TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION AND eLEARNING

Jan. 2012-Jun. 2013, Researcher at Faculty of Informatics, Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland
Project: PAper and Digital resources in Schools, (PADS), grant from HASLER foundation, Switzerland
Main Task: to explore the use of technology in primary school education through the introduction and adaptation of interactive paper in the learning environment. PADS will enable children to create their own multimedia stories by mixing digital media as well as crafted paper drawings and texts.
Coordinator: Dr. Monica Landoni

Jan. 2011-Jan. 2013, Researcher and coordinator at TEC-Lab, Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland
Project: Activité Narrative Instrumentée (ANI), Funded by Partenariat Hubert Curien (PHC) Germaine de Staël, Switzerland.
Main Task: leading the three-member team who are investigating the role of narrative activity in children’s cognitive and social development. In particular, we study the impact of digital technology as a support for educational activities in formal as well as informal settings.  The project includes a case study in an elementary school in Lugano.

Jan. 2011-Sept. 2011, Researcher at Laboratory Paragraphe, team C3U, Université de Paris 8, France
Project: Bibliothèque National Française for Children
Main Task: to design innovative concepts for supporting children in improving their reading and writing skills.  This research, grounded in the framework of a playful learning approach, looked at solutions based on manipulative interactions using tangible and augmented reality technology.
Coordinator : Prof. Françoise Decortis coordinates the project.

Dec. 2009-June 2011, Researcher and coordinator at TEC Lab, Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland
Project: Digital-Based Narrative Activities in a Formal Educational Setting, funded by Università della Svizzera italiana.
Main Task: leading the three-member team who are defining educational assets for supporting the development of narrative competences and social interaction skills in children in a formal educational setting by using digital technology. In addition, to design a multimedia repository for supporting the organization of the content used for creating digital storytelling. The project is based upon a case study carried out in a primary and secondary school in Lugano, Switzerland.

Mar. 2008-May 2008, Researcher at Hypermedia Open Center Lab, Department of Electronics and Information (HOC-Lab) Polytechnic of Milan, Italy
Project: Learning@SocialSport, grants from Fondazione italiana Accenture, Italy.
Main Tasks: to investigate online communication using Web 2.0 and social networks to support learning in collaborative environments. We built and tested virtual kiosks in Second Life, which allowed elementary school students to acquire further knowledge about sports during gaming activities. The main pedagogical objective was to provide content which underlined the ethical and social value of sports.
Coordinator : Prof. Paolo Paolini

2002-2008, Researcher at the Communication Sciences Dept. University of Siena, Italy
Project: 3_is, grant from University of Siena, Italy
Main Tasks: to conduct research on theoretical and practical issues regarding learning and teaching through the design of digital technology. The defined concepts (dialogical knowledge construction and situated editing of content) have been applied to the construction of a Web application used in university lectures. The client application for editing allows the creation of the Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM), and the connection between learning objects and the video and audio of the lecture/discussion. A delivery application was also integrated as a MOODLE module.
Coordinator : Prof. Antonio Rizzo

TECHNOLOGY ENHANCED COMMUNICATION FOR CULTURAL HERITAGE AND VISITOR STUDIES

Apr. 2008 – Present, Researcher at TEC-Lab, Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland
Project: DAC/LAC Visitors’ Studies in Cultural Institutions, grant from Polo Culturale and Città di Lugano, Lugano, Switzerland
Main Task: design and deployment of visitor studies to investigate the role of multimedia in cultural heritage online communication, including the impact of technology on the visitor’s assimilation of interpretive content. The study was conducted during several exhibitions organized by the Art Museum in Lugano, the Museo Cantonale D’Arte, Polo Culturale, and Città di Lugano: “Enigma Helvetia” (Spring 2008), “Guardami” (Oct. 2009), “NIPPON” (Oct. 2010 – Feb. 2011), “Consonanze” (Oct. 2011-Jan. 2012).  This research also contributed to the design of the narratives “Enigma Helvetia” (www.enigmahelvetia.usi.ch) and “Guardami” (www.guardami.usi.ch).
Coordinator: Prof. Paolo Paolini

June – Sept. 2010, Researcher at TEC-Lab, Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland
Project: Monte Verità Mobile App
Main Task: to investigate the use of mobile technology for enhancing informal learning in cultural sites through the design of an iPad application. The case study took place in Ascona at Monte Verità. Using a qualitative approach the study revealed new means for supporting collaborative informal learning activities during a visit to a small cultural site. The project was developed in collaboration with The New Media in Education Laboratory (NewMinE).
Coordinator: Prof. Lorenzo Cantoni

Sept. – Nov. 2003, Researcher at Communication Sciences Dept., University of Siena, Italy
Project: University of Siena Museum and Archive, grant from University of Siena.
Main Tasks: to explore the theoretical and design issues related to the creation of a proactive environment enhancing the consumption of interpretative material in an exhibition space. The results of the study have been exploited in the design of a working prototype for the University of Siena museum and archive. The system is based on a Tangible User Interface implemented through interactive kiosks and RFID technology. Coordinator: Prof. Antonio Rizzo

TOURISM AND E-INCLUSION

2004-2006, Researcher at the Communication Sciences Dept., University of Siena, Italy
Project: Intelcities, European IP (IST-2002-507860)
Main Tasks: to elicit the requirements for designing services to support citizen inclusion through technology.
The project aimed at developing an Internet platform to provide services for European citizens www.intelcitiesproject.com. Led by Manchester City Council (UK) and the City of Siena (Italy) it brought together eighteen European cities, twenty ICT companies (including Nokia and CISCO) and thirty-six research groups.
Coordinator: Prof. Maurizio Masini

