Guidance in storytelling tables supports emotional development in kindergartners

Promoting the social-emotional development of kindergartners is of special relevance as will lay the foundations for emotion regulation in later childhood and adulthood stages. Considering that tangible storytelling tables are already used for language and literacy skills in kindergarten, we addressed the problem of designing a storytelling intervention aimed at social-emotional development suitable in such a context by using an emotional laden story as content and embedding a guidance method that can be implemented with either a human or robot guide to enhance the learning setting. The study considered two guided storytelling activities (one traditional guided by the teacher, and one in which guidance was provided by a robot) and a control condition without additional guidance. The three conditions were compared in terms of kindergartners’ enactment process, an emotion recognition test and a story recall test. The results show that the guidance method properly supported emotion naming, children involvement and goal completion during the storytelling activity whereas the intervention supported the learning gain on emotion recognition. The study revealed that both robot and human guidance did not differ significantly in the performance tests but did outperform the control. In view of the results, this research is helpful for researchers and teachers to create in an informed way a range of environments in the kindergarten class based on storytelling tables, either with or without guidance, and with or without robot support. Future work may further investigate how specific interaction issues concerning robot embodiment (e.g., voice and behavioral cues to direct children’s attention) might enhance or not the children’s performanceOpen Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. This work has partially been funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities under Juan de la Cierva programme (IJC2018–037522-I). The writing of this work has received financial support from the Consellería de Educación, Universidade e Formación Profesional (accreditation 2019–2022 ED431G-2019/04, reference ED431C2022/19) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)S

Teaching Turkish‐Dutch kindergartners Dutch vocabulary with a social robot:Does the robot's use of Turkish translations benefit children's Dutch vocabulary learning?

Providing first language (L1) translations in L2 vocabulary interventions may be beneficial for L2 vocabulary learning. However, in linguistically diverse L2 classrooms, teachers cannot provide L1 translations to all children. Social robots do offer such opportunities, as they can be programmed to speak any combination of languages. This study investigates whether providing L1 translations in a robot-assisted L2 vocabulary training facilitates children's learning. Participants were Turkish-Dutch kindergartners (n = 67) who were taught six Dutch (L2) words for which they knew the L1 (Turkish), but not the L2 Dutch form. Half of these words were taught by a Turkish-Dutch bilingual robot, alongside their Turkish translations; the other half by a monolingual Dutch robot. Children also completed Dutch and Turkish receptive vocabulary tests. Results of generalized linear regression models indicated better performance in the Dutch-only condition than in the Turkish-Dutch condition. Children with well-developed Turkish and Dutch vocabulary knowledge outperformed children with less well-developed vocabulary knowledge. The majority of children preferred working with the bilingual robot, but children's preference did not affect word learning. Thus, contrary to our prediction, we found no evidence for a facilitating effect of providing L1 translations through a robot on bilingual children's L2 word learning

Design patterns for an interactive storytelling robot to support children's engagement and agency

In this paper we specify and validate three interaction design patterns for an interactive storytelling experience with an autonomous social robot. The patterns enable the child to make decisions about the story by talking with the robot, reenact parts of the story together with the robot, and recording self-made sound effects. The design patterns successfully support children's engagement and agency. A user study (N = 27, 8-10 y.o.) showed that children paid more attention to the robot, enjoyed the storytelling experience more, and could recall more about the story, when the design patterns were employed by the robot during storytelling. All three aspects are important features of engagement. Children felt more autonomous during storytelling with the design patterns and highly appreciated that the design patterns allowed them to express themselves more freely. Both aspects are important features of children's agency. Important lessons we have learned are that reducing points of confusion and giving the children more time to make themselves heard by the robot will improve the patterns efficiency to support engagement and agency. Allowing children to pick and choose from a diverse set of stories and interaction settings would make the storytelling experience more inclusive for a broader range of children

Das gemeinsame Lesen von Kinderbüchern und die Entwicklung frühkindlicher Sprachfähigkeiten

