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DigiMedia Dialogs #4 | Extra cold DigiMedia – How to break the ice in Antarctica?

The DigiMedia Dialogs#4 took place on November 17 with a surprising and creative session on the topic Extra cold DigiMedia – How to break the ice in Antarctica?. Catarina Lelis, Hélder Caixinha and Pedro Cardoso made us travel into a narrative that included both personal and research interests and that allowed a participated discussion on several topics on Communication Sciences and Technologies.

 

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ARTICLE | The Use of ICT for Communication between Teachers and Students in the Context of Higher Education Institutions by João Batista, Helena Santos and Rui Pedro Marques

The article “The Use of ICT for Communication between Teachers and Students in the Context of Higher Education Institutions” by João Batista (DigiMedia member), Helena Santos and Rui Pedro Marques was published in the Journal Information 2021.

Abstract:

Recently, the communication paradigm has been changing in society in the higher education context because of the ease of access to the Internet and the high number of mobile devices. Thus, universities have increased their interest in accepting different and sophisticated communication technologies to improve student participation in the educational process. This study aimed to assess how students and teachers use communication technologies to communicate with each other and what their expectations, satisfaction, and attitudes regarding the results of this use are. An analysis model was used in a case study at the University of Aveiro to support the study. Data were obtained through an online questionnaire, which collected 570 responses from students and 172 responses from teachers. These data were processed through descriptive statistics techniques and inference tests (t-tests). The primary outcomes are that publishing and sharing technologies and electronic mail are the most commonly used communication technologies by students and teachers, suggesting that their use will not decline soon. However, other communication technologies were also revealed to be widely used and accepted, with excellent levels of confirmation of expectation.

Citation:

Batista, J.; Santos, H.; Marques, R.P. The Use of ICT for Communication between Teachers and Students in the Context of Higher Education Institutions. Information 2021, 12(11), 479. MDPI AG. https://doi.org/10.3390/info12110479

More information available HERE

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ARTICLE | Supporting the Construction of Mobile Games Interfaces: The Gamers4Nature Mobile Game Guidelines Cards Set by Sofia Ribeiro, Pedro Beça, Mónica Aresta, Rita Santos and Ana Isabel Veloso

The article “Supporting the Construction of Mobile Games Interfaces: The Gamers4Nature Mobile Game Guidelines Cards Set” by Sofia Ribeiro, Pedro Beça, Mónica Aresta, Rita Santos and Ana Isabel Veloso was published in Advances in Design and Digital Communication II. Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Design and Digital Communication, DIGICOM 2021, November 4–6, 2021, Barcelos, Portugal.

Abstract:

Research indicates that engaging younger audiences in the creation of their own digital games for learning may increase the interest towards the addressed theme and a better understanding of the value of what is learned. Giving young creators the tools needed to develop good games emerges as a key point for the success of this kind of activity. Toolkits, due to its problem-solving features and support materials, are often seen as powerful learning and teaching tools, assisting in the production of interactive artefacts. Taking this into consideration, the Gamers4Nature project developed a Toolkit to support youngsters in the creation of mobile games. The Gamers4Nature Toolkit to Game Design includes resources developed to support younger audiences in the creation of digital games: a game construction cards set, a rapid game design document, a set of thematic cards addressing environmental awareness theme and a set of cards presenting guidelines to be followed when developing mobile games interfaces. This paper describes the Mobile Game Design Guidelines cards development and validation process. The cards were developed following a User-Centered Design approach and validated through Expert Evaluation, with industry and academic experts in game design and development (N = 9) invited to analyze and validate the Guidelines Cards. Although additional tests are still needed, namely with the target audience, preliminary results indicate that the guidelines presented in the cards can be a useful guide along the process of constructing a game while promoting the acquisition of knowledge related to the mobile interface design field.

Citation:

Ribeiro S., Beça P., Aresta M., Santos R., Veloso A.I. (2022) Supporting the Construction of Mobile Games Interfaces: The Gamers4Nature Mobile Game Guidelines Cards Set. In: Martins N., Brandão D. (eds) Advances in Design and Digital Communication II. DIGICOM 2021. Springer Series in Design and Innovation, vol 19, pp. 209-222. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-89735-2_18

More information available HERE

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ARTICLE | Character Design: The Case of Characters in a Hybrid Serious Game Called FlavourGame by Dalila Martins, Leonardo Pereira, Ana Patrícia Oliveira and Nelson Zagalo

The article “Character Design: The Case of Characters in a Hybrid Serious Game Called FlavourGame” by Dalila Martins, Leonardo Pereira, Ana Patrícia Oliveira and Nelson Zagalo was published in Advances in Design and Digital Communication II. Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Design and Digital Communication, DIGICOM 2021, November 4–6, 2021, Barcelos, Portugal.

