Exploiting multisensory modalities for mathematics learning based on multimodal technology and serious games

At school, the visual channel is often the most frequently exploited one for teaching, and the other channels are left a marginal role only. The visual signal, however, is not always the more powerful and effective channel for perception. Recent results from psychophysics and developmental psychology show indeed that children have a preferential sensory channel to learn specific (spatial and/or temporal) concepts. In this work, we explore the possibility of developing and evaluating a new methodology, supported by novel multisensory technologies, to teaching and learning arithmetic (time) and geometry (space). The main novelty of the proposed approach comes from a deeper understanding of the role of communication between sensory modalities during development, that is, that specific sensory systems have specific roles for learning specific concepts. Results suggest that it is possible to open a new teaching/learning channel, personalized for each student based on the child’s sensory skills. Multisensory interactive technologies including a hardware and software platform to support this approach are presented and discussed.