News
Carlos Santos and Luís Pedro (DigiMedia members) participated in ECTEL2022 – Seventeenth European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning – Educating for a new future: Making sense of technology-enhanced learning adoption that took place in Toulouse, France, from 12 to 16 September 2022.
Conference Theme
Educating for a new future: Making sense of technology-enhanced learning adoption
In the past two decades, many educational technologies emerged and evolved along with the growing attention for ‘the Web’ and ‘the Internet’. Throughout this road, researchers and practitioners have designed and implemented different types of strategies, tools, services, and devices to improve learning for a wide range of students. Many studies have been carried out by our community that describe promising technologicalies underpinnings that have benefited different educational contexts around the world. However, nobody had ever seen the increased mainstream adoption of educational technologies that has been observed since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The current context gives rise to several questions such as: What is the purpose of education in the current context of societal transformation? How do learning technologies support this new purpose? How do we ensure that technology is a means to make education more inclusive? In that sense, this EC-TEL conference provides us with an opportunity to search for an answer for some of these questions, and to explore different topics concerning the future of education.
Cláudia Pedro Ortet (DigiMedia PhD Student), Ana Isabel Veloso (DigiMedia Member) and Liliana Vale Costa (DigiMedia Member), published in the Special Issue Wearable Assistive Devices for Disabled and Older People of the Journal Sensors the article entitled Cycling through 360° Virtual Reality Tourism for Senior Citizens: Empirical Analysis of an Assistive Technology.
Following the First Meeting of Senior Virtual Reality: A Trip to Paris, the researchers assessed the senior citizens’ perceived experience and attitudes toward a designed 360° VR cyclotouristic experiment, using a head-mounted display (HMD) setting within a laboratory context. A total of 76 participants aged between 50 and 97 years old were involved in convergent parallel mixed-method research, and data were collected using a questionnaire based on the technology acceptance model, as well as the researchers’ field notes. Findings suggest that 360° VR with HMD can be an effective assistive technology to foster senior cyclotourism by promoting tourism sites, simulating the cycling pedaling effect, and improving senior citizens’ general wellbeing and independence with physical and mental rehabilitation.
The Research Summit 2022 took place on the 13th, 14th and 15th of July, under the theme “Open Science”. It is expected to be a forum to foster an important debate among the research community of the University of Aveiro and to increase collaboration, advancing the state of the art and enhancing research efforts on campus.
Several DigiMedia members participated in the sessions.
Programme: 13th July, plenary sessions
Nelson Zagalo
The Academic Press’ contribution to Open Science
Nelson Zagalo
ROUND TABLE: Open Science at UA
Artur Silva, Cristina Cortês, João Coutinho, José Luis Oliveira, Nelson Zagalo, Sara Bosshart & Susana Sardo
Programme: 15th July, students’ pitches
Lorena Sousa (MMEdu)
Developing Open Educational Resources for doctoral education training: an Educational Design Research approach
Ana Raquel Carvalho (MMEdu)
Peer mentoring and its impact on peer mentors academic performance based on participation in a technology enhanced program
André Castello-Branco (ICPD)
Heuristic model of a health dashboard for citizen engagement in smart cities
Cláudia Ortet (ICPD)
Evaluation of Gamification Strategies’ Impact in the Information and Communication Services of Cyclotourism for Senior Citizens
Tânia Ribeiro (ICPD)
Empathic Playable Characters in Digital Games: a model proposal for the design of Playable Characters
Journal of Digital Media & Interaction
ISSN 2184-3120
The Journal of Digital Media & Interaction is an open access, international peer-reviewed research journal, published by DigiMedia, University of Aveiro.
JDMI has been accepted for indexation in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).
Journal of Digital Media & Interaction, Vol.5, No.12: Cultural Representations in Digital Games is now available.
Regular issue with dossier on Emotion and Cognition in Engagement.
Editorial
Dossier no.12 – Emotion and Cognition in Engagement
The ACM IMX 2022 was hosted by the University of Aveiro, from 22 to 24 June 2022.
