Equipment and Technology, Strategy and Leadership, Organization, Employees, and Culture. Against this background, we assessed the status quo of the digital transformation in Swiss vocational schools from the perspective of both school management members and teachers. For this endeavor, two surveys were conducted: the first one in the period from November 2019 to January 2020 (school management members) and the second one between June and September 2020 (teachers). In total, 202 school management members and 1,739 teachers from 62 schools participated in the study. The results of the analyses indicate that the digitization-related dimensions of Strategy and Leadership, as well as Pedagogical IT Support, were perceived better by school management members, whereas teachers considered the areas of Digital Competencies, Attitudes, and Culture to be more advanced. Furthermore, linear regression models show that the dimensions considered important when assessing the status quo of digital transformation differ between the groups. The results emphasize the importance of communication between and the inclusion of all school stakeholders for the successful management of the digital transformation.The COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted the importance of the digital transformation of educational organizations. The effects of this transformation process are not limited to the classroom level but extend into various areas of the school, such as  Digital transformation is a global trend that permeates and influences private life as well as the world of work   compiledA key factor in achieving these digitalization-related educational goals is teachers that have appropriate digital competencies , certain school-level conditions are also necessary; for example, sufficient technological infrastructure and equipment, functioning IT support, or the prioritization of the digital transformation in general (school readiness). The International Computer and Information Literacy studies (ICILS), which focus on measuring the digital competencies of eighth graders, also highlight the need for appropriate school conditions and emphasize the special role of school management in this context  decision of school closures in the spring of 2020, the schools only had a few days to propose an appropriate solution for the following weeks and months, which has led to challenges for both school management and teachers. From a scientific point of view, the school closures represent a situation in which the digitalization of schools can be observed in a very special context. In some studies, this situation was the basis for examining how well schools were digitally positioned to deal with the pandemic-related challenges at that point in time. The pandemic can therefore be seen as a trigger that has once again brought digital transformation into sharper focus.In summary, both school management and teachers play important roles in achieving digitalization-related educational goals and supporting the digital transformation of the educational system. Whereas school management should ensure the necessary framework conditions and initiate and design corresponding school development processes, teachers are responsible in the classroom for ensuring that learners are prepared for the digitalized world of work in the best possible way. In this context, ICT’s potential for teachers in the classroom is multifaceted: on the one hand, ICT can foster pedagogical diversity of methods for teaching subject-specific content, and on the other hand, the development of digital competencies is promoted through critical engagement with them. However, to the best of our knowledge, there are no studies investigating how these two points of view – the school management members’ and the teachers’ – position themselves in the process of digital transformation, especially regarding vocational education. Therefore, this study focuses on the perceptions of school management members as well as teachers regarding various aspects of digital transformation to identify the potential for optimization and to derive evidence-based, appropriate recommendations for practice.The first part of this section presents the advantages and disadvantages of different static model approaches in the context of digital transformation. Static models allow us to assess the status quo of educational institutions at a specific point in time. However, since digital transformation is in doubt about long-term development processes, a dynamic view is also essential to classify the development status of the respective schools. This circumstance will be briefly addressed in the second part of the section.Development processes in schools are not limited to the classroom level. Rolff’s  triad ofAnother well-known model focusing on the implementation of good practices within a school and its relevant stakeholders is the so-called Innovative Digital School (IDI) model , the first focus of our study lies on the general state of development of digital transformation of vocational schools in Switzerland. In the next step, we refer to the portrayed MMOE, which shows from a theoretical perspective how multilayered and differentiated the digital transformation in the school context is. However, whether and to what extent the various dimensions actually contribute to the perception of the digitization-related status quo remains open. In line with these theoretical considerations, three central research questions can be derived:What is the status quo of the general state of development of digital transformation in Swiss vocational schools from the perspective of both school management members and teachers?Are there differences in the perception of the various sub-areas of digital transformation in schools between the two groups?Which of these sub-areas are predictive of the perceived digitalization-related state of development?Many studies examine the digital transformation from the perspective of one particular school actor, i.e., either the school management, the teachers, or the learners. The content-related focus of these studies often differs: While school management members are more likely to be asked questions about organizational development, studies with teachers often deal with elements of instructional or classroom development. Since the successful design of school development processes in general – and the digital transformation in particular – requires the sustained participation of all school stakeholders, we will examine whether differences can be identified between school management members and teachers in terms of their perceptions regarding all three research questions. The principal aim of our study is to combine the two perspectives and thus to obtain a broader picture of the digitalization-related status quo from both groups. On this basis, implications that can support vocational schools in successfully shaping school development processes regarding digital transformation will be developed.The presented study is the result of a cooperation between the Swiss Federal University for Vocational Education and Training (SFUVET), the University of Applied Sciences HES-SO Valais-Wallis and the University of Konstanz from Germany. It is based on a collaboration between two existing projects conducted independently by the University of Applied Sciences HES-SO Valais-Wallis and the University of Konstanz on the one hand, and SFUVET on the other.Smart School Competition 2019 of the German digital association Bitkom e.V. . The survey of the first project was conducted from November 2019 to January 2020, and therefore immediately before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. Among other things, the selection of these schools relied on the The second project by SFUVET was launched in January 2020. The main goal was to assess the digital competencies of teachers in vocational education and training in Switzerland. The survey took place from June to September 2020 and was primarily based on the European DigCompEdu Framework , the number of possible common items was limited.According to the Federal Statistical Office , there aA total of 202 school management members and 1,739 teachers from 62 vocational schools from the three main language regions in Switzerland voluntarily and anonymously participated in both cross-sectional surveys. Regarding the population, this corresponds to a rate of 16.2% of Swiss vocational schools and 11.1% of the teachers employed there. Furthermore, the majority of the participants lived in the German-speaking part of Switzerland (68%), followed by the French (20%) and Italian (12%) language regions. We also found a significantly larger proportion of male participants among school management members (80%), while gender was roughly balanced among teachers. A detailed sample description is presented in Table In line with the research questions, our goal was to assess the status quo of digital transformation from the perspectives of school management members and teachers. In view of the items that the two surveys had in common, the MMOE , and sufficient technical support for the school’s use of teachers’ own devices. The Employees dimension was mapped with two subscales and an additional single item. The first scale consists of four items and addresses teachers’ Digital Competencies. The items relate to different competence facets, such as application competence, informatics competence, competencies in the area of data protection, and rules of conduct on the topic of IT security. The other two scales can be assigned to the area of attitudes. The negative Attitudes, i.e., the fear of doing something wrong when using digital technologies, of reaching one’s own limits or of worrying that digitization may overwhelm one, were operationalized with three corresponding items. The positive Attitudes were mapped with one single item on how the respondents feel about digitally supported teaching and learning methods. The last of the five dimensions, Culture, was also mapped with one single item, dealing with the perceived acceptance of digital teaching and learning methods among the teaching staff. Table This resulted in a total of five MMOE dimensions being used to answer the second and third questions: The first dimension, To answer the research questions, t-tests for independent samples as well as two linear regression models for both school management members and teachers were used. Since the participants in the study were from different schools (n = 62), independent and identically distributed data could not be assumed with certainty. For this reason, a standard error correction was performed using the statistics software STATA 15. Robust standard errors account for this multilevel structure and filter out potential cluster-related effects , the parametric test procedures could be performed despite a violation of the normal distribution assumption Field, . A detaiEquipment and Technology and the subscale Technological IT Support, which can be assigned to the content dimension Organization, showed no significant effects. The findings also indicate that Pedagogical IT Support (d = 0.199) and Strategy and Leadership (d = 0.218) were rated better by school management