Gesture-Based Technologies for Enhancing Learning

Gesture-based computing has received great attention in educational technology. Increasing studies have attempted to integrate its major features—gestures and body motions—into learning activities ranging from physical-related domain to cognitive domain. Despite the rise of gesture-based computing, studies in psychology have long shown that gestures influence the way we learn, think, and perceive the world. Theories of embodied cognition have been the basis to explain the effect of the body on our mind. Thus, this chapter attempts to explore the relationship between these theories and technologies by presenting (1) the ways of interacting with computers using gesture-based computing, (2) the overview of the theories and findings from psychology and education and the implementation of these theories in our own study cases, and (3) potential research frameworks for future studies. It is hoped that researchers and system developers will benefit from this chapter and reflect on how to design an effective gesture-based learning system.

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