Abstract:

FlavourGame is a hybrid board game, from the serious games category, which aims to promote among children, discussion and awareness for taking correct choices in their nutrition. As part of this project, the design of the characters that make up the game’s narrative is being developed. This process, which is still undergoing, so far involved, in a first stage, a small literature review on the process of Character Design, in order to identify the existence of some kind of transversal methodology to follow. In a second stage, the main psychological and emotional characteristics of the characters were determined, so that, in a third stage, the visual design of these characters was studied. Finally, and in a fourth stage, different components of the Design of the characters were evaluated with three samples of the target audience. Thus, this article presents the theoretical framework connected to character design, describes the so far undergone creative and design process of FlavourGame’s characters and presents three small stages of the characters’ design assessment with children between the ages of 10 to 12. Throughout the article, we also identify and describe the iterations and changes that were made to the character design according to both the opinions expressed by the children regarding their preferences and the collaboration of a graphic designer in the character design process.

Citation:

Martins D., Pereira L., Oliveira A.P., Zagalo N. (2022) Character Design: The Case of Characters in a Hybrid Serious Game Called FlavourGame. In: Martins N., Brandão D. (eds) Advances in Design and Digital Communication II. DIGICOM 2021. Springer Series in Design and Innovation, vol 19, pp. 183-194. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-89735-2_16

More information available HERE

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ARTICLE | The Heritage and Identity of the Pmate Project: Critical Factors for the Redesign by Catarina Ramos, Ana Margarida Almeida and Gonçalo Gomes

The article “The Heritage and Identity of the Pmate Project: Critical Factors for the Redesign” by Catarina Ramos, Ana Margarida Almeida (DigiMedia member) and  Gonçalo Gomes was published in Advances in Design and Digital Communication II. Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Design and Digital Communication, DIGICOM 2021, November 4–6, 2021, Barcelos, Portugal.

Abstract:

This study aims to analyse, describe and reflect on how Mathematics and Teaching Project (Pmate) history can influence the most relevant creative decisions when restructuring and redesigning it. Pmate is a 32-year-old research project based on an online platform created and coordinated by a team from the University of Aveiro. Its mission is to achieve academic success and promote scientific culture through the development of content and its application by technologies. In this article, relevant moments of Pmate’s history and the evolution of its identity are identified, defined and discussed through the collection of information, specifically through interviews with people involved in the project during its implementation and the analysis of graphic documentation produced. The result is the outline of the relevant critical factors guiding the new updated Pmate’s brand and service.

Citation:

Ramos C., Almeida A.M., Gomes G. (2022) The Heritage and Identity of the Pmate Project: Critical Factors for the Redesign. In: Martins N., Brandão D. (eds) Advances in Design and Digital Communication II. DIGICOM 2021. Springer Series in Design and Innovation, vol 19, pp. 665-676. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-89735-2_54

More information available HERE

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DigiMedia researchers participate in the BIOLOUSADA AT HOME online meeting

The use of games in teaching and learning has shown very interesting results in the assimilation of content and motivation of students and teachers.

In a session organised by BioLousada at Home that took place via zoom on the 5th of November, DigiMedia researchers Pedro Beça and Mónica Aresta introduced the Gamers4Nature project, and explained how the project’s activities encouraged the active participation of young people in creating games for mobile devices, as a way to promote a change in behaviour and awareness in relation to the environment.

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Media Innovation Circle#5 and the topic Thoughts on a discipline of interactive narrative study and design by Hartmut Koenitz

The Media Innovation Circle#5 took place on October 29 with a talk by Hartmut Koenitz, Södertörn University (Sweden),  followed by a participated discussion on the topic “Thoughts on a discipline of interactive narrative study and design”, moderated by Luis Frias, UBI / ICNOVA.

The video is already available on DigiMedia YouTube channel. Watch HERE. We invite you to subscribe the channel.

