Activities in the zone of proximal development between the development of motor skills and school readiness: studies in kindergartens

The growing number of children with impairment in executive functions and the growing increasing of sedentary behavior, estimated to be a major culprit of obesity and metabolic diseases, call for intensive efforts for correction of these worldwide problems affecting the quality of life. Recent studies highlight that executive functions can be incremented early and during life and suggest that physical activity may be an important tool to reach this goal. Educator has thus a great responsibility and recent data indicate that kindergarten may represent a new and up-to-now little considered educational tool. To involve and share with teachers these new aspects of education, an action-research was carried out with 100 teachers of Treviso (Italy), 51 kindergartens. Teacherswere given instructions by means of a book prepared for the project and containing suggestions for the organization of physical activity lessons in kindergartens. After the use of the book, which also included stimuli for evaluation of the activities and their impact on children, teacher were involved in discussions and focus groups from where importantconsiderations emerged about education directed at fostering motor and cognitive development of pupils. Our study indicate that implementation of results of scientific studies in daily activities requires direct participation of educators starting from their knowledge and perception of the realty of the teaching environment.L’aumento di bambini con disturbi nelle funzioni esecutive (FE) e di situazioni di sedentarietà, considerata concausa delle patologie metaboliche e dell’obesità che affliggono la qualità della vita delle nuove generazioni, rappresentano importanti stimoli per cercare di proporre soluzioni nuove ai processi educativi cui i bambini sono esposti. Recenti studi evidenziano che le FE possono essere sviluppate nell’infanzia attraverso specifici percorsi educativi e suggeriscono che l’attività fisica rappresenta un importante strumento a tal fine. Per favorire l’adozione di nuove attenzioni al modo di educare nelle scuole dell’infanzia è necessario coinvolgere gli insegnanti e con loro condividere i nuovi sviluppi della ricerca scientifica. A Treviso è stata realizzata una ricerca-azione che ha coinvolto 100 insegnanti, 51 scuole dell’infanzia e che si è basata sull’utilizzo di un libro appositamente, scritto per aiutare e guidare gli educatori nella preparazione, realizzazione e valutazione di attività didattiche fondano sull’attività fisica dei piccoli allievi.Dopo la realizzazione del percorso formativo sono stati realizzati incontri e focus Group dai quali sono emerse alcune considerazioni importanti relative all’insegnamento finalizzato allo sviluppo motorio e cognitivo. Si rivela fondamentale una formazione alle novità concettuali che emergono dalle ricerche internazionali ma che parta dalla conoscenza e dalla percezione della realtà degli insegnanti stessi

Prospettiva ecologica e sviluppo motorio e cognitivo dei bambini: il parco giochi “Primo Sport 0246”

The ecological perspective considers environment, task and personal characteristicsas fundamental and determinant constraints in motor and cognitivedevelopment. When one of these conditions changes, the experienceresult changes. In this study we investigated the role of different methodsof teaching/learning motor skills in 5-year-old children (structured activityand free play), in development of cognitive processes and motor competence.7 children follow a structured program to learn balance motor skillsat the “Primo Sport 0246” playground in northern Italy for 10 times, once aweek, one hour each time. 25 children played free play in the park, for thesame duration and time. After the training the group of children practicingthe structured activity increased executive functions and motor competence,while the group that did free play only did not improve. Space organizationand materials alone are not enough to increase children's cognitiveskills and motor competence and the teacher plays a fundamental role.La prospettiva ecologica considera ambiente, compito e caratteristiche personalivincoli determinanti nello sviluppo motorio e cognitivo. Quando unadi queste condizioni si modifica, il risultato dell'esperienza cambia. In questostudio si vuole investigare il ruolo di diversi metodi di insegnamento/apprendimentodi competenze motorie in bambini/e di 5 anni (attività strutturatae gioco libero) nello sviluppo di processi cognitivi e competenze motorie.17 bambini/e furono esposti a un training strutturato di apprendimentodi competenze di equilibrio al parco giochi “Primo Sport 0246” situato aTreviso; il training consisteva in 10 incontri effettuati una volta alla settimana.25 bambini/e sono hanno invece frequentato il parco per lo stesso periodoe durata ma effettuando solo gioco libero. Dopo il training il gruppodi bambini praticanti l’attività strutturata ha incrementato le funzioni esecutivee le competenze motorie, mentre il gruppo che ha effettuato solo giocolibero non è migliorato né per quanto riguarda le competenze motorie nérelativamente alle funzioni esecutive. Se ne conclude che organizzazionedello spazio e materiali da soli non sono sufficienti ad incrementare le competenzedei bambini e che l’insegnante assume un ruolo fondamentale

