Can multimodal rhythmic interaction impact the literacy and socio-emotional development of children: the case of the African Talking Drums

This paper is based on ongoing work on the Drumball system, a tangible music interactive system that uses elements of drumming, call-and-response and orality (poetry, proverbs, storytelling) to motivate young learners to interact with each other and computers via rhythm. By combining the computational power of dynamic and time-based algorithms with some of the circular and isometric properties of West African rhythm, users of any age with the motor ability to tap ambidextrously and no prior knowledge of writing interacted with digital media through a non-keyboard-based tangible user interface. We present works-in-progress on: 1) a mobile and extensible drum language game application for children to interact with language concepts; 2) a robust haptic drum controller to control software applications through rhythmic interaction and 3) didactic strategies for a gamified literacy and STEAM learning family workshop leveraging the affordances of embodied cultural practices, like drumming and dance. Based on the findings of the pilot study conducted with a group of parents and children (ages 3-6), we argue that such a culturally-grounded approach to rhythmic interaction provides a viable avenue for the integration of the vibrant, yet intangible, cultural heritage and traditions of the African talking drums - the affordances of which has thus far not been thoroughly investigated by the sound interaction design and early childhood education research communities.