Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, 39 - Roma 0669207671

Psychosocial disciplines (Academic Year 2012/2013)

Psychotechnology and learning processes


Credits: 9
Content language:Italian
Course description
The course is aimed at supplying a deeper insight into the psycho-technologies influencing cognitive processes, enhancing the mind’s potentials and modifying the interaction patterns among people having different cultures. It analyses the historical shift from technologies to psycho-technologies: from a tool that extends the body’s physical functions to a tool that extends mental functions and therefore intellectual functions. Particular attention will be attached to questions related to communication technologies and relative languages in their historical succession, to knowledge transfer models and, consequently, to the teaching methodologies and learning processes: from orality to writing, to electricity, from analogical to digital. In addition, the way psycho-technologies, and the Web in particular, influenced socialisation, collaboration, knowledge sharing dynamics as well as the way the shift from collective to connective intelligence took place.
Objectives
The course is aimed at explaining how communication technologies and their respective languages, in their historical succession, brought about radical changes in knowledge transfer modes and, as a consequence, in teaching methodologies, in memorisation processes and in learning models: from orality to writing to electricity, from the analogical to the digital. The student will develop the ability to analyse new media, the modes by which they modify cognitive processes and knowledge construction processes and the way they influence the educational needs of a globalised society leading to new challenges and supplying new solutions.
Program
The first part of the course is aimed at supplying students with theoretical tools for studying and analysing the relationship between communication technologies and cognitive processes; in particular, the course deals with the relationship existing between technology and psychology. The modes by which media modify the environment and the users are analysed. The second part of the course will focus on the analysis and study of one of the most important disciplines regarding training in psycho-technologies: basic design and web design. The design process will be analysed according to the perspectives of the cognitive sciences, of cognitive psychology and information architecture as well as deepening the reference conceptual paradigms through practical exemplifications. The third section of course will analyse more in depth the fundamental issues of applied psycho-technologies: ergonomics and usability. In particular, it will describe the evolution of this discipline from mainly manufacturing societies up to the development of cognitive ergonomics. In addition, the Web will be analysed in terms of its usability and quality features. The last part of the course will develop around the description of an advanced web design process in which the processes of information structuring, of management of the graphical systems and textual organisation will be deepened. The course will be integrated with interactive lessons delivered in a Virtual Classroom in which the relationship between the new information and communication technologies and the new teaching and learning models will be analysed attaching particular attention to the socio-constructivist approaches to learning and teaching and to the collaborative learning theoretical and practical models and to knowledge co-construction.
Book
* M.A.Garito, G.Anceschi, M.Botta "L'ambiente dell'apprendimento - Web design e processi cognitivi"[*], Mc Graw-Hill, 2006; Below you find the chapters that you must study: Introduzione M.A.Garito, Introduzione I - L'ambiente dell'Apprendimento Cap. 1 - M.A.Garito, L'ambiente dell'Apprendimento del Progetto HAMLET, IV - Laboratorio di Basic Design Cap. 4 - G.Anceschi, Basic design, fondamenta del design, Cap. 5 - I.Simonini, Storia del Basic design, Cap. 6 - A. Benincasa, Basic Motion Design - Analisi della progettazione cinetica Cap. 7 - D. Riccò, Basic Design sinestesico I - Fondamenti teorici Cap. 8 - A. Belluschio, Basic Design sinestesico II -€“ Esemplificazioni pratiche VI – Design dell’uso, design dell’esperienza Cap. 16 - R.Polillo, La qualità dei siti web Cap. 17 - R.Polillo, Introduzione all’usabilità dei siti Web, Cap. 18 - S.Bagnara, L’ergonomia dalla manifattura all’età dell’informazione Cap. 19 - S.Bagnara, L’ergonomia cognitiva X - Teorie del progetto per il web design Cap. 26 - M.Botta, L'espressione grafico-simbolica Cap. 27 - M.Botta, Tipologie dell'organizzazione informazionale Cap. 29 - M.Botta, Forme e tecniche dell'interazione Cap. 30 - G.Anceschi, L'arte del mostrare: le anafore e le epifore del Web The volume M.A.Garito, G.Anceschi, M.Botta, L'ambiente dell'apprendimento - Web design e processi cognitivi, Mc Graw-Hill, 2006 Can be found at the Libreria Kappa (via degli Apuli, 47 - Roma). Otherwise, it is possible to buy it online on the website of McGraw-Hill per l'Università - Ateneo on line on: http://www.ateneonline.it/catlibro.asp?item_id=2474 * M. A. Garito - O.Roux: Le Teorie dell'Apprendimento Parte I: O.Roux - "Le Teorie Pedagogiche" Parte II: O.Roux - "I metodi di Apprendimento" Parte III: M.A.Garito - "L'Apprendimento Collaborativo in Rete" * M.A.Garito, Il ruolo della televisione nei processi di insegnamento e apprendimento, pubblicato nell'ambito del progetto HAMLET - Hypermedia Academic Multicultural Learning Technology - ver. marzo 2008 * D. De Kerckhove: "Psicotecnologie" - da "La pelle della cultura", Costa & Nolan, Genova, 1996; * J. Lowyck (2000) Design of Collaborative Learning Environments. Italian Translation: "La progettazione di ambienti collaborativi di apprendimento"
Professor/Tutor responsible for teaching
Maria Amata Garito
List of lessons
Derrick De Kerckhove
Joost Lowyck
    •  Lesson n. 11: La qualità dei siti Web
Roberto Polillo
    •  Lesson n. 13: L’ergonomia dalla manifattura alla società dell’informazione
Sebastiano Bagnara
Massimo Botta
Massimo Botta