The Exploration Of Interactive Interfaces And Products In edutainment: The Istanbul Aquarium

Tez (Yüksek Lisans) -- İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi, Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü, 2015Thesis (M.Sc.) -- İstanbul Technical University, Instıtute of Science and Technology, 2015Bilgi günümüz elektronik çağının en önemli değerlerinden biri olmakla beraber, yaşadığımız çevrenin ayrılmaz bir bütünüdür. Çağın gereksinimlerine ayak uydurmak, teknoloji ve bilgi açısından cevap verebilmek ve akılcı bir biçimde ürünlerin performanslarını arttırmak adına, ürünler dijital teknolojiye uygun bir biçimde şekillendirilmektedirler. Dijital teknoloji birçok ürüne entegre edilmektedir ve bu durum sonuç olarak bahsi geçen ürünlerin fiziksel hesap yapma yani yapay zeka yetisine sahip varlıklar olmasına sebep olmuştur. Ürünlerin değişmekte olan doğası, endüstri ürünleri tasarımı disiplininin rotasını etkileşim tasarımına doğru kırmasına sebep olmuştur. Bu; tasarımda yeni bir dönemin başlangıcı olmuştur. İlaveten bu gelişmeler, tasarım gelişim sürecinin ve takım çalışmasına yönelik koordinasyonun yeniden şekillenmesine neden olmaktadır. Dijital devrim halen gelişmekte iken bu çalışma, pc sonrası dönem için, daha yenilikçi öğrenme odaklı ürün geliştirme sürecine uygun düşecek şekilde önerilerde bulunmayı hedeflemektedir. Topluma açık alanlarda mekanların konseptlerine uygun düşecek şekilde yaratılan içeriklerin daha etkili bir şekilde iletilebilmesi için ve geleneksel bilgi oluşturma şekillerini teknolojinin desteği ile iletmek adına tasarımda bazı adımlar atılmıştır. Eski metodlarla harmanlanan yeni teknolojilerin oluşturduğu modern metodlar kullanıcıların, bu mekanlarda daha çok eğlenirken daha çok öğrenmesini hedeflemektedir. Dolaylı olarak etkin öğrenme süreci, farkında olmadan kullanıcıları etki altına alarak öğrenmenin daha efektif olmasını sağlamaktadır. Bu amaca uzanan yolda, geliştirilen ürünler vasıtasıyla hem mekanlar daha kompleks bir atmosfere bürünmüş olup hem de hedeflenen amaca ulaşmak adına daha emin bir adım atmaktadır. Bu tez, İstanbul Akvaryumu'nda eğitim ve eğlence sağlayan eğitlence odaklı uygulama ürünlerine odaklanmaktadır. Eğitlence uygulamaları, misafirlerin bu mecralardaki yolculuklarının başından sonuna kadar bilgilendirici ve eğitici bir içerik sağlamaktadır. Ürünlerin kendi içindeki uyum sayesinde bilgi, misafirlere farklı porsiyonlarda ve mekanın eğitlence düzenine uygun olarak sunulmaktadır. Böylelikle misafirler günümüzde çok sık rastlandığı üzere fazla bilgi yüklemesine maruz kalmazlar. Bu çalışma, eğitlence ürünlerinin tasarım alanındaki gelişim niteliklerinden bahsetmektedir. Tasarım araçlarını incelemekte ve analiz etmektedir. Projenin iletişimini arttıran özel üretilmiş bir sistem yazılımı üzerinden, iletişim ve eğitimi destekleyen ürünleri incelemeye alan tasarım geliştirme niteliklerini konu edinir. İstanbul Akvaryumu, bugün mevcut olan bütün mümkün tasarım tekniklerini ve interaktif ürünleri içinde barındırmaktadır. Gün geçtikçe her ne kadar yeni teknolojiler xxii geliştirilmekte ve eğitlence tasarımına uygulanmakta olsa da bu akvaryumun, barındırdığı teknolojilerle halen güncel olduğu rahatlıkla söylenebilir. Ürün tasarımı, grafik, interaksiyon ve video tasarımı gibi alanlara ait barındırdığı birçok uygulama üzerinden akvaryum, tümüyle eğitlence projesine özgü niteliklere sahip donanımdadır. Misafirler eğitime ve eğlenceye doğru yaptıkları bu yolculuklarında, dünya denizlerini temsil eden farklı bölgelerin değişik sualtı konseptlerine, özgün ve gözalıcı özelliklerine tanıklık etmektedirler. Bu araştırma, projenin barındırdığı interaktif ürünlerin, toplanan litearatüre göre öğrenme ve bilgi oluşturma prensiplerine uygunluklarını, eğitlence konusuna bağlı olarak incelemektedir. Aynı zamanda, benzer projelerin evrensel örneklerini sunmakta ve pazarın önde gelen firmalarıyla ilgili bilgi sağlamaktadır. Çalışmaya dahil edilen benzer projeleri ve firmaları belirleme aşamasında en önemli kriter, geliştirilen projelerin eğitlence prensiplerine uygunluğu ve İstanbul Akvaryumu'ndaki tasarım süreçlerine benzer süreçlere uygunluğudur. Çalışma, bilgiyi