Mobile affective education

Abstract

This chapter introduces a new programming language for children named m-AFOL. This programming language extends a "desktop" version of a programming language named AFOL (Alepis 2011), already developed by one of the authors. As with AFOL, the m-AFOL programming language has been based on the idea of the well-known Logo programming language. However, m-AFOL extends Logo's basic programming concepts such as sequential and functional programming by introducing the more modern concepts of Object Oriented programming. Furthermore, m-AFOL incorporates highly sophisticated user interaction mechanisms, namely affective interaction through emotion recognition and through the use of animated tutoring agents. Perhaps the most important addition to this programming language is the mobile interface with the platform. Through a mobile application, pre-installed on a modern Smartphone with a wireless internet connection, a highly sophisticated graphical user interface with affective interaction capabilities is transformed into a modern programming language learning tool for children. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014.