Hartmut Koenitz is an Associate Professor at Södertörn University in Sweden, a visiting researcher at the University of Amsterdam, and a visiting research fellow at Trinity College Dublin. He is currently writing a book on “Understanding Interactive Digital Narratives” to be published by Routledge. His research is concerned with the theory, practice, education and societal impact of interactive narratives and games. He has published over 60 scholarly publications including the co-edited volume Interactive Digital Narrative – history, theory and practice(Routledge 2015). Koenitz is the chair of the EU COST Action 18230 INDCOR (Interactive Narrative Design for Complexity Representations) and one of the editors of the upcoming Routledge Encyclopedia of Interactive Digital Narrative. He is also the president of ARDIN, the Association for Research in Digital Interactive Narratives. Koenitz holds a PhD from the Georgia Institute of Technology on the theory and practice of Interactive Digital Narrative. Koenitz is the creator of the ASAPS authoring tool, which has been used to create more than 150 works. He is also a visual artist, and his works have been shown in Atlanta, Paris, Istanbul, Seoul, Copenhagen and Porto. His latest artwork, The Multiple Lives of Walter B. is a physical installation that explores virtual biographies of Walter Benjamin.

Abstract

So far, interactive digital narratives have not yet gained full recognition as both a field of scholarly inquiry and a developed professional practice. After more than five decades of practice as well as a history of scholarly enquiry that can be traced back to at least 1985, this is a perplexing situation. In my talk, I will consider reasons for the status quo, consider current initiatives including ARDIN and INDCOR and propose avenues for future work.

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ARTICLE | Mobile Application of Communitarian Participation Oriented to the Prevention of Forest Fires in Portugal by Manuel Gil, Liliana Gonçalves and Lídia Oliveira

The article “Mobile Application of Communitarian Participation Oriented to the Prevention of Forest Fires in Portugal” by Manuel Gil, Liliana Gonçalves (DigiMedia PhD student) and Lídia Oliveira (DigiMedia member) was published in Advances in Design and Digital Communication II. Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Design and Digital Communication, DIGICOM 2021, November 4–6, 2021, Barcelos, Portugal.

Abstract:

Forest fires have caused devastating social and economic damage in the forest-dependent regions of Portugal. This phenomenon can accentuate in the following years due to many factors that can aggravate conditions like extreme drought, lousy forest management, or interior depopulation. On digital platforms, forest fires are a target of investigation and analysis. The results point to few varieties of applications, most of them focused on the combat phase. The ones about prevention are limited and with little interaction. This work summarizes the Portuguese situation respecting forest fires and presents a study of the country’s existing apps and prevention campaigns. Based on the analysis of interviews conducted by the orientation team, a mobile application oriented to the active participation of the community in the prevention of forest fires was conceptualized, prototyped, and tested. This app lets users add Alerts or Public Actions on a map and give them space for discussion and useful information.

Citation:

Gil M., Gonçalves L., Oliveira L. (2022) Mobile Application of Communitarian Participation Oriented to the Prevention of Forest Fires in Portugal. In: Martins N., Brandão D. (eds) Advances in Design and Digital Communication II. DIGICOM 2021. Springer Series in Design and Innovation, vol 19, pp. 109-121. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-89735-2_10

More information available HERE

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ARTICLE | Interaction Design to Female Technological Collective Activism: Geek Girls Portugal Case Study by Renata Frade and Mário Vairinhos

The article “Interaction Design to Female Technological Collective Activism: Geek Girls Portugal Case Study” by Renata Frade (DigiMedia PhD student) and Mário Vairinhos (DigiMedia member) was published in Advances in Design and Digital Communication II. Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Design and Digital Communication, DIGICOM 2021, November 4–6, 2021, Barcelos, Portugal.

Abstract:

This work aims to reflect on the collective female activism in technology under the prism of human-computational interaction, the culture of participation and cyberfeminism from Geek Girls Portugal community (the first launched in the country) ethnographic case study. From the monitoring of the group’s digital platforms, information was collected to configure an organizational and communicational system, as well as allowing reflection on the autonomy of members’ decisions, using tools of non-discretionary use for the inclusion of women in technology in one of the domains in which patriarchy dominates. Conceptual paradoxes about the culture of participation and the emergence of digital platforms, from the launch of the Web in parallel to the beginning of cyberfeminism, will be presented. This article will also present preliminary results of doctoral research on how female technological communities play a catalytic role in the inclusion, education and activism of Brazilian and Portuguese women in technology.

Citation:

Frade R., Vairinhos M. (2022) Interaction Design to Female Technological Collective Activism: Geek Girls Portugal Case Study. In: Martins N., Brandão D. (eds) Advances in Design and Digital Communication II. DIGICOM 2021. Springer Series in Design and Innovation, vol 19, pp 492-504. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-89735-2_40

More information available HERE

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ARTICLE | The Impact Plan: anticipating the impact of university students’ final projects by Catarina Lelis

The article “The Impact Plan: anticipating the impact of university students’ final projects” by Catarina Lelis (DigiMedia member) was published (2021) in the Design and Technology Education: an International Journal, 26(3), 52-67.

