Explore the vast range of titles available.

Shortlisted for the BAAL Book Prize 2017 Emoji have gone from being virtually unknown to being a central topic in internet communication. What is behind the rise and rise of these winky faces, clinking glasses and smiling poos? Given the sheer variety of verbal communication on the internet and English's still-controversial role as lingua mundi for the web, these icons have emerged as a compensatory universal language. The Semiotics of Emoji looks at what is officially the world's fastest-growing form of communication. Emoji, the colourful symbols and glyphs that represent everything from frowning disapproval to red-faced shame, are fast becoming embedded into digital communication. Controlled by a centralized body and regulated across the web, emoji seems to be a language: but is it? The rapid adoption of emoji in such a short span of time makes it a rich study in exploring the functions of language. Professor Marcel Danesi, an internationally-known expert in semiotics, branding and communication, answers the pertinent questions. Are emoji making us dumber? Can they ultimately replace language? Will people grow up emoji literate as well as digitally native? Can there be such a thing as a Universal Visual Language? Read this book for the answers.

Emoji have gone from being virtually unknown to being a central topic in internet communication. What is behind the rise and rise of these winky faces, clinking glasses and smiling poos? Given the sheer variety of verbal communication on the internet and English's still-controversial role as lingua mundi for the web, these icons have emerged as a compensatory universal language. The Semiotics of Emoji looks at what is officially the world's fastest-growing form of communication. Emoji, the colourful symbols and glyphs that represent everything from frowning disapproval to red-faced shame, are fast becoming embedded into digital communication. Controlled by a centralized body and regulated across the web, emoji seems to be a language: but is it? The rapid adoption of emoji in such a short span of time makes it a rich study in exploring the functions of language. Professor Marcel Danesi, an internationally-known expert in semiotics, branding and communication, answers the pertinent questions. Are emoji making us dumber? Can they ultimately replace language? Will people grow up emoji literate as well as digitally native? Can there be such a thing as a Universal Visual Language? Read this book for the answers.

This paper presents a study conducted in a Greek Elementary school and explores the impact of Digital Storytelling (DST) on developing children’s second language (L2) writing skills and their intercultural awareness. The development of digital technologies has enabled the use of different multimedia tools to reconfigure traditional storytelling. The researchers’ aim was to reinforce a learner-centered approach to the teaching of writing by provoking influence in innovation of pedagogical practices that personalize learning. L2 learners of diverse cultural backgrounds attending the fifth grade (n=21) of a Greek state elementary school, were involved in composing, sharing and reflecting upon stories from their own cultural backgrounds. The researchers built an interculturally-oriented language framework for better addressing young learners’ literacies, ensuring they work in a stimulating environment, spending time online and engaging with digital applications. Qualitative and quantitative mix methods were used to estimate the feasibility of the intervention, including a pre- and post-test, teachers’ journals and focus group discussions with the L2 learners. Variables of the study were fifth graders in the context of an elementary school in Greece (independent variable) and their writing skills in Greek as a second language (dependent variable). Data processing, by means of a pre- and post-test, revealed that the DST approach provided students with opportunities to acquire improved communicative competence through writing creatively. Journal data indicated that DST application in a game-based context enhanced task engagement, encouraging young learners to use interactive media in a digital environment. Young learners’ intercultural competence development was also shown to be supported through the DST approach. In the focus group discussions, participants stated their interest and satisfaction in the approach and the methods applied. All in all, the results imply that the approach implemented has the potential to be used as a meaningful technology integration approach as far as language teaching and learning is concerned. The findings additionally explore pedagogical implications for future teaching practices in order to enhance and extend the approach and methods employed. This paper presents a study conducted in a Greek Elementary school and explores the impact of Digital Storytelling (DST) on developing children’s second language (L2) writing skills and their intercultural awareness. The development of digital technologies has enabled the use of different multimedia tools to reconfigure traditional storytelling. The researchers’ aim was to reinforce a learner-centered approach to the teaching of writing by provoking influence in innovation of pedagogical practices that personalize learning. L2 learners of diverse cultural backgrounds attending the fifth grade (n=21) of a Greek state elementary school, were involved in composing, sharing and reflecting upon stories from their own cultural backgrounds. The researchers built an interculturally-oriented language framework for better addressing young learners’ literacies, ensuring they work in a stimulating environment, spending time online and engaging with digital applications. Qualitative and quantitative mix methods were used to estimate the feasibility of the intervention, including a pre- and post-test, teachers’ journals and focus group discussions with the L2 learners. Variables of the study were fifth graders in the context of an elementary school in Greece (independent variable) and their writing skills in Greek as a second language (dependent variable). Data processing, by means of a pre- and post-test, revealed that the DST approach provided students with opportunities to acquire improved communicative competence through writing creatively. Journal data indicated that DST application in a game-based context enhanced task engagement, encouraging young learners to use interactive media in a digital environment. Young learners’ intercultural competence development was also shown to be supported through the DST approach. In the focus group discussions, participants stated their interest and satisfaction in the approach and the methods applied. All in all, the results imply that the approach implemented has the potential to be used as a meaningful technology integration approach as far as language teaching and learning is concerned. The findings additionally explore pedagogical implications for future teaching practices in order to enhance and extend the approach and methods employed.

