Raising Energy Saving Awareness Through Educational Software

A study that I have conducted on a sample of 395 children aged 6 to 12, from both the urban and the rural environments, shows that an increasing number of them use computer related technologies. Today there are an increasing number of web sites that inform the user of different ways to save energy and to reduce energy consumption because it is only natural that the modern information society would go online to research such topics. The development of an educational application that is focused on teaching the children about energy saving is represented on a timeline. We conducted a study in which a number of 29 children, aged between 8 and 10, use this educational application and a questionnaire. We describe the methodology used in the process of data gathering and then the results are interpreted. The state of happiness and fatigue of the child user has a great potential of influencing the way in which he or she uses the application, and implicitly it’s educational impact. Because we want to be able to reform these concepts, we will base our work on a series of Markov models and we will define some measures that are relevant to our goal

Adaptive Web Applications for Citizens’ Education. Case Study: Teaching Children the Value of Electrical Energy

Long-term energy saving and reduction of environmental consequences of energy consuming are among the most challenging objectives of our time. People are prone to routine and habit. To change these habits is almost a Sisif’s work. In spite of continuous efforts from environmental specialists, we are witnessing an increase in electricity (and gas) consumption, at least at the level of households. Studies carried on have shown that consumers have in many cases an irrational behaviour. To correct that, researchers are studying consumers’ decision making behaviour and try several intervention measures. In our paper we are presenting the design and development of a web based adaptive system aimed to educate citizens for an electrical energy saving behaviour. The system is composed of three subsystems: adaptation system, user’s profile and knowledge base. We have used a user-centered design approach. For adults, users’ profiles are build taking into account age group, educational level, gender, income, professional aspects, consuming behaviour. A set of questionnaires have been designed in order to collect users’ data. For children, the standard profiles are more complicated and, in function of the age group, can be obtained off line through interviews or/and through online activities (games, quizzes etc.). The knowledge base is build for the electrical energy domain. The adaptation sub-system will present information to the user based on s/he profile. The system is populated with data for users of 6 to 10 years of age. For this users group a social and affective interaction design approach was used