Analogical education in times of virtuality: Back to the hands-on activities – 15 years of NASE program

Abstract

The interplay among emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, and creative activities that involve engaging not only thought or the brain, but also the entire organism to produce a product, such as creating 3D models through cutting, pasting, and assembling, and then using those models to analyze natural phenomena, to verify and ultimately comprehend the relationship between the two, is a central theme of our time. This presentation showcases a few simple, albeit insufficient, examples to illustrate the importance of returning to activities that we can associate with the “main-à-la patte” or “hands-on” actions. The discussion of how to integrate new technologies into problem-solving and leverage their potential to enhance our understanding of the natural world, while ensuring that any formal or informal activity at this inflection point of human existence is “user-centered” in universal terms, is also explored.