Technology Enhance CHildren Cognitive Assessment and Training
NEWS
AUGUST 2019. Demo in EARLI 2019. Dr. Milagros Fernández has successfully attended the conference of the “European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction” (EARLI’2019) held in Aachen(Germany).
In the demos session, experts in Education and Psychology used the software developed in our project running in tablets. They tested and evaluated the tasks, implanted as games and programs, we have been using for cognitive enrichment during this year in schools. The welcome has been fantastic, and we have received valuable feedback to continue improving and completing the tasks and activities of our project.AUGUST 2018. Poster in EARLI 2019. Dr. Milagros Fernandez has successfully presented a poster about the methodology and enrichment of executive process in TECHCAT project. It has been a very useful commentary session to understand the strengths and weaknesses of our approach.
As a summary, we have seen that the methodology is adequate and we need to develop more tasks to complete the objectives of the project. We will do so, in the next course with the children of our schools.
MAY 2019 We are doing the tablet work sessions with Pre-School students at La Reina School in Malaga and Huertas Viejas School in Coín (Málaga). Children of 3, 4 and 5 years old were performing cognitive enrichment tasks related to inhibition: motor inhibition and delayed gratification. The tasks are implemented as serious games. Children play tablets to perform their tasks.
- Atention Playing with differences. This task us being used to help children too become familiar with interface of the tool. Two pictures appear and you have to make the difference between the two.
- Motor Inhibition: Draw geometric figures with the finger according to given instructions (slowly or quickly).
- Delayed gratification: The children control a car that goes along a road where you see a gift in the distance, and they advance and advance... and you never get to the gift.
May 2019. Tablet sessions are combined with face to face enrichment sessions:
- Motor Inhibition: Hitting. The teacher hits the table with a sequence and the child must hit the second option. For example, the teacher gives 1 stroke- Child 2 strokes Teacher gives 2 strokes- Child 1 stroke.
- Verbal inhibition:
- Teddy/bunny says. He is taught a talking doll. The child should only reproduce what the doll says when the doll says before teddy/bunny says..., otherwise must be quiet.
- Respond when the bell rings. The child's back is turned. The sign is going to ask him something but he must wait for an acoustic signal (ringing of the bell) to give the answer.
- I speak fast and I speak slow. The child is asked to respond as quickly as possible to a question the teddy bear is going to ask. They are asked to answer as slowly as possible, lengthening the words or saying them very slowly, as slowly as they can.
- Emotional Inhibition
- Puzzle angry. Must compose a drawing (puzzle) with pieces but none fit.
- The closed box. You are presented with a box (treasure chest) and a set of keys of different sizes and colors, and you are told that one of the keys will be used to open the chest. Actually, none of the keys will work.
APRIL 2019 This month, we start to work in two schools, La Reina (Malaga) and CEIP Huertas Viejas (Coin, Malaga), to have a pilot experience for more than a month with children's education students. We will carry out tasks of enrichment and monitoring of the executive function "inhibition".
APRIL 2019 PROJECT MEETING. M. Felisa Verdejo attended to the project meetings about the implemeted serious games and the scheduling of tasks in schools during this spring.
ABRIL 2019 CENTER OF DEVELOPING CHILD (Harvard University) have just published an infography about executive function. Click here to see it.
FEBRUARY 2019 ICT Demonstration "Enrichment of executive functions for small children with SIETTE in TECHCAT project" has been accepted for presentation at EARLI 2019 in RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany as ICT Demonstration in August 2019.
FEBRUARY 2019 Poster "How evaluate and improve four dimensions of self-regulation in preschool seetings" has been accepted for presentation at EARLI 2019in RWTH Aachen, Germany as Poster Presentation in August 2019.
OCTOBER 2018 Dr. Inmaculada Quintana joins the TECHCAT team as a researcher specializing in child development. Wellcome!.
MARCH 2018 Project meeting. M. Felisa Verdejo attended to the project meetings about the design of tasks to enrich executive functions in small children.