Storybooks and talk centered around shared reading contain more rare words, complex syntax, and narrative structures than the language that caregivers usually use when talking to children. Therefore, interactive storybook reading has the potential to facilitate children’s acquisition of lower level language (LLL) skills (e.g., vocabulary, grammar) and higher level language (HLL) skills (e.g., comprehension monitoring, narrative comprehension). This dissertation addresses gaps in shared storybook reading research pertaining to questions of assessment, intervention, and early literacy models. It investigates from a developmental and educational perspective how shared reading in the home literacy environment (HLE) and the child care literacy environment (CCLE) is related to children’s oral language skills. The first aim is to validate two recognition tests for German-speaking participants. This allows an objective and economic assessment of storybook exposure and adult literature exposure, both of which are related to children’s language development. The second aim is to clarify (a) the relation between parent and child as literacy agents in a home literacy model of shared reading, and (b) whether shared reading is related to children’s HLL skills besides being related to their LLL skills. The third aim is to test the effectiveness of a narrative dialogic reading intervention targeting LLL and HLL skills. To this end, four studies were conducted. Study 1 validated a storybook title recognition test (TRT) for German-speaking preschoolers and caregivers. The TRT captures relative differences in the amount of shared reading. In structural equation models, the TRT was a unique predictor of preschoolers’ language skills, explaining about 50% of variance in language skills. By contrast, questionnaire measures of socioeconomic status and home literacy environment did not explain additional variance in language skills. Study 2 validated an author recognition test (ART) for 13 to 80-year-old German-speaking readers. The ART is a measure of leisure reading that explains a substantial amount of variance in caregivers’ language skills, which is in turn related to children’s language development. Even though print exposure accumulates with time, several life span studies did not find a positive relation between reader age and ART scores. Study 2 used a sample of 13- to 77-year-old readers. The recognition probability of classic authors increased between ages 15 and 65. By contrast, the recognition probability of recent authors only increased between ages 15 and 45. The author mean publication year turned out to be a key variable for estimating print exposure in age-diverse samples. This author variable should be taken into account when modelling relationships between literacy environments and children’s language skills, especially if the age of caregivers varies (e.g., adolescent siblings, parents, grand-parents). Study 3 examined how HLE and CCLE are related to preschoolers’ storybook exposure and how the storybook exposure of preschoolers, parents, and child care workers is related to LLL and HLL skills. Parents’ exposure to storybooks was a unique predictor of children’s vocabulary and grammar skills. Parents’ storybook exposure was also moderately related to children’s storybook exposure, which in turn explained unique variance in vocabulary, grammar, comprehension monitoring, and narrative comprehension. Therefore, the storybook exposure of children and parents should be conceptualized as related, but separate variables in models of the home literacy environment. Moreover, models should differentiate between LLL and HLL skills as correlates and outcomes of shared reading. Study 4 developed a narrative dialogic reading intervention with wordless picture books that targeted preschoolers’ LLL and HLL skills. The intervention had small short-term effects on narrative comprehension and vocabulary skills. Comparisons with an alternative treatment and a no treatment group showed that the effects were due to the specific intervention contents. Individual differences in storybook exposure and general cognitive abilities did not moderate intervention gains. Children in control groups caught up after five months, with the exception of inferential narrative comprehension, where intervention effects were maintained at first follow-up. This indicates that narrative dialogic reading provided a unique opportunity to preschoolers for learning inferential narrative comprehension skills. In sum, this dissertation provides new methods and insights for the assessment of print exposure and shows that narrative dialogic reading fosters a broad range of oral language skills. Regarding the refinement of early literacy models, additional analyses showed that, above children’s and parents’ storybook exposure, the ART was a unique predictor of LLL skills. Parental leisure reading and shared storybook reading were connected to children’s oral language skills through multiple pathways that should be represented in early literacy models.Bilderbücher und Gespräche während dem Vorlesen enthalten mehr seltene Wörter, komplexe Syntax und narrative Strukturen als die gewöhnliche kindgerichtete Sprache von Eltern. Folglich kann das interaktive Vorlesen von Bilderbüchern zur Entwicklung von niedrigen Sprachfähigkeiten (z. B. Wortschatz, Grammatik) und