members than by teachers. The reverse was true for the basic assessment of the Developmental State of Digital Transformation (d = 0.228), Digital Competencies of the Teaching Staff (d = 0.278), Attitudes (Fear) (d = 0.133), and Culture (d = 0.201). According to Ellis (Attitudes (Positive), which was operationalized using the item “[Teachers are] I am generally positive about digitally supported teaching and learning methods.” (d = 0.688). The positive Attitudes of teachers toward digitally supported teaching and learning methods was rated significantly higher by the teaching staff than by the members of the school management.The analyses identified significant differences between the school management members and the teaching staff in various aspects of the digital transformation. Only the variables to Ellis , these eThe second research question examined whether the model of Ifenthaler and Egloffstein  could beEquipment and Technology (β = 0.281) and the subscale Digital Competencies (β = 0.180) of the Employees dimension were significant contributors to the variance explanation in the dependent variable. The Culture factor (β = 0.191) also made a significant contribution at an α = 10% level, indicating a statistical tendency here. The beta coefficients of the significant predictors indicate small to medium effects.With an explained variance of R² = 0.339, regression Model I shows a large effect Ellis, . A closeEquipment and Technology (β = 0.319) and Digital Competencies (β = 0.071) were significant contributors to the variance explanation. Although the effect was slightly higher for Equipment and Technology compared to Model I, it decreased to a small effect for Digital Competencies. The variable Culture (β = 0.099), for which a statistical trend was found in Model I, was also significant in Model II, with a small effect.Compared to the first model, which was calculated only with the subsample of school management members, regression Model II Table , in whicAttitudes (Fear) (β = 0.066) showed a significant result, with a small effect. Second, there was a major change in the Strategy and Leadership variable (β = 0.483) between the models. Although it did not make a significant contribution to the variance explanation in the first model for the school management members, Strategy and Leadership showed up here as a significant predictor, with the largest effect size of all variables included in the model. The effect can be classified as large . First, the predictor e Ellis, . CompareThe overarching goal of our study was to assess the digitization-related development state of vocational schools in Switzerland. Through the cooperation of the three institutions involved, it was possible to look at both the perspective of school management members and that of teachers on various aspects of digital transformation.The first research question of this study sought to define the status quo in the development of transformation in Swiss vocational schools. The assessment of the general development state of the digital transformation revealed that teachers assessed the status quo somewhat better than school management members; therefore, both groups perceived it as advanced. This is in line with the conclusions of the report of Educa , which aAnother reason for the different perceptions could be that school management members serve as a point of contact for many teachers when digitalization-related aspects are not going as well as they should. The school management is regularly informed of ICT malfunctions by the teachers; however, school management is given very little feedback when ICT works. It is therefore possible that school management has an incorrect perception of the functioning of ICT. Further, it is also up to the school management if some teachers express complete reservation toward the digital transformation or reject it as such. Although this situation certainly has an impact on the school as a whole, it has no direct effect on individual teachers in their day-to-day work. Overall, it can be assumed that teachers are more likely to approach school management members with negative aspects and problems, and that school management is not necessarily as strongly confronted with positive aspects regarding digital transformation.We must also question whether it might be socially desirable for school management members to be more reticent about the general level of digital development so that development processes can continue. However, a social desirability effect could be present in the teachers’ responses, as they might feel directly exposed. In this regard, the idea of a distributed responsibility for the school management could have led to limit a possible overestimation of the state of the art. Additionally, school management could serve as a kind of “critical friend” who identifies optimization potential in the dimensions of digital transformation and develops these aspects further.Pedagogical IT Support and Strategy and Leadership were perceived better by the school management members, the opposite was true for the dimensions of Digital Competencies of the teaching staff, Attitudes, and Culture. One possible reason for the differentiated perceptions is the self-assessment or external assessment of these aspects. Individuals with high self-esteem tend to evaluate themselves more positively than others do (e.g., Atwater & Yammarino, Pedagogical IT Support and Strategy and Leadership better, as these can be assigned to organizational development, for which the school management members are primarily responsible. Conversely, aspects such as Digital Competencies or the Attitudes of teachers are better assessed by the same. The different perceptions of the digitalization-related school culture may also be due to the situation described above, in which school management members tend to be informed significantly more often about difficulties or shortcomings regarding the digital transformation. Considering the approach by Petko et al. (school readiness are rated better by school management, while those assigned to teacher readiness are rated better by teachers.Differences between the two groups can also be identified by considering the individual dimensions of digital transformation. Whereas the areas of o et al. , it is nEquipment and Technology, Digital Competencies, and Culture appeared to be of particular importance. In contrast to the regression model for school management members, however, the greatest effect in the model for teachers was observed for the variable Strategy and Leadership. It therefore appears that the Strategy and Leadership dimension is a very important aspect from the perspective of the teachers regarding the general status quo of digital transformation. Conversely, this circumstance did not seem to be the case for the school management members themselves. In an attempt to elaborate characteristics of so-called “digital optimal schools”, Eickelmann and Drossel (Strategy and Leadership dimension, the authors do not make any explicit statements. For the successful design of digitalization-related school development processes, however, it is important that school management members are aware of their special role, in particular regarding their perceived importance in digital transformation processes from the teachers’ perspective. It is their task to drive and sustain digital transformation through appropriate transformational leadership. Without a corresponding commitment on the part of school management members and also considering sufficient organisational resources, the transformation cannot succeed. This is in line with the argumentation of Seufert and Tarantini (The second research question investigated the differences between the school management members and teachers regarding the various dimensions of the MMOE. In this respect, we found that certain dimensions of the MMOE are generally well suited for explaining the general digitalization-related state of development.  Drossel  identifyarantini , who alsWe deduced from the results that the inclusion of all school stakeholders – especially school management members and teachers – is indispensable to successfully shape the digital transformation of schools. Scholkmann  also ideFor an adequate interpretation of the results, it is necessary to address the limitations of the study. First, the different sample sizes within the two subgroups, which was to be expected given the significantly smaller population of school management members, need to be mentioned. Nevertheless, the relatively small number of school management members per school means that analyses at the individual school level are only possible to a limited extent. Furthermore, we cannot exclude the possibility of positive selection regarding the sample in both surveys. Participation in the study was voluntary for both school management members and teachers, which means that a corresponding bias seems possible. Moreover, both school management members and teachers from certain schools were more strongly represented in the sample than others. In the multivariate analyses, this clustering problem was accounted for using standard error correction. Another aspect connected to the sample itself, with special regard to vocational education and training, is that companies also represent an important stakeholder in digital transformation processes in vocational schools. Assessing their role and their perspective on digital transformation in vocational schools could be one focal point of future research.The second key limitation of the study relates to the measurement of selected characteristics regarding self-assessment or social desirability. It can be assumed that when asked about their leadership behavior, school management members can choose response behaviors that are socially expected, which can lead to bias. Further, the survey contained aspects such as the digital competencies of the teachers, which can be better measured by using a corresponding competency test that could afford an increase in both reliability and validity. All measured variables are perceptions of the school management members or teachers; it is therefore not an objective assessment of the digitization-related state of development based on external standards Educa, .Culture has many interfaces with other dimensions, such as those of Employees. In this context, our operationalization of the model is limited to a certain extent, as the respective theoretical dimensions are not fully mapped. Against the background of our findings, the question arises as to possible limitations regarding the chosen theoretical framework. The results suggest that the dimensions of the model may not have equal value, i.e., individual dimensions may appear more important than others. In addition, there is a possibility that important content aspects are not included in the model. One example could be the establishment of a feedback culture, which might play an important role in successfully shaping the digital transformation (cf. Delcker & Ifenthaler, Another aspect that needs to be mentioned in this context is the difficulty of operationalizing the underlying MMOE (Ifenthaler & Egloffstein, Further, the individual project-related