ORIGINAL PAPER Moving Bodies to Moving Minds: A Study of the Use of Motion-Based Games in Special Education Panagiotis Kosmas 1 & Andri Ioannou 1 & Symeon Retalis 2 # Association for Educational Communications & Technology 2018 Abstract From an embodied learning perspective, the active human body can alter the function of the brain and therefore, the cognitive process. In this work, children’ s activity using motion-based technology is framed as an example of embodied learning. The present investigation focuses on the use of a series of Kinect-based educational games by 31 elementary students with special educational needs in mainstream schools, during a five-month intervention study. Results based on psychometric pre-post testing in conjunction with games-usage analytics, a student attitudinal scale, teachers’ reflection notes and teacher interviews, demon- strated the positive impact of the games on children’ s short-term memory skills and emotional stage. Overall, the study improves our understanding of embodied learning via motion-based technology in teaching and learning with children with special educational needs. Keywords Educational games . Embodied learning . Embodied cognition . Kinect-based games . Kinesthetic learning . Motion-based technology . Inclusive education . Students with special educational needs The premise of how mind and body are closely interlinked (Wilson 2002) has brought to light the involvement of the physical body in the learning process, changing the learning environment, altering the learning design, and generating questions about the nature of the relationship between body and mind (cognition). The embodied cognition theory empha- sizes the inseparable link between brain, body, and the world. Advocates of the theory claim that the brain must be under- stood in the context of its physical body whilst, reciprocally, the active body can alter the function of the brain. Implications of embodied cognition theory in education have become a significant part of contemporary teaching and learning prac- tices, under the umbrella of embodied learning (Foglia and Wilson 2013; Price et al. 2009; Wilson 2002). Embodied design and learning provide an alternative form of teaching and learning, enriching the conventional educa- tional practice (Abrahamson 2013). As explained by Nguyen and Larson (2015), in embodied learning contexts, learners are Bsimultaneously sensorimotor bodies, reflective minds, and social beings^ (p. 342). That is, embodied learning, as a teaching method, provides ways of engaging the physical body in multimodal learning experiences aiming to improve the learners’ cognitive abilities (Wilson 2002). One way em- bodied learning can be achieved is via the use of motion-based technology (e.g., Kinect-based games, Wii, exergames, etc.), which requires the learner ’s physical engagement in interacting with the technology and playing the games. Such games are characterized by motion and movement activities, such as clicking, grasping, pointing, walking or balancing (Altakrouri and Schrader 2012; Iacolina et al. 2010). Abrahamson (2013) proposed a pedagogical framework, the so-called embodied design framework, to guide the creation of appropriate learning conditions, in which bodily experiences can play a central role in shaping the mind. Embodied learning further appears to be a progression of the idea of kinesthetic learning placing the learner in physical interaction with the learning experience (Ayala et al. 2013). For example, in the previous century, Montessori education promoted learning through kinesthetic engagement. Indeed, many views of embodied learning involve kinesthetic and multimodal dimensions to explain the physical involvement of the human body and brain in the cognitive process. Dourish * Panagiotis Kosmas panayiotis.kosmas@cut.ac.cy 1 Cyprus Interaction Lab, Cyprus University of Technology, 31 Le Corpusier Street, 3075 Limassol, Cyprus 2 University of Piraeus, 18534 Piraeus, Greece TechTrends https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-018-0294-5