Academical and Research Wiimote Applications

IADIS MULTI CONFERENCE ON COMPUTER SCIENCE AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS 2008 Amsterdam, The Netherlands JULY 22 - 24, 2008This paper proposes the employment of the Wii Remote controller, better known as Wiimote, as an useful tool for educators and researchers. The quick development on fields such as Wireless Sensors and Actuators Networks or Hybrid Systems, and their applications, requires engineers with a solid knowledge in these areas. To achieve this goal the Wiimote becomes a great alternative to other options due to its great variety of analog and digital components, for a very low price, and the good documentation about it existing in Internet. As will be seen in this paper, the possible academical and research uses of the Wiimote are almost endless and cover many interesting problems in control engineering

Information and communication technologies (ICT) for enhanced education of children with autism spectrum disorders

Recent developments in the area of information and communication technologies for people with special needs has led to significant changes in the way specialists and educators can address the daily impairments posed by people with abnormal behaviour, such as autism. Computer based educative methods are increasingly being considered as a key tool for educating people with autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs). Recent research has demonstrated that persons with autism, especially children, enjoy interacting with computers particularly as they are free from the expectations and judgments that make social interaction problematic. Virtual Environments (VEs), usually accompanied by three dimensional (3D) humanoid characters have been proven to play an essential role in special education and social interventions. Emotionally expressive avatars (a computer user’s representation of himself/ herself or alter ego), can advance the quality of tutor-learner interaction, with unobtrusive wireless sensors integrating an autistic person’s feedback and reaction. In this paper we review some developments in information and communication technology (ICT) for managing children with ASDs and also describe the approach we are taking to developing a platform to enhance and mediate the teacher-child educational process

Pregled literature o empirijskim istraživanjima o utjecaju digitalnih igara na stilove učenja i višestruke inteligencije

The paper presents a review of literature resources that studied the effects of digital games on students\u27 learning and intelligence. The research included 5,740 scientific papers from 11 electronic repositories that presented various evidence of multidimensional impact of digital games on students. Categorization and application of multiple qualitative criteria identified 36 representative papers that presented empirical evidence. Various indicators and benchmarks used in papers were analysed, taking into account the methodological limitations. The results confirm the complex relations between digital games andlearning styles and multiple intelligences on which the recommendations and questions for future research are created.U radu se daje pregled literature koja prikazuje rezultate istraživanja o utjecaju digitalnih igara na učenje i inteligencije učenika. Istraživanje je obuhvatilo 5740 znanstvenih radova iz 11 elektroničkih repozitorija, a koji su pružili raznolike dokaze o višedimenzionalnom utjecaju digitalnih igara na učenike. Kategorizacijom i primjenom višestrukih kvalitativnih kriterija pronađeno je 36 odgovarajućih radova koji su sadržavali empirijske dokaze. U radovima su analizirani raznovrsni indikatori i referentne točke, uzimajući u obzir metodološka ograničenja. Rezultati potvrđuju kompleksne veze između digitalnih igara i stilova učenja, kao i višestrukih inteligencija, na temelju kojih se stvaraju preporuke i pitanja za buduća istraživanja

Efecto de videojuegos educativos sobre el desarrollo de la competencia lectora en estudiantes de una institución educativa de Huamanga, 2021

La presente investigación titulada Efecto de videojuegos educativos sobre el desarrollo de la competencia lectora en estudiantes de una institución educativa de Huamanga, 2021, se genera de la pregunta ¿Cuál es el efecto de los videojuegos educativos sobre el desarrollo de la competencia lectora en estudiantes de una institución educativa de Huamanga, 2021?, con el objetivo de evaluar el efecto de los videojuegos educativos sobre el desarrollo de la competencia lectora en estudiantes de la institución educativa señalada. El tipo de investigación fue básica, de diseño no experimental correlacional causal. La población estuvo conformada por 79 estudiantes del tercer año y la muestra por 26 estudiantes de 15 y 16 años; a quienes se aplicó la técnica de encuesta y la de evaluación, el primero con su instrumento de cuestionario de videojuegos educativos, y el segundo con su instrumento de escala de evaluación de nivel de comprensión de texto escritos en su lengua materna. El resultado respecto a la relación entre la competencia lectora y la permanencia en el videojuego educativo hubo una significancia mayor a 0.05 (p=0.693). Se concluye que el videojuego educativo no tiene efecto sobre la competencia lectora, por lo tanto, no existe correlación entre ambas variables

Aplicación de analíticas en la sistematización del diseño y validación de juegos serios para usuarios con discapacidad intelectual

En los últimos años, los Serious Games (juegos serios), también conocidos por otros muchos nombres como Learning Games o Educational Games (juegos educativos), se han convertido en herramientas de aprendizaje ampliamente utilizadas, de modo que hay muchos proyectos de desarrollo y de aplicación relacionados con este tipo de juegos. Sin embargo, se necesita más investigación sobre cómo crear diseños efectivos que optimicen el proceso de desarrollo y garanticen la adecuación de estos juegos a las habilidades cognitivas de los usuarios.Este problema es especialmente relevante cuando se quiere desarrollar un juego educativo para personas con discapacidad intelectual. Dado que este tipo de usuarios cuentan típicamente con problemas de comunicación, la utilización de métodos observacionales es muy complejo, costoso e incluso poco fiable para evaluar y validar el diseño de los juegos..

Patient centric intervention for children with high functioning autism spectrum disorder. Can ICT solutions improve the state of the art ?

In my PhD research we developed an integrated technological platform for the acquisition of neurophysiologic signals in a semi-naturalistic setting where children are free to move around, play with different objects and interact with the examiner. The interaction with the examiner rather than with a screen is another very important feature of the present research, and allows recreating a more real situation with social interactions and cues. In this paradigm, we can assume that the signals acquired from the brain and the autonomic system, are much more similar to what is generated while the child interacts in common life situations. This setting, with a relatively simple technical implementation, can be considered as one step towards a more behaviorally driven analysis of neurophysiologic activity. Within the context of a pilot open trial, we showed the feasibility of the technological platform applied to the classical intervention solutions for the autism. We found that (1) the platform was useful during both children-therapist interaction at hospital as well as children-parents interaction at home, (2) tailored intervention was compatible with at home use and non-professional therapist/parents. Going back to the title of my thesis: 'Can ICT solution improve the state-of-the-art ?' the answer could be: 'Yes it can be an useful support for a skilled professional in the field of autis