adım adım sunacak şekilde bölümlere ayrılmıştır. İçeriğin organize edilme sırası, okuyucuyu terimler ve çalışmanın genel hatlarıyla ilişkilendirmek için, terminoloji sunumlarıyla başlamaktadır. Projenin hayata geçirildiği mekan, uluslararası standartlara uygun projelerden biri olmakla beraber mimari, tasarımsal ve sosyal anlamlarda çok önemli bir yer işgal etmektedir. Havaalanına 10 km. uzaklıkta son derece stratejik bir lokasyonda bulunmaktadır. Barındırdığı bir alışveriş merkezi ve restoranlarıyla halkın eğlenme ve boş vakit değerlendirmesine olanak sağlamaktadır. Seyir ve alışveriş amaçlı günübirlik turlarla birçok yerli ve yabancı turistin akın ettiği akvaryum turistik bir değere sahiptir. Hatta bazı misafirler bu turlarını, dünyanın birçok ayrı köşesine yapacakları uçuşlarının aktarmalarını beklerken yapmaktadırlar. Tez, tasarım gelişim sürecini ve eğitlencedeki öğrenme nitelikleriyle alakalı sosyal faktörleri merkezine taşımaktadır. İlgili akademik ve sosyal çalışmalardan bahsedip öğrenmeye dair tasarım metodlarını odağına almaktadır. Literatüre bakıldığında eğitlence tasarımının temel taşlarından olan Piaget ve Papert'in öğrenme ile ilgili kaynakları referans alınmıştır. Çalışma eğitlence, interaksiyon ve öğrenmeyi hedefleyen literatürle ilişkili araştırmanın sunumuyla başlar. Literatür, tezin farklı bölümlerinde olan birbiriyle olan bağlantıları açığa çıkarmak için daha önceki yayınları inceleyip analiz etmeye çalışmaktadır. Bilgi birikimini arttırmak için tasarlanmış, iletişimsel hedefleri olan interaktif ürünleri, literatür vasıtasıyla harmanlanması; çalışmanın asıl amacıdır. Bu çalışmada bahsedilen interaktif ürünlerin tanım ve açıklamalarının, eğitlence literatürüyle örtüşmesine gereksinim duyulmasından dolayı tez, buna göre kurgulanmıştır. Bu araştırma, sosyal alanlarda tasarım literatürünün endüstri dahilinde üretilecek olan uygulamalarına bu yeni yaklaşımı entegre ederek, tasarımcılara yeni bir projeye doğru yol alırlarken perspektiflerini daha geniş tutmaları konusunda ilham vermeyi ummaktadır. Buna ek olarak tasarım eğitimi, eğitlence tasarım süreci ve metodolojisinde yeni düşünce sistemlerine yönelik tasarımcıları motive etmeyi xxiii arzulamaktadır. Akvaryumdaki ürünlerle ilişki üzerinden toparlanan literatüre göre bu araştırma; eğitlence teknolojisi, bilgi gelişimi ve eğlendirici-bilgilendirici sistemlerle alakalı belirgin ve geçerli çözümler sunmaya çalışmaktadır. Çalışmanın ilerleyen kısımları, benzer değer taşıyan evrensel proje örnekleri sunarken aynı zamanda tasarım ve yaratma sürecine dahil olan firmalarla ilgili bilgiler de vermektedir. Gün geçtikçe eğitlence, uluslararası alanda bulunan toplumsal merkezlerde daha da yaygınlaşmasına rağmen bir çok ülkeye göre ülkemizde daha başlangıç noktasındadır. Ülkemizde benzer nitelikler taşıyan konularda çalışmalar yapılmış olsa da toplumsal bir alanda eğitlence ürünlerinin varlığı üzerine çok fazla kaynak bulunmamaktadır. Bu çalışma eğitlence odaklı interaktif yerel ürün literatüre etki etmeyi hedeflemesinin yanı sıra tasarım, interaksiyon, eğlence ve bilgiyle alakalı literatür ve metotlar sayesinde öğrenme ve ilişki kurma konusunda eğitlence sergi tasarımı teorisine katkı sağlamayı amaçlamaktadır.Information is one of the most important values of the digital world of today and technology is an indispensable part of the infrastructure of the living environment. Electronic technology is being smartly integrated in various products to enhance their performance, resulting that these products possess the properties of both physical and computing entities. The changing nature of products has expanded the realm of industrial design to direct its course toward the design of interaction design. Furthermore, it has reshaped the product development process and coordination of teamwork. While the digital revolution is still progressing, this study aims to propose an innovative learning oriented product-development process suitable for the post-pc era. The study focuses on the edutainment implementations in Istanbul Aquarium concentrating on the education and entertainment providing products. Similar projects have been mentioned through a design