Mobile devices are often promoted by the media as being able to offer great benefits for users wi... more Mobile devices are often promoted by the media as being able to offer great benefits for users with special educational needs by supporting and enabling learning. However, there is a strong call from the research community for more evidence-based solutions in the field of Assistive Technologies (AT), so there is a need to carefully consider evidence from existing research. This paper presents results from a large-scale interdis- ciplinary literature review on assistive technologies, exploring the case for using mobile devices as learning support tools. The review suggests that research findings support this, showing benefits through app avail- ability, portability, sensing and multi-touch capabilities, and their use as mainstream and personal devices. However, cautions can also be found, including needing to consider individuals’ specific needs and desires and the constraints and practices of the educational contexts they are situated in.
This paper describes three initial case studies of software use by teachers to support learners w... more This paper describes three initial case studies of software use by teachers to support learners with special educational needs. In each case, the teachers were observed to be appropriating the software in ways that went beyond the intended use of the technologies. Appropriation has been previously explored as a positive process that provides benefits to users, yet these cases suggest that there may be specific benefits of appropriation for teachers in this context, and this is worthy of deeper investigation in the future.
While many models exist to support the design process of a software development project, the eval... more While many models exist to support the design process of a software development project, the evaluation process is far less well defined and this lack of definition often leads to poorly designed evaluations, or the use of the wrong evaluation method. Evaluations of products for children can be especially complex as they need to consider the different requirements and aims that such a product may have, and often use new or developing evaluation methods. This paper takes the view that evaluations should be planned from the start of a project in order to yield the best results, and proposes a framework to facilitate this. This framework is particularly intended to support the varied and often conflicting requirements of a product designed for children, as defined by the PLU model, but could be adapted for other user groups.
While devices such as iPhones, iPads and Surface tables enable a wide range of interaction possib... more While devices such as iPhones, iPads and Surface tables enable a wide range of interaction possibilities, we do not yet have a set of widely understood terminology that conveys the new and unfamiliar touch-screen gestures required for interaction. In this paper we explore terminology for touch-screen gestures and in particular the implications for child users. An initial study exploring touch-screen language with 6-7 year-olds is presented as an illustration of some of the key problems that designers need to be aware of. The children were able to perform a range of touch-screen gestures and transfer metaphors from other contexts but mistakes were observed. From this study we present a set of suggestions as to how designers of touch-screen applications can support children more effectively.
Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children, Jan 1, 2009
Abstract While standard icons often exist for common tasks, it can be difficult to design meaning... more Abstract While standard icons often exist for common tasks, it can be difficult to design meaningful icons for non-standard tasks. Following a desire to build a music application that does not rely on text-based instructions, this paper explores suitable iconic representations for a'record music'function on a mobile device. A study was carried out with primary school children (aged 8--10) to explore their current understanding of icons and elicit their requirements. It was seen that they were familiar with common icons, but that audio ...
When teaching research methods in HCI, there can be great value in 'learning through doing'. Howe... more When teaching research methods in HCI, there can be great value in 'learning through doing'. However, while most courses will aim to give students practical experience of conducting research, not all will involve real users, or genuine research aims. This paper describes the experience of students on a Masters module in HCI research methods who were given the opportunity to conduct studies not only with real users, and with a real research project, but also involving child participants, who are known to be a particularly challenging user-group.
In this article, the authors investigate the usability of mobile touch-screen devices for childre... more In this article, the authors investigate the usability of mobile touch-screen devices for children. This is a growing area, and as such there is currently a lack of definitive guidelines for mobile device designers. This article reports two studies that investigated input ...
This paper explores the use of Second Life as a tool for creative design. Observations are presen... more This paper explores the use of Second Life as a tool for creative design. Observations are presented of a collaborative design project on an HCI Masters course where Second Life was used, and the ways in which the environment affected the creative process throughout. While the environment was not seen to aid idea generation or help overcome design fixation, it was seen to offer some benefits in refinement of ideas.
Second International Workshop on Physicality, Jan 1, 2007
Instantiating Your Imagination: Creativity across different levels of reality Lorna McKnight Comp... more Instantiating Your Imagination: Creativity across different levels of reality Lorna McKnight Computing/Psychology Departments Lancaster University LA1 4WA + 44 (0) 1524 510311 l. mcknight@ lancaster. ac. uk ABSTRACT Virtual reality offers a bridge between what is ...
Proceedings of the 6th ACM SIGCHI conference on …, Jan 1, 2007
INTRODUCTION Virtual Reality (VR) systems offer several advantages over traditional approaches fo... more INTRODUCTION Virtual Reality (VR) systems offer several advantages over traditional approaches for certain design tasks, such as fast prototyping and visualisation of 3D shapes with storage and dissemination capabilities . How-ever, VR may itself affect creativity positively or ...