organizational conditions meant that the surveys could not take place during the same period. This circumstance was further compounded by the fact that the survey of school management members was conducted before, and the survey of teachers shortly after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. During this period, the issue of digitalization in schools developed a particular dynamic. The measures resulting from the pandemic may have led to a change in certain aspects related to digitalization. This should also be considered when interpreting the results.Finally, adding the learners’ perspective in future studies could provide an even broader picture of the relevant school stakeholders. In this context, the SELFIE tool of the European Commission  could – Equipment and Technology, which were rated as good by both groups, and Technological IT Support, which was also in the satisfactory range, no significant differences in perception could be identified. Although the school management members showed more positive assessments in the areas of Strategy and Leadership, Pedagogical IT Support, and fear-related Attitudes toward digital transformation, the opposite effects were observed regarding the Digital Competencies, the positive Attitudes of teachers toward digital transformation, and the anchoring of digital transformation in the school culture. In the case of positive attitudes, the effect could be classified as medium to large.The first objective of this study was to assess the status quo of digital transformation from the perspective of school management members and teachers at vocational schools in Switzerland. The results showed that both status groups generally assessed the digitalization-related state of development as advanced. However, a small effect was observed in that the teachers rated the status quo slightly better than the school management members did. A detailed examination of various aspects of the digital transformation revealed that the individual dimensions of change were perceived differently by school management members and teachers. In the cases of Strategy and Leadership, are predictive for the digitalization-related state of development at a significant level. In the case of Strategy and Leadership, the effect can be classified as medium to large. In other words, we can conclude that the teachers, in contrast to the school management members, perceived Strategy and Leadership as a significant factor regarding the assessment of the digitalization-related development status. This suggests a different level of importance for this dimension in the context of digitalization between the two groups. However, the relevance of this dimension is enormous, as teachers perceive the willingness of school management to promote innovation or change as one of the strongest predictors of school quality (Bonsen et al., The second objective of this study was to determine which dimensions of the digital transformation can be used as predictors for assessing the digitalization-related status quo of schools. In the model for the school management members, the digital competencies of the teaching staff were identified as a significant predictor, along with equipment and technology, which showed the greatest effect. Both variables remained significant in the teachers’ model as well, with the effect of digital competencies being reduced due to multivariate correlations. Further, both the fear-related attitudes of the teachers, with a comparatively small effect, as well as the anchoring of the digital transformation in the school culture and the dimension of In summary, our study shows, on the one hand, that the different dimensions of digital transformation are perceived differently by the two observed status groups. On the other hand, some of these dimensions are considered more important than others regarding the perception of the general digitization-related status quo. In this context, differences between school management members and teachers could also be identified. In principle, we focused on obtaining a holistic view of digital transformation by both school management members and, in particular, by teachers, whereas in many other studies the content focus of studies with teachers is often reduced to instructional development, i.e., their digital competencies or the use of ICT in the classroom.Thus, the question arises as to what implications for the successful design of the digitalization-related school improvement process can be derived from these results. First, it is important that teachers are actively involved in digitalization-related development processes by school management. Based on a jointly developed vision or strategy, common values must be defined that determine both the content-related and the “moral” framework. It is of importance that all school stakeholders agree on what digital transformation means for their school and what part the individual status groups must contribute so that the transformation process can be shaped successfully. A constructive trial-and-error culture can help to quickly solve potential problems and optimize the transformation process (Tołwińska, To support these findings, further studies are needed on the digital transformation of vocational schools that look beyond the classroom level to the entire school development process. It is necessary to observe how schools evolve in the different theoretical dimensions of digital transformation, or whether some of these dimensions emerge as more important than others when assessing the digital status quo. In this regard, it would be helpful to consider the individual dimensions in more detail to better examine the interrelationships between them. Additionally, the school management’s leadership competence should also be included in these thoughts, as school management members with advanced leadership competence will find it easier to drive change (Hallinger & Heck,


Smart Jacket’ and SMA springs in the shoe soles for ‘Smart Shoes’ are proposed. The conceptual frameworks are built upon existing technologies; however, their utility in a smart factory concept is emphasized, and algorithms to achieve the same are proposed. The integration of the two concepts with the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is discussed, specifically regarding minimizing hazards for the worker/user in Industry 5.0. The article aims to propel a discussion regarding the multi-faceted applications of SMAs in human-robot interaction and Industry 5.0. Furthermore, the challenges and the limitations of the smart alloy and the technological barriers restricting the growth of SMA applications in the field of smart wearables are observed and elaborated.Ever since its discovery, the applications of Shape Memory Alloys (SMA) can be found across a range of application domains, from structural design to medical technology. This is based upon the unique and inherent characteristics such as thermal Shape Memory Effect (SME) and Superelasticity (or Pseudoelasticity). While thermal SME is used for shape morphing applications wherein temperature change can govern the shape and dimension of the SMA, Superelasticity allows the alloy to withstand a comparatively very high magnitude of loads without undergoing plastic deformation at higher temperatures. These unique properties in wearables have revolutionized the field, and from fabrics to exoskeletons, SMA has found its place in robotics and cobotics. This review article focuses on the most recent research work in the field of SMA-based smart wearables paired with robotic applications for human-robot interaction. The literature is categorized based on SMA property incorporated and on actuator or sensor-based concept. Further, use-cases or conceptual frameworks for SMA fiber in fabric for ‘ The exponential advancement in cobotics, human-integrated robotics, and human-computer interaction require affordable, lightweight, and efficient smart materials. High-performing intelligent systems which can integrate humans in real-time Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), thus expanding the reach of human capacity one step further, are the need of the hour. Even though the concept of human-machine integration might seem a more recent development, the research in the field can be dated back to the 1970s. Reddy  in his bIn recent years, the usage of smart materials in various technical fields, especially healthcare and IoT, has exploded . This isShape Memory Alloys (SMAs) are smart materials with unique characteristics caused due to temperature- and stress-induced phase transformation. Although SMAs provide exciting opportunities to create a new sensor and actuator mechanism, their practical use is complicated by their extremely nonlinear behavior and heat activation requirements. However, these SMA-based actuation mechanisms, which focus on soft robotics, offer qualities that make them an enticing alternative. SMAs’ versatility allows us to create actuation components in various topologies and forms , allowing them to be used in a variety of applications. Despite these benefits, SMAs have drawbacks that must be considered when designing actuator systems, such as low actuation frequency, complicated controllability, and low energy efficiency. These challenges arise when working with the shape memory effect caused due to thermal actuation. At the same time, the applications utilizing the pseudoelastic behavior are far less complex, highly controllable, and do not require any energy consumption. Previous literature reviews in the field of SMAs and their applications in the field of wearables have been limited to their use in soft robotics  and mediIn this paper, the use cases that work on the shape memory effect and pseudoelastic property are presented with a focus on their sensing applications. By capturing the shape morphing caused due to the shape memory effect using strain sensors, as discussed in the coming sections, the SMAs contribute to the overall sensing mechanism in the discussed use cases. A similar discussion on using the shape memory effect for an overall sensing mechanism has been done by Tung et al. . The folThe use of the shape memory effect and pseudoelastic characteristics of the SMAs in combination or individually allow myriad applications. SMAs are helping overcome many challenges in smart wearables for assistance, rehabilitation, and protection. However, the use of these materials is limited and commercial applications in wearables are yet to be achieved. This is mainly due to the low actuation frequency of the SMAs and the requirement of thermal actuation to attain the shape memory effect. The use case or the conceptual framework presented in this paper utilizes the pseudoelastic property of SMA.smart jackets and smart shoes, respectively. While in the former case, the response to change in temperature is extracted, the spring deformation is measured in the latter case. The obtained data is then utilized for smart environment control and follower leader robot and integrated with the IoT for smart homes and smart industries applications.The primary requirement of any wearable smart material is its elasticity, flexibility, and fatigue life, dependent on