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- Project-based learning in Design and Multimedia in Higher Education: An interactive timeline developed in collaborationPublication . Figueiredo, Maria Pacheco; Alves, Valter; Lourenço, Carolina; Alves, Vitória; Bernardo, Marco; Carapito, NunoIn recent years, institutions of higher education have been trying to provide students with both hard skills, namely cognitive knowledge and professional skills (Vogler et al., 2018), and soft skills, such as problem-solving and teamwork (Casner-Lotto & Barrington, 2006). An important contribution to these is providing students with opportunities to participate in real problem-solving and knowledge construction in authentic professional contexts. One way to achieve this approach is through project-based learning (PjBL). The paper will present an instance of project-based learning in a specific degree – Technologies of Design and Multimedia (TDM). The project was connected to the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Polytechnic Institute of Viseu. The challenge was to develop an interactive timeline that would represent the history of the institution in the cities of Viseu and Lamego. The process of integrating that challenge in the program was managed in one of the courses titled “Interactive Contents” as Project-Based Learning since it was a learning process in which students were engaged in working on an authentic project and the development of a product (Chen & Yang, 2019). The students developed their proposals in close communication with the clients and with several rounds of feedback and development. This paper reports on that process looking into records and artifacts produced by students, teachers, and clients throughout the semester. Semi-structured interviews with the participants (teaching staff, students, and clients) complement the data. The content analysis is guided by the objective of describing a process of project-based learning in the area of Design and Multimedia including the voices of several participants. The results were analyzed considering Krajcik and Shin’s (2014) six hallmarks of Project-Based Learning: a driving question, the focus on learning goals, participation in educational activities, collaboration among students, the use of scaffolding technologies, and the creation of tangible artifacts. The creation of artifacts that solve authentic problems distinguishes Project-Based Learning from other student-centered pedagogies and requires learners to work together to find solutions to authentic problems in the process of knowledge integration, application, and construction (Helle, Tynjälä, & Olkinuora, 2006). The specificity of this feature in the area of Design and Multimedia will also be addressed.
- Algorithmic Thinking in Early Childhood Education: Opportunities and Supports in the Portuguese ContextPublication . Figueiredo, Maria Pacheco; Amante, Susana; Gomes, Helena Margarida dos Santos Vasconcelos; Gomes, Cristina Azevedo; Rego, Belmiro; Alves, Valter; Duarte, Rui PedroALGO-LITTLE is an EU-funded project, with partners from Portugal, Italy, Turkey and Slovenia, in search of ways to integrate Algorithmic Thinking skills into preschool education for the purpose of growing future code literates starting from the earliest ages. Algorithmic Thinking stems from the concept of an algorithm, which refers to solving a problem by developing a set of steps taken in a sequence to achieve the desired outcome (Katai, 2014). The concept can be traced to the work of Papert (1980, 1991) and is connected to the seminal article by Wing (2006) that introduced Computational Thinking. Barretal (2011) concluded that in K-12, Algorithmic Thinking involves problem-solving skills and particular dispositions, such as confidence and persistence when confronting particular problems. Early Childhood Education algorithmic skills include abilities to learn and work according to the rules or models since children are capable to understand, use, apply and develop simple algorithms. Children are also capable of analyzing and correcting the sequence of actions to reach results, transferring known methods of actions to new situations, and describing their activities to others in a clear way (Voronina et al., 2016; Games for learning algorithmic thinking, 2017). The paper analyses initiatives, studies, and projects that are connected to Algorithmic Thinking in Early Childhood Education in Portugal. A review of literature was developed, starting with curricular documents for Preschool Education (3 to 6 years old) and other documents from the ICT Educational Policy in the country. The second step was a search in databases for studies and projects that looked into Algorithmic Thinking and Computational Thinking in Early Childhood Education in Portugal. The analyses looked into the following themes: a) what definition and elements of Algorithmic Thinking are present?, b) to which concepts and curricular areas is it connected to?, c) what is expected that children in Early Childhood Education learn in relation to Algorithmic Thinking?, d) to what pedagogical elements is Algorithmic Thinking related to?. In terms of curricular documents, it was found that code has been relevant for Portuguese Early Childhood Education (at least) since 1997. In their first edition, the Portuguese Curricular Guidelines for Pre-School Education (Ministério da Educação, 1997) included computer code as one of the codes children should get acquainted with. This meant its inclusion under the domain “Spoken Language and Introductory Writing”. It was stated that “code” was present and would be necessary in children’s lives and could be used in arts, music, mathematic, or writing (Portuguese) (p. 72). This approach was positively singled out by the OECD report: addressing the topic of ICT in the guidelines interconnected with other forms of communication and information learning (Taguma et al., 2012). In 2016, the Portuguese Curricular Guidelines for Pre-School Education (PCGPSE) were reviewed and this second version amplifies the mentions to technology. The findings include an analysis for each of the six curricular areas and domains. In terms of studies and projects, the “Kids Media Lab Project II” stood out as the only systematic initiative for promoting Computational Thinking in Preschool Education (Pinto, Fernandes & Osório, 2021). In the findings, the main elements of the project are discussed.
