Adolescents, new social relations and media practices : a research in the Metropolitan City of Bologna (Italy)

Currently almost 99% of Italian teenagers own a smartphone and with it they can enter the world of the infosphere: this fact has profoundly changed the online habits of teenagers. The pedagogical literature grafted onto Media Education has highlighted the cognitive and relational opportunities favoured by smartphones and their use by adolescents. Which are today’s adolescent’s online media-practices? In which terms these practices have an impact on adolescents’ socialisation? This contribution intends to explore these questions and focus attention on the ways in which these devices are managed by teenagers on a personal level, offering a descriptive picture of the media practices activated in the context of the reticular society for the school and family context and consequent reflections on identity and on the sociability of adolescents. The research involved nine upper secondary schools with different curricula in the Metropolitan City of Bologna (1657 students, age 14–19) in school year 2020/2021. The data collected through questionnaires and focus groups highlight how technologies and social media play a role of fundamental importance not only as daily mediators in the relationships of young adolescents but also as a space for negotiation of their identity. And this role was crucial for their well-being during periods of lockdown due to Covid-19

From N=2 Supergravity to Constrained Moduli Spaces

In this talk we review some results concerning a mechanism for reducing the moduli space of a topological field theory to a proper submanifold of the ordinary moduli space. Such mechanism is explicitly realized in the example of constrained topological gravity, obtained by topologically twisting the N=2 Liouville theory.Comment: (Talk given at the Trieste Workshop on String Theory, April 1994) LaTeX file, 17 pages, SISSA 66/94/EP, IFUM 470/F

On the Moduli Space of the T6/Z3T^6/Z_3 Orbifold and Its Modular Group

We describe the duality group $\Gamma=SU(3,3,Z)$ for the Narain lattice of the $T^6/Z_3$ orbifold and its action on the corresponding moduli space. A symplectic embedding of the momenta and winding numbers allows us to connect the orbifold lattice to the special geometry of the moduli space. As an application, a formal expression for an automorphic function, which is a candidate for a non--perturbative superpotential, is given.Comment: 15 page

Topological First-Order Systems with Landau-Ginzburg Interactions

We consider the realization of N=2 superconformal models in terms of free first-order $(b,c,\beta,\gamma)$-systems, and show that an arbitrary Landau-Ginzburg interaction with quasi-homogeneous potential can be introduced without spoiling the (2,2)-superconformal invariance. We discuss the topological twisting and the renormalization group properties of these theories, and compare them to the conventional topological Landau-Ginzburg models. We show that in our formulation the parameters multiplying deformation terms in the potential are flat coordinates. After properly bosonizing the first-order systems, we are able to make explicit calculations of topological correlation functions as power series in these flat coordinates by using standard Coulomb gas techniques. We retrieve known results for the minimal models and for the torus.Comment: 37 page

Constrained Topological Gravity from Twisted N=2 Liouville Theory

In this paper we show that there exists a new class of topological field theories, whose correlators are intersection numbers of cohomology classes in a constrained moduli space. Our specific example is a formulation of 2D topological gravity. The constrained moduli-space is the Poincare' dual of the top Chern-class of the bundle $E_\rightarrow {\cal M}_g$, whose sections are the holomorphic differentials. Its complex dimension is $2g-3$, rather then $3g-3$. We derive our model by performing the A-topological twist of N=2 supergravity, that we identify with N=2 Liouville theory, whose rheonomic construction is also presented. The peculiar field theoretical mechanism, rooted in BRST cohomology, that is responsible for the constraint on moduli space is discussed, the key point being the fact that the graviphoton becomes a Lagrange multiplier after twist. The relation with conformal field theories is also explored. Our formulation of N=2 Liouville theory leads to a representation of the N=2 superconformal algebra with $c=6$, instead of the value $c=9$ that is obtained by untwisting the Verlinde and Verlinde formulation of topological gravity. The reduced central charge is the shadow, in conformal field theory, of the constraint on moduli space.Comment: 48 pages, LaTex file, SISSA 49/94/EP, IFUM 468/F

Metaverse and education : which pedagogical perspectives for the school of tomorrow?

