On May 4, 2022, between 3 pm and 4 pm, the seminar “Digital Storytelling in Education: a few case studies and future opportunities” took place, led by Professor Massimo Zancanaro, from the University of Trento.

Massimo Zancanaro is a full professor at the Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, at the Università di Trento in Italy. His primary research interest is in the field of Intelligent Interfaces and presently his main focuses are on User-Centred Design of co-located shared interfaces and automatic analysis of behaviour.

Home page: https://webapps.unitn.it/du/it/Persona/PER0004568/Didattica
Linkdin:  https://it.linkedin.com/in/massimozancanaro
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.it/citations?user=oH1ScJkAAAAJ

In this seminar, Professor Massimo presented some of the work he has been developing in the field of Digital Storytelling and he shared some case studies and thoughts as to future opportunities identifiable in this research area. The seminar was opened to anyone interested in digital storytelling and its application in education.

The article entitled “An Intervention with Technology for Parental Involvement in Kindergarten: Use of Design-based Research Methodology” by researchers Dionisia Laranjeiro, Maria João Antunes (DigiMedia member) and Paula Santos, presented at the 14th International Conference on Computer Supported Education (CSEDU), was awarded the “Best Industrial Paper Award”.

About Dionísia Laranjeiro’s doctoral thesis, the article written together with her supervisors was selected from a set of works that stood out, based on quantitative and qualitative classifications, and on the comments provided by the reviewers of the scientific committee, in its final classification as a complete work, and in its oral presentation at the conference.

The conference took place in online format between the 22nd and 24th of April 2022.

Ciência Viva marked World Health Day with an online program, focused on innovative projects that won the “Comunicar Saúde” competition (watch here) and in person, at the Pavilhão do Conhecimento, in partnership with the Portuguese Literacy Society, to discuss the state of public health in Portugal (watch here).

The Comunicar Saúde contest, launched by Ciência Viva, awarded in 2019 eleven innovative projects with the aim of improving the communication of medical information and promoting health literacy among citizens.

Ana Margarida Almeida, DigiMedia member, was a speaker at the event presenting the project eMental, which was one of the funded projects.

Website of the event: A Literacia faz bem à Saúde (cienciaviva.pt)

Patrícia Oliveira, DigiMedia member, was a speaker at LeiriaCon – Leiria Talks 2022, under the topic “O estado do hobby e da indústria dos jogos de tabuleiro”. Integrated in Panel 3 – “Os jogos de tabuleiro na academia e investigação” –  2nd of abril (12h10-13h00) – the presentation was entitled “Jogos híbridos: investigação da relação entre o analógico e o digital” and aimed at the dissemination of the project Flavougame.

Programme of LeiriaCon: https://mailchi.mp/2939ac0e96b7/leiriacon

Website of the event: https://www.spielportugal.org/leiriacon/2022

Francisco Regalado, DigiMedia PhD Student, was a Keynote speaker at Gamification Europe 2022, an online event organised by Gamification+.

During the Community Engagement Day on 23 March (https://gamification-europe.com/geu22-community-engagement-day/), Francisco presented a session entitled “Gamification for all”: Planning and designing a community-oriented gamification strategy.

As a result of the research carried out within the SEDUCE 2.0 Research Project, Francisco talked about the potential of a gamification strategy based on levels and progression to promote participation and engagement of miOne’s users.

Inês Santos Moura’s online PhD defense takes place on the 24th March, at 10 a.m., with the topic Not an ilha”: participatory methodologies in the creation of a Web documentary with the community of Herculano neighborhood | Não é uma ilha”: metodologias participativas na criação de um Web documentário com a comunidade do Bairro Herculano.

Inês Santos Moura is a student of the PhD programme in Information and Communication in Digital Platforms and her supervisor is Vania Baldi (DigiMedia, UA).

DigiMedia members are invited to  participate in this important moment.

Abstract:

This research aims to promote reflection and debate on participatory audiovisual methodologies, namely photo elicitation and participatory video, as strategies for research and analysis of the social and housing context of the community of Bairro Herculano. Simultaneously, it proposes an analysis about the potentialities of these participatory and collaborative practices as resources promoting citizen participation. Focusing on the “ilha” Bairro Herculano neighborhood, located in the city center of Porto, it was initially sought to understand perceptions produced in relation to the notion of “ilha”, an expression used to describe a complex of small houses built in Porto, in the last years of the 19th century, to house the working class. Through the aid of digital technologies and public initiatives, contexts of visibility for the community were provided, making the inhabitants “actors” and protagonists of the audiovisual representation of their reality. The photographic objects provided by the participants allowed for analyses of biographical and social dimensions, which revealed stories, identities, and architectures of the Herculano community and its socialization dynamics. In this way, stories of the past that are generally marginalized and/or hidden by public discourse were documented, stimulating their possible rescue for the present and the future of the place and its inhabitants. With this, we also tried to analyze and identify the need and intention of the participant group in documenting and presenting possible proposals for improvement regarding their housing and social reality. The uses of these participatory methodologies by the research group allowed the production of multimedia content towards the conception of a Web documentary, composed of nine video-narratives, six photo-interviews and a photographic archive about this community. The participatory methodologies mobilized also made it possible to deepen the knowledge about the social reality and the housing conditions of this neighborhood, as well as to record and collect reflections and concerns related to the present and the future of this community. The research process is rooted in the collaboration between the researcher and the inhabitants and it has two dimensions: the creation of different perspectives concerning Bairro Herculano as one of the oldest neighborhoods of Porto; and the active participation of its inhabitants in the creative process, sharing experiences and generating knowledge.

