This work-in-progress paper investigates how university-based innovation environments can foster inclusion, agency, and social sustainability among youth from socially vulnerable contexts. Developed through a partnership in Brazil between the Digital Transformation Observatory of the State of São Paulo and the Innovation Center of the University of São Paulo (InovaUSP), the initiative engages participants from the Morro Doce community in immersive, participatory activities within the university. The program includes guided visits to different innovation spaces, such as InovaUSP, the Institute of Astronomy, Geophysics and Atmospheric Sciences (IAG-USP), and an experimental physics laboratory, followed by hands-on STEAM workshops. Grounded in Paulo Freire's critical pedagogy, the project positions participants as emerging agents of change within their communities. Preliminary findings suggest that participatory, care-centered, and experiential approaches can strengthen engagement, broaden educational perspectives, and support the development of agency among participants.

Programming computational models is a key practice that supports both scientific and computational learning. Block-based, domain-specific programming environments have made this practice more accessible but may constrain what students can design compared to general-purpose or text-based languages. This poster reports on the classroom use of block unpacking—a feature that allows high-level primitives to be opened, inspected, and modified—within a domain-specific modeling environment. We implemented unpacking in a four-day high school biology unit on eutrophication, where students programmed models to represent interactions among algae, bacteria, fish, nutrients, and oxygen. From the 16 students who participated, we analyzed 36 unpacking modifications made by five focal students, classifying each as a parameter change or a code structure change, and examining whether these modifications were informed by scientific reasoning. Our findings show that unpacking let students move beyond fixed domain-specific primitives, producing diverse and more expressive models. Some introduced new mechanisms, such as photosynthesis, while others focused on optimizing or debugging simulations. Importantly, more complex edits did not always correspond to deeper scientific reasoning. This study highlights unpacking as a mid-level design strategy that can expand student agency and flexibility in block-based modeling. We discuss implications for designing programming environments and instructional supports that balance ease of entry with opportunities to engage meaningfully in computing practices.

In this pictorial, we critically analyze how students engaged in data representation activities using PlayData, a block-based programming environment tailored for data visualization purposes. Drawing upon data collected over two years with middle and high school students, we describe obstacles that impacted the interpretation of the data under analysis. These obstacles, here called "design failures", arose from either unexpected uses of the tool or shortcomings in the design of activities. We explore how each of these failures was used as an opportunity for refining both the tool's design and the associated activities. We conclude by offering recommendations for educators and researchers to support learners' engagement with visualization construction for effective reasoning with data.

In this paper, we describe a new automated tool to analyze how students create their projects on Scratch 3.0, with the goal of understanding learning trajectories in a way that considers students’ programming processes and practices, moving beyond the analysis of computational thinking concepts as evidence of learning. Drawing on a combination of qualitative video analysis and temporal learning analytics, we also present preliminary data from a pilot study that illustrates some possibilities afforded by this type of analytical tool. We expect that our tool can help researchers to better understand learning in the context of data visualization activities with block-based programming languages by shedding light on processes that are usually invisible and, thus, better support students in their diverse learning pathways.

Current research on immersive technologies has widely described their application in K-12 settings, with evidence of their goals, approaches, and potential to enhance learning. However, there is a dearth of studies describing those technologies being used as authoring tools by students. This paper investigates how K-12 students apply virtual and augmented reality technologies as tools for designing experiments and solutions for their science and engineering projects. Study 1 analyzed 12 projects presented at a FEBRACE national science fair between 2015 and 2020 and Study 2 investigated, via an online questionnaire, the motivations and challenges from students who worked on those projects. Results include the context in which the projects were developed, motivation for using virtual and augmented reality technologies, fields in which they were applied, and types of software and hardware used. Findings inform how future research can build on those experiences to integrate immersive technologies in K-12 education.

