Abstract
There is an increasing interest in Social and Emotional learning (SEL) of youth across the world as testified by many international organizations and institutions. Research clearly shows that higher SEL is linked to successful participation in school life, better health, positive youth development. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the essential role of SEL into focus and has drawn attention to the need to take a more holistic approach to contrast unexpected and challenging situations. To pursue these goals, it is mandatory that adults acquire and apply knowledge, skills, and attitudes enhancing Social and Emotional competences. To enhance their contribution to social goods, ICTs applications should align with this perspectives’ taking. After providing a picture of main currently available tools, the paper presents the Erasmus+ PSsmile project, aimed at developing Social and Emotional competencies and contribute to building emotionally stable, inclusive, and healthy communities. PSsmile is also the name of the mobile application described in the paper with its five weeks program. It is based on the most relevant outcome within SEL studies, and recent theoretical approaches. It is aimed at raising parents and teachers’ awareness, promoting and strengthening their personal Social-Emotional competences making them more effective agents of positive growth for children and for their communities.
PSsmile project has been co-funded by the European Commission through the Erasmus+ Programme. This paper reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Donoso, M., Collins, A.G., Koechlin, E.: Foundations of human reasoning in the prefrontal cortex. Science 344(6191), 1481–1486 (2014)
Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning: Effective social and emotional learning program. CASEL Guide (2012)
Durlak, J.A.: Handbook of Social and Emotional Learning: Research and Practice. Guilford Publications, USA (2015)
Cefai, C., Cavioni, V.: From neurasthenia to eudaimonia: teachers’ well-being and resilience. In: Cefai, C., Cavioni, V. (eds.) Social and Emotional Education in Primary School, pp. 133–148. Springer, New York (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8752-4_8
Fischer, S.N.: Teacher perceptions of the social emotional learning standards (2017)
Cefai, C., Cooper, P.: Emotional education: connecting with students’ thoughts and emotions (2009)
Mascheroni, G., et al.: La didattica a distanza durante l’emergenza COVID-19: l’esperienza italiana (No. inorer1191) (2021)
Cefai, C., Bartolo, P.A., Cavioni, V., Downes, P.: Strengthening social and emotional education as a core curricular area across the EU: A review of the international evidence. Analytical report. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg (2018)
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development: Skills for social progress: The power of social and emotional skills. OECD Publishing (2015)
World Economic Forum. New vision for education: Fostering social and emotional learning through technology. World Economic Forum, Geneva, March 2016
Domitrovich, C.E., Durlak, J.A., Staley, K.C., Weissberg, R.P.: Social-emotional competence: an essential factor for promoting positive adjustment and reducing risk in school children. Child Dev. 88(2), 408–416 (2017)
Pomerance, L., Greenberg, J., Walsh, K.: Learning about learning: what every new teacher needs to know. National Council on Teacher Quality, Washington, D.C. (2016)
Dusenbury, L., Zadrazil, J., Mart, A., Weissberg, R.: State learning standards to advance social and emotional learning. CASEL, Chicago (2011)
Patton, W., McMahon, M.: The systems theory framework of career development: 20 years of contribution to theory and practice. Aust. J. Career Dev. 24(3), 141–147 (2015)
Elias, M.J., Leverett, L., Duffell, J.C., Humphrey, N., Stepney, C., Ferrito, J.: Integrating SEL with related prevention and youth development approaches (2015)
Weissberg, R.P., O’Brien, M.U.: What works in school-based social and emotional learning programs for positive youth development. Ann. Am. Acad. Pol. Soc. Sci. 591(1), 86–97 (2004)
Zins, J.E., Elias, M.J., Greenberg, M.T.: School practices to build social-emotional competence as the foundation of academic and life success. Educ. People Emot. Intell. 79–94 (2007)
Ainscow, M.: Diversity and equity: a global education challenge. N. Z. J. Educ. Stud. 51(2), 143–155 (2016)
