FADCOM lecturer Michael Arce undertook a research placement at the University of Azuay (UDA) as part of the Osi-Aprende Phase II project, an initiative aimed at developing educational games to support lexical and semantic learning in children with language disorders. The visit took place in collaboration with the University of Azuay and enabled one of the technological developments created at ESPOL to be transferred to a real-world application context.
As part of this process, the team took the social robot developed at ESPOL’s facilities to the University of Azuay’s Private Early Years Education Centre (CEIAP), a facility where speech therapy, early intervention and other activities aimed at child development are carried out. The CEIAP environment provides a suitable setting for conducting the initial tests of the prototypes developed as part of the project, as it allows their performance to be observed in real-life situations and enables data to be collected on their interaction with users and the needs of the context.
This visit represents a validation stage within the research process, as it enables solutions developed in academia to be tested outside the laboratory and assessed in settings directly related to their educational purpose. The collaboration between ESPOL and the University of Azuay also strengthens joint work on research and development of technologies geared towards education and supporting children’s learning and development processes.
© Photograph: Courtesy / Text: José Luis Castro