In academic discourse, interactivity has long been conceptualized as a defining feature of digital journalism, offering the potential to transform passive readers into active participants. However, the actual demand for interactive functionalities among audiences—particularly in rapidly evolving digital environments—remains underexplored. This study investigates how Ukrainian digital media users perceive various interactive features and identifies factors influencing their level of interest and engagement. Based on a survey of 401 respondents, the analysis focuses on patterns of media consumption, social media behavior, and attitudes toward different forms of interactivity. The findings indicate a strong preference for low-effort interactivity, such as quizzes, infographics, and simple reaction-based features. In contrast, participatory features that imply deeper editorial collaboration—such as submitting content or suggesting corrections—attract limited audience interest. By comparing user preferences with prior research on the implementation of interactivity in Ukrainian digital media, the study reveals a structural mismatch between audience expectations and editorial practice. These findings underscore the need to reorient interactive design in digital journalism—from normative assumptions toward empirically grounded user preferences—to enhance audience engagement.

Provision of information simply and interactively has a vital role in any stage of the teaching-learning process especially at primary level, not only guarantees self-motivation of the students but also improves their learning and performance. Virtual and Augmented reality techniques are the most attractive candidates in this regard, render synthetic information, and allow realistic interaction. This paper proposes a low-cost interactive writing board for the teaching of Urdu alphabets in primary education. The proposed writing board allows visualization and interaction of all alphabets, 3D models, and other information realistically and simply. Interaction with writing board is made using: 1) simple mid-air hand gestures and 2) a new touchpad like multi-layered marker. Leap Motion sensor is used for gesture recognition while ARToolKit is used for marker recognition. Experimental results showed that the proposed system has significant improvement in student’s motivation and learning skills. System Usability Scale (SUS) was used to measure usability of the system. The results found gesture-based interaction with high usability, learnability, and more user friendly while the marker with less physical fatigue. A comparison of the proposed writing board with state-of-the-art writing boards resulted in realistic visualization of information (audio, text, and 3D models) and natural interaction of the proposed writing board.

In Puno, a region of Peru, the development of oral and written communication skills in basic education students displays weaknesses which could be overcome with the application of technological tools. The objective of the study was to determine the effectiveness of WhatsApp as a mobile learning resource in the development of oral and written communication skills of secondary level students at the losé Carlos Mariátegui' educational institution (Puno-Peru). The population was comprised of343 students and a non-probabilistic, convenience sampling was applied to include two fourthlevel sections of 36 and 34 students, respectively. The first was the experimental group and the second, the control group. The selection was made considering that fourth-level students are the most appropriate age to use WhatsApp in order to assess the evolution of their skills through rubrics, in a participatory way. Statistical analysis was based on the difference in means with a Z distribution, with a 95% confidence level. The results show that WhatsApp develops significant oral and written communication skills, as those skills rose by 3.5 points on average, on a twenty-point scale, after the experiment. Thus, WhatsApp is a mobile learning technology resource available to develop skills and strengthen knowledge in students.

Building students' spatial ability to assist them in understanding molecular geometry requires proper multimedia. This study investigated the effectiveness of 3D molecular interactive multimedia (3D-MIM) in improving chemistry students' spatial ability. Thirty chemistry education students of a public university in East Java, Indonesia, participated in this study. This pre-experimental pretest-posttest design employed a set of spatial ability tests referring to the three main dimensions of spatial abilities (spatial relationship, spatial orientation, spatial visualization) and semi-structured interview. Our finding showed that students' spatial abilities for the three domains after experiencing the 3D-MIM fall in the strong and large effects category. The values of N-gain falling in the moderate category and effect size (d) in the high category confirm the effectiveness of the 3D-MIM.

In this study, a Kinect controller was used to develop control software for interactive television (ITV) and interactive multimedia, thus enabling users to intuitively and conveniently play videos and perform interactive operations. Because it lacks a button controller, the proposed design can achieve a human–machine interaction effect. The interactive control system is divided into two parts: dynamic gesture and handwriting recognition. The Kinect sensor is used as an input device to recognize the dynamic gestures of users to achieve real-time interactive control. TV channels can also be selected automatically through the recognition of handwritten digits. Furthermore, a back-propagation neural network was used to complete handwriting recognition in space to achieve the optimal recognition rate.

The proliferation of Internet of Things devices and services and their integration in everyday environments led to the emergence of intelligent offices, classrooms, conference, and meeting rooms that adhere to the paradigm of Ambient Intelligence. Usually, the type of activities performed in such environments (i.e., presentations and lectures) can be enhanced by the use of large Interactive Boards that—among others—allow access to digital content, promote collaboration, enhance the process of exchanging ideas, and increase the engagement of the audience. Additionally, the board contents are expected to be plenty, in terms of quantity, and diverse, in terms of type (e.g., textual data, pictorial data, multimedia, figures, and charts), which unavoidably makes their manipulation over a large display tiring and cumbersome, especially when the interaction lasts for a considerable amount of time (e.g., during a class hour). Acknowledging both the shortcomings and potentials of Interactive Boards in intelligent conference rooms, meeting rooms, and classrooms, this work introduces a sophisticated framework named CognitOS Board, which takes advantage of (i) the intelligent facilities offered by the environment and (ii) the amenities offered by wall-to-wall displays, in order to enhance presentation-related activities. In this article, we describe the design process of CognitOS Board, elaborate on the available functionality, and discuss the results of a user-based evaluation study.