To participate follow the link: https://videoconf-colibri.zoom.us/j/82816554107 

More information available HERE

Title: CENSOS DOS ANIMAIS ERRANTES 2023

Acronim: ERRANTES.PT

Funding: Fundo Florestal Permanente

DigiMedia team: Telmo Silva

Coordinator: University of Aveiro (CESAM+DigiMedia)

Global funding: 240,000.00€

UA funding: 240,000.00€

Abstract:

Animals commonly designated as wanderers include animals born without keepers, but also animals that have keepers, but who in turn are also keepers of their home at the end of a part of care in areas of public domain and/or in private entities other than their respective owners. The occurrence of these dogs and cats raises important questions, not only regarding their own well-being, but also the public health and safety of people and other animals and the impact on the actual effects of wildlife (some of the endangered species).
There are several works carried out on this subject in countries such as the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, the United States of America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Brazil or China, but in Portugal there is a huge deficit of information that makes it possible to evaluate and manage the impacts of this problem.
This project aims to determine the possible effects of these animals, their dynamics and population impacts. At the same time, the project aims to understand society’s perceptions and attitudes towards this problem and its management.

Title: TRUE – Trustworthy news and Related content for a Unified writing Environment

Funding: PT2020

DigiMedia team: Telmo Silva, Jorge Abreu, Pedro Almeida, Margarida Almeida, Carlos Santos

Coordinator: PÚBLICO-COMUNICAÇÃO SOCIAL, S.A.

Other institutions involved: MOG Technologies

Global funding: 717,200.46 Euros

UA funding: 270,125.46 Euros

Abstract:

The project TRUE – Trustworthy news and Related content for a Unified writing Environment, aims to develop an integrated solution to revive school newspapers, in Portuguese, while stimulating and enhancing the younger generations critical thinking, resorting to tools that allow them to assess the veracity of the published news and contextualize novel content. The project consortium includes MOG Technologies, Público and Universidade de Aveiro, which jointly propose the TRUE project solution to address the issues presented.

Francisco Regalado, a DigiMedia PhD Student, was the moderator of the session “Technology in the home of the elderly person” at the 2nd Meeting of Public Policies in the area of ​​Aging, promoted by the Municipality of Ílhavo – as some measures, policies and solutions were discussed to bring the New Technologies to senior citizens, including digital games.

The 8 participants of the session “Technology in the home of the elderly person” were dedicated to thinking and delivering solutions that promote active and healthy aging and Francisco Regalado presented in the main auditorium some of the main results that came from this discussion. Among them, it should be noted that, despite the enormous barriers to use – which were amplified by the pandemics – there are some solutions to consider, such as (i) the creation of communication strategies that improve the understanding of the purpose of technological products; (ii) the creation of an intergenerational link in applications between seniors, families, and technicians; and (iii) the use of a graphic design adapted to the needs – eg. use of emojis or symbols to communicate actions.

Finally, one of the major problems across all sectors was highlighted: the lack of funding, which limits the development of projects and the access to technological products.

More information available in: https://www.facebook.com/maioridadeilhavo/posts/6935449013196833

The book chapter “The HOW behind the Story: A Framework for the Design of Brand Narratives” by Catarina Lelis (DigiMedia member) and Elizete Azevedo Kreutz was published in the book Design, Visual, Communication and Branding da Cambridge Scholars .

Abstract of the book:

This book highlights how digital communication has brought about changes in branding, namely in design, the media, communication languages, the relationship with audiences, experience design, behaviour, culture, and brand management mechanisms. On the other hand, as it argues, artificial intelligence has opened the door to other ways of dealing with big data and communicating with mass audiences, through the customization of messages or a one-to-one logic. Overall, the book shows that the intersections between digital communication and artificial intelligence point towards a new reality in brand communication, which includes computer vision, pattern recognition, and changes in the design business and in the way communication design and branding are done.

Citation:

Lelis, C. & Kreutz, E. A. (2022). The HOW behind the story: a framework for the design of brand narratives, In Design, Visual Communication and Branding, D. Raposo (Ed). Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, ISBN: 1-5275-8054-7.

https://www.cambridgescholars.com/product/978-1-5275-8054-1

More information available HERE