- Planos de Sessão do Programa de Formação para o Ensino Superior para um Modelo de Educação a Distância com Recurso a Robótica para Crianças dos 3 aos 7 AnosPublication . Konakli, Tugba; Figueiredo, Maria Pacheco; Alves, Valter; Operto, Fiorella; Gilardi, Luca
- Lesson Plans from the Higher Education Course Curriculum for a Distance Learning Model Reinforced with Robotics for 3 to 7 Years Old ChildrenPublication . Konakli, Tuğba; Figueiredo, Maria Pacheco; Alves, Valter; Operto, Fiorella; Gilardi, LucaEARLY recognizes the importance of early childhood education and the potential of digital technologies in enhancing learning experiences. By providing teachers, parents, and children with effective strategies and resources, it aims to improve the quality of online education for young children. To ensure that all preschool children have access to a continuous learning process in different circumstances (e.g., pandemics, prolonged illness or other situations), teachers and parents benefit from being prepared for these different circumstances. The materials developed and offered in the Higher Education Course Curriculum for Distance Learning Model Reinforced with Robotics for 3-7 Years Old Children are, therefore, relevant. Besides the Curriculum itself, which can be used for structuring training or for self-learning, EARLY offers some examples of activities and lesson plans for online activities with educational value. The main target group of this curriculum is pre-service preschool educators (undergraduates in most countries), but the material is also suitable and recommended for experienced preschool educators who want to expand their competences and those who are in close contact with an early childhood learner.
- Play, Algorithmic Thinking and Early Childhood Education: Challenges in the Portuguese ContextPublication . Figueiredo, Maria Pacheco; Gomes, Cristina Azevedo; Amante, Susana; Gomes, Helena Margarida dos Santos Vasconcelos; Alves, Valter; Duarte; Rego, BelmiroALGOLITTLE is an EU-funded project, with partners from Portugal, Italy, Turkey, and Slovenia, supporting the integration of algorithmic thinking skills into preschool education for preparing future code literates from an early age. The paper presents the project and frames it in Portuguese Early Childhood Education. First, in terms of curricular areas and pedagogical approach, through a content analysis of the Portuguese Curricular Guidelines for Preschool Education. Second, by analyzing initiatives and projects that are connected to algorithmic thinking in Early Childhood Education in Portugal. Third, by presenting challenges that emerged from a set of discussions with several participants, highlighting the complexity and timeliness of the project.
- Programa de Formação para o Ensino Superior para um Modelo de Educação a Distância com Recurso a Robótica para Crianças dos 3 aos 7 AnosPublication . Konakli, Tugba; Figueiredo, Maria Pacheco; Alves, Valter; Operto, Fiorella; Operto, Luca F., & Gilardi, L.
- Progressive Sophistication of Communication and Interaction in Videogames for Children and Young People with Autism Spectrum DisorderPublication . Alves, Valter; P. Duarte, RuiChildren and young people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often struggle with communication and social interaction skills (Hyman et al., 2020). Studies show benefits for people with ASD from playing videogames (Baldassarri et al., 2020; Malinverni et al., 2017). Still, current solutions targeting this audience tend to assume and expose educational goals (e.g., Zakari et al., 2014). We’ve been researching and developing guidance on how to design videogames with the potential to improve those skills while providing experiences that players can perceived as purely ludic. Previously, we distilled a set of six guidelines (Alves et al., 2021) that we were able to put into practice in specific games. However, the guideline that suggests to “focus level design on the progressive sophistication of communication and interaction” has been more challenging. To a certain extent this can be attributed to the scale of the projects in which we were able to experiment with that guideline, so far, which did not allow the team to reach its full implementation. We realised that while the other guidelines can be applied right from early stages and in small developments, this guideline, consistently with what it suggests, implies more complexity, at least to include alternate ways to perform some game actions. The acknowledgement of this disparity and the desire to provide tangible instantiations of that “sophistication”, led us to dedicate even more attention to this aspect and to systematize some major ideas so that we can share them while we are also working in their application. A key point of our proposal is that the introduction of more complex ways to communicate and interact is meant to allow players to engage in new strategies (more challenging but also more advantageous), if/when they are willing to try them, but previous alternatives should remain as usable. The specificities of the target users demand a cautious approach to changes and to the anxiety implied by risking and possibly failing. Players should be able to mix the alternatives and go back and forth in complexity, according to what they are prepared to invest in each specific circumstance. Another important aspect is that the unfolding of new alternatives, regarding communication and interaction, should be triggered by each player’s behaviour patterns and not directly by the game levels common to all players. This implies to rethink or complement conventional patterns for game level design. Currently, we are working on ways to enrich the tools for players to communicate and interact. The underlaying ideas are not innovative per se, in the sense that we can reference games (for the general public) that integrate them in some way or context. Our argument is that it is relevant to assemble and redesign them, considering the specific purpose of this research. For instance, in previous experiments we understood that it would be relevant that a player (playing character) could signal other players an interest in their collaboration or proximity. This would support that kind of proactivity (should it emerge) while influencing others to interact. We also consider very worth integrating mechanisms that allow expressing empathy towards other characters, or other emotional displays. Again, many games embed solutions that include predefined messages and/or graphics (e.g. emojis), but the specificities of our target audience require that the system is tailored in a way that is suitable and may contribute to developing this type of externalization of one’s feelings. Ultimately, it would be relevant to test a message system closer to an in-game chat, for more advanced levels of communication. Finally, we are also very interested in further integrating trading systems, common to many games, as a way to entice players to interact.
- Curso – Integração de Competências de Pensamento Algorítmico na Educação Pré-EscolarPublication . Gencel, İlke Evin; Akyüz, Büşra; Kavaklı, Nurdan; Licardo, Marta; Perše, Tina Vršnik; Pezak, Jasminka; Figueiredo, Maria Pacheco; Amante, Susana; Gomes, Helena Margarida dos Santos Vasconcelos; Rego, Belmiro; Gomes, Cristina Azevedo; P. Duarte, Rui; Alves, Valter; Operto, Fiorella; Gilardi, Luca; Şenol, Gizem
- Higher Education Course Curriculum for a Distance Learning Model Reinforced with Robotics for 3 to7 Years Old ChildrenPublication . Konakli, Tuğba; Figueiredo, Maria Pacheco; Alves, Valter; Operto, Fiorella; Gilardi, LucaThe curriculum is organized in five different modules, with different focus. The first module is about Basic Concepts of Computational Thinking, presenting the foundations for the rest of the learning. The second module, on Computational Thinking with Block-Based and Text-Based Coding Environments, and the third module, on the Fundamentals of Physical Programming and CT with Robotic Activities, further expand the learning about computational thinking by providing information on the potential of preschool children for computational thinking and how this can be developed through different environments and tools. The fourth module changes the focus to planning and evaluating activities with children by presenting information on Designing Activities and Learning through Distance Education. This is the module that deals with the challenges and potential of distance education in Early Childhood Education, connecting practice with reflection and further learning for educators through self-evaluation and reflection. Finally, the fifth module, on Building Partnerships for Learning, looks at the development of digital skills for early age as a societal endeavour, supporting practitioners in identifying partners and initiatives as well as building communities that can leverage the educational offer. The whole curriculum was planned to provide knowledge and competences that support the development of a distance learning model reinforced with robotics for 3-7 years old children. But each module is a stand-alone learning opportunity based on the lesson plans, slides presentation and materials available. Interested users are also welcome to combine different modules into unique training experiences.
- Objetos, sítios e memórias de 40 anos do Politécnico de Viseu: processos e aprendizagens de uma exposição virtualPublication . Alves, Valter; Basílio, Lília; Figueiredo, Maria PachecoPara a comemoração de 40 anos de existência, o Instituto Politécnico de Viseu, em colaboração com o Museu da História da Cidade, concebeu uma exposição virtual, que se queria materializada numa coletânea de vídeos com testemunhos em torno de objetos e sítios, que permitiria a salvaguarda e partilha de memórias e experiências. O património pedagógico e científico das instituições, sendo produto e objeto da ação de ensino e de investigação, integra de forma significativa a missão do ensino superior (Lourenço & Dias, 2017). A exposição foi desenvolvida em colaboração com estudantes de diferentes cursos para celebrar o património material e imaterial que substancia a vida da instituição, mas que corre riscos de perda, frequentemente irreversível, dada a perecibilidade dos testemunhos, suportes, artefactos e documentos que o suportam. O artigo reporta a pesquisa que antecedeu os registos, participada por vários atores da instituição e em que se confirmou a tendência registada por Simpson (2014) de um interesse generalizado pela história e património das instituições de ensino superior. Na seleção dos objetos e testemunhos, foi assumida a perspetiva de Lawn e Grosvenor (2005) sobre a cultura material escolar: a dimensão material do artefacto, que orienta para as práticas educativas, e a sua relação com a cultura do trabalho, contribuindo para a compreensão do habitus do ofício docente e das culturas de escola. Esta opção concretizou-se nos critérios (pedagógico, organizacional e pessoal) de seleção dos objetos e testemunhos, assim como na diversidade de contadores de histórias e de perspetivas.
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