University of Westminster Harrow CampusSchool of Media, Arts and DesignMaster of Arts Design for Interaction

Tools, Technologies and Media

Lecturer: Roman Buj

Tools for Interactive Reading

Designers: Rodrigo Zuniga Andrighetti, Simone NogueiraJune 2006

“Tools, media, and cultural artefacts are the tangible forms, or

meditational means

,through which we make sense of our world and negotiate meaning with others.”

Introduction

This project aims to explore tools as an important instrument to help people to readelectronic texts in an interactive process, constructing their own knowledge whenthey interact with it, adding information, questions, definitions, recordings, links, andso forth.In order to present the development of this project this text was divided into threeparts. The first part shows a research about tools for learning. This was important torealize how tools can be developed for different proposals, and in this case, for amore cognitive process. Two projects are presented: the “gifts and occupations” fromFriedrich Froebel and the “Turtle” from Seymour Papert.The second part explains the elaboration of the project by adding a research aboutreading in a study context.The third part presents the final project, which was based on a metaphor of the textas a land to explore.

First approach: tools for learning

It has been a while since people started to develop tools in order to help them to cut,hunt, build and draw. Tools became part of people lives represented by differentphysical objects with different functions. More than that, tools became an extensionof the human body as they connected peoples’ intentions with their purposes.

Edith K. Ackermann.

Constructing knowledge and transforming the world.http://learning.media.mit.edu/mid_public.php

The first approach to develop this project was an investigation into tools for learning,In the beginning the intention was to work with a tool to organize ideas within alearning context. There were two examples researched about the use of tools in thepedagogical process. The first one – the “Gifts and Occupations”-, developed byFriedrich Froebel, is an example of a physical tool and the second one – the ‘Turtle’developed by Seymour Papert, is an example of a computerized tool. Both of themwere developed with a ‘child centered’ concern in order to help children to developtheir skills, through a thoughtful and engaging learning process.Froebel said that the children were his teachers and, with this statement, hedesigned, between 1835 and 1850, a series of toys to teach children aboutmovement and nature

. This toys, known as ‘Gifts and Occupations’, where used astools to present formal subjects, allowing children to play and find out meaning inwhat they were manipulating thus the learning should be the result of what theyexplored.

Figure 1. Froebel’s gifts II, V and VI

Evelyn Lawrence.

Friedrich Froebel and English Education

. 1969.

Evelyn Lawrence.

Friedrich Froebel and English Education

. 1969