perspective which creates product interaction in public spaces such as museums and aquariums. The edutainment implementations are a journey for the guests carrying them from the entrance to the exit with sparks of informative and educative content. The study mentions the design development assets of Istanbul Aquarium edutainment products observing and analyzing the tools and the products used in the project augmenting communication as well as education through a tailor made framework. The aquarium consists of all possible design techniques and interactive products of today. One can find samples of product, graphic, interaction and motion design in the aquarium distributed according to the edutainment project. The guests venture towards education and entertainment visiting different areas with spectacular separate concepts representing the seas of the world. The study observes the relevance of the interactive products in the aquarium in relation to the literature compiled in accordance with the principles of learning and knowledge creation. The document also provides global examples of similar projects and leading companies in the market. The thesis is devised in such a way that it presents the information step by step. The sequence in which the content is organized begins with the presentation of the terms in order to associate the reader with the terms and and overview of the structure. The venue in which the project has been carried out is one of the leading projects worldwide with various design implementations from an architectural, design and social point of view. As it is situated in a strategic location 10 km from the airport, it has a touristic attraction value housing a mall, restaurants and other structures for public entertainment and leisure purposes. Many visitor flood to the aquarium on a daily tour basis for sightseeing and shopping, some even while waiting for their flights to different corners of the world. The study explores the potential of using touch-screen interfaces and interactive products to open new opportunities for interactive experiences in the aquarium. xx The study pinpoints the approach in design by mentioning relevant academic and social studies made in the field centralizing of the factors which affect the design development process and the social factors related to the learning assets in edutainment. It continues off with the presentation of the research that has been made on terms such as edutainment, interaction and learning, aiming to create a direct contact with the literature. The literature observes and analysis previous studies as well as publications suggested by the study clarifying the connection among different portions of the thesis. Blending the information about the interactive implementations that enhance the knowledge creation and the communication goal of interactive products with the literature is the real challenge the study proposes. The description and the explanation of the design products mentioned in the study all have a precise essentiality in the context of edutainment as the thesis pinpoints. It is hoped that, through integrating the new approach of learning into public spaces design curricula in order to increase its application within the industries, this research may inspire the designers to keep comprehensive perspectives as they embark on a new project. In addition, this research intends to encourage a new thinking in edutainment design process and methodology, as well as in product development. The latter part of the study provides examples of global projects which hold a similar value in the context of edutainment presenting products in the projects and the companies involved in the creation process. The literature review in relation to the interactive products in the aquarium suggests that edutainment related technologies can provide a prominent and viable solution to the need for knowledge enhancing and entertaining informative systems. Through design, interaction, entertainment and knowledge related literature and methods, this study contributes to theory of exhibit design for visitor engagement and learning.Yüksek LisansM.Sc

