The Project “Interactive Topography of Dante’s Inferno”. Transfer of Knowledge and Design of Didactic Tools

Abstract

The project “topography of Dante’s inferno” is an experiment on alternative mode of access to a complex text relying on an evident topographical structure. The artifact (a website) is designed with the aim of introducing young students (11–14 years old) to a text usually read and studied by older students (16–19 years old). The design of the artifact was based on the theories of Sinsemía applied to interaction design, and the testing focused on (1) usability and (2) on the understanding of the topography of the poem as a precondition for understanding the text.

Keywords

• transfer of knowledge
• didactics
• sinsemía
• interaction design
• narrative interaction
• usability testing
• cultural heritage
• theories of images
• theories of writing
• didactic tools