höheren Sprachfähigkeiten (z. B. Überwachen von Verstehen, narratives Verstehen) beitragen. Diese Dissertation adressiert Lücken in der Vorlese-Forschung welche Fragen der Messung, Intervention und Modelle des frühen Schriftspracherwerbs betreffen. Aus entwicklungs- und pädagogisch-psychologischer Perspektive wird untersucht wie das Bilderbuchlesen in der häuslichen Leseumwelt und der Kita-Leseumwelt mit den Sprachfähigkeiten von Vorschulkindern zusammenhängt. Erstens sollen zwei Rekognitionstests für deutschsprachige Kinder und Vorlesende validiert werden. Hierdurch können Unterschiede im Lesevolumen hinsichtlich Bilderbüchern sowie Erwachsenenliteratur objektiv und ökonomisch erfasst werden. Beide stehen im Zusammenhang mit der kindlichen Sprachentwicklung. Zweitens soll geklärt werden, wie (a) Eltern und Kind als Handelnde im Vorleseprozess in der häuslichen Leseumwelt zueinander in Relation stehen und (b) ob das gemeinsame Lesen von Bilderbüchern neben niedrigen Sprachfähigkeiten auch mit höheren Sprachfähigkeiten zusammenhängt. Drittens soll überprüft werden, ob eine Sprachintervention zum narrativen dialogischen Lesen positive Effekte auf niedrige und höhere Sprachfähigkeiten hat. Zu diesem Zweck wurden vier Studien durchgeführt. Studie 1 validierte einen Bilderbuch-Titelrekognitionstest (TRT) für deutschsprachige Vorschulkinder und Vorlesende. Der TRT erfasst relative Unterschiede im Vorlesevolumen. In Strukturgleichungsmodellen klärte der TRT etwa 50% der Varianz in Sprachfähigkeiten auf, der sozioökonomische Status und die häusliche Leseumwelt klärten hier hingegen keine zusätzliche Varianz auf. Studie 2 validierte einen Autorenrekognitionstest (ART) für 13- bis 80-Jährige. Der ART misst das Leseverhalten in der Freizeit. Hierdurch kann ein substanzieller Anteil der Varianz in den Sprachfähigkeiten von Vorlesenden aufgeklärt werden. Die Sprachfähigkeiten von Vorlesenden hängen wiederum zusammen mit der kindlichen Sprachentwicklung. Das kumulative Lesevolumen wächst mit zunehmendem Alter. Mehrere Lebensspanne-Studien haben allerdings keinen positiven Zusammenhang zwischen Alter und ART-Score gefunden. Studie 2 untersuchte deshalb in einer Stichprobe von 13- bis 77-Jährigen wie das Lesevolumen zunimmt. Für bereits kanonisierte Autorinnen und Autoren stieg die Rekognitionswahrscheinlichkeit zwischen 15 und 65 Jahren an. Hingegen stieg die Rekognitionswahrscheinlichkeit für Gegenwartsautorinnen und -autoren nur zwischen 15 und 45 Jahren. Folglich ist das mittlere Publikationsjahr von Autorinnen und Autoren bedeutsam für die Schätzung des Lesevolumens in altersdiversen Stichproben. Diese Variable sollte bei der Modellierung von Leseumwelt-Einflüssen auf die kindliche Sprachentwicklung einbezogen werden – insbesondere dann, wenn unterschiedliche Generationen regelmäßig mit Kindern kommunizieren (z. B. Geschwister im Jugendalter, Eltern, Großeltern). Studie 3 untersuchte wie häusliche und Kita-Leseumwelt mit dem Vorlesevolumen von Vorschulkindern zusammenhängen und wie das Vorlesevolumen von Kindern, Eltern und Kita-Mitarbeitern zu niedrigen und höheren Sprachfähigkeiten beiträgt. Das Vorlesevolumen der Eltern erklärte einen uniquen Varianzanteil in Wortschatz und Grammatik der Kinder. Auch bestand zwischen Vorlesevolumen der Eltern und Vorlesevolumen der Kinder eine mittelstarke Korrelation. Das Vorlesevolumen der Kinder wiederum erklärte einen uniquen Varianzanteil in Wortschatz, Grammatik, Verstehensüberwachung und narrativem Verstehen. Folglich sollten die Vorlesevolumina von Kindern und Eltern in Modellen der häuslichen Leseumwelt als getrennte, aber in Verbindung stehende Variablen konzeptualisiert werden. Diese Modellen sollten zudem zwischen niedrigen und höheren Sprachfähigkeiten differenzieren. Studie 4 überprüfte die Effektivität einer neu entwickelten Intervention zum narrativen dialogischen Lesen in der Bilderbücher ohne Worte verwendet wurden. Die Intervention hatte kurzfristig kleine positive Effekte auf das narrative Verstehen und Wortschatzfähigkeiten. Die Interventionseffekte konnten durch Vergleiche mit der aktiven sowie der passiven Vergleichsgruppe auf die spezifischen Inhalte der Intervention zurückgeführt werden. Interindividuelle Unterschiede im Vorlesevolumen vor Interventionsbeginn sowie Unterschiede in den allgemeinen kognitiven Fähigkeiten hatten keinen Einfluss auf die Interventionseffekte. Die Kinder in den Vergleichsgruppen holten nach fünf Monaten in allen Sprachfähigkeiten auf. Nur hinsichtlich des inferenziellen narrativen Verstehens bestanden bei der ersten Folgeuntersuchung noch Gruppenunterschiede zugunsten der Intervention. Dies weist darauf hin, dass das dialogische Lesen spezielle Lerngelegenheiten für das inferenzielle narrative Verstehen bereit stellte. Insgesamt liefert diese Dissertation wichtige Erkenntnisse für die Erfassung des (Vor-)Lesevolumens und zur Effektivität des narrativen dialogischen Lesens. Hinsichtlich der Präzisierung eines Modells zum Einfluss des Vorlesens auf die Sprachentwicklung zeigten zusätzliche Analysen, dass der ART über den TRT hinaus zusätzlich Varianz in niedrigen Sprachfähigkeiten aufklärt. Offensichtlich bestehen mehrere Pfade von elterlichem Freizeitlesen und interaktivem Vorlesen zu den Sprachfähigkeiten von Kindern, welche entsprechend in Modellen zum Sprachenlernen durch Umwelteinflüsse repräsentiert sein sollten