Development of an Augmented Reality musical instrument

Nowadays, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality are concepts of which people are becoming more and more aware of due to their application to the video-game industry (speceially in the case of VR). Such raise is partly due to a decrease in costs of Head Mounted Displays, which are consequently becoming more and more accessible to the public and developers worldwide. All of these novelties, along with the frenetic development of Information Technologies applied to essentially, all markets; have also made digital artists and manufacturers aware of the never-ending interaction possibilities these paradigms provide and a variety of systems have appeared, which offer innovative creative capabilities. Due to the personal interest of the author in music and the technologies surrounding its creation by digital means, this document covers the application of the Virtuality- Reality-Continuum (VR and AR) paradigms to the field of interfaces for the musical expression. More precisely, it covers the development of an electronic drumset which integrates Arduino-compatible hardware with a 3D visualisation application (developed based on Unity) to create a complete functioning instrument musical instrument, The system presented along the document attempts to leverage three-dimensional visual feedback with tangible interaction based on hitting, which is directly translated to sound and visuals in the sound generation application. Furthermore, the present paper provides a notably deep study of multiple technologies and areas that are ultimately applied to the target system itself. Hardware concerns, time requirements, approaches to the creation of NIMEs (New Interfaces for Musical Expression), Virtual Musical Instrument (VMI) design, musical-data transmission protocols (MIDI and OSC) and 3D modelling constitute the fundamental topics discussed along the document. At the end of this paper, conclusions reflect on the difficulties found along the project, the unfulfilled objectives and all deviations from the initial concept that the project suffered during the development process. Besides, future work paths will be listed and depicted briefly and personal comments will be included as well as humble pieces of advice targeted at readers interested in facing an ambitious project on their own.En la actualidad, los conceptos de Realidad Aumentada (AR) y Realidad Virtual (VR) son cada vez más conocidos por la gente de a pie, debido en gran parte a su aplicación al ámbito de los videojuegos, donde el desarollo para dispositivos HMDs está en auge. Esta popularidad se debe en gran parte al abaratamiento de este tipo de dispositivos, los cuales son cada vez más accesibles al público y a los desarrolladores de todo el mundo. Todas estas novedades sumadas al frenético desarrollo de la industria de IT han llamado la atención de artistas y empresas que han visto en estos paradigmas (VR and AR) una oportunidad para proporcionar nuevas e ilimitadas formas de interacción y creación de arte en alguna de sus formas. Debido al interés personal del autor de este TFG en la música y las tecnologías que posiblitan la creación musical por medios digitales, este documento explora la aplicación de los paradigmas del Virtuality-Reality Continuum de Milgram (AR y VR) al ámbito de las interfaces para la creación musical. Concretamente, este TFG detalla el desarrollo de una batería electrónica, la cual combina una interfaz tangible creada con hardware compatible con Arduino con una aplicación de generación de sonidos y visualización, desarrollada utilizando Unity como base. Este sistema persigue lograr una interacción natural por parte del usuario por medio de integrar el hardware en unas baquetas, las cuales permiten detectar golpes a cualquier tipo de superficie y convierten estos en mensajes MIDI que son utilizados por el sistema generador de sonido para proporcionar feedback al usuario (tanto visual como auditivo); por tanto, este sistema se distingue por abogar por una interacción que permita golpear físicamente objetos (e.g. una cama), mientras que otros sistemas similates basan su modo de interacción en “air-drumming”. Además, este sistema busca solventar algunos de los inconvenientes principales asociados a los baterías y su normalmente conflictivo instrumento, como es el caso de las limitaciones de espacio, la falta de flexibilidad en cuanto a los sonidos que pueden ser generados y el elevado coste del equipo. Por otro lado, este documento pormenoriza diversos aspectos relacionados con el sistema descrito en cuestión, proporcionando al lector una completa panorámica de sistemas similares al propuesto. Asimismo, se describen los aspectos más importantes en relación al desarrollo del TFG, como es el caso de protocolos de transmisión de información musical (MIDI y OSC), algoritmos de control, guías de diseño para interfaces de creación musical (NIMEs) y modelado 3D. Se incluye un íntegro proceso de Ingeniería de Software para mantener la formalidad y tratar de garantizar un desarrollo más organizado y se discute la metodología utilizada para este proceso. Por último, este documento reflexiona sobre las dificultades encontradas, se enumeran posibilidades de Trabajo Futuro y se finaliza con algunas conclusiones personales derivadas de este trabajo de investigación.Ingeniería Informátic