While attribute-based access control (ABAC) is a promising technique to govern interactions in the Internet of Things (IoT), most existing ABAC models are designed to run on remote servers or gateway devices. This scenario is misaligned with recent trends toward IoT decentralization, such as the Swarm, which expects devices to autonomously share resources, making their own access decisions for enhanced privacy and reliability. In this article, we propose SmartABAC: a fast, concise, and expressive ABAC model that can be executed in constrained IoT devices. It combines the performance of policies based on attribute enumeration, with techniques that enhance policy expressiveness, such as typed and hierarchical attributes. We specified SmartABAC using first-order logic, designed a use case, and evaluated it in both constrained and nonconstrained IoT environments. Results show that our model can represent a variety of access policies, including nested multiattribute rules, while using less than 100 bytes per policy, on average, for a smart home use case. Our C-based SmartABAC implementation is at least 255 times faster than existing models and can evaluate 3000 policies under 5 ms on a 32-MHz MCU.

Designing computer models can be a valuable way for students to refine their understandings of scientific phenomena while creating and testing their hypotheses. Drawing on these ideas, we designed nine domain-specific blocks related to diffusion as a Scratch extension, which we called Diffusion Modeling Scratch Extension. In this paper, we describe the pedagogical principles that guided the design of the blocks and draw on the data from a pilot study with seven students to investigate how our design decisions impacted students' learning experiences.

This is an experimental work presenting a study about usability experience of users in a cyber-archeology fully immersive 3D environment in Virtual Reality (VR). Particularly we research how users explore a realistic 3D environment with VR devices through archaeometry conventional techniques for archeology analysis and discoveries. Our main objective is to evaluate user’s experience with interactive archaeometry tools of a population called archeologists, not a VR expert, but expert on the context of the real experience of practicing archeology in remote site; and compare the results with another population called VR experts, in this case, not experts in archeology, but in VR technology and multimedia applications. Several standard metrics will be used to collect data about their interactions with the cyber system (efficacy, efficiency, satisfaction, level of presence and cyber-sickness). Two hypotheses will be tested with this experiment: a) it is possible to represent the virtual world as realistically as the real one, in such way that a person unfamiliar with this kind of technology, in this case the archaeologist, can develop analytical process of discoveries in the VR model; and b) if this VR model is passive of exploration, virtually it is possible to create analytical tools that will help the archaeologist to manipulate archaeometry tools. Both sample population had participated in usability tests and the results are promising.

Presents corrections to author information in the above named paper.

We present an augmented virtuality system using low-cost or outdated devices as sensors, attached to tangible objects. Five interactions were implemented, featuring rotation, pressing, pulling, pushing and insertion movements, including passive mechanical resistance. Interactions were tied together by a puzzling narrative. Concerning storytelling, in contrast to AR, pure virtual reality offers unlimited visual possibilities and higher flexibility. Augmenting VR with physical objects allows ignoring most details of the physical environment and exploring ‘magical’ interactions. Precise registration was accomplished using wireless tracking system. The main challenge was the absent physical counterparts of the scenario, which was tackled by limiting user's reach to available interactions. Despite Leap Motion's erratic hand tracking, mouse and tablet sensors were precise enough and the augmented environment allowed a high sense of presence.

Bringing Programming to K-12 Education has been a strong tendency in Brazil and in the world. In this work-in-progress, we describe an experience in teacher training with the goal of promoting the practice of programming and the development of computational thinking in students of Brazilian public schools, through an initiative called Programming Literacy. Here we present strategies used in the implementation of the initiative, design of a curricular structure and training program, as well as monitoring and evaluation strategies. The results and findings of the initiative, involving more than 500 students from four cities in 2016, are shared as well as the perspectives on next steps.

Physical programming is becoming increasingly popular in schools, and many toolkits have been developed in the last years to introduce novices to the field. In this paper, we describe the development of a low cost physical programming toolkit suited for tinkering explorations and designed to be used with everyday materials. We present an overview of the design principles that guided the development of our kit and show projects created by elementary and middle school students.

This demo presents a fully immersive and interactive virtual environment (VE) - the ArcheoVR, which represents Itapeva Rocky Shelter, a prehistoric archeological site in Brazil. W workflow started with a real world data capture - laser scanners, drones and photogrammetry. Captured information was transformed into a carefully designed realistic 3D scene and interactive features that allows users to experience the virtual archeological site in real-time. The main objective of this VR model is to allow the general public to feel and explore an otherwise restricted and ephemeral site and to assess prototype tools intended for future digital archaeological exploration.