EXAMINING THE NATURE, QUALITY, AND REPRESENTATIONS OF GENDER IN POPULAR CHILDREN’S DIGITAL PICTURE BOOK APPS

In recent years, use of digital technology among young children has increased. As a result, digital apps are continuously produced and are often designed to support children’s learning. While research has progressively focused on the use of multimedia apps, little is known about their nature and quality, specifically that of picture book apps. Further, among the body of research examining gender in children’s literature, knowledge of representation and depiction of gender in digital picture book apps is scarce. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to critically examine popular picture book apps for children on a particular popular platform (iOS) in order to understand their nature, quality, and the ways and the degree to which they represent gender. After examining apps based upon inclusion/exclusion criteria, a final sample of 75 apps were used for analysis. Apps were analyzed for genre, the inclusion of transmedial features and the degree of user interactivity of those features, and components of gender. Findings indicate that despite the prevalence of apps that included most of the transmedial features, these apps were generally average in engaging interactivity and limited in genre categorization. Gender disparity was also found across apps, such as the tendency for masculine characters to be the central character and feminine characters to be portrayed with stereotypicaly feminine physical features. This study has implications for users and developers and suggests a general lack of diverse gender representation and the need for high quality, interactive, and engaging picture book apps for the benefit of young children

Gesture Object Interfaces to enable a world of multiple projections

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2010.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. [209]-226).Tangible Media as an area has not explored how the tangible handle is more than a marker or place-holder for digital data. Tangible Media can do more. It has the power to materialize and redefine our conception of space and content during the creative process. It can vary from an abstract token that represents a movie to an anthropomorphic plush that reflects the behavior of a sibling during play. My work begins by extending tangible concepts of representation and token-based interactions into movie editing and play scenarios. Through several design iterations and research studies, I establish tangible technologies to drive visual and oral perspectives along with finalized creative works, all during a child's play and exploration. I define the framework, Gesture Object Interfaces, expanding on the fields of Tangible User Interaction and Gesture Recognition. Gesture is a mechanism that can reinforce or create the anthropomorphism of an object. It can give the object life. A Gesture Object is an object in hand while doing anthropomorphized gestures. Gesture Object Interfaces engender new visual and narrative perspectives as part of automatic film assembly during children's play. I generated a suite of automatic film assembly tools accessible to diverse users. The tools that I designed allow for capture, editing and performing to be completely indistinguishable from one another. Gestures integrated with objects become a coherent interface on top of natural play. I built a distributed, modular camera environment and gesture interaction to control that environment. The goal of these new technologies is to motivate children to take new visual and narrative perspectives. In this dissertation I present four tangible platforms that I created as alternatives to the usual fragmented and sequential capturing, editing and performing of narratives available to users of current storytelling tools. I developed Play it by Eye, Frame it by hand, a new generation of narrative tools that shift the frame of reference from the eye to the hand, from the viewpoint (where the eye is) to the standpoint (where the hand is). In Play it by Eye, Frame it by Hand environments, children discover atypical perspectives through the lens of everyday objects. When using Picture This!, children imagine how an object would appear relative to the viewpoint of the toy. They iterate between trying and correcting in a world of multiple perspectives. The results are entirely new genres of child-created films, where children finally capture the cherished visual idioms of action and drama. I report my design process over the course of four tangible research projects that I evaluate during qualitative observations with over one hundred 4- to 14-year-old users. Based on these research findings, I propose a class of moviemaking tools that transform the way users interpret the world visually, and through storytelling.by Catherine Nicole Vaucelle.Ph.D

Humanization of robots: is it really such a good idea?

The aim of this review was to examine the pros and cons of humanizing social robots following a psychological perspective. As such, we had six goals. First, we defined what social robots are. Second, we clarified the meaning of humanizing social robots. Third, we presented the theoretical backgrounds for promoting humanization. Fourth, we conducted a review of empirical results of the positive effects and the negative effects of humanization on human–robot interaction (HRI). Fifth, we presented some of the political and ethical problems raised by the humanization of social robots. Lastly, we discussed the overall effects of the humanization of robots in HRI and suggested new avenues of research and development.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio