Interactive Technologies Group GTI, ICT Department, UPF The Human Side of Technologies Technology for adult learning, digital media literacy. http://gti.upf.edu

1. http://gti.upf.eduGTI
Departament de Tecnologies de la
Informació i les Comunicacions, UPF
The human side of technologies
http://gti.upf.edu
Research activities with and for Àgora – La Verneda Adult School
davinia.hernandez@upf.edu

2. http://gti.upf.eduGTI
People & research lines
- Interactive technologies for Learning
- Interactive technologies and the elderly
- Interactive technologies for children
- Visualization
- Graphics

3. http://gti.upf.eduGTI
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/

4. http://gti.upf.eduGTI
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!!

5. http://gti.upf.eduGTI
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.)

6. http://gti.upf.eduGTI
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 …

7. http://gti.upf.eduGTI
Some of our recent activities…
with and for

8. http://gti.upf.eduGTI
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

9. http://gti.upf.eduGTI
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

10. http://gti.upf.eduGTI
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

11. http://gti.upf.eduGTI
http://ilde.upf.edu/about/
Supporting collaborative design / creation and sharing
of activities for learning in Àgora

12. http://gti.upf.eduGTI
• 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…

13. http://gti.upf.eduGTI
Departament de Tecnologies de la
Informació i les Comunicacions, UPF
El lado humano de las tecnologías
http://gti.upf.edu