the former. Furthermore, one needs to reduce the electrical input required to the minimum as the smart wearable is susceptible to water splashes and will be in touch with the user’s skin for long periods. Once embedded within wearables, smart materials cannot frequently undergo maintenance, which is a cumbersome task. SMA fibers, wires, or springs, when in their Austenite phase, can withstand high load and high elastic deformation without deforming plastically. They also have a higher fatigue life than other metallic alloys available. These qualities make SMAs an ideal candidate to be used as an embedded material in wearables more inclined to extreme deformations and rough use. The conventional pressure sensors require a high impedance circuit and are either susceptible to vibration or cannot measure solid-state pressure, such as piezoelectric sensors. Hence, considering the unique characteristics of SMA as discussed and the several challenges faced by the conventional temperature and pressure sensors, the use of SMA fibers and SMA springs is proposed in 1.The authors compile the history and state-of-the-art literature focused on the field of SMA-based smart wearables, and the findings are converged on the challenges faced while using SMAs in wearable applications. To the authors’ knowledge, a survey focusing on SMA-based wearables has not been conducted previously.2.smart factory environment are introduced.The primary questions- how can SMA be used in wearables, and how to overcome the material behavior-related challenges are discussed. Thereby, two conceptual frameworks of SMA-based smart wearables for Human-Computer and Human-Robot Interaction in a 3.smart jacket for HCI, is presented. In this use case, the focus is on capturing the thermal variation response of the embedded SMA fibers and filtering this data to obtain commands for the heating/cooling of the room/warehouse in harsh or hazardous conditions. This data is obtained from multiple users, and a collaborative approach to optimize the instructions is proposed.In the first use case, SMA in smart clothing, i.e., 4.In the second use case, SMA-based wearables for Human-Robots Interaction (HRI) in Industry 5.0 are presented. Smart Shoes with soles embedded with SMA springs are conceptualized for Follower-Leader robot technology and humanoid motion training. These springs are also suggested to be ergonomically beneficial for the user by providing higher suspension in the shoes. The movement behavior of the user is analyzed based on the amount and type of load. This data is then fed in sitting-walking formats for the robot to learn and mimic the pattern. Both the use cases are finally discussed as a part of the Industrial Internet of Wearable Things (IIoWT) for creating a safer working environment.The main contributions through our proposed framework are as follows:The article structure is outlined in Shape Memory Alloys, Smart Wearables, Internet of Things, SMA-based wearables, and Follower-Leader Robots.The articles selected for the review part of the paper are based on the earliest work and recent work in the field. The Impact Factor (I.F.) of the journals has also been taken into consideration, and most articles are from the journal with I.F. greater than 2, unless the citations of the article are high enough not to consider the impact factor. The keywords selected for the literature review were The term ‘shape memory’ is coined due to the unique ability of some metallic alloys and some polymers to remember a parent shape. These metallic alloys, upon thermal actuation, transform from their low-temperature martensite phase to the high-temperature austenite phase. During this transformation, the alloys recover the imparted deformation through loading and return to their pre-defined and pre-trained parent shape. This process is called the Thermal Shape Memory Effect (SME). SME in-shape memory alloys can be observed either as a One-Way Shape Memory Effect (OWSME) or a Two-Way Shape Memory Effect (TWSME). These two effects can be created and optimized by controlling the heat treatment of the SMA. In the case of OWSME, the SME can be observed by deforming the SMA in its martensite phase and then heating it to undergo a phase transformation from martensite to parent austenite phase, thus recovering its shape during the process. Whereas in the case of TWSME, the SMA can be trained to remember two shapes, one at lower temperature martensite phase and another at higher temperature austenite phase. Thus, the SMA can be deformed, and two different shapes can be extracted based on the heating or cooling of the alloy.Another attractive property these alloys exhibit is the ‘superelasticity’ or ‘pseudoelasticity’. This property allows the material to undergo a huge amount of stress and deformation without permanent deformation and snap-back to its original shape and size. Both these properties are explored and utilized based on the application requirement. While SME is usually taken advantage of when shape morphing is desired, and thermal environment is not a constraint , the ‘suContinuous growth in active control of structures and their properties is giving rise to a new class of synthetic adaptive composites. These characteristics, such as variable flexibility, help in customizing the static and dynamic responses of a structure. One way to achieve these variable responses is by adjusting the ply layup order, thickness of plies, fiber orientation, and volume fraction. Combining the benefits of heterogeneous current conventional composites with self-adapting and actively controllable reinforcing constituents, we get a new domain of active composites. These embedded active constituents can be smart materials, such as SMA, piezoelectric fibers, and magnetostrictive nano-particulates. As a result, we get functional composites with special properties such as self-healing, vibration attenuation, damage sensing, and shape morphing. Bachman et al.  by embedSMAs for the structural control of composites can be achieved by SMA fiber reinforcement or by integrating the material externally, for example, through bonded sleeves. An offset SMA fiber reinforcement in the composite can result in shape morphing and structural damping upon thermal actuation of the SMA. The concept behind it, as discussed previously in this section, is the phase transformation of the SMA from martensite to austenite and vice-versa when thermally-induced or stress-induced actuation. Loughlan et al.  exploredSMA integrated carbon nanotubes (CNT), another unique category of smart composites, were investigated by Fonseca et al. . The autBartlett et al.  conducteSimilarly, active and passive vibration control is also obtained through the strategic embedding of SMA in various composite structures ,56,57. FKirkby et al. , in theiGiven the versatility of memory alloys, they have been extensively explored for applications in wearable technology. We can broadly categorize these applications into two domains-exoskeletons and textiles and their purpose as rehabilitation or protection, as seen in morphing ,69 and vmorphing , to be umorphing  and as tmorphing , SMAs haThe bio-compatibility of NiTiNOL, one of the most popular SMA, led to an exponential increase in the research area of SMA-based wearables. The earliest work was done by Laurentis et al. , where tMore recently, Hwang et al.  developeThere are many applications of SMAs in wearables, including SMA-based textiles wherein the SMA wires are either woven or embedded as fibers in the clothing. Most of these applications come with the idea of providing safety and customizability to the user; however, Holschuh and Newman  developeNeural Network House where the house ‘essentially programs itself by observing the lifestyle and desires of the inhabitants and learning to anticipate and accommodate their needs’. Ever since then, several conceptual frameworks for smart homes [As we go deeper and broader into establishing an intelligent environment, from smart homes to smart healthcare and cities, we further sophisticate the fundamental units. The requirement for a smart environment is for the units to interact with the environment and each other, and to be equipped with features that enable them to integrate seamlessly and collaborate. Smartwatches, smart goggles, and smartphones are some of the many tools humans use in their day-to-day lives to interact with computers and synchronize their requisites with their surroundings. Mozer , one of rt homes , factorirt homes , healthcrt homes , and citrt homes  have beesmart jacket interacting between the environment and multi-users in a defined domain. The idea for the smart jacket was conceived based on the ongoing research in field of SMA-based assistance textiles [Here, we propose the conceptual framework for a textiles , spacesutextiles , and protextiles . This retextiles ,94; hencsmart jacket that responds to the change in the body and the ambient temperature. As discussed in smart jacket with SMA fibers with actuation temperatures close to the ambient temperature or suitable for comfortable living conditions. Upon a fall or rise in temperature considerably above the defined thresholds, the change in the length of the SMA fibers is observed. The thermal actuation is caused due to the thermal gradient between the user and the environment, and no external thermal actuation, such as Joule heating, is provided to the SMA fibers. A change in thermal gradient leads to the phase transformation in the SMA fibers, and hence contraction and expansion will be observed as the SMA fibers are memory trained to behave in this manner. This expansion-contraction behavior is measured through embedded strain sensors or linear position displacement sensors, and the data is sent to the smart thermostat via Bluetooth. One end of the SMA fiber is fixed in the jacket, and the linear position sensors are directly attached to the other end of the SMA fiber to capture this contraction. It is to note that the placement of the SMA fibers in the jacket is designed to be on the front and back, thus removing any strains experienced due to limb movement or human motion. The smart thermostat is pre-programmed and trained to change its performance based on the data received from the users wearing the smart jacket. The signal or data received is filtered, identified, and computed before it is calibrated with the thermostat to decide the ambient room conditions. The proposed plan of action and the algorithm are shown in detail in In a collaborative environment with multiple users, the data received from all jackets in use is compiled, and an optimized signal is sent to the thermostat. The input variables for the optimization will be the strain sensor data from each jacket, compared against standard stain sensor data responsible for near-perfect room temperature. A more prominent contrast between the strain sensor data between the user implies that one or more of the users have entered the room from outside. Thus, sudden sharp differences in thermostat temperature can be employed to maintain a temperature to reach the comfort level as soon as possible. This also allows the users to modify their requirements based on the environment, weather, and location. The