Ramberg, J., Watkins, A.: Exploring inclusive education across Europe: some insights from the European Agency Statistics on Inclusive Education. In: FIRE: Forum for International Research in Education, vol. 6, no. 1, January 2020
Jennings, P.A., Doyle, S., Oh, Y., Rasheed, D., Frank, J.L., Brown, J.L.: Long-term impacts of the CARE program on teachers’ self-reported social and emotional competence and well-being. J. Sch. Psychol. 76, 186–202 (2019)
Sheridan, S.M., Witte, A.L., Holmes, S.R., Wu, C., Bhatia, S.A., Angell, S.R.: The efficacy of conjoint behavioral consultation in the home setting: outcomes and mechanisms in rural communities. J. Sch. Psychol. 62, 81–101 (2017)
Smith, T.E., Reinke, W.M., Herman, K.C., Huang, F.: Understanding family–school engagement across and within elementary-and middle-school contexts. School Psychol. 34(4), 363 (2019)
Sheridan, S.M., Smith, T.E., Moorman Kim, E., Beretvas, S.N., Park, S.: A meta-analysis of family-school interventions and children’s social-emotional functioning: moderators and components of efficacy. Rev. Educ. Res. 89(2), 296–332 (2019)
Lerner, R.M., et al.: Positive youth development: processes, programs, and problematics. J. Youth Dev. 6(3), 38–62 (2011)
Oluremi, F.D.: Attitude of teachers to students with special needs in mainstreamed public secondary schools in southwestern nigeria: the need for a change. Eur. Sci. J. 11(10) (2015)
Gillespie, C.:10 apps to help kids control their emotions. Mashable (2018)
Morganti, A., Pascoletti, S., Signorelli, A.: Per un’educazione inclusiva: la sfida innovativa delle tecnologie per l’educazione socio-emotiva. Form@ re 16(3) (2016)
Stern, R.S., Harding, T.B., Holzer, A.A., Elbertson, N.A.: Current and potential uses of technology to enhance SEL: what’s now and what’s next. Handb. Soc. Emot. Learn.: Res. Pract. 516–531 (2015)
Sgaramella, T.M., Ferrari, L., Drąsutė, V.: 2020 Social and emotional education: a review of applied research studies and curricula and proposal for an integrative approach. Appl. Psychol. Around World 77, 77 (2020)
Iyengar, R.: Education as the path to a sustainable recovery from COVID-19. Prospects 49(1–2), 77–80 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11125-020-09488-9
Links to the Apps:
EMOTIONS -AVOKIDDO. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=andy.emotions&hl=it&gl=US
POSITIVE PENGUINS. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/positive-penguins/id570371342
THE MIDDLE SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL SERIES BUNDLE. https://apps.apple.com/us/app-bundle/middle-school-confidential-series/id917713588
THE SOCIAL EXPRESS PROGRAM. https://www.educationalappstore.com/app/the-social-express
TOUCH AND LEARN – EMOTIONS. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/touch-and-learn-emotions/id451685022
OK PLAY. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.okco.okplay&hl=it&gl=US
SMILING MIND. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.smilingmind.app&hl=it&gl=US
MITRA track what matters most. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mitrapp.mitra&hl=es_GT
PARADYM: emotional wellbeing. https://www.appannie.com/en/apps/ios/app/paradym-love-yourself/
WYSA: anxiety, depression & sleep therapy chatbot. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/wysa-sleep-depression-support/id1166585565
DAYLIO: Diary, Journal, Mood Tracker. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.daylio&hl=en_US&gl=US
YOUPER AI therapy for anxiety & depression. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=br.com.youper&hl=it&gl=US
SUPERBETTER. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.superbetter.paid&hl=it&gl=US
MOOD METER. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.reliablecoders.moodmeter
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 ICST Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering
About this paper
Cite this paper
Bortoluzzi, M., Sgaramella, T.M., Ferrari, L., Drąsutė, V., Šarauskytė, V. (2021). Building Emotionally Stable, Inclusive, and Healthy Communities with ICT: From State of the Art to PSsmile App. In: Pires, I.M., Spinsante, S., Zdravevski, E., Lameski, P. (eds) Smart Objects and Technologies for Social Good. GOODTECHS 2021. Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, vol 401. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91421-9_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91421-9_13
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-91420-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-91421-9
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)