rs-gti-14

http://gti.upf.eduGTI

Departament de Tecnologies de la Informació i les Comunicacions, UPF

The human side of technologieshttp://gti.upf.edu

Research activities with and for Àgora – La Verneda Adult School

[email protected]


People & research lines

- Interactive technologies for Learning

- Interactive technologies and the elderly

- Interactive technologies for children

- Visualization

- Graphics


Àgora is a non-profit making association of adults who do not have any academic degree.

Àgora was created in 1986 as the results of the neighbourhood claims about the lack of basic services in the district.

It is dedicated to the non-formal training of lifelong learners, especially those who are socially excluded

Àgora has two aims:

To offer a wide range of educative and cultural activities to people without academic degree

To promote the managing ability and initiative of adults

http://www.edaverneda.org/edaverneda/


1.600 participant people:• Adults without academic degree• Teenagers and young adults who have experienced school

failure• Immigrants• People with special learning needs

150 volunteer people People from the neighbourhood to University lecturers.

7 hired staff

Opened 7 days a week, from 9am to 10pm

111 training groups

460 weekly hours of activities.

All activities are for free!!


Activities ICT and Media literacy, dialogical literary gatherings

Speaking Spanish and Catalan

Languages: English, French, Arab, German, etc.

Workshops: artistic, music, dancing, sport activities, etc.

…

Democratic participation

Everyone who participates in Agora is involved in egalitarian conditions and has the opportunity to participate in the decision-making spaces without exclusion. (Eg. Mixed commissions, centre council, etc.)


The GTI has been collaborating with Àgora for about 10 years

European and national research projects APADIS, TENCompetence, Life2.0, WorthPlay, METIS…

PhD Thesis- Sergio Sayago (completed in 2009)

- Valeria Righi, Susan Ferreira (ongoing)

Bachelor’s Final Projects Long list! Over 20 …


Some of our recent activities…

with and for


Design collaborative services for active ageing

Beyond Àgora community – involving public bodies, neighbhoord associations, local businesses

Design, develop and evaluate a platform for worth playing online games created by older people

Over 30 games created on several different topics (Bernat Metge, neighborhood memories, geography, maths…)

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7w29vfCZOJ0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7w29vfCZOJ0


Understand and design IT-based service for communities of older people

Long term ethnographical study (over 4 years)

Participatory observations during weekly meetings while participants (learn to) use technologies in groups

Participatory design approach

Online (e.g. Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter) and offline communities

Understanding sustainability and appropriation of developed technologies

over long time


Older people as active creators of online videos: challenges and opportunities for web accessibility

• Understanding how older people use online video portals: everyday use and accessibility barriers.

• User-centered research 3 years ethnography study

• Online video portals mediated

communication• Older people creating video

content• Fostering digital and social

inclusion• Design recommendations


http://ilde.upf.edu/about/

Supporting collaborative design / creation and sharing of activities for learning in Àgora


• Activities with schools:– E.g., http://gti.upf.edu/questinsitu-the-game-mnac/

• Activities with NGOs: – MSF, http://ilde.upf.edu/about/

• More activities by other ESUP professors / research groups at the DTIC:– http://www.upf.edu/dtic/recerca/arees_recerca.html

Other activities impacting society…


Departament de Tecnologies de la Informació i les Comunicacions, UPF

El lado humano de las tecnologíashttp://gti.upf.edu

rs-gti-14

Education