data from the user in close vicinity to the closed domain is also received, which is then computed to smartly understand the weather conditions outside and optimize the thermostat if need be. The framework aims not only at creating a more organic method of maintaining comfortable conditions but also to find a sustainable solution to energy conservation. The body temperature recognition thus allows for the on/off conditions of the thermostat and maintains an economical and eco-friendly thermostat state.smart jacket can act as an alarming device to send data to the required systems and maintain the room/chamber temperature. A smaller variation in the user and environment temperature can be used for a balanced working condition. In contrast, a more significant gradient between the user and environment temperature can either shut down the system or send data to boost the system to achieve a balanced environment condition as soon as possible. Combined with the IoT, this data can be used to analyze the working conditions and investigate hazardous zones and safe working zones, marking them accordingly. Furthermore, the data can be compiled and used to create a database to identify risk zones in the future and help enable a safer environment. The significant advantage of using SMA material instead of any other smart material is the ease of embedding SMA fibers as a textile for the smart jacket. Also, the presented use-case SMA fibers do not require any actuation apart from the difference between the user temperature and room temperature to change its shape and send this shape change data to strain sensors. This eliminates an AC power supply to the smart jacket, reducing any electrocution-based risk and making the jacket highly portable. Hence, SMA fibers, highly sensitive to a temperature flux, and Austenite temperature at body temperature or a pre-defined comfortable temperature for the user, will be employed. Finally, only the strain sensor, the microcontroller, and a Bluetooth unit, fixed to the pocket and connected to as low as a 5V voltage DC supply, will be enough for the working of the smart jacket. The advantage of using SMAs embedded or woven as fibers/fabric of the jacket, instead of using other temperature sensors such as thermocouples, is its non-interference with any electrical equipment.In a hazardous environment prone to sudden increases or decreases in environmental temperatures, the smart jacket can also be worn and washed regularly like a conventional jacket by simply removing the strain sensor from the button-like attachments and the micro-controller and battery unit from the pocket.Furthermore, the 5 V battery to power the BLE and strain sensor in the jacket will have no interference with any electrical equipment in the industrial or household environment. In an industrial application using jackets with multiple users can cause a thermocouple to malfunction due to the presence of radio equipment and electric lights. Such temperature sensors also can cause false alarms due to inaccurate data, given their issue with stray voltage pickup and frequent calibration. On the other hand, not only the proposed framework is able to overcome these issues, but SMA embedded Many emerging robot applications in Industry 4.0 and Industry 5.0 need robots to interact with humans as a capable human-robot team. Furthermore, automation is required in Industry 4.0 in which robots collaborate  and inteEvrard and Abderrahmane , and KheBeing the leader of an interaction, in particular, necessitates for communication to exchange information between the leader and the interacting followers. Acting as a Follower entails adapting to a partner based not just on strong predictive abilities but also on the capacity to suppress automatic resonance in order to focus on the partner’s purpose. This supports the idea that joint actions entail a sort of communication in which smooth coordination is only possible when partners properly transmit and interpret motor signals. A coordinated complementing choreography is achieved only when both the leader and the follower accomplish their jobs well. To our best knowledge, the use of SMA is not addressed for human leader shoes to lead robots in Industry 4.0 applications. Some work on self-tightening shoes  and SMA Various surroundings and activities need varying levels of autonomy, adaptability, learning ability, and conformity from the robot. We hope to develop difficulties that must be solved to enable physical HRI using SMA. We do not see the robot as a master-slave but rather as a means of demonstrating how sensorimotor contingencies might be used to produce autonomous behavior in social interaction. The recent advanced smart materials and smart wearable devices enable the collaboration of robots and humans to perform tasks effectively and efficiently. For instance, following the leader’s concept is required for collaboration and interaction, enabling robots to fellow humans in Industry 4.0 applications. The concept of the following leader can be applied to industries like mining, agriculture, construction, delivery, and logistics. Human leaders followed by robots would be associated with significant and better performance in productivity, engagement, role ambiguity, and employee satisfaction. Leader-follower behaviors often include a single unique leader interacting with their gregarious colleagues. The gregarious robots cannot accomplish the mission if the leader fails by hacking or crashing. Blockchain technology is employed as a communication tool for leaders to broadcast instructions to their followers. In addition, the blockchain provides a secure way for robots to store and retrieve shared data in a decentralized fashion.pseudoelastic behavior of SMAs, as discussed in A critical part of the Leader-Follower robotic system is the real-time and two-way data transfer between the two parties, and to successfully achieve this, the connection must be seamless and fast. In the framework proposed, as can be seen in smart shoes [Briefly, the SMA-shoes enable a human to control swarm robots by improving the ability of robots to sense the leader’s direction, speed, stop, and velocity as it follows the leader. SMA-shoes allow humans to lead other robots, expanding the navigation range in dynamic environments . Therefore, many applications for swarm robots follow humans and positively affect safety, search and rescue, productivity, work quality, and performance. Similar to this, research has been ongoing in the field of rt shoes , wearablrt shoes  and elbort shoes .The requirement of safety gear depending on the industrial environment has been essential since the first industrial revolution. With the advent of Industry 4.0 and the integration of smart manufacturing system lines and products, there has also been a surge in the integration of smart wearables to supervise, maintain, protect, and assist the users with the industrial environment . The majWhile these devices are loaded with multiple sensors, including location, proximity, heat, Air Quality Index (AQI), etc., for the smooth functioning of the user, they lack a real-time interaction with the environment to create a more organic and seamless environment. The frameworks of the use cases in this article propose not only tracking and hence safety of the wearer of the jacket and the shoes but also the body temperature and the motion behavior interact with the environment and other robots, respectively, to create a coherent environment.smart jacket data is obtained from multiple users and is calibrated as per the environment they are currently placed.The idea works beyond the human-computer and human-robot interaction and integrates itself with IIoT, as shown in constricting on command’ garments [In garments . The autgarments . Apart fgarments . Hwang egarments .A considerable amount of research in SMA-based wearables seems to focus on the thermal shape memory effect and exoskeletons. Another work done in the field of SMA-based exoskeletons was by Copaci et al., wherein the authors designed one degree of freedom flexion-extension exoskeleton for rehabilitation and assistance, especially for patients with experienced stroke-related disability . In an eMore recently, Villoslada et al. explored the applications of SMA-based exoskeletons for extravehicular activities . The pursmart jacket, talks about using SMA-embedded clothing to create a smart environment and identify and collate hazardous domains within a factory setup. This use case will not only help create a smart factory environment but also can be used for smart homes and can be extended to the smart city concept. The second conceptual framework, smart shoes, visualizes and proposes an algorithm for using SMA spring embedded shoes for humanoid motion training and the follower-leader concept in smart factories. The training of a humanoid can, on one hand, help improve human-robot collaboration for a smart factory setup, and on the other hand train the humanoid to learn the various patterns of human movement and become social robots. Both these use cases are compared against the most recent and related work in A rapidly growing interest in SMA-based smart wearables for rehabilitation and assistance is being observed. Between 2021 and 2022, multiple articles were published which had shape memory alloy-based actuators for smart textiles  or shoessmart jacket, will be regarding the sensitivity of the wires. The higher the sensitivity to thermal variations of the user and the environment will decide how optimized the overall system is. A lack of high sensitivity may lead to lesser collaboration between the users, and the environment may act in accordance with only one or an average of the user data. To overcome this, we propose that the jacket’s SMA fibers are calibrated so that their thermal response is captured accurately and precisely. In addition, a thorough study of the fatigue life of the SMA fibers is essential to determine the life cycle of the jacket. The user can have an informed decision based on the life cycle of the jacket and the deterioration pattern of the sensing mechanism, and its impact on the smart environment.The major challenge envisaged with Use Case 1, smart shoes, the major challenge that the authors identify will be in the context of multiple smart shoes and follower-leader robots on the floor. Since the proposed mechanism does not mention the location detection of the leader, the leader must have location detection to avoid collisions. The proposed mechanism will work better in an environment where the number of follower robots is minimum. They can be further utilized during the training process of a humanoid to feed data for a human’s walking, jumping, skipping, etc., patterns. To ensure the comfort and conformability of the smart shoe, the authors suggest ergonomics and optimization studies for SMA spring placement in the shoe sole to distribute the user load evenly.In the case of Use Case 2, smart jacket, in Use Case 1, can be used to benefit patients who have difficulty controlling their activities of daily living by not only optimizing the environment but also integrate it with user intentions to control other aspects of the surroundings.In the future, to