Mobile devices are often promoted by the media as being able to offer great benefits for users wi... more Mobile devices are often promoted by the media as being able to offer great benefits for users with special educational needs by supporting and enabling learning. However, there is a strong call from the research community for more evidence-based solutions in the field of Assistive Technologies (AT), so there is a need to carefully consider evidence from existing research. This paper presents results from a large-scale interdis- ciplinary literature review on assistive technologies, exploring the case for using mobile devices as learning support tools. The review suggests that research findings support this, showing benefits through app avail- ability, portability, sensing and multi-touch capabilities, and their use as mainstream and personal devices. However, cautions can also be found, including needing to consider individuals’ specific needs and desires and the constraints and practices of the educational contexts they are situated in.
This paper describes three initial case studies of software use by teachers to support learners w... more This paper describes three initial case studies of software use by teachers to support learners with special educational needs. In each case, the teachers were observed to be appropriating the software in ways that went beyond the intended use of the technologies. Appropriation has been previously explored as a positive process that provides benefits to users, yet these cases suggest that there may be specific benefits of appropriation for teachers in this context, and this is worthy of deeper investigation in the future.
While many models exist to support the design process of a software development project, the eval... more While many models exist to support the design process of a software development project, the evaluation process is far less well defined and this lack of definition often leads to poorly designed evaluations, or the use of the wrong evaluation method. Evaluations of products for children can be especially complex as they need to consider the different requirements and aims that such a product may have, and often use new or developing evaluation methods. This paper takes the view that evaluations should be planned from the start of a project in order to yield the best results, and proposes a framework to facilitate this. This framework is particularly intended to support the varied and often conflicting requirements of a product designed for children, as defined by the PLU model, but could be adapted for other user groups.
While devices such as iPhones, iPads and Surface tables enable a wide range of interaction possib... more While devices such as iPhones, iPads and Surface tables enable a wide range of interaction possibilities, we do not yet have a set of widely understood terminology that conveys the new and unfamiliar touch-screen gestures required for interaction. In this paper we explore terminology for touch-screen gestures and in particular the implications for child users. An initial study exploring touch-screen language with 6-7 year-olds is presented as an illustration of some of the key problems that designers need to be aware of. The children were able to perform a range of touch-screen gestures and transfer metaphors from other contexts but mistakes were observed. From this study we present a set of suggestions as to how designers of touch-screen applications can support children more effectively.
Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children, Jan 1, 2009
Abstract While standard icons often exist for common tasks, it can be difficult to design meaning... more Abstract While standard icons often exist for common tasks, it can be difficult to design meaningful icons for non-standard tasks. Following a desire to build a music application that does not rely on text-based instructions, this paper explores suitable iconic representations for a'record music'function on a mobile device. A study was carried out with primary school children (aged 8--10) to explore their current understanding of icons and elicit their requirements. It was seen that they were familiar with common icons, but that audio ...
When teaching research methods in HCI, there can be great value in 'learning through doing'. Howe... more When teaching research methods in HCI, there can be great value in 'learning through doing'. However, while most courses will aim to give students practical experience of conducting research, not all will involve real users, or genuine research aims. This paper describes the experience of students on a Masters module in HCI research methods who were given the opportunity to conduct studies not only with real users, and with a real research project, but also involving child participants, who are known to be a particularly challenging user-group.
In this article, the authors investigate the usability of mobile touch-screen devices for childre... more In this article, the authors investigate the usability of mobile touch-screen devices for children. This is a growing area, and as such there is currently a lack of definitive guidelines for mobile device designers. This article reports two studies that investigated input ...
This paper explores the use of Second Life as a tool for creative design. Observations are presen... more This paper explores the use of Second Life as a tool for creative design. Observations are presented of a collaborative design project on an HCI Masters course where Second Life was used, and the ways in which the environment affected the creative process throughout. While the environment was not seen to aid idea generation or help overcome design fixation, it was seen to offer some benefits in refinement of ideas.
Second International Workshop on Physicality, Jan 1, 2007
Instantiating Your Imagination: Creativity across different levels of reality Lorna McKnight Comp... more Instantiating Your Imagination: Creativity across different levels of reality Lorna McKnight Computing/Psychology Departments Lancaster University LA1 4WA + 44 (0) 1524 510311 l. mcknight@ lancaster. ac. uk ABSTRACT Virtual reality offers a bridge between what is ...
Proceedings of the 6th ACM SIGCHI conference on …, Jan 1, 2007
INTRODUCTION Virtual Reality (VR) systems offer several advantages over traditional approaches fo... more INTRODUCTION Virtual Reality (VR) systems offer several advantages over traditional approaches for certain design tasks, such as fast prototyping and visualisation of 3D shapes with storage and dissemination capabilities . How-ever, VR may itself affect creativity positively or ...
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