This poster presents the conceptual process of developing Itapeva 3D, a Virtual Reality (VR) archeology experience. It describes the technical spectrum of cyber-archeology process applied to the creation of a fully immersive and interactive virtual environment (VE), which represents Itapeva Rocky Shelter, a prehistoric archeological site in Brazil. The workflow starts with a real world data capture - laser scanners, drones and photogrammetry, continues with the transposition of the captured information into a 3D surface model capable of real-time rendering to head-mounted displays (HMDs), and ends with the design of interactive features allowing users to experience the virtual archeological site. The main objective of this VR model is to make plausible to general public to feel what it means to explore an otherwise restricted and ephemeral place. As final thoughts it is reported on preliminary results from an initial user observation.

In this work we present the methodological approach applied to develop a fully immersive and interactive virtual environment that simulates an archaeological site located in Sao Paulo (Brazil). To create a realistic 3D space, which would be relevant for research through a cyber-archeology exploration, laser scanners and photometry were used for collecting 3D point clouds data from the physical. In consequence, the digital data acquired from these apparatus generated a huge density of point clouds, requiring a many gigabytes computer storage and a research work on design to compact all the information in an user friendly interactive virtual model, but realistic to archaeologists. Also to provide an immersive feeling when exploring the virtual reality we decided to allow the user to navigate through the scene using control devices (keyboard, mouse and joysticks) and a head-mounted display (Oculus Rift) to visualize the aesthetical and spatial elements of the archaeological site as if she/he was really in that place (forms, scales, proportions, perspective, textures, illumination, shadows). In resume, through a sophisticated digital simulation environment, which regards the playful of an electronic game in first-person field of vision, we created a telepresence sense to the user, as well providing archeologists a landscape (and objects) exploration through a non-destructive way.

In this poster we present Portable-Spheree, an interactive spherical rear-projected 3D-content-display that provides perspective-corrected views according to the user's head position, to provide parallax, shading and occlusion depth cues. Portable-Spheree is an evolution of the Spheree and it is developed in a smaller form factor, using more projectors and a dark-translucent screen with increased contrast. We present some preliminary results of this new configuration as well as applications with spatial interaction that might benefit from this new form factor.

Lip control system is an innovative human-computer interface specially designed for people with tetraplegia. This paper presents an evaluation of the lower lip potential to control an input device, according to Fitts' law (ISO/TS 9241-411:2012 standard). The results show that the lower lip throughput is comparable with the thumb throughput using the same input device under the same conditions. These results establish the baseline for future research studies about the lower lip capacity to operate a computer input device.

There is a continuous demand for skilled professionals, however it is not easy to educate an engineer who is prepared to meet the challenges encountered in this new century. Inspiring high school students to pursue engineering careers is closely aligned with an understanding of the importance of engineering skills and abilities. This paper presents a study that addresses the issue of high school students' perceptions of how important some skills are to engineering, and how these perceptions relate to their intention to pursue engineering university degrees. We hypothesize that students' overall perception on the importance of characteristics, abilities, competencies and qualities needed for engineering are directly related to their engineering career choice. Overall survey results demonstrated that high school students perceive how important some skills are to engineering. The results corroborate the thought that to be prepared for today's engineering, high school students need not only solid education in science, mathematics, and technology, but also an education beyond high school subjects, including solid foundations in literacy, numeracy, and thinking skills to succeed in engineering.

We present a method to identity and analyze the expectations of the current job market in electrical and computer engineering for transversal competencies, also referred as soft skills, with a focus on innovation. We have used job ads extracted from the IEEE Job Sites, identified and quantified the transversal competencies demanded by the market. The key identified skills are communication, teamwork, leadership, problem-solving and analysis skills. We also present reflections about the relations between the identified key transversal competencies with active learning approaches in engineering education. Through analyzing the main soft skills demanded by the market in "innovation in engineering", specifically in electrical and computer engineering, the authors reflect on some implications for the formation process of engineers. With these outcomes, it is possible to reflect how the engineering schools can stimulate the development of these competencies helping the student apply the technical knowledge and skills while also activating communication, teamwork multidisciplinary and analytical skills.

