Morten Aagaaard HANDS - Ideas and Goals Page 1/13

HANDS project- Ideas and Goals

“… there is a remarkably good fit between the autistic mind and the digital age. For this new generation of children with autism, I anticipate that many of them will find ways to blossom, using their skills with digital technology ….”

Simon Baron-Cohen, Professor and Director of Autism Research Centre, University of Cambridge

HANDS project – Ideas and goals

1. Introduction + Background2. Ideas: Persuasive Technology, user

customised software, pda3. Organisation4. Demands to testsites in Hungary5. The ethical issue6. Questions, debate

Morten Aagaaard HANDS - Ideas and Goals Page 3/13

Idea no 1 in HANDS

Persuasive Technology – how computers intentionally can change attitude or behaviour of people

”If Persuasive Technology works, can you persuade individuals with ASD to get a better life?”

Morten Aagaard

Morten Aagaaard HANDS - Ideas and Goals Page 4/13

Idea no 2 in HANDS

“In order to design ICT tools specifically for individuals with autism … and that, honestly speaking, makes the task quite challenging”

Miklos Gyori, HANDS document, Exercise 2

=>• The best ICT tools are the ones which are designed and implemented

specifically to the single individual with ASD• The most valuable softwaredesigner is the teacher, who knows the single

individual with ASD

Reallife implication• Two levels of designers: metadesigners and designers• Teachers are offered different services/components, which can be

customised

Morten Aagaaard HANDS - Ideas and Goals Page 5/13

Idea no 3 of HANDS

• Raising selfconsciousness about problematic behaviour

• ToM simulator• Practical problems: Travelling• Customised memorysupport

Morten Aagaaard HANDS - Ideas and Goals Page 6/13

Idea no 4 of HANDS

• Personal Digital Assistent – mainstream technology

• Available, when you need help• Personal belonging

Morten Aagaaard HANDS - Ideas and Goals Page 7/13

Organisation of HANDS

ResearchPartners• Center for Persuasive Design, Institute of communication, Aalborg University, Denmark• ELTE University, Budapest, Hungary

TestsiteManagers• Egebakken, Aalborg, Denmark• ?Department of Education, London South Bank University, England• ELTE University, Budapest, Hungary

Testsites• Egebakken, Aalborg, Denmark• Ullerødskolen, Hillerød, Denmark• www.up.se, Stockholm, Sweden• ?Schools in GB• Autism Foundation, Hungary

Softwaredevelopment• Wirtek - Romania, • ? – Denmark

Budget and timeframe• 1-2 mill eu, 3 years

Projectmanager• Morten Aagaard Professor Per Hasle, AAU CEO Michael Sørensen, Egebakken

Morten Aagaaard HANDS - Ideas and Goals Page 8/13

Testsites

Testsitemanagement

Organisation of HANDS

Egebakken

London South Bank University

ELTEUniversity

Aalborg University

Up.se

Ullerødskolen

?School no 2?School no 1

?School no 3

HandsManagement

AutismFoundation

Ethical Advisory Board

Research

ELTEUniversity

Aalborg University

SoftwaredevelopmentWirtek SLR?

Morten Aagaaard HANDS - Ideas and Goals Page 9/13

Testsitemanagement

• Selecting the testsites• Counceling of the testsites(management,

employees)• Supervising the testsites while testing• Conducting the test• Reporting the testresult to HANDS management• Equipping the Ethical Advisory Board with

information and testpermissions• Translating/speaking components

Morten Aagaaard HANDS - Ideas and Goals Page 10/13

Organisation of HANDS

Establisment of the project

Specification of aims

and needs

Prototypetest

Disse-mination

•Organisational setup •Education of testsites teachers1. Interdisciplinary collaboration – understanding Persuasive Technology1. design of software

•Publicing of research result•Uploading of open source software•Participation in Conferences, writing articles •Education of other teachers

•Two or three prototypetest

• Userparticipation is very important in HANDS• Communication is between HANDS-partners is very important: it is an VERY interdisciplinary research project

3.year1.year 2.year

Computer Science

PedagogicPsychology

Persuasive Technology

Morten Aagaaard HANDS - Ideas and Goals Page 11/13

From the testsites point of view

All others testschool say, that they are TEACCH based

Making ICT Preparations

Research prototypetest

DemonstrationPrototype

test

Disse-mination

Experimential learning prototypeEconomy: 100% finansiel support

•More mature sw products selected by more experienced users•Economy 50% finansiel support

Integrating pda tools into the everyday pedagogical work(outlook calendar, …)Economy: all equipment are free(pdas), courses too, work: 50%

Morten Aagaaard HANDS - Ideas and Goals Page 12/13

Demands to testsites in England

• The school takes care of individuals with aspergers or ASD. If it is ASD-individuals they should be ”wellfunctioning”.

• Testschool Management are committed to the HANDS project

• The testschool staffmembers, who are involved should be committed to the HANDS project

• A large school with a good reputation • Well educated staff• ICT kompetences should be high and management and

staffmembers shall be aware of the importancy of ICT competences in HANDS.

• The testschool can be categorised as ”technology early adapters”

Morten Aagaaard HANDS - Ideas and Goals Page 13/13

HANDS - The ethical issue

Yes, HANDS has an ethical problem.

• The HANDS partners say…• B.J. Fogg say… • The Persuasive Technology research group say…• EU say…• The Market say…

Professor Peter Øhrstrøm, AAU