measure the location of the proposed follower robot in Use Case 2, we will combine extremely stretchy skin patch-like sensors made utilizing a stretchable polymer and IMUs  or GPS  based on the requirement. Furthermore, the feedback supplied by the sensors may be used to detect the user’s position, thus making it mimic not only the walking but also locate the leader. This data will be optimized in an industrial application with higher footfall to avoid robot collisions while following the leader. The location data from all workers can be collated and used to analyze the unit’s efficiency, security, and save the user from a hazard. With the growing research in intention sensing technologies such as EMG (Electromyography), force, or ultra-sensitive strain measurement systems, a futuristic smart factory concept. The proposed use cases discuss the smart jacket for smart environment and habitation, whereas the smart shoes are envisaged to combine with follower-leader robots and also humanoid learning of multiple human walking patterns. The importance of using Shape Memory Alloy for these applications stems from the Shape Memory Effect and pseudoelastic properties of SMA, based on which phase the material is in its room temperature. While using martensite phase SMA in the jacket can act as a safer and a durable option to detect body temperature vs. environment conditions upon phase transformation and thus optimize the temperature conditions, the use of pseudoelastic/superelastic austenite phase SMA in the shoes ensures the longevity of the shoes as well as capturing the walking pattern by tracking the displacement behavior of the SMA springs. The IIoT works on a seamless combination of human-robot interaction to create a safer and more efficient environment. As proposed in this article, the smart jacket and smart shoes combined with the CRAC/HVAC unit  and the Alarms unit integrated with phone and email notifications will result in a highly secure and risk-free environment for the users. Further analysis of collected data from the smart jacket and the smart shoes can be used to identify possible hazardous and maximum footfall zones, respectively. The article also presents the various application domains of SMAs and their possible applications in several other fields. It is envisaged that through safe working conditions and integrating the proposed conceptual frameworks to IIoT, the Smart Factory concept moves closer to Industry 5.0. The authors propose the ‘Challenges and Future Trends’ Section as a guideline for the further scope of work in this field, specifically to make a highly sensitive and efficient smart environment for an industrial or housing setup. To summarise the conclusions and future work:1.smart jacket and smart shoes are proposed for IIoWT for a smart factory or Industry 4.0 concept.SMA-based 2.The Use Cases are discussed in detail and previous work related to the Use Cases is also presented as they can be used as foundations for the proposed frameworks.3.The future work will be to present the proof-of-concepts of the use cases and produce working models of the same.In this article, the authors have proposed two conceptual frameworks for SMA-based wearables, especially in an industrial environment or for a


Alongside the positive effects linked to the introduction of digital technologies into our lives, particular dysfunctional behaviors in the use of digital tools have appeared, through which the expression of conditions such as addiction, difficulties in affective and behavioral self-regulation and mental health problems have been channeled. The present study aims to investigate, in a sample of young students aged m = 12.91 (ds = 0.56) years, whether Coding Educational Programs (CEP), deployed to 44.9% of the sample, is effective in psychological dependence, emotional self-regulation and Digital Media Problematic Use (DMPU), as self-assessed through questionnaires . CEP had no effect on emotional dysregulation or on DMPU. They were effective in the time management of mobile phone use, with students rescheduling from daytime use on working days to daytime use on the weekend. Moreover, people who attended CEP more frequently used smartphones for orienting themselves and for obtaining information. In conclusion, CEP are effective in achieving a more functional and important use of smartphones and better time management. It is possible that CEP effect on metacognition could reduce DMPU if alternative ways to regulate emotions are available. The introduction of digital technologies into the modern social, cultural and expressive scenario has supported the emergence of new opportunities for intellectual, personal and creative growth in general . AlongsiDigital media use can present risks, but, at the same time, they can represent an opportunity for personal, educational and social growth. Digital media have represented a further opportunity to train new generations in the development of their specific cognitive, affective, relational and cultural skills. In their use in primary and secondary schools and in the education context in general, they have contributed to educating students to a constructive and positive use of the new technologies, protecting themselves from risk problems both on a personal and relational level . An examThe need to question ourselves on digital use and digital education stems mainly from the findings that show how, recently, many young people have developed a problematic use of digital media (DMPU), resulting in the development of actual DMPU-related disorders. This is due to the proliferation of Internet-enabled mobile tools, leading worldwide to serious health and social problems ,5. In faNumerous studies affirm that DMPU can also lead to addictive behaviors, but this problem becomes much more complex when it is related to the many perspectives potentially present in the use of the smartphone. Undeniably, smartphones can connect to the Internet and also run various types of applications , the appropriate use of which can increase resources for quality of life; however, the dysfunctional use of them, on the other hand, evidently risks causing a serious psychological and relational deterioration ,9.Successfully separating from the main parental figure and the family as a whole, or from other surrogative relationships;Establishing a secure personal identity by acquiring a general feeling of competence in everyday problems and adequate self-esteem, feeling deserving of adult status like other adults;Possessing adequate self-confidence and adequate trust in the possible solidarity of others.One of the central issues regarding the relationship between dependence  and dysfunctional use or abuse of tools or settings is the distinctive definition of addiction or abuse in respect to physiological dependence. John Birtchnell , of the The need to be close to others;The inclination to be primarily the recipient in interpersonal transactions;The tendency to relate to others from a position of inferiority and humility.Consequently, adult dependency is characterized by: A dependent person receives from others a borrowed identity, resulting in the emergence of a “false self” , a guidaThe study of the DMPU phenomenon (including abuse and addiction) has its origins in the transfer of the items used in the conceptualization and assessment of substance abuse  or compulsive appetitive behavior  in the context of Internet tools.Thus, past studies have been focused on the similarities of other research on the topic of addiction in other behavioral domains, such as alcoholism.Using the la Dependence Self-Rating Scale (DSRS) , which iIn a 1997 study, Marchiori and colleagues  showed tHowever, the studies regarding the actual psychological components of DMPU have found quite a more complex framework. DMPU and ICT media addiction, at least, can lead to further harmful behaviors, such as the abuse of the Internet or video games.Obsession, i.e., the level of mental engagement implemented with the Internet;Distraction, i.e., the level of distraction from daily activities, relationships and essential needs;Dyscontrol, referring to difficulties in controlling Internet use .Demetrovics and colleagues  identifiImpulsivity; limited capacity for self-control and emotional regulation;Relationship maintenance, which portrays cell phone abuse as a means of obtaining security in emotional relationships and is characterized by low self-esteem and high levels of neuroticism;Extroversion, which associates excessive use with sociality and an intense desire to maintain relationships;Cyber addiction in consonance with mobile phone technology, which allows access to various online utilities and applications and sustains misuse as a result of the attraction of this technological environment.Billieux  summarizThe evidence of emotional and behavioral dyscontrol has highlighted the importance of emotional dysregulation in the development of addictions and of parental functioning during childhood in the development of an adequate emotional regulation in adults. The appropriate relationship of emotional dyscontrol with pathological dependence or abuse and addiction has become the central issue of the most recent studies.Gioia and colleagues  publisheMoreover, they found data supporting the role of metacognition in the relationship between emotional dysregulation and DMPU. In fact, this relationship was found to be mediated by positive metacognitions (such as escapism and controllability) ,19 and cThe interpretative model adopted in studies about DMPU (and smartphone abuse in particular) makes reference to the framework of psychological dependence, even if, as mentioned above, in recent years, the role of emotional dysregulation and metacognition becomes more evident.Many studies were conducted only describing the simple association between demographic data and problematic ICT use.The most widely documented risk factor is being male. The prevalence among boys and young men has been found to be 2 , 3 22],,22], or The importance of the social context and the quality of parental functioning in relation to the development of problems in smartphone use has also been highlighted.Indicators of lower socio-economic status, including lower maternal education and a single parent family, have been shown to increase the risk of the emergence of such behavior . SeveralIn a 2014 study , it was The reported risk factors described above are all coherent with the found relationship between emotional dysregulation and problematic ICT use.The presence of psychological distress was also observed in many studies on the relationship between mobile phone (smartphone) abuse and personality traits.Dysregulation and appetitive novelty seeking are psychopathological dimensions confirmed as risk factors in compulsive behaviors such as gaming. Billieux and colleagues  found thLack of perseverance, which may be reflected in the number and duration of phone calls, as well as in associated financial problems;Lack of forethought, which may lead to their use in dangerous or forbidden situations, which are linked to sensation seeking.However, urgency, defined as the tendency to experience strong urges that cannot be postponed due to negative affective