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Development of Interactive Story Tales Using MIT App Inventor

2022 , Jadán Guerrero, Janio , Pérez-Cazares A. , Chacón-Castro M.

Today mobile technologies have become essential in people’s lives. The use of smartphones and tablets has increased in times of pandemic due to their low cost, ease of use, ubiquity, portability, communication, and interactivity. Reading habits have changed significantly in favor of the digital format. This article describes a study to identify the way children from 8 to 12 years of age read on smartphones. The study was carried out in three phases: the first where an instrumented inquiry was carried out, collecting and analyzing data by applying a diagnostic test to 20 students; as well as a survey of 20 parents and 4 teachers in the language area. In the second stage, with the information collected, mobile educational resources were designed based on unpublished stories and activities focused on four language skills (reading, speaking, listening and writing). In a third stage, an intervention was carried out using the Thinking Aloud technique. The students were separated into two groups, 10 of them participated in a virtual session and 10 in a face-to-face session. In both cases, the results showed some reading habits as well as interest, motivation when there are interactive resources. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

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Experiences and challenges in designing non-traditional interfaces to enhance the everyday life of children with intellectual disabilities

2014 , Jadán Guerrero, Janio , Guerrero L.A.

Some experiences regarding children with disabilities carried out in Ecuador, Costa Rica and Spain have contributed to realize the importance of reading in order to enhance their daily life activities, independence and social integration. This article describes a qualitative study to understand general issues related to the design of non-traditional technologies for children with intellectual disabilities. A methodological approach is described and explained through the results of exploratory surveys and interviews. According to the information obtained from experts and the method of literacy acquisition proposed by Troncoso and Del Cerro, the design of a smart kit using non-traditional user interfaces is presented. A preliminary evaluation of the first prototype is described. The paper concludes by reflecting upon the importance of literacy acquisition and the challenges to design non-traditional interfaces to support learning of children with intellectual disabilities. The development of the phase two of the prototype and empirical evaluation is part of the future work. © 2014 Springer International Publishing.

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Accessibility assessment in mobile applications for android

2020 , Acosta-Vargas, P. , Salvador-Ullauri, L. , Jadán Guerrero, Janio , Guevara Maldonado, César Byron , Sanchez-Gordon, S. , Calle-Jimenez, T. , Lara Álvarez, Patricio , Medina, A. , Nunes, I.L.

At present, the lack of adequate methods to test whether a mobile application is accessible has become a major challenge for accessibility experts. This study was applied to ten mobile applications, the most popular according to PCMAG. We propose to use the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 through manual review and automatic review with the Google Play Store Accessibility Scanner validator for the Android. The evaluation results of the mobile applications indicate that the applications are not accessible because they do not comply with the minimum required level proposed by WCAG 2.1. The research proposes suggestions to improve and raise awareness among the designers of mobile applications, in such a way that more inclusive mobile applications accessible to all types of users are built. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020.

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Using games for the phonetics awareness of children with down syndrome

2017 , Simão J. , Cotrim L. , Condeço T. , Cardoso T. , Palha M. , Rybarczyk Y. , Barata J.

Computers and technology can play a key role in supporting learning, namely for students with special educational needs. Nevertheless, despite the emphasis the society puts on the use of technology and its fast proliferation in the area of education, few initiatives focus on the specific needs of children with disabilities. Motivated by this gap, this research work proposes a computer assisted education application that targets to teach talking and reading through games. The work described herein was carried out in close cooperation with Centro Diferenças - Centro de Desenvolvimento Infantil, a child-care institution that works with children with distinct growth disorders, namely the Down syndrome. © ICST Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering 2017.

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Serious videogames for teaching recycling based on the STEM Project

2022 , Chacon-Castro M. , Lopez-Quintero J. , Acosta-Vargas P. , Luna-Pineda J. , Jadán Guerrero, Janio

This article shows an educational practice laboratory, where high school students created educational video games for teaching recycling. This allows the formation of the STEM research with guidance of the researcher. This project had a great impact for the educational institution and for the students presenting this project at the I International Congress of Steam and Active Methodologies (2021). The objective of this research is to design and evaluate serious video games for teaching recycling based on the STEM methodology (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). The strategy in this research is: planning, observation, action and reflection. The video game programming is done in the Scratch application where students program the code through blocks. This educational project was applied to 40 sophomore high school students from a private institution. Among the results it is found that there is evidence of a motivational increase on part of the students in mathematics class, due to the fact that when programming in blocks they are more active, dynamic and playful during the learning process. © 2022 IEEE.

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Gestalt prototyping framework applied to design a mobile-commerce interface

2021 , Daniel R. , Cesar G. , Alejandra G.