New technologies are slowly changing the shared experience of watching TV. In the case of educational applications, the interactive use of a second screen, such as mobile devices synchronized with digital TV contents using data connection, offers promising new possibilities. However, populations from some regions in the world are not part of this trend due to their lack of data connection or other technological infrastructures. This paper focuses on possible technical solutions to provide applications using mobile devices and digital TV, applied to an educational context. It also describes a user test carried out with students, exploring interaction with TV content through a second screen device. As a preliminary trial, it was very fruitful in providing information about Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) requirements for future next steps of this research. The focus was the educational toolset prototype “Buddy Learning”, and alternative options for providing the second screen experience were explored. Three research aims were considered: 1) developing a technical solution for transmitting data content for regions where data connection is inexistent or intermittent; 2) obtaining preliminary information about HCI requirements for learner interaction with the proposed system through a user test with the prototype; 3) stimulating and motivating undergraduate and graduate engineer students to develop solutions involving a digital TV infrastructure that would be workable in remote areas.

This article presents an experiment conducted with an augmented reality musical system for music therapy. In this system, colored cards with graphic symbols replace the music keyboard. Unlike the keyboard, composed of unchangeable and fixed keys, in this system the therapist can print cards of different sizes and place them in various ways, according to the desired motor exercise. Each card represents a different musical note in the timbre of a given musical instrument. A colored virtual cube is attached to each card. A music therapist initially evaluated the system and later an experiment was conducted with a child with cerebral palsy. Results showed the potential of this software in the rehabilitation process.

This paper presents the Mario Schenberg Spaceship, a virtual reality (VR) based collaborative learning environment for astronomy, science and physics learning. The installation has a spaceship-like scenario, where a group of learners experiment an adventure in space. Learners interact with six workstations to play a collaborative but not competitive game. The goal of the game is to complete a mission, which consists on rescuing a population from a distant planet threatened by an exploding sun. Tests with students and teachers showed strong engagement and rich learning opportunities for this kind of environment.

The dissemination of digital technology in the past decades has made digital media part of children's everyday life and can be used to support learning activities inside and outside schools in formal and informal situations. The design of such tools should consider learners' access to technology in these different contexts. This paper presents a Digital Learning Ecosystem Model, which similarly to nature ecosystems consists of species, populations and communities interacting with each other and with the environment. The proposed model supports the analysis of four important learning tools' aspects: authoring, collaboration, immersion and mobility. The model was applied to recently developed learning tools and pointed out their characteristics and how they can be extended.

In this paper we present a digital learning ecosystem model, which similarly to nature ecosystems consists of species, populations and communities interacting with each other and with the environment. We believe that this model can help the design of new learning tools especially during the inception phase.

Recently, low cost mobile platforms specially developed for basic education have appeared on the market. The OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) XO laptop, the Intel Classmate and the Encore Mobilis are examples of these new equipments. In the near future, these platforms could be distributed to public schools, enabling mobile learning and one-to-one computing environments in emerging school communities. Mobile Learning focuses on learning across spaces, across contexts and learning with mobile devices. We have developed the Oficina software; a drawing activity developed to run on XOs educational laptops and is part of the XO distribution.We believe that usability tests are an essential step in the development of a software application and we have conducted such tests for the Oficina software. The work presents the description and some conclusions of the test we applied to children between 12 to 16 years old to verify easiness of its use.

We describe a project, The City that We Want, which enabled the constructionist use of technology within a generative theme to enable students to design and construct their ideas about how to improve life in their communities. We used a variety of computational technologies combined with crafts and scrap materials. The goal was for children to learn in a more contextualized manner important ideas in the disciplines through their projects. We designed the overall project itself as an object to think with in order to facilitate a broader reform in the schools. The willing participation, inspired projects, and commitment and development of the teachers demonstrated significant value.