Abstract:

Emotional intelligence involves self-awareness, emotional expression, understanding the self and the environment. "My E-GO Island" is a breaking-through software that might help educators and therapists in programs aiming to improve emotional intelligence in children aged 6-14 years.
The software invites the child to make choices, discover, get feedback, learn about himself and his surroundings, express feelings and understand emotions that he might not be aware of, while operating in a familiar computerized environment. It also allows the adult to understand the child and speak with him about emotional-situations, about strengths, challenges, coping strategies and their significances.

After years of practice and research, tracing for tools that might help to develop the emotional-discourse with children; "pen and paper" therapeutic-tools like cards or bibliotherapy, have been converted into computerized tools.

The lecture will present the findings of an evaluation-research, indicating the unique features of the method, using computer software for sessions of emotional-intelligence nurturing with 6-14 years old children. It seems that the computer can make a "therapeutic- sphere" of itself, and the method of using this software may have a special role, not only as a substitute for existing non-electronic therapeutic tools. Human-Computer-Interaction (HCI) theories will be discussed.

Keywords:

Emotional intelligence, software.