Declarative modeling based on knowledge

Les nouvelles technologies de l'image 3D permettent la création de mondes virtuels et des créatures qui les peuplent avec un tel niveau de détails, que pour les effets spéciaux de cinéma, il est difficile de distinguer les éléments sont générés par ordinateur. Cependant, cette technologie est dans les mains habiles de designers, artistes et programmeurs, pour lesquels il faut des semaines à plusieurs années pour se former aux outils et obtenir ces résultats. La Modélisation Déclarative est une méthode qui permet de créer des modèles en fournissant les propriétés donnant la description des composants du modèle. Appliquée à l’infographie, la modélisation déclarative est utilisée pour générer le monde virtuel, en déterminant le contexte nécessaire à l'animation et à la conception de la scène, en calculant la position de chaque objet relativement aux relations spatiales, et en générant le rendu de la scène, utilisé par une système d'animation et de visualisation. Ce mémoire présente les travaux de recherche consacrés à l'utilisation de la modélisation déclarative pour créer des environnements virtuels, en tirant partie des connaissances sur le contexte de la scène. Les connaissances sont utilisées afin de faciliter la tâche de description, en automatisant ce qui peut être déduit, comme les usages et les fonctionnalités habituelles. Elles sont également fondamentales pour que le résultat produit corresponde le mieux possible à ce qui est attendu par le concepteur à partir de la description fournie. Les connaissances sont enfin nécessaires pour faciliter la transition entre le modèle de données et l'architecture qui aura la charge d'animer et de faire évoluer la scène.Modern technology has allowed the creation and presentation or VirtualWorlds and creatures with such a high level of detail, that when used in movies, sometimes it is difficult to tell which elements arecomputer-generated and which not. Also, video-games had reached a level close to photographicrealism. However, such technology is at the hands of skillful designer, artists, and programmers, for whom ittakes from weeks to years to complete these results.Declarative modeling is a method which allows to create models specifying just a few properties for the model’s components. Applied to VW creation, declarative modeling can be used to construct theVW, establishing the layout for the objects, generating the necessary context to provide animation and scene design, and generate the outputs used by a visualization/animation system.This document present a research devoted to explore the use of declarative modeling to create VirtualEnvironments, using knowledge exploitation to support the process and ease the transition from the data model to an underlaying architecture which take the task of animating and evolving the scene

