The evolution of a toolkit for smart-thing design with children through action research

Several workshops use toolkits to engage children in the design of smart things, that is, everyday things like toys enhanced with computing devices and capabilities. In general, the toolkits focus on one design stage or another, e.g., ideation or programming. Few toolkits are created to guide children through an entire design process. This paper presents a toolkit for smart-thing design with children. It revolves around SNaP, a card-based board game for children. The toolkit serves to frame the entire design process and guide them through their exploration, ideation, programming and prototyping of their own smart things. By embracing action research, the toolkit was adopted in actions with children, namely, design workshops. Results of actions were reflected over by considering children’s benefits, and they were used to make the toolkit evolve across cycles of action, reflection and development. The paper reports on the latest evolution cycles, ending with the 2020 cycle for continuing smart-thing design during COVID-19 times. The paper concludes with general reflections concerning action research and design with children, toolkits for framing smart-thing design with children, on-going and future work

Σχεδιασμός έξυπνων αντικειμένων από παιδιά: το μοντέλο και εργαλείο SNaP

In the past, researchers in child-computer interaction teamed up with children, involved as users, testers, informants, or design partners, to support the design of future technology with children’s contributions. In recent years, researchers pointed out that design with children should be evaluated in relation not only to its tangible outcomes but also to its participants’ benefits. Novel roles for children emerged, which focus on different benefits or empowerment opportunities for children in design. In line with this perspective, researchers in technology-enhanced learning moved from design with children to design by children: they framed design for children into stages with supporting toolkits and focused on measurable benefits in the design process. This thesis starts from this research and focuses on the design of smart things by children.The thesis proposes a model for framing smart-thing design by children and a companion toolkit, named SNaP. Existing toolkits for designing smart things focus on one design stage or another, e.g., ideation or programming. Moreover, design models tend not to explicitly scaffold children’s usage of the toolkits so that children can work on their own in design. Instead, SNaP frames the entire design of smart things and guides children through their exploration, ideation, programming and prototyping with its toolkit. By embracing action research, the SNaP model and toolkit were adopted in actions with children, namely, design workshops. Results of actions were reflected over by considering children’s benefits (e.g., their engagement and learning of smart-thing design), and they were used to make SNaP evolve across cycles of action, reflection and development.Στο παρελθόν, ερευνητές από το πεδίο της αλληλεπίδρασης παιδιού-υπολογιστή συνεργάστηκαν με παιδιά που συμμετείχαν ως χρήστες, δοκιμαστές, πληροφοριοδότες ή συνεργάτες σχεδιασμού για να υποστηρίξουν το σχεδιασμό μελλοντικής τεχνολογίας με τη συμβολή των παιδιών. Τα τελευταία χρόνια, οι ερευνητές επεσήμαναν ότι ο σχεδιασμός με παιδιά θα πρέπει να αξιολογείται σε σχέση όχι μόνο με τα απτά αποτελέσματα αλλά και με τα οφέλη των συμμετεχόντων. Προέκυψαν λοιπόν νέοι ρόλοι για παιδιά, οι οποίοι επικεντρώνονται σε διαφορετικά οφέλη ή ευκαιρίες ενδυνάμωσης για τα παιδιά κατά τον σχεδιασμό. Σύμφωνα με αυτή την προοπτική, οι ερευνητές στη μάθηση με χρήση τεχνολογίας πέρασαν από τον σχεδιασμό με παιδιά στον σχεδιασμό από παιδιά: πλαισίωσαν τον σχεδιασμό για παιδιά σε στάδια με υποστηρικτικά κιτ εργαλείων και εστίασαν σε μετρήσιμα οφέλη που μπορούν να προκύψουν από τη διαδικασία. Η παρούσα διατριβή ξεκινά από αυτή την έρευνα και εστιάζει στο σχεδιασμό έξυπνων αντικειμένων από παιδιά.Η διατριβή προτείνει ένα μοντέλο για το πλαίσιο σχεδίασης έξυπνων αντικειμένων από παιδιά και ένα συνοδευτικό εργαλείο, που ονομάζεται SNaP. Τα υπάρχουσα εργαλεία για το σχεδιασμό έξυπνων αντικειμένων επικεντρώνονται σε ένα στάδιο σχεδιασμού, π.χ. στο στάδιο της παραγωγής ιδέας ή του προγραμματισμού. Επιπλέον, τα μοντέλα σχεδίασης τείνουν να μην καλύπτουν ρητά τη χρήση εργαλείων από τα παιδιά, έτσι ώστε τα παιδιά να μπορούν να εργαστούν μόνα τους κατά τον σχεδιασμό. Αντίθετα, το SNaP πλαισιώνει ολόκληρο τον σχεδιασμό έξυπνων αντικειμένων και καθοδηγεί τα παιδιά στην εξερεύνηση, την παραγωγή ιδέας, τον προγραμματισμό και τη δημιουργία πρωτοτύπων με τη χρήση εργαλείων. Μέσω της μεθοδολογίας έρευνα-δράση, το μοντέλο και εργαλείο SNaP υιοθετήθηκε σε δράσεις με παιδιά και συγκεκριμένα σε εργαστήρια σχεδιασμού. Τα αποτελέσματα των ενεργειών χρησιμοποιήθηκαν για να κάνουν το SNaP να εξελιχθεί σε κύκλους δράσης, προβληματισμού και ανάπτυξης, λαμβάνοντας υπόψη τα οφέλη των παιδιών, όπως για παράδειγμα τη δέσμευσή τους και την εκμάθηση του σχεδιασμού έξυπνων αντικειμένων