I grandi investimenti delle grandi aziende tecnologiche e la grande attenzione che i decisori politici di tutto il mondo stanno concen-trando sul concetto di metaverso stanno contribuendo a renderlo la “prossima grande novità” nel corso della rivoluzione digitale che sperimenteremo nel prossimo decennio. Questo concetto, il metaverso, però, non è del tutto nuovo. Qualche decennio fa, esperienzecome Second Life, videogiochi come World of Warcrafto Fortnite, o certe piattaforme social fortemente basate su interazioni para-sociali (es. Twitch) hanno già fornito scorci di quello che potrebbe essere lo scenario futuro di un internet arricchito dal metaverso. È grazie a casi come questi che, in questa fase esplorativa, possiamo sollevare interrogativi e riflessioni significative e importanti sulla dimensione educativa, formativa e didattica del metaverso. Quali sfide e quali opportunità può portare il metaverso al mondo dell'istruzione? Quali sono i prossimi tipi di divario digitale che devono essere affrontati? Come potrebbe cambiare il concetto di relazione educativa e di presenza educativa? Il contributo intende rispondere, in chiave pedagogica, a queste e ad altre domande che il nuovo progetto immersivo proposto da Meta necessariamente poneThe large investments from big tech-companies and the vast attention that policy-makers around the globe are concentrating on the concept of metaverse are contributing in making it the “next big thing” in the course of the digital revolution that we will experience in the next decade. This concept, the metaverse, though, is not entirely new. A few decades ago, experiences such as Second Life, video games such as World of Warcraftor Fortnite, or certain social platforms strongly based on para-social interactions (e.g. Twitch) have already provided glimpses of what could be the future scenario of an internet enriched by the metaverse. It is thanks to cases like these that, in this exploratory phase, we can raise meaningful and important questions and reflections about the education-al, training and didactic dimension of the metaverse. Which challenges and which opportunity can the metaverse bring to the world of education? What are the next kinds of digital divide that need to be addressed? How could the concept of educational relationship and educational presence change? The contribution intends to answer, with a pedagogical perspective, these, and other questions that the new immersive project proposed by Meta necessarily raise

Prospettive del metaverso. Questioni pedagogiche sull’universo digitale che verrà

Il metaverso viene presentato come la next big thing della rivoluzione del digitale. Questo, in virtù soprattutto degli investimenti che le grandi compagnie del settore e i decisori politici europei stanno effettuando sul tale progetto. Tuttavia, il concetto di metaverso non rappresenta interamente una novità: già in passato esperienze come Second Life, o come certi ecosistemi videoludici alla World of Warcraft o alla Fortnite o, perfino, come certe piattaforme social fortemente basate sull’interazione para-sociale (vedi Twitch) hanno fatto intravedere scampoli di quello che potrebbe essere un internet del metaverso. Grazie alle esperienze passate, è possibile sollecitare in questa fase esplorativa questioni e riflessioni che interessano la dimensione educativa, formativa e didattica del progetto. Quali cambiamenti può apportare il metaverso nel mondo dell’educazione? In particolare, quali saranno le prossime tipologie di divario digitale che sarà necessario affrontare? Come potrebbe cambiare il concetto di relazione e presenza educativa? Il contributo intende rispondere, in chiave pedagogica, a queste e altre domande che il nuovo progetto immersivo proposto da Meta necessariamente solleva.The metaverse is presented as the next big thing in the digital revolution. This is mainly due to the large investments that big companies in the sector and European policy-makers are making. However, the concept of the metaverse is not entirely new: In the past, experiences such as Second Life, or certain video game ecosystems such as World of Warcraft or Fortnite, or even certain social platforms strongly based on para-social interactions (e.g. Twitch) have already provided glimpses of what could be the future scenario of an internet enriched by the metaverse. Thanks to past experiences, it is possible to solicit questions and reflections in this exploratory phase that affect the educational, training and didactic dimension of the project. What changes can the metaverse bring to the world of education? In particular, what are the next kinds of digital divide that need to be addressed? How could the concept of educational relationship and educational presence change? The contribution intends to answer, with a pedagogical perspective, these, and other questions that the new immersive project proposed by Meta necessarily raises