and transformational creativity in a way which facilitates the computational implementation of these mechanisms in Creativity Support Systems. The proposed formalization is applied and validated on two real cases: the first, about chocolate designing, in which a novel and flavorful combination of chocolate and fruit is generated. The second case is about the composition of a single voice tune of reel using ABC notation