Study of Touch Gesture Performance by Four and Five Year-Old Children: Point-and-Touch, Drag-and-Drop, Zoom-in and Zoom-out, and Rotate

Past research has focused on children\u27s interaction with computers through mouse clicks, and mouse research studies focused on point-and-click and drag-and-drop. However, More research is necessary in regard to children\u27s ability to perform touch gestures such as point-and-touch, drag-and-drop, zoom-in and zoom-out, and rotate. Furthermore, research should consider specific gestures such as zoom-in and zoom-out, and rotate tasks for young children. The aim of this thesis is to study the ability of 4 and 5 year-old children to interact with touch devices and perform tasks such as: point-and-touch, drag-and-drop, zoom-in and zoom-out, and rotate. This thesis tests an iPad application with four experiments on 17 four and five-year-old children, 16 without motor impairment and 1 with a motor impairment disability. The results show that 5-year-old children perform better than 4-year-old children in the four experiments. Results indicate that interaction design for young children that uses Point-and-Touch gestures should consider distance between targets, and designs using Drag-and-Drop gestures should consider size of targets, as these have significant effects in the way children perform these gestures. Also, designers should consider size and rotation direction in rotate tasks, as it is smoother for young children to rotate clockwise objects. The result of the four different touch gestures tasks shows that time was not an important factor in children\u27s performance

Study of Touch Gestures Performance in Touch Devices by Young Children

This research tests the performance of 16 four and five-year-old children with an iPad application with four experiments corresponding to four different gestures: Point-and-Touch, Drag-and-Drop, Zoom-in and Zoom-out, and Rotation. The results show that 5-year-old children perform better than 4-year-old children in the four experiments. The results indicate that interaction design for young children that uses point-and-touch gestures should consider smaller distance between targets, and design using drag-and-drop gestures should consider larger size of targets, as these have significant effects in the way children perform these gestures. DOI: 10.17762/ijritcc2321-8169.150310

Measuring children's search behaviour on a large scale

Children often experience problems during information-seeking using traditional search interfaces and search technologies, that are designed for adults. This is because children engage with the world in fundamentally different ways than adults. To design search technologies that support children in effective and enjoyable information-seeking, more research is needed to examine children’s specific skills and needs concerning information-seeking. Therefore, we developed an application that can monitor children’s search behaviour on a large scale. In this paper, we present the steps taken to develop this application. The basis of the application is UsaProxy, an existing system that is used to monitor the user’s usage of websites. We have increased the accuracy of UsaProxy and have developed an application that is able to extract useful information from UsaProxy’s log files

Remanufacturing: the Game

In an effort to increase awareness about sustainability, I have developed an interactive game that is intended to teach children about Remanufacturing and how it benefits the environment. Through a series of Flash games, my project allows users to take a broken robot named Remy through each step of the Remanufacturing process until he is Remanufactured to be better than new. This allows users to see first-hand how Remanufacturing works and why each step of the process is important. Having users be a part of the process makes for a more engaging explanation of sustainability and the Remanufacturing process. The game is intended to be used as an educational tool in schools (starting at the 5th grade level) and for the Golisano Institute of Sustainability at the Rochester Institute of Technology. To read more about my process, visit RemanThesis.blogspot.com. You can also view the finished project at karlitucker.com/work/2/reman

Kid's Music Box: A Digital Music Organizer Designed with Children for Children

This thesis is an investigation of software development for children aged six to ten years old. This is a challenging area; despite the trend for children to be exposed to computer technology at an earlier age, they often struggle to utilize it effectively. Children are not merely miniature adults; they have their own needs which are often not met by traditional software. In particular, this thesis focuses on the task of music management: a task that children take much interest in but for which they are given few tools. We address this with the design of a new music management system: the Kid's Music Box. The development of Kid's Music Box is documented in four main parts: background research, requirements gathering, design and implementation, and evaluation. Background research identifies the strengths and weaknesses of conventional music organizers with respect to young users. Requirements gathering took the form of a focus group study, which aimed to overcome the distinct challenges of obtaining input from children. The design of Kid's Music Box builds on this work, by incorporating functionality, metaphors and design elements that suit the needs and capabilities of young children. Expert evaluations and formal evaluation from children users showed promising results, which concluded that Kid's Music Box is better than other organizers in terms of managing music for children

Surveying Preschoolers’ Computer Use Capabilities

This study detected computer skills that children have developed spontaneously in their everyday lives and those that have already possessed during their studies at the early childhood education centers. The survey involved 453 children, aged 3 to 5, attending 24 different early childhood education structures. A 25-point computer skill observation form, supported by a corresponding rubric, was used to describe the computer capabilities of preschool children. According to the results of the study, as children registered for early childhood education settings, they brought with them their pre-existing computer skills. These skills could potentially hold a key role in designing future educational programs. The age of children seemed to affect these skills up to the age of 4. Implications of findings, concerning computer skills of preschool children, are discussed

A graphical programming interface for a children's constructionist learning environment

Thesis (M.Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1998.Includes bibliographical references (p. 41).by Andrew C. Cheng.M.Eng

A review of the evidence on the use of ICT in the Early Years Foundation Stage

This report reviewed existing evidence on the potential of technology to support the development of educational policy and practice in the context of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Reference is made to the use of ICT by young children from aged birth to five years and its potential impacts, positive and negative on their cognitive, social, emotional educational, visual and physical development