states, is the component that best predicts DMPU. Thus, a high urgency score relates to a higher number of calls and duration and number of text messages sent. Urgency is similarly related to inadequate strategies for self-regulating negative emotional states. Billieux  proposesSensation seeking is a personality trait involving the dimensions of thrill and adventure seeking, lack of inhibition, experience seeking and sensitivity to boredom ,32. It iThis trait can be related also to the “desire thinking” highlighted by Gioia  as cogniPrevious studies have found a relationship between leisure boredom and self-esteem; Leung  confirmeMany papers have been published on the many of the components of affective dysregulation, such as impulsivity. High levels of impulsivity, as well as a limitation of self-control, are found in users who abuse Internet gaming. In two studies examining problematic smartphone use, one identified dysfunctional impulsivity and low self-control as two key risk factors  and the Self-identity, to which belongs the perceived value of the mobile phone for self-concept and to relate with others, is a predictor of frequency of use;Self-identity and the approval of others determines instead dependence or high involvement with smartphones.In addition to impulsivity, behavioral traits related to aggression and hostility are common among adolescents with media use disorders. Aggressive tendencies were identified as a predictor of impulsive and additive gaming by multiple studies in a recent research review . AggressThat is, they considered dependence on mobile phones to be correlated with dependence on social environment, as well.Medical and educational institutions, governments and other groups have sought to take preventive action or to treat disorders related to DMPU. In many cases, the preferred treatment for these disorders is to establish recommendations for appropriate use. Psychosocial therapies  for these DMPU-related disorders and pharmacotherapies (including antidepressants and psychostimulants) for comorbid psychiatric or developmental disorders have reportedly been effective in reducing the degree and symptoms of DMPU. Positive parent–child relationships may be protective against the development of problematic gaming . FurtherHowever, clinical studies, treatment and preventive actions are insufficient for the treatment of these problems, and standard treatments and preventive systems have yet to be established. Educational and medical institutions, government, families and others need to take more action and cooperate more effectively to treat or to prevent DMPU-related disorders.In some countries, therapeutic camps have been developed for adolescents with DMPU-related disorders, and preventive education (including lectures and group discussions) has been provided for general adolescents. Such efforts have been effective in reducing the average degree of the severity of such disorders. Their use in primary and secondary schools has represented a further opportunity to educate the new generations, both in the development of their specific cognitive, affective, relational and general cultural skills and in educating them in the constructive and positive use of new technologies, protecting them from risk issues both on a personal and relational level. An educational activity that has become increasingly widespread in Italy in recent years is training in digital citizenship, and courses supporting the development of cognitive, relational and affective skills, with education in the logical programming of small games up to the programming of real robots (CEP).To investigate the relationship between the experiences of affective dependency , affective dysregulation and DMPU;To study how participation in CEP can influence these relationships;To study the behavioral effect of CEP on the proper use of digital media and Internet tools.On the basis of the literature taken into account, the following hypotheses have guided our study. This work aims to reach three goals:Participants were all students from six different classrooms in two middle schools in Rome. They were recruited as volunteers, after a proposal to their teachers and parents. One school was private and the other public. The economic and cultural backgrounds of the families were similar, but the urbanistic area of the city was different, even if many of the available facilities were similar.Coding was introduced in school teaching to implement the development of computational thinking through the use of digital tools and computer languages. It stimulates, by means of gaming contexts for younger students, those mental processes that use logic for algorithms for the purpose of solving a problem by breaking it down into sequential steps . This prThe administration took place through the distribution of the questionnaires in the form of paper, filled in by the participants inside the school classrooms, between 9 and 13 h on an ordinary morning at school. The average compilation time for each class was about 25′. The participants compiled in silence, in the presence of the curriculum teacher.The sample of children participating in this study who reported having attended coding courses followed a structured path in extracurricular hours since the early years of primary school. There was one hour a week of training for a total of about 20 h a year. Later in middle school, many of the participants attended digital citizenship courses in parallel with coding. The learning of coding has followed the international lines of teaching computational thinking through open-source platforms specifically designed for schools in a gaming approach, in use in Europe since 2014, according to the method “Blockly” . They also use methodologies of tinkering, orientation in physical and virtual space, storytelling and coding unplugged.With regard to digital citizenship, participants addressed the concepts of risks, rules and opportunities of the web in a tech lab environment.The Dependence Self-Rating Scale (DSRS)  is a selThe Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS)  is a selThe Internet Addiction Test (IAT)  is a scaThe Mobile Phone Involvement Questionnaire (MPIQ)  is a selThe Mobile Phone Problematic Use Scale (MPPUS)  is a selThe statistical analyses were carried out by the application IBM SPSS. The evaluation of the level of statistical significance of the association between nominal variables  was carried out by the Chi squared test. The statistical significance of differences in values of parametric variables  was performed with Anova1Way. The discriminating variable was attendance of the Coding Education Program. To reduce original parameters to root factors, which can also be interpreted as background dimensions assessed by all the instruments, a principal component factorial analysis was performed. The number of factors was determined by scree plot as visual criteria and eigenvalue higher than 1 as computational criteria. The final solution was found after varimax rotation.The association between parametric variables was computed by bivariate Pearson r. Bivariate correlation tables and Pearson r computation was conducted to better interpret the meaning of the factors and the dimensional composition of the original variables.Correlations between extracted factors were computed to study the linkage between psychological variables  and the variable assessing behavior and mental attitude to mobile phones. The two sets of extracted factors were intercorrelated. This study of association was performed three times: on the whole group of young people, among the data of those who attended the Coding Educational Program and among the data of young people who did not attend.p < 0.05 to include and p > 0.10 to exclude from the function.A discriminant analysis was performed to find the best function discriminating between people attending Coding Educational Programs and those not. The forward method was adopted, with 98 students  participated in the study. They were on average m = 12.9 (sd = 0.57) yrs old. The participants were attending the final academic year just before High School. 56 of them (57%) had already attended an educational program on digital culture at m = 9.4 (sd = 2.5) yrs old, and 44 (44.9%) declared to have been participating in CEP see . p < 0.05). Only 12.8% used a smartphone to help with orientation.The prevalent use of smartphones among participants see  was for The participants also declared the time they spent on mobile phones : m = 8.02 = 16.498; p < 0.001)  attended CEP. The difference between the two schools in number of students who have already attended CEP was significantly different (X< 0.001) .No evidence of a CEP effect was detected on any of the instruments used to assess DMPU see .p < 0.01), as did a subscale of DSRS . Non-differences were detected among students of the two different schools, but one DSRS subscale (Self-Sufficiency) showed differences  that resulted statistically significant (p < 0.05).Rating scales assessing emotional difficulties either in emotional self-regulation DERS— or in afThe factor analysis performed on the original 10 variables used to assess the personal style of emotion management resulted in the extraction of the independent factors .The first factor , explaining 36.7% of the observed variance, is focused mainly on the personal difficulties in emotion management. Five of the six subscores of DERS depend on it. Only the Reduced Self-Awareness subscore of DERS, focused on the self-perception of inner feeling, is excluded from this factor. At the same time, the DSRS subscale “Being Cared Self Identity” relies on this main factor. This factor seems to assess the core component of DERS.The second factor (Reduced Self-Confidence), explaining 17.4% of the observed variance, includes two of four DSRS subscores (Lack of Self-Confidence and Being Cared Self Identity) and one DERS subscale (Reduced Self-Awareness). This factor seems to assess the lack of trust in both others’ and one’s own capabilities to resolve emotional overload, and at the same time is increased by a missing awareness of inner feeling.The third factor (Self-Sufficiency) includes the last two subscores of DSRS (Complaisance and Self-Sufficiency), which express the dimension of the dependent attitude assessed by DSRS not also intercepted by the DERS.In A factorial analysis was performed on the parameters assessing the behavior linked to mobile phone use. Even in this case, three factors were extracted .All the questionnaires assessing problematic attitudes toward mobile phone use rely on the first factor (Problematic Use), explaining 39.5% of the variance. This means that all of them assess the same phenomena , and they could provide an actual assessment of the DMPU dimension.The second factor (Night Use), statistically independent from the first one, refers to the time spent using the smartphone at night, either during working days or on the weekend. It explains 20.2% of the observed variance.The day use of smartphones is loaded in the third and last factor .These three factors split in three different criteria the describe of the behavior associated with a problematic use of new media devices. The results highlight the