Research

HOC-LAB deals with innovative education and multimedia communication.

The current research of HOC-LAB concerns the infusion of technologies in education. It is carried out in the context of projects in which HOC-LAB designs, creates and evaluates educational experiences in which technologies play an important role.

On the technology front, we are working on:

  • Augmented Reality applications that implement a new paradigm, in which not “objects” but “concepts” are represented
  •  video-annotation systems that allow teachers to get a precise picture of how students perceived instructional videos they have shared with them (what was clear, what was unclear…). The tool is called EVOLI and it is available at this link
  • educational chatbots that help a learner build personalized pathways within online courses
  • an authoring system for multimedia and interactive digital stories (1001stories)

For all these technologies, we investigate design principles and impact, favoring experimentation in real contexts and on large numbers.

We are convinced that reality must give us feedback on the value of our research.

On the pedagogical research front, we are working on:

  • the distributed and dynamic interpretation of the TPACK model (Technology, Pedagogy and Content Knowledge Model) which considers how the knowledge necessary to manage an educational experience with technologies is “distributed” in a dynamic system of resources
  • the investigation of the “instructor social presence” in remote teaching
  • the development of skills and competences (equal for all? distributed according to talents?) in project-based learning
  • the definition of the “Teacher as Coach” approach in teaching