Dual role of scaffolding on motor-cognitive development in early childhood education

The link between motor and executive function (EF) development is unclear. To test whether learning difficult motor task drives EF development, we measured EF changes in 5-year-old children from 3 kindergartens in north-eastern Italy engaged in a specific motor program including a difficult motor task (walking on unstable bar). One-hundred children divided in 2 groups participated for 1 hour/week for 10 weeks: Group A was supported by a teacher and group B no. The capacity to perform the difficult task was assessed at the beginning and end of the study; the children able (Groups A1 and B1) or unable (Groups A2 and B2) to perform the task at the Pre-test were similar in the 2 groups. To assess EF, the day/night test (Gerstadt et al., 1994) was used. Dynamic balance results. Time at spring bar: Group A pre 69.2 post 29.6 - Group B pre 71.8 post 48.8. EF results. Group A1 pre 4.90 post 2.71 - Group B1 pre 3.62 post 3.54. Group A2 pre 4.64 post 1.22 - Group B2 pre 5.30 post 3.55. Conclusions. Teacher support significantly promoted improvement of motor skill; teacher’s scaffolding significantly promoted EF development in children with initial low motor competence only.This research was supported by Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano CONI-Treviso and A.S.D. Laboratorio 0246, Treviso, Italy

The effect of teaching methodologies in promoting physical and cognitive development in children.

The practice of physical activity is believed to lead to improvement of motor skills and competences with several beneficial effects on present and future health, as well on psychological constrains of the child. However, no extensive data are available on the relationships between changes induced by motor activities on motor skills and executive functions. On the other hand, the data that have been accumulating in the recent years indicate that the (psychological) conditions that lead to improvement of executive functions can be easily applied to the context of organized motor activities. Teaching methodologies of physical activity rather than the activity itself appear to be relevant to enhance this important set of cognitive processes. From the educational perspective and considering the appreciation that movement-based games have among children, these conclusions highlight the potential significance of a revisited physical education in scholastic curricula for all ages

Enhancing cross layer monitoring on open optical transport networks

Continuous monitoring of key network elements is instrumental in intelligent control and predictive analysis. This demonstration illustrates implementation challenges that are encountered in cross-layer monitoring of optical transport networks in an open-source network operations platform

Comment on \u201cApplication of PK/PD Modeling in Veterinary Field: Dose Optimization and Drug Resistance Prediction\u201d

Comment on \u201cApplication of PK/PD Modeling in Veterinary Field: Dose Optimization and Drug Resistance Prediction\u201

Experimental Demonstration and Results of Cross-layer Monitoring Using OpenNOP: an Open Source Network Observability Platform

Ensuring the smooth operation and optimal performance of communication networks requires continuous moni- toring of key network elements. Network operators can detect and prevent potential issues by monitoring various real-time network parameters. This paper proposes and presents results from the implementation of a cross- layer monitoring system for OpenROADM-compliant optical transport networks using an open source network observability platform called OpenNOP, and for the first time includes simultaneous optical layer and transport layer metrics. It leverages open source tools as a cost-effective and efficient solution for network monitoring and management. OpenNOP collects and analyzes data from various network layers, including physical, data link, network, and transport layers. OpenNOP can also ingest status and log information. This data is all stored in a common time-series database. The results show that OpenNOP can provide comprehensive network visibility and effective cross-layer monitoring of OpenROADM-based networks

Attivita\ub4 motoria e processi cognitivi nella scuola dell\ub4infanzia: cosa rilevano gli insegnanti.

Si assiste ad un incremento di bambini diagnosticati con disturbi dell\ub4attenzione e iperattivita\ub4. L\ub4ipotesi di questo contributo e\ub4 che incrementando le funzioni esecutive molti problemi dei bambini possano diminuire. L\ub4attivita\ub4 fisica puo\ub4 essere un utile strumento per sviluppare le funzioni esecutive

Parco giochi "Primo Sport 0246". Il parco per lo sviluppo senso-motorio del bambino

Linee guida per la progettazione di parchi gioco e spazi all'aperto che promuovano lo sviluppo motorio nella fascia d'et\ue0 0-6 anni secondo criteri verificati dai dati della ricerca scientific