Teachers' perceptions about collaboration and inclusion using a tangible digital storytelling tool (i-Theatre) in pre-school and primary education: the included project research pilot study

This study analyzes the teachers' perception on the use of i-Theatre, a digital-tangible interactive system. The study involved 40 pre-school and primary school educators in Italy as part of the INCLUDED Project. INCLUDED "Inclusive childhood education supported by multimedia and digital storytelling" is a training and action-research project promoted by the European Commission (Erasmus+) and several institutions and educational centers from Italy, Spain, and Finland. The project aims to favor social skills) and narrative competence through collaborative activities using i-Theatre. This tool links the multisensorial dimension of drawing, storytelling, and digital tools in classroom experiences with digital and tangible interfaces. The INCLUDED study is divided into two phases: a pilot and an experimental phase. This pilot study explores the initial contact between students, teachers, and the i-Theatre by examining the teachers' percepti on on their experience. During this phase, teachers involved in the project had the opportunity to use the i-Theatre tool in their classes and were then invited to answer a questionnaire about their experience. Finally, individual semi-interviews were conducted with a part of the cohort to collect more focused data on their experience. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of questionnaire and interview data was performed. The results show that teachers consider this experience and the i-Theatre tool of high interest for educators, as they report positive effects on collaboration and student engagement from the first session.