2002-2003, Researcher at the Information Engineering Dept., University of Siena, Italy
Project: M-toGuide, European IP (IST-2001-36004)
Main Tasks: to conduct research on mobile customers through a literature review and user studies. Developed and evaluated the prototypes. The aim of the research was to define interaction modalities for a mobile and distributed environment in order to allow a single user and the community to communicate and share information with other people, objects, and machines located in the environment. Prototypes have been tested in Siena, London and Madrid. Motorola coordinated the project and the consortium included Thomas Cook, Antenna Audio, Telefonica Moviles Espana and Wind.
Coordinator: Prof. Giuliano Benelli

EMBEDDED INTERACTION AND MOBILE

Sept. 2010 – Present, Researcher at Faculty of Informatics, Ubiquitous Computing Group, Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland
Project: pd-net – Towards Future Pervasive Display Networks, FET-Open, EU 7th Framework Program.
Main Tasks: to explore the scientific challenges and to design and assess the new technological solutions required to enable the emergence of large-scale networks of pervasive public displays and associated sensors.
Coordinator: Prof. Marc Langheinrich

July 2010-Sept. 2011, Researcher and coordinator of a cross-disciplinary team (10 people) Technology Enhanced Communication Laboratory (TEC-Lab), Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland
Project: MDC, Tangible for Museum, Funded by Università della Svizzera italiana, Switzerland.
Main Tasks: to investigate ways to support informal learning in museums by enhancing social interaction through the use of direct manipulation of content. The resulting augmented environment offers the visitor the opportunity for learning informally while enjoying the museum visit.

Jan. 2007- Jan. 2011, Researcher at Communication Sciences Dept., University of Siena, Italy
Project: Wi-roni, Design Technology for Public Spaces, grant from Province of Siena
Main Tasks: to investigate theoretical and practical issues of designing technology for communities in public spaces,  grounded in a cognitive ergonomics theoretical framework. The solutions, based on gesture input and audio output, aim at supporting Internet information access in public spaces and at fostering emergent collaborative activities. The findings of the research have been assessed and used for the development of a real prototype,  Wi-roni, a set of urban furniture installed in a public garden in  Monteroni d’Arbia, Italy, www.arsnovasiena.it/wironi
Coordinator: Prof. Antonio Rizzo

Mar. 2006-Dec. 2006, Researcher at University of Applied Sciences of Western Switzerland, Fribourg, Switzerland
Project: Memodules, Grant from HASLER foundation, Switzerland
Main Tasks: to explore theoretical and practical issues involved in the design of technological solutions for supporting people in memory recollection in mobile contexts. The Memobile prototype was developed to enhance the visitor experience to cultural and touristic sites www.memodules.ch
Coordinator: Prof. Omar Abou Khaled

USABILITY AND INFORMATION DESIGN

Sept. 2007- Aug. 2008, Researcher at TEC-Lab, Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland
Project: USI.CH, funded by Università della Svizzera italiana
Main Tasks: to conduct a usability evaluation of the Università della Svizzera italiana web site (www.usi.ch) using the MILE+ methodology which is based on technical inspection and end user evaluation.
Coordinator: Prof. Paolo Paolini

2002-2005, Researcher at the Information Engineering Dept., University of Siena, Italy
Project: Sm-PaySoc, European IP (IST 1998-2002, IST-2001-32526)
Main Tasks: to conduct research on designing the user interface for a multi-platform system (kiosk, mobile device, personal computer) for supporting eCommerce and eCitizen applications. Marconi mobile leads the project and the consortium included Sony Ericsson, Regulus, Bantry technology, m-system and Robotiker.
Coordinator: Prof. Giuliano Benelli

2000-2002, Researcher at the Information Engineering Dept., University of Siena, Italy
Project: SAUL, grant from Ministero dell’Università per la Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologica (MURST).
Main Tasks: to investigate the issues of learning spatial relationships through the design of geographic representations. The online application supports orientation and wayfinding by merging traditional maps and real environments. The project aids mobility of physically impaired people in historical, cultural, and tourist areas. The results have been implemented in a National Park in Italy (www.saul.unisi.it).
Coordinator: Prof. Giuliano Benelli

TECHNOLOGY ENCHANCED TECHNICAL AND CORPORATE COMMUNICATION

Dec. 2008-Dec. 2009, Researcher at TEC-Lab, Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland
Project: Swiss University Web Communication, Funded by Swiss University Rectors Conference (CRUS) and Swiss University International Marketing (SUIM), Switzerland
Main Task: the assessment of the methodology for the analysis and definition of requirements. The project adopted a wide approach in using Internet Web applications to enhance the efficiency of communication through ICT. It was supported by different formats including storytelling: one narrative about Swiss University, available via web, podcast and cellular phones was  developed. The purpose of the research  was to study how to deliver communication messages through different channels and formats (website, mobile devices, podcast). Project Website: SUW
Coordinator : Prof. Paolo Paolini

Feb 2008-April 2008, Researcher at TEC-Lab, Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland
Project: Mechatronic project, funded by Mechatronic, Switzerland
Main Tasks: to explore the design implications and define the heuristics for the development of a storytelling interactive application for technical communication. The project had the practical goal of developing a multichannel multimedia narrative to promote the identity and the products of the  Mechatronic Company. The research goal was to investigate how the use of integrated Web applications can support corporate communication and sales promotion.
Coordinator: Prof. Paolo Paolini