Mate Marote: a flexible automated framework for large-scale educational interventions

LOPEZ-ROSENFELD, MATÍAS; GOLDIN, ANDREA PAULA; LIPINA, SEBASTIÁN; SIGMAN, MARIANO; FERNÁNDEZ SLEZAK, DIEGO

COMPUTERS AND EDUCATION

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2013 vol. 68 p. 307 - 313

0360-1315

There is big consensus that computer games may be an effective way of learningand many initiatives are being developed where aspects from cognitive sciencesare being applied in the development of these games. In this article, we presentMate Marote, a flexible framework for large-scale educational interventions.Based on the delivery programs of computers to each student in Argentinianschools, we developed an environment that provides activities/games and reg-isters usage statistics. This framework keeps installation up-to-date connectingwith a central server as Internet connection is detected, synchronizing new ac-tivities, version updates and usage history. As a first testbed intervention, wedeployed three games in La Rioja province (Argentina), where OLPC is the offi-cial program. These games were focused on training inhibitory control, workingmemory and planning skills. We found that usage statistics of games replicateprevious results found at the laboratory, showing that this platform works asan intervention framework despite its unsupervised nature.