Children’s Participation in the Design of Smart Solutions: A Literature Review

Smart solutions are widespread and diversified. Smart cities and smart objects are example of smart solutions. Their design usually follows certain patterns so that they can detect events and react accordingly. As future citizens, children are expected to interact with them in their daily lives. It is thus crucial to provide children with the tools for understanding, creating, and possibly programming them-in short, designing them. This paper presents a literature review of workshops involving children in designing smart solutions. The review coded a total of 25 papers that met the inclusion criteria. The discussion draws a research agenda using the workshops organized by the authors, the Roobopoli workshops for smart cities and the SNaP workshops for smart objects, as reference. Whereas smart cities and smart objects are usually addressed separately, this paper binds and compares them in order to investigate what, in different settings, enables children to be part of the design of smart solutions

Towards Making Children Independent in Design

Supporting children's learning and competence in technology design is a way to empower them. This means enabling them to continue designing in the future, independently. In this paper, a series of workshops is presented, structured around a board game, which aims to support children in becoming competent enough so as to design on their own

The evolution of a toolkit for smart-thing design with children through action research

Several workshops use toolkits to engage children in the design of smart things, that is, everyday things like toys enhanced with computing devices and capabilities. In general, the toolkits focus on one design stage or another, e.g., ideation or programming. Few toolkits are created to guide children through an entire design process. This paper presents a toolkit for smart-thing design with children. It revolves around SNaP, a card-based board game for children. The toolkit serves to frame the entire design process and guide them through their exploration, ideation, programming and prototyping of their own smart things. By embracing action research, the toolkit was adopted in actions with children, namely, design workshops. Results of actions were reflected over by considering children’s benefits, and they were used to make the toolkit evolve across cycles of action, reflection and development. The paper reports on the latest evolution cycles, ending with the 2020 cycle for continuing smart-thing design during COVID-19 times. The paper concludes with general reflections concerning action research and design with children, toolkits for framing smart-thing design with children, on-going and future work

Smart-thing design by children at a distance:How to engage them and make them learn

In recent years, research in Child–ComputerInteraction has shifted the focus from design with children, giving them a voice in the design process, to design by children to bring child participants different benefits, such as engagement and learning. However, design workshops, encompassing different stages, are challenging in terms of engagement and learning, e.g., they require prolonged commitment and concentration. They are potentially more challenging when held at a distance, as in recent years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper explores at-a-distance smart-thing design by children, how it can engage different children and support their learning in programming. The paper reports a series of design workshops with 20 children, aged from 8 to 16 years old, all held at a distance. They were all organised with the DigiSNaP design framework and toolkit. The first workshop enabled children to explore what smart things are, to start ideating their own smart things and to scaffold their programming. The other workshops enabled children to evolve their own smart-thing ideas and programs. Data were gathered in relation to children's engagement and learning from different sources. Results are promising for future editions of smart-thing design at a distance or in a hybrid modality. They are discussed along with guidelines for smart-thing design by children at a distance.</p

StandByMe: A Gamified Educational Platform to Raise Awareness on Gender-Based Violence

Gamification is a widely used approach in education to boost motivation and facilitate effective learning outcomes. However, its application to sensitive topics remains relatively unexplored. This paper presents the initial steps in designing a gamified educational platform specifically targeting awareness of gender-based violence among youth. The paper outlines the design considerations undertaken for the platform’s development, drawing from theories in social psychology, education, and gamification. By examining insights gathered through stakeholder interviews and initial involvement emerging key aspects of the platform’s design are then discussed. The paper aims to contribute to a better understanding and use of gamification in addressing sensitive topics in education