differences between the presence of problematic attitudes toward the use of these ICT media and the time schedule adopted for accessing these instruments.In In p < 0.001) with the observed degree of Emotional Dysregulation. There is no evidence about the influence of Reduced Self-Confidence on DMPU-related observed behaviors. A weak link  is instead shown between the level of Self-Sufficiency and the Night Use of smartphones. Having attended coding educational programs does not seem to significantly modify such relationships, but has a possible weak effect on the relationship between Night Use and Self-Sufficiency.It is evident that DMPU (Problematic Use of smartphones) is strongly associated  on the basis of the other extracted factors, computed including one variable per time, yielded significant results only including the factor FA1—Emotional Dysregulation see . This reThe same procedure repeated including only participants who attended CEP or not yielded similar results, without any apparent effect due to having attended CEP.The discriminant analysis, performed on all the sets of data  on the basis of having attended a CEP, yielded significant results only regarding the exchange of the timetable of smartphone usage, with a decrease in time spent during the day in working days and a shift toward the use in the weekend .On the other side, a significant linkage was found between attendance to CEP and the use of smartphones to obtain information or to help with orientation.The first evidence we obtained from this study is about the root dimension in common with all the different behavioral correlations of DMPU. In fact, ICT media were developed to increase tools and resources for managing everyday activities. The dysfunctionality rises when such a goal is not reached and the ICT resources become a cause of dysfunction in everyday life: being late in reaching goals, focusing attention and energies in something else that has no impact on everyday life and founding interpersonal relationships on something which is highly volatile and at risk of not being true. The behaviors that we detected in people which express such dysfunctionalities seem to be correlated with each other, as they were expressions of the same psychological and psychopathological phenomena. The many assessment instruments, proposed throughout time by different authors, seem to be differentiated by the specific ICT tools focused on at that time, as well as the ICT tools more accessed in that time by people. However, they seem not to be expressions of actual different psychological dynamics. In the 1990s, at the end of the last century, the Internet was the new available resource, accessed with a personal computer. The next decade increased the functionalities of mobile phones and their use to access the many Internet resources. In changing and increasing their functions in the following years, their names were also changed from mobile phones to smartphones. The programs accessed were, at the beginning, more text-based than multimedia contents. Now, the multimedia contents have become the most used functions, especially by young people. The different assessment instruments we used in this study refer to Internet use, mobile phone use, and ICT resource use in general. The evidence we obtained here is that, as the different instruments rely on the same main factor, the different behaviors to which they make reference are all expressions of the same psychopathological dimension: an inappropriate use of ICT media beyond its original purpose. With this concept, we adopted in this paper the general term DMPU—Digital Media Problematic Use—as the common dysfunctional dimension.The second important result evidenced by this study is about the functional role of time management regarding the use of ICT devices. Many assessing tools include time scheduling as a construct of DMPU. The MPIQ, for example, includes time management in the total score, which is also confirmed by correlations shown in The third evidence is about the psychological dimension linked to DMPU. Most of the present literature frequently refers to emotional risk factors as psychological discomfort and the presence of affective dependence. Even if the behavioral and personality traits, detected as prevalent in people with DMPU, suggest the importance of emotional dysregulation, only more recent studies are highlighting the importance of this dimension. In this study, we have matched two different scales to assess the emotional problems that could be linked to DMPU, one focused on psychological dependence (DSRS) and the other on emotional dysregulation (DERS). The different psychological constructs between these two scales are confirmed by the factor analysis, which extracted three different factors. Two of these factors appear to be formed differently by DERS and DSRS subscores. The first one  is more likely to be an expression of Emotional Dysregulation, while the other (Self-Sufficiency) refers to psychological dependence, even if the psychological construct of DSRS seems to include different dimensions affecting all the three factors extracted. Only one of the three factors  is related to DMPU. This observation sustains a change in the original model of dependance, splitting physiological and pathological dependence. The addiction was correlated with the latter. Recent literature, however, and the present study, confirm dysregulation is the main correlation of addiction, abuse and dysfunctional use in general. As such, this means that these dysfunctional behaviors are spontaneous attempts to manage emotional overload with external actions, when one finds oneself incompetent in adopting inner actions, which are needed to self-regulate. These data are coherent with the more recent literature, in which the emotional and behavioral components of emotional dysregulation were found to be a risk factor for DMPU. As further evidence, moreover, a third dimension was found (Self-Confidence), related to the lack of trust either in themselves or in others, together with a lack of clear awareness of one’s own feelings. Lack/presence of competence in self-regulation of emotions ;The persistence/release of a strong affective attachment and compliant attitude towards caregivers (Self-Sufficiency);The presence/absence of a trusting attitude toward self and others associated with a sufficient level of consciousness of inner feelings (Self-Confidence).In other words, our data support a three-component model of dependence: The third component (the second factor extracted in this study) as an independent dimension form the other two must be further studied, especially its meaning and the reason why it is separated from the other two. The Emotional Dysregulation factor seems to be the only one linked to the problematic use of new ICT resources, while Self-Sufficiency seems to be linked to the use of ICT devices outside the ruling control of adults. Instead, the Self-Confidence factor remains uncorrelated with anything. It could be linked to the concept of hopelessness and helplessness, a psychopathological component which makes this factor as a measure of the risk of young people to be on the edge of despair. In turn, such a feeling is an important risk factor to dramatic behavior when the social net could be suddenly broken by an unexpected event with high negative valence. The recent literature suggests that the role of families in sustaining a better self-regulation and ruling is adopting more functional planning in everyday activities. The educational programs delivered in school could be useful in sustaining a more functional use of ICT devices and increasing the awareness of young people about them, located in the tools/time/space/goals integration as it is done in planning and programming. CESP has all these prerequisites to be an effective educational program for this purpose.Data shown in Moreover, educational programs make young people more aware of the time management of their activity, even in smartphone usage. In any case, the presence of personalities with higher feelings of self-sufficiency makes them free to manage as they like the “night” time, where no duty is present . However, even in such self-sufficient people, a CEP effect is detected. This “time planning” effect could be related to the role taken by CEP in improving the orientation of young people. This increased skill could also have an effect in their competence to put themselves in a “third position” looking at their own life among others and the personal aims in the life. This means they increase their capability to see the present time scheduling and personal relationship scenario from a position from where they see themselves and other from an upper view. Coding can support such a skill, as all the procedures and different choices must be overviewed and programmed in a sequential algorithm in time and space domains. From the capability of seeing an overview from a “third position”, metacognition about oneself and others can be sustained. The role of metacognition was already proposed as a modulator of the relationship between emotional dysregulation and problematic ICT device use.It is evident that educational programs do not affect emotional dysregulation, and in this way, they do not affect the DMPU attitude of young people. In spite, the fact is that CEP increases the skills and competence of young people in using ICT resources more efficiently and in managing their everyday life activities This is not enough to resolve the effect of emotional dysregulation on DMPU. The facilitation of changing such relationships can be done by better competence on functional use and better daytime planning with an increased metacognition and awareness, if the young people have different and more functional tools and ways to manage emotions.CEP are effective in increasing the competence of participants in the direction of the educational objectives expected: acquisition of a way of thinking characterized by greater logical abilities and procedural skills, in parallel with a greater capability of the subjects to orient themselves in the external world—more than in the internal—to support the improvement in “problem analysis and organization towards solution” in everyday areas. However, these are not Educational Programs on internal emotion management and regulation. The availability of adequate resources for young people to reach better emotional management makes students more probable to ameliorate the dysfunctional use of digital resources, while the lack of such resources and correlated skills makes the addictive behavior more compulsory. Our results confirm the need of implementing educational actions based on programs promoting digital awareness leading to a more functional and regulated use of digital tools. In the present study, the importance and effectiveness of CEP is observed mainly on the behavioral level. An impact of training on emotional self-regulation is not observed. Could be this a question of time? Further studies with higher number of participants are needed. With regard to psychological dependence, since we are dealing with developmental age subjects, it is not possible to assess in terms of stable personality traits, but