The ACM International Conference on Interactive Media Experiences (IMX) focuses on challenges and innovations across diverse forms of media engagement and experiences. The aim is to provoke and promote discussion and the sharing of exciting ideas amongst researchers, industry practitioners and the academic community in all forms of media: VR, AR, MR, XR, 360°, live-streaming, online media content, authoring and production, as well as TV.
Several DigiMedia members were involved in the organization of the event:
Local Chairs: Jorge Ferraz de Abreu and Pedro Almeida
Demo Chair: Telmo Silva
Acessibility Chair: Margarida Almeida
Work-in-Progress Chair: Alcina Prata
Publicity Chair: Alcina Prata
Virtual Conference Chairs: Rita Oliveira, Pedro Beça and Hélder Caixinha
Social Media Chair: Rita Santos
Student Volunteer Chair: Ana Velhinho
ACM IMX 2022 Aveiro Wrap Up Video available HERE
. Stream Day 1 – morning session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPGNK7ZEHzQ
. Stream Day 1 – afternoon session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpkNzNb6uxE
. Stream Day 2 – morning session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCb_uiv7TYw
. Stream Day 2 – afternoon session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntsrTR8Wg0I
General Proceedings ACM IMX’22 available:
https://dl.acm.org/doi/proceedings/10.1145/3505284
Adjunct proceedings available:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wbYkBCpEO9BjWHG_-29SBbg30Er8bzfF/view
DigiMedia members published in the ACM IMX 2022’s Proceedings:
Bernardo Cardoso, Jorge Abreu, and Alcina Prata. 2022. The TV Ecosystem is Fragmented and in Need of New Business and Technological Strategies. In ACM International Conference on Interactive Media Experiences (IMX ’22). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 133–140. https://doi.org/10.1145/3505284.3529976
Carla V. Leite, Sofia Nunes, Ana Margarida Pisco Almeida. 2022. Supporting the Creation and Evaluation of Interactive Touch Kiosks Designed for the Elderly: A Compilation of Requisites Acknowledging Physical and Psycho-sociological Age-related Changes. In ACM International Conference on Interactive Media Experiences (IMX ’22). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 331–336. https://doi.org/10.1145/3505284.3532979
Pedro Almeida, Pedro Beça, Telmo Silva, Marcelo Afonso, Iulia Covalenco, Carolina Nicolau. 2022. A Podcast Creation Platform to Support News Corporations: Results from UX Evaluation. In ACM International Conference on Interactive Media Experiences (IMX ’22). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 343–348. https://doi.org/10.1145/3505284.3532978
Marcelo Afonso, Pedro Almeida, Pedro Beça, Telmo Silva, Iulia Covalenco. 2022. Usability of Text-To-Speech Technology in Creating News Podcasts using Portuguese of Portugal. In ACM International Conference on Interactive Media Experiences (IMX ’22). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 363–368. https://doi.org/10.1145/3505284.3532968
Some pictures of the event:
In an event that aims to recognize the work developed by the teams of the different projects involved in this first edition, the final students@DigiMedia #01 event took place on July 14th at 15h00, in the CCCI auditorium (DeCA, UA). Students@DigiMedia is an initiative designed with the purpose of fostering students’ participation in scientific research activities.
In the first edition 17 proposals were submitted by 32 researchers. The closing event presented the 13 ongoing projects, involving 31 students from all study cycles (CTC area) and 24 DigiMedia researchers.
The video of the event is already available in the Youtube channel of DigiMedia HERE
10th European Conference on Social Media (ECSM 2023)
Deadline: 26/10/2022
Following a successful 2022 conference, we are now planning for the 10th European Conference on Social Media (ECSM 2023) to be hosted by the Pedagogical University of Krakow, Poland on the 18 – 19 May 2023 and are pleased to include you as a member of the committee. We are beginning to promote the event now and have recently sent out the first call for papers. See below:
This call is open until the 26th October 2022.