Abstract:

University students often struggle with choosing a topic for their final projects due to the lack of a supporting and defining framework for said selection. Should the student be oriented toward reflecting on how each of the possible topics to choose from can become an impactful project in the short, mid and long run, maybe that selection becomes a less anxious moment and the engagement with the project activities more relevant and meaningful to the student, being particularly pertinent when students can anticipate different levels of impact that range from their own life to a wider community.
In this paper a visual tool is proposed, aiming at simplifying the moment of choosing a project by matching its anticipated impact with the users’ motivations, capacities, ambitions, and perceptions of value. A prototype was designed and tested with a group of students enrolled at a creative postgraduate course, in a professionalisation-led module, under the UK’s first 2020 lockdown restrictions. The tool proved helpful in supporting the students’ decision making when having to select a topic to be developed in the context of a communication design project, and to which they were able to align their personal interests, their career ambitions, and the way they perceived themselves as contributing to a better world. Since this is a cyclical experience, both during a design learning environment, but also in design practice, the Impact Plan, which was conceived with design students in mind, configures as fully replicable in other academic (and professional) contexts too.

Citation:

Lelis, C. (2021). The Impact Plan: Anticipating the impact of university students’ final projects. Design And Technology Education: An International Journal, 26(3), 52-67.  https://ojs.lboro.ac.uk/DATE/article/view/3035

More information available HERE

 

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DigiMedia members participate in the Erasmus+ funded project Back2Basics

Title: Bridging the gap between higher education and labor market by fostering digital skills

Acronim: BACK2BASICS

Funding: Erasmus+ KA210
2021-1-PT01-KA220-HED-000023543 – Cooperation partnerships in higher education

DigiMedia team: Rita Santos, Pedro Beça, Luís Pedro

 

Main Goal:

Back2Basics aims at addressing digital transformation in the HE system and bringing HE systems and labor markets closer together, working in the enhancement of digital skills in the HEI in order to train more digitally prepared teachers and graduates.

Why?

  • Many HE teachers lack ‘digital readiness’
  • Many HE teachers not conveying important work-valuable digital skills to their students
  • HE students use ICT tools everyday, but not in a professional manner
  • Many HE students lack professional digital skills that would enhance their employability profile

What to expect?

  • Good Practices on how HEI can get closer to the labor market
  • Pilot Programme that will help HE teachers to promote the use in class of ICT tools useful in professional settings
  • Multiplier Events to disseminate the project and its results
  • One Training Course for HE teachers
  • One Training Course for HE students
  • Many useful resources on how to be more digitally ready for the labor market

Partners: University of Aveiro, BioLiving, University of Macedonia, Gabinete de Recolocación Industrial

Global funding: 223 082,00€

UA fundings: 72 053,00€

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Book chapter | Co-design and Shared Practices: An Overview of Processes of Learning in Nonformal Educational Contexts by Inês Santos Moura and Vania Baldi

The article “Co-design and Shared Practices: An Overview of Processes of Learning in Nonformal Educational Contexts” by Inês Santos Moura and Vania Baldi was published the Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Smart Learning Ecosystems and Regional Development – Ludic, Co-design and Tools Supporting Smart Learning Ecosystems and Smart Education.

Abstract: The present article is an overview that outlines co-design methodology in constructing an informal process of contextually situated and encouraged knowledge. The shared practices are related to emancipation and participation processes that integrate co-design implementation, as is the case of photovoice. On the other hand, the co-design methodology includes strategies and tools that foster digital literacy in a nonformal education context. In this regard, it is intended to reflect how co-design can also produce knowledge about that social context. Participatory methodologies, as co-design, digital literacy, and collaborative learning, are essential tools for promoting digital inclusion. Therefore, “we may say that the anthropological transformations and mediamorphoses are interwoven, reflecting it in the practices of learning, knowledge and in participation in collective life” (Baldi in La comunicación especializada del siglo. McGraw-Hill/Interamericana, p. 591, 2020 []). In this context, it is essential to promote an inclusive smart education that will allow individuals to produce, access, and effectively communicate through technological means.

Citation:

Moura I.S., Baldi V. (2022) Co-design and Shared Practices: An Overview of Processes of Learning in Nonformal Educational Contexts. In: Mealha Ó., Dascalu M., Di Mascio T. (eds) Ludic, Co-design and Tools Supporting Smart Learning Ecosystems and Smart Education. Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies, vol 249. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3930-2_14

More information available HERE

 

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Contact DigiMedia

DeCA, University of Aveiro

Campus Universitário de Santiago
3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal

234 370 389
digimedia@ua.pt

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