Bringing tabletop technologies to kindergarten children

Taking computer technology away from the desktop and into a more physical, manipulative space, is known that provide many benefits and is generally considered to result in a system that is easier to learn and more natural to use. This paper describes a design solution that allows kindergarten children to take the benefits of the new pedagogical possibilities that tangible interaction and tabletop technologies offer for manipulative learning. After analysis of children's cognitive and psychomotor skills, we have designed and tuned a prototype game that is suitable for children aged 3 to 4 years old. Our prototype uniquely combines low cost tangible interaction and tabletop technology with tutored learning. The design has been based on the observation of children using the technology, letting them freely play with the application during three play sessions. These observational sessions informed the design decisions for the game whilst also confirming the children's enjoyment of the prototype

Beyond representations: towards an action-centric perspective on tangible interaction

In the light of theoretical as well as concrete technical development, we discuss a conceptual shift from an information-centric to an action-centric perspective on tangible interactive technology. We explicitly emphasise the qualities of shareable use, and the importance of designing tangibles that allow for meaningful manipulation and control of the digital material. This involves a broadened focus from studying properties of the interface, to instead aim for qualities of the activity of using a system, a general tendency towards designing for social and sharable use settings and an increased openness towards multiple and subjective interpretations. An effect of this is that tangibles are not designed as representations of data, but as resources for action. We discuss four ways that tangible artefacts work as resources for action: (1) for physical manipulation; (2) for referential, social and contextually oriented action; (3) for perception and sensory experience; (4) for digitally mediated action

End Users in Students' Participatory Design Process

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Design Empathy in Students’ Participatory Design Processes

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Interactive technologies for preschool game-based instruction: Experiences and future challenges

This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Entertainment Computing. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Entertainment Computing, vol. 17 (2016). DOI 10.1016/j.entcom.2016.07.001.[EN] According to current kindergarten curricula, game play is an important basis for children development and it is the main driving force when designing educational activities during early childhood. This paper presents a review of the current state of the art of game technologies that support pre-kindergarten and kindergarten children development. Moreover, the most emergent technologies for developing educational games for preschool children are identified and a set of future challenges are discussed. The main goal of this work is to review the state of the art in interactive technologies which will help educators, game designers and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) experts in the area of game-based kindergarten instruction. 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.This work received financial support from Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and funded by the European Development Regional Fund (EDRF-FEDER) with the project TIN2014-60077-R (SUPEREMOS). This work is also supported by a predoctoral fellowship within the FPU program from the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports to V. Nacher (FPU14/00136) and from GVA (ACIF/2014/214) to F. Garcia-Sanjuan.Nácher-Soler, VE.; García Sanjuan, F.; Jaén Martínez, FJ. (2016). Interactive technologies for preschool game-based instruction: Experiences and future challenges. Entertainment Computing. 17:19-29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.entcom.2016.07.001S19291

Phoneme Based English Learning System

It is widely accepted that English is recognised as an important language. However, in terms of proficiency, the level of English in Malaysia is not on par with international standards despite being heralded as a country with a high proficiency in the language. Although there has been governmental assistance given to improve the teaching methods in Malaysia, it does not touch upon the environment and methods of teaching. Language learning should be personalized to a degree, with a system that is tailored to suit the primary learner. Phonemic Awareness, a subset of phonics, is a method which focuses on learning the sounds of letters, and it has been seen as a method which helps increase reading and speech proficiency. The objective of this research is to understand the level of phonemic awareness in students, and to find out what is the best way to create a mobile application that caters to their needs, which then leads to the development of such an application. This research‟s scope covers kindergarten students, and by extension primary school students and the study of creating a Phoneme based English learning software for them. In doing so, it also covers the development of a standalone Flash based system, capable of running on most types of mobile phones. The system will be primarily developed using Adobe Flash Professional CS6. Next, the system will cover two methodologies: Qualitative Interviews for the Research Methodology, which is implemented because the interview relies on the teacher‟s experience in teaching; and Prototyping for the Development Methodology, as the system will undergo several revisions and refinements before being officially deployed to the public to ensure maximum usability. Although the system was initially planned with kindergarten students in mind, it seems that some kindergartens have already implemented some form of phonemic awareness methods in their current syllabus. However, insight has been given on the important elements needed in a learning based courseware, and that will serves as the basis for the implementation of the Mobile Phoneme Based English Learning System

Automating stem learning by engaging in artful-inspired play

A full range of experimental methodologies split between two distinct yet related projects was performed in an effort to define ways to automate STEM learning in artful-inspired play. Both projects aim to offer impactful learning experiences through artful-inspired activities meant to automate STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) learning in children that are both scientifically and non-scientifically inclined. By participating in play that is both fun and engaging, learning is a byproduct of the activity which acts to automatically embed STEM knowledge and experiences within the user. Bridging the gap between STEM and artistic tendencies has the potential to provide a multi-faceted learning experience that could attract non-traditional STEM candidates, such as children with a passion for drawing. The first project presents the concept and initial prototype of a color-driven tangible learning environment that teaches mathematics, while the second project presents the preliminary results of longitudinal study conducted to analyze how children use hand-drawn sketching to expand and facilitate their design thinking for STEM-based activities. The Math Bright Blocks introduce a gaming module that intends to cognitively color code mathematical operations and automate STEM learning by achieving increased interest, cognitive speed, and excitement in children with regards to the field of mathematics. Conception, design, construction, and initial testing of the module were performed to innovate a new cross-cutting approach to education. However, through careful consideration, it was determined that the color space is too much of an unexplored arena and that additional theoretical frameworks and testing approaches are necessary for constructing an appropriate testing environment for color and its implications for children. Lastly, the ways children use sketching methods to communicate design ideas during a variety of activities in the Purdue sponsored GERI Toy Design Lab in Mechanical Engineering, including how color is utilized to communicate ideas, were evaluated. The activities that this observational research focuses on are those that purposefully implemented hand sketching; Marshmallow Tower, Sketching Workshop, and the NERF Blaster challenge. With only 17 participants, there are not enough data points to be able to offer any type of meaningful statistical significance. Therefore, this work acts to establish a foundation built upon initial observation on which future in-depth sketching analyses can be facilitated. Observations of the participants offered mixed results. The participants did not use sketching for iterative design, but suggested in the respective survey materials that sketching was important for design planning. Additionally, observations made during the NERF Blaster challenge suggest that children need a physical representation to visualize in order to be fully engaged in sketching for design. Color was rarely used to facilitate design communication, and when used, colors were seemingly chosen based on real-world representations

Tangible Interaction and Learning: The Case for a Hybrid Approach

Research involving tangible interaction and children has often focused on how tangibles might sup- port or improve learning compared to more traditional methods. In this paper, we review three of our research studies involving tangible computer programming that have addressed this question in a variety of learning environments with a diverse population of children. Through these studies, we identify situations in which tangible interaction seems to offer advantages for learning; how- ever, we have also identify situations in which tangible interaction proves less useful and an alternative interaction style provides a more appropriate medium for learning. Thus, we advocate for a hybrid approach—one that offers teachers and learners the flexibility to select the most appropriate interaction style to meet the needs of a specific situation

Tangible user interfaces : past, present and future directions

In the last two decades, Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs) have emerged as a new interface type that interlinks the digital and physical worlds. Drawing upon users' knowledge and skills of interaction with the real non-digital world, TUIs show a potential to enhance the way in which people interact with and leverage digital information. However, TUI research is still in its infancy and extensive research is required in or- der to fully understand the implications of tangible user interfaces, to develop technologies that further bridge the digital and the physical, and to guide TUI design with empirical knowledge. This paper examines the existing body of work on Tangible User In- terfaces. We start by sketching the history of tangible user interfaces, examining the intellectual origins of this field. We then present TUIs in a broader context, survey application domains, and review frame- works and taxonomies. We also discuss conceptual foundations of TUIs including perspectives from cognitive sciences, phycology, and philoso- phy. Methods and technologies for designing, building, and evaluating TUIs are also addressed. Finally, we discuss the strengths and limita- tions of TUIs and chart directions for future research

Musical interfaces : design and construction of physical manipulatives for musical composition

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2007.Includes bibliographical references (leaf 19).Currently, musical composition is considered to be a high-level skill that is inaccessible to young children. There is a "high floor" for children who want to create a piece of music because they must learn a way of recording and remembering the notes, their sequence, etc, such as musical notation. Our project explores tangible designs that will make music composition simple to learn and practice while also building an intuition about complex musical concepts. Three original designs of tangible interfaces for musical composition are introduced and the merits and limitations of each are explored using non-functional form models. Audio processing is performed on a peripheral computer running an audio program written specifically for each system. A "Wizard of Oz" approach was used to study user interactions with each design. Music Blocks are designed to be physical representations of inherently intangible musical notes. Each block represents a single note, and the user can modify its pitch and duration by changing the physical shape of the block. They resemble wooden building blocks and suggest the parallels between building structures and the organization of musical compositions and its melody. The Music Glove introduced the idea of using a sound recording instead of a musical note as the musical unit in a composition. This introduced rich ideas about nesting and recursion. At the same time the glove interface highlights the role of personal expression, interaction and affect in musical composition and performance. Here physical inputs of the system were related to the rhythms, tempos, and the tone of the composition. The system was more gestural, performance-oriented and more suited to spontaneous improvising. The Musical Leaves interface is a melding of the concepts for the Music Blocks and Glove. The individual Leaves reflect the modular structure and organization of the composition. At the same time, the Leaves can be manipulated in real-time to change pitch and volume and as a result are deeply expressive and flexible.by Elysa Wan.S.B