Next year at ECSM we are looking to expand the focus of the conference to encompass a greater range of digital media subjects. We will be welcoming research in areas such as web design, graphic design, video production. ECSM has established itself as a home for researchers and practitioners with a wide range of approaches to engaging with the impact, use and potential of social media across disciplines. The conference committee welcomes contributions on a wide array of topics using a range of scholarly approaches including theoretical and empirical papers employing qualitative, quantitative and critical methods. ECSM 2023 will offer you the ideal opportunity to experience Krakow, network with academics and practitioners, exchange ideas and develop new insights.
For more information and to submit a paper, please go to: http://www.academic-conferences.org/conferences/ecsm/ecsm-call-for-papers/
We invite contributions for academic research, case studies and work-in-progress/posters are also welcomed approaches. PhD Research, proposals for roundtable discussions, non-academic contributions and product demonstrations based on the main themes are also invited. A prize will be awarded to the best PhD paper and the best Poster.
Papers accepted for the conference will be published in the conference proceedings, subject to author registration<http://www.academic-conferences.org/conferences/ecsm/ecsm-registration/> and payment. The proceedings are submitted for indexing to a number of by Thompson ISI WOS. Papers that have been presented at the conference will also be considered for further development and publication in:
- Online Information Review<http://www.emeraldinsight.com/loi/oir>
- International Journal of Social Media and Interactive Learning Environments<http://www.inderscience.com/jhome.php?jcode=ijsmile>
- International Journal of Web-Based Communities<http://www.inderscience.com/jhome.php?jcode=ijwbc>
- Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society<http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journal/jices>
The article “Innovative Open Schooling in Secondary Education in Mozambique: Technological Conditions for Students to Attend Distance Learning” by Sérgio Paulo Cossa (DigiMedia PhD Student) and Fernando Ramos (DigiMedia member) was published in the JOURNAL OF LEARNING FOR DEVELOPMENT, VOL. 9 NO. 2 (2022): ISSUE 2 .
Abstract:
This article describes part of the results, taken from ongoing initial research, on the potential of new media in distance education. The article explores the technological conditions that students involved in Open and Innovative Schooling (OIS) experience, focusing on the fifteen schools in Mozambique. Participants were selected by intentional sampling and a mixed method research approach was then followed. The results revealed that, in general, minimum technological conditions were created at schools for the distance learning process, despite some asymmetries between schools and students. These findings are useful for documenting and sharing the real condition under which OIS operates in the Mozambican context. Furthermore, it is key to influencing educational policies in order to include training in digital literacy, as well as strategies for technology distribution for students from the mentioned schools. These are also crucial for an in-depth reflection on the aspects to be improved for a better implementation of OIS.
Citation:
Cossa, S. P., & Ramos, F. (2022). Innovative Open Schooling in Secondary Education in Mozambique: Technological Conditions for Students to Attend Distance Learning. Journal of Learning for Development, 9(2), 291–304. https://doi.org/10.56059/jl4d.v9i2.639
More information available HERE
Filipe T. Moreira, DigiMedia researcher, will be part of the panel on “Computational Thinking in Education: what sense does it make and what skills does it promote?” at the 3rd edition of the ‘Mathematics with Life’ meetings, to be held on 24th September and 1st October.
This panel aims to contribute to the debate on this topic, clarifying what it makes sense to talk about Computational Thinking in mathematics, its transferability to other disciplines, as well as the skills it promotes in the development of more autonomous and digitally critical citizens.
The other members of the panel are: Carlos Albuquerque – Faculty of Science, University of Lisbon; João Vítor Torres – CCTIC/CIEF, ESE of IP Setúbal; and José Miguel Sousa – Secretaria Regional de Educação da Madeira. It will also be moderated by Margarida M. Pinheiro – CIDTFF, ISCA-UA, University of Aveiro.
This Meeting is part of the ‘Labs Convida’ section of the larger initiative ‘Labs Com Vida’, taking advantage of the synergies of lem@tic – Mathematics Education Laboratory – and LabDCT – Science and Technology Didactics Laboratory, functional structures of the Research Center for Didactics and Technology in Training of Trainers of the University of Aveiro (CIDTFF).