Visualization and Human-Machine Interaction

The digital age offers a lot of challenges in the eld of visualization. Visual imagery has been effectively used to communicate messages through the ages, to express both abstract and concrete ideas. Today, visualization has ever-expanding applications in science, engineering, education, medicine, entertainment and many other areas. Different areas of research contribute to the innovation in the eld of interactive visualization, such as data science, visual technology, Internet of things and many more. Among them, two areas of renowned importance are Augmented Reality and Visual Analytics. This thesis presents my research in the fields of visualization and human-machine interaction. The purpose of the proposed work is to investigate existing solutions in the area of Augmented Reality (AR) for maintenance. A smaller section of this thesis presents a minor research project on an equally important theme, Visual Analytics. Overall, the main goal is to identify the most important existing problems and then design and develop innovative solutions to address them. The maintenance application domain has been chosen since it is historically one of the first fields of application for Augmented Reality and it offers all the most common and important challenges that AR can arise, as described in chapter 2. Since one of the main problem in AR application deployment is reconfigurability of the application, a framework has been designed and developed that allows the user to create, deploy and update in real-time AR applications. Furthermore, the research focused on the problems related to hand-free interaction, thus investigating the area of speech-recognition interfaces and designing innovative solutions to address the problems of intuitiveness and robustness of the interface. On the other hand, the area of Visual Analytics has been investigated: among the different areas of research, multidimensional data visualization, similarly to AR, poses specific problems related to the interaction between the user and the machine. An analysis of the existing solutions has been carried out in order to identify their limitations and to point out possible improvements. Since this analysis delineates the scatterplot as a renowned visualization tool worthy of further research, different techniques for adapting its usage to multidimensional data are analyzed. A multidimensional scatterplot has been designed and developed in order to perform a comparison with another multidimensional visualization tool, the ScatterDice. The first chapters of my thesis describe my investigations in the area of Augmented Reality for maintenance. Chapter 1 provides definitions for the most important terms and an introduction to AR. The second chapter focuses on maintenance, depicting the motivations that led to choose this application domain. Moreover, the analysis concerning open problems and related works is described along with the methodology adopted to design and develop the proposed solutions. The third chapter illustrates how the adopted methodology has been applied in order to assess the problems described in the previous one. Chapter 4 describes the methodology adopted to carry out the tests and outlines the experimental results, whereas the fifth chapter illustrates the conclusions and points out possible future developments. Chapter 6 describes the analysis and research work performed in the eld of Visual Analytics, more specifically on multidimensional data visualizations. Overall, this thesis illustrates how the proposed solutions address common problems of visualization and human-machine interaction, such as interface de- sign, robustness of the interface and acceptance of new technology, whereas other problems are related to the specific research domain, such as pose tracking and reconfigurability of the procedure for the AR domain

Virtual Reality Games for Motor Rehabilitation

This paper presents a fuzzy logic based method to track user satisfaction without the need for devices to monitor users physiological conditions. User satisfaction is the key to any product’s acceptance; computer applications and video games provide a unique opportunity to provide a tailored environment for each user to better suit their needs. We have implemented a non-adaptive fuzzy logic model of emotion, based on the emotional component of the Fuzzy Logic Adaptive Model of Emotion (FLAME) proposed by El-Nasr, to estimate player emotion in UnrealTournament 2004. In this paper we describe the implementation of this system and present the results of one of several play tests. Our research contradicts the current literature that suggests physiological measurements are needed. We show that it is possible to use a software only method to estimate user emotion

Languages of games and play: A systematic mapping study

Digital games are a powerful means for creating enticing, beautiful, educational, and often highly addictive interactive experiences that impact the lives of billions of players worldwide. We explore what informs the design and construction of good games to learn how to speed-up game development. In particular, we study to what extent languages, notations, patterns, and tools, can offer experts theoretical foundations, systematic techniques, and practical solutions they need to raise their productivity and improve the quality of games and play. Despite the growing number of publications on this topic there is currently no overview describing the state-of-the-art that relates research areas, goals, and applications. As a result, efforts and successes are often one-off, lessons learned go overlooked, language reuse remains minimal, and opportunities for collaboration and synergy are lost. We present a systematic map that identifies relevant publications and gives an overview of research areas and publication venues. In addition, we categorize research perspectives along common objectives, techniques, and approaches, illustrated by summaries of selected languages. Finally, we distill challenges and opportunities for future research and development

The Chinese practice of Yi Jing (意境) and its application to animation

This practice-based research examines the relationship of traditional Chinese ink animation and the philosophical notion of Yi Jing. Traditionally, Yi Jing has been regarded as the aesthetic essence of traditional Chinese art and culture. Within that culture, it is highly regarded that traditional Chinese ink animation is influenced by Chinese ink paintings and the use of Yi Jing, which results in a unique form of animation. Early Chinese animation successfully presented the use of Yi Jing, but many traditional Chinese animators (Tang, 2011) believe that the excessive dependence on traditional techniques and materials has led to its demise. Over the decades, essential knowledge and skills, such as the use of ink work used in Chinese animation, are not being passed down, and digital media are replacing the use of celluloid and other materials. In some respects, one could argue that traditional Chinese animation is becoming redundant. This research has specifically analysed and identified the traditional Chinese philosophical notion of Yi Jing and how it is applied to traditional Chinese animation. It includes the analysis of three aesthetic principles that stem from Yi Jing and interpreted its theories into English that might benefit other scholars. These principles are: ‘Tian Ren He Yi’ 天人合一; ‘Yin-Yan’ 阴 阳 and ‘Chi-Yuen-Sheng-Tun’ 氣韻生動. In order to illustrate these principles being used in Chinese animation, a new painting software called ‘Expresii’ (Chu, 2015) was used. It replaces the need to use traditional ink on celluloid and at the same time speeds up the process. The practical research also explores the traditional Chinese techniques of ‘PoMo’ 泼墨 and ‘Rubbing Ink’ 拓墨. These restoration techniques may not be exactly the same as those which are historically documented (historical documents just recorded the existence of these two techniques, without describing the actual processes). This research also applied these two techniques to the background of ink animation. The purpose is not only to enrich the aesthetic forms of traditional Chinese animation, but also to re-discover and re-develop techniques so that they may be disseminated to future generations

Makers at School, Educational Robotics and Innovative Learning Environments

This open access book contains observations, outlines, and analyses of educational robotics methodologies and activities, and developments in the field of educational robotics emerging from the findings presented at FabLearn Italy 2019, the international conference that brought together researchers, teachers, educators and practitioners to discuss the principles of Making and educational robotics in formal, non-formal and informal education. The editors’ analysis of these extended versions of papers presented at FabLearn Italy 2019 highlight the latest findings on learning models based on Making and educational robotics. The authors investigate how innovative educational tools and methodologies can support a novel, more effective and more inclusive learner-centered approach to education. The following key topics are the focus of discussion: Makerspaces and Fab Labs in schools, a maker approach to teaching and learning; laboratory teaching and the maker approach, models, methods and instruments; curricular and non-curricular robotics in formal, non-formal and informal education; social and assistive robotics in education; the effect of innovative spaces and learning environments on the innovation of teaching, good practices and pilot projects

Makers at School, Educational Robotics and Innovative Learning Environments

This open access book contains observations, outlines, and analyses of educational robotics methodologies and activities, and developments in the field of educational robotics emerging from the findings presented at FabLearn Italy 2019, the international conference that brought together researchers, teachers, educators and practitioners to discuss the principles of Making and educational robotics in formal, non-formal and informal education. The editors’ analysis of these extended versions of papers presented at FabLearn Italy 2019 highlight the latest findings on learning models based on Making and educational robotics. The authors investigate how innovative educational tools and methodologies can support a novel, more effective and more inclusive learner-centered approach to education. The following key topics are the focus of discussion: Makerspaces and Fab Labs in schools, a maker approach to teaching and learning; laboratory teaching and the maker approach, models, methods and instruments; curricular and non-curricular robotics in formal, non-formal and informal education; social and assistive robotics in education; the effect of innovative spaces and learning environments on the innovation of teaching, good practices and pilot projects