This article presents the different concepts that were considered to design the interface of an e-commerce platform and its consequent adaptation to a mobile environment. The parameters considered during the development of the high and low fidelity prototypes are the result of an association between usability heuristics, Gestalt principles, and specific user experience (UX) interactions. This project shows the results of the projections of the usability tests carried out on the functional application, in which it was possible to understand the close relationship between the use of usability concepts that intervene in the functional actions of the application with the perception of aesthetics. © 2021 IEEE.

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Biomechanical Study of the Eye with Keratoconus-Type Corneal Ectasia Using a 3D Geometric Model

2023 , Sánchez-Real E. , Otuna-Hernández D., , Fajardo-Cabrera A. , Davies-Alcívar R. , Madrid-Pérez M. , Cadena-Morejón C. , Almeida-Galárraga D. , Guevara Maldonado, César Byron , Tirado-Espín A. , Villalba-Meneses F.

Keratoconus is an eye disease that distorts the shape of the cornea. This study aimed to analyze the effect of an increase in intraocular pressure applied to eyes with different severity of keratoconus disease using patient-specific models. Finite element models of the normal eye, eye with keratoconus, and eye with keratoglobus were constructed. The loading conditions considered the intraocular pressure increment as well as their physiological intraocular pressure. The analysis was performed with distinct materials for normal and keratoconic eyes. The finite element analysis revealed differences in the three models in terms of their deformation and maximum principal stress, and differences were observed in corneal curvature and thickness. These findings could enhance research in the biomechanical area, leading to more successful treatment options and a more individualized approach in the field of practical ophthalmology. Further investigation with larger sample sizes and more precise data on eye material would allow us to evaluate whether these disparities could inform the diagnosis of keratoconus. © 2023 by the authors.

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Social Robotic Platform to Strengthen Literacy Skills

2021 , Zapata M. , Gordón J. , Caicedo A. , Alvarez-Tello J.

This work presents a robotic platform with mechanical movements of the head, torso, and arms interact in real-time through the “Tití app” that integrates game sessions to improve literacy skills, relating the development of a new learning scenario. The functionality of the app is based on the reading and writing errors proposed by the T.A.L.E test. The prototype developed for the dynamic interaction with the app, is controlled by an Arduino board, which manages the servo-motors and the Bluetooth communication to establish a wireless connection with a Tablet or mobile device that runs the app. The mechanical design and the control software development allow the execution of operations between the robotic prototype Titíbot and the Tití app. Its design form, function and context were considered to define each of its functions and customize the interaction to reinforce the scenario and context of application. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

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Redefining the Museum Experiences in the Virtual Age

2023 , Jadán Guerrero, Janio , Mendoza M. , Alvites-Huamaní C.

Technology has the potential to redefine museums, opening the opportunity of new ways to connect with visitors. In the pandemic, museums had to close their doors and in-person visits were canceled. In reaction to this reality, many museums rushed to generate digital tours of their works and collections. The creation and development of these visits were born from the need to continue with virtual visits to continue to bring the knowledge that these institutions house closer. Today a possible approach is to create hybrid experiences that utilize digital technology capable of enriching a physical visit to museums. In this context, this paper addresses three experiences developed in Ecuador: (1) The Spiral of Memory proposal developed at the National Museum of Ecuador (MUNA), (2) The Animals of Yesterday and Today proposal developed at the Smithsonian Virtual Museum and (3) Interactive Museums as Pedagogical Mediators, digital educational resources in virtual learning environments. The conclusion of these experiences led to the conclusion that museums are spaces of interaction that contain an infinity of resources that allow children to create their own stories and compositions from the observation of real facts and situations, presented through the creation of physical or virtual experiences in these cultural spaces. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

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Gender Bias in Chatbots and Its Programming

2023 , Illescas C. , Ortega T. , Jadán Guerrero, Janio

Nowadays, digital transformation in business seeks to maximize the efficiency of its own processes through automation. These changes will be successful if the process of adaptation and change management is properly carried out. One of the main tools to achieve these transformations is the chatbot. This key technology will help embrace these changes and transformations; however, there have been processes in which their interactions show bias, as inclusive interaction is missing. This research focuses on two main points: first, to identify whether the user is capable of recognizing any bias variables in chatbots and second, to analyze if these variables have an impact when there is an adoption of new technologies in any digital transformation and business goals. The faster and more in depth a company understands the bias and its impact in the target audience, the better automation will be adopted. As a result, chatbots will be properly used to achieve and increase business goals. Some undoubtable chatbot uses in marketing are personalized service, facilitate sales, and trigger client’s satisfaction. Most importantly, gathering valuable data for analysis, predictive business models and trends into virtually for any product or service intended to promote. After consulting +150 chatbot users, it can be concluded that it is a proven fact that gender bias is present, also, there is a high trend and acceptance of chatbots with female voices and characteristics, which can be balanced if there is awareness around this topic among developers and change management teams seeking adoption of new technologies. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.