For more information about the event: Informações – Matemática Com Vida – Diferentes olhares sobre o Pensamento Computacional (ua.pt)
Cláudia Ortet (DigiMedia PhD student) and Liliana Costa (DigiMedia member), researchers of the DigiMedia PLAYMUTATION project, published in the Special Issue Feature Papers in Wearables 2022 of the Journal Sensors the article entitled “Listen to Your Immune System When It’s Calling for You”: Monitoring Autoimmune Diseases Using the iShU App.
The reasoning for writing the article was based on the fact that even if the immune system plays an important role in protecting human beings against bacteria, viruses, fungi, among other pathogens, however, for reasons that are not fully understood, in some people this protective mechanism accidentally attacks the organs and tissues, which causes inflammation and may lead to the development of autoimmune diseases. Cláudia and Liliana developed and tested a smartphone and smartwatch prototype – iShU – for inflammation surveillance and autoimmune disease management, which allows the monitoring in pre-, during-, and post-inflammatory crises, meeting the personal needs of people with this health condition. Moreover, this prototype crosses research on wearable devices for collection of biofeedback data, mHealth for easy connectivity with systems, and gamification for encouragement of frequent usage and behavior changes to improve self-care in autoimmune diseases.
After publication, the authors received positive feedback on the purpose and significance of the app’s development for people with autoimmune diseases. It encourages not only PLAYMUTATION’s goals, but also the relevance and need for multidisciplinary teams in crossing different fields of research.
Cláudia Ortet (DigiMedia PhD student), Liliana Costa (DigiMedia member) and Ana Veloso (DigiMedia member), researchers of SEDUCE 2.0, published in the Book Human Aspects of IT for the Aged Population – Design, Interaction and Technology Acceptance of the 24th HCI International Conference the papers entitled “Senior-Centered Gamification: An Approach for Cyclotourism” and “Senior Citizens as Storytellers: Contribution to Gamified Contexts”. Additionally, on June 29th, Cláudia presented the papers at the parallel session Web ecologies for Older Adults.
Abstract: There has been an increasing interest in gerontechnology due to the growth of an ageing population and subsequent challenges in interface design development. Methods of user-centered design and gamification have demonstrated to be powerful, leading to an excellent user experience, and also motivating and changing senior citizens’ behaviors. Applying user-centered design and gamification is starting to gain its importance in the design field, but there is still a lack of studies regarding the use of these concepts with senior citizens and/or applied to the cyclotourism context. The goal of this paper is to provide a state-of-the-art review on user-centered design, user experience and gamification, to outline and propose an approach for senior cyclotourism. The approach is based on user-centered design to senior citizens, followed by gamification design guidelines to the development and testing of products or prototypes. It is recommended that the method should be iterative, unequivocal, and inclusive, performed by a multidisciplinary team and should followed phases of requirement gathering and analysis, design, implementation, and evaluation with subsequent design guidelines. This study may also deliver maneuverable and adaptable guides on how to conduct a method of user-centered design and user experience with gamification for senior citizens applied to other contexts.
Keywords: User-centered design; User experience; Gamification; Senior citizens; Cyclotourism
Abstract: A global demographic turn is observed with senior citizens increasing in number, resulting on wellbeing concerns. That culminates into challenges and opportunities for creating tools, such as digital storytelling and gamification, to promote senior citizens’ interest and motivation to certain activities. While digital storytelling involves the narrative’s potential to facilitate the construction of meaning and sharing experiences with information and communication technologies’ languages, gamification elements can trigger senior citizens’ motivations. However, so far, little attention has been paid to the potential of digital storytelling in gamification. In this context, an iterative approach involving storytelling narratives and gamification should be designed to enhance cyclotourism experiences. The aim of this position paper is to discuss the senior citizens’ digital storytelling applied to gamified cyclotourism to foster participatory strategies and inclusion, exploring their life story while connecting them with others. In specific, it proposes the delivery of a storytelling sessions model to senior citizens integrated with gamification aspects in the cyclotourism context.
Keywords: Senior citizens; Digital storytelling; Gamification; Cyclotourism
