Digital media and socialization in primary school: a sociological analysis of the Edumat+ experience for environmental sustainability and social inclusion

The paper initiates a theoretical, scientific and methodological reflection on the design and experimentation of communicative and digital artefacts, such as infographic mats, within formal educational contexts, like primary schools, to educate on environmental sustainability and social inclusion by working on the implementation of soft skills in children. Since 2022, the Digital Education Lab of the Department of Planning, Design and Technology of Architecture at Sapienza University of Rome has embarked on an interdisciplinary path of designing and experimenting with educational paths through STEAM, titled Edumat+. The objectives are two: 1. to reflect on the educational effectiveness of the communicative artefacts, proposed in terms of enhancing learning and teaching processes in children's situated contexts, with particular attention to the linguistic and narrative strategies adopted, in relation to educational objectives and the cognitive domain; 2. to reflect on a procedural methodological framework underlying the design of media and educational artefacts in formal educational contexts, to analyse the socialization processes related to the use of technology in classroom, with particular reference to coding. This contribution will present the experience of designing and experimenting with the Edumat+ case study, reflecting on the complexity of effective interdisciplinary educational media design attentive to stimulating socialization dynamics in the school.