Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) is a relatively recent term coined to represent living cultural expressions and practices, which are recognised by communities as distinct aspects of identity. The safeguarding of ICH has become a topic of international concern primarily through the work of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation). However, little research has been done on the role of new technologies in the preservation and transmission of intangible heritage. The chapter examines resources, projects and technologies providing access to ICH and identifies gaps and constraints. It draws on research conducted within the scope of the collaborative research project, i-Treasures. In so doing, it covers the state of the art in technologies that could be employed for access, capture and analysis of ICH in order to highlight how specific new technologies can contribute to the transmission and safeguarding of ICH.
The augmented reality game-based learning (ARGBL) approach is an advantageous pathway for the development and enhancement of teaching and learning processes. To this end, this paper presents the design and development of an ARGBL application for the implementation of physics experiments in the fifth grade of a Greek primary school. The purpose of the ARGBL system is twofold: to educate and entertain. For this reason, a treasure hunt game was implemented, which allows students to interact with a digital world and to manipulate virtual objects with the use of an augmented reality (AR) device. Then, according to the instructions, students have to collect all the materials to conduct the AR educational experiment. Overall, the evaluation of the system’s usability by 17 users (both students and teachers) was very promising, indicating that the ARGBL application has the potential to be an easy-to-use educational tool for improving not only the teaching of physics experiments in primary school but also the learning process, by positively affecting the students’ motivation and engagement.
Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) have been successfully used in educational interventions for children with Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) for overcoming their persistent differences related to social communication and imagination. This paper investigates the potential of VLEs presenting Social Stories, as an advantageous pathway for the development of social problem skills in children with ASC. To this end, it presents the design and development of VLSS (Virtual Learning Environment with Social Stories), a prototype three-dimensional VLE for children with ASC. Overall, the evaluation of VLSS by 40 experts (special education teachers) was very positive, indicating that VLSS has the potential to be a beneficial and easy-to-use educational tool for enhancing social problem solving in children with ASC.
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This paper presents the design, implementation and educational use of a virtual learning environment which supports children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) to learn to solve social problems presented in the format of Social Stories. The pilot evaluation revealed that the environment has the potential to be a beneficial and easy-to-use educational tool for teaching social problem solving to children with ASD.
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