skip to main content
10.5555/1671011.1671023acmotherconferencesArticle/Chapter ViewAbstractPublication Pagesbcs-hciConference Proceedingsconference-collections
research-article

Bringing tabletop technologies to kindergarten children

Published: 01 September 2009 Publication History

Abstract

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.

References

[1]
Alibali and diRusso, 1999. The function of gesture in learning to count: More than keeping track. Cognitive Development. v14. 37--56.
[2]
Baldassarri S., Cerezo E., Serón F., 2008. Maxine: A platform for embodied animated agents. Computer & Graphics. ISSN: 0097--8493. Vol. 32 (4), pp. 430--437. August 2008.
[3]
Bencina, R. and Kaltenbrunner, M. 2005. The Design and Evolution of Fiducials for the reacTIVision System, Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Generative Systems in the Electronic Arts (Third Iteration), Melbourne, pp. 97--106.
[4]
Bers, M. U. and Cassell, J. 1998. Interactive Storytelling Systems for Children: Using Technology to Explore Language and Identity. Journal of Interactive Learning Research 9(2) 183--215. 1998
[5]
Bickmore, T. and Schulman, D. 2007. Practical approaches to comforting users with relational agents. In CHI '07 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems
[6]
Bohn, J. 2004. The Smart Jigsaw Puzzle Assistant: Using RFID Technology for Building Augmented Real-World Games. Workshop on Gaming Applications in Pervasive Computing Environments at Pervasive 2004
[7]
Burnett, Alice. 1962. "Montessori Education Today and Yesterday." The Elementary School Journal 63 (1962): 71--77.
[8]
CAL3D. http://cal3d.sourceforge.net
[9]
Cassell, J. and Ryokai, K. 2001. "Making Space for Voice: Technologies to Support Children's Fantasy and Storytelling." Personal Technologies 5(3): 203--224.
[10]
Chao L. L., J. V. Haxby and A. Martin, Attribute-based neural substrates in posterior temporal cortex for perceiving and knowing about objects. Nature Neurosci. (1999), pp. 913--919.
[11]
Conati, C. and Zhao, X. 2004. Building and evaluating an intelligent pedagogical agent to improve the effectiveness of an educational game. In Proceedings of the 9th international Conference on intelligent User interfaces, 2004, 6--13.
[12]
Druin, A., L. Hanna, et al. 1999. The Design of Children's Technology, Moran Kaufmann Publishers, Inc.
[13]
Fontijn, W. and Hoonhout, J. 2007. Functional Fun with Tangible User Interfaces. In Proceedings of the the First IEEE international Workshop on Digital Game and intelligent Toy Enhanced Learning.
[14]
Fontijn, W, and Mendels, P. 2005. StoryToy the interactive storytelling toy. In The Second International Workshop on Gaming Applications in Pervasive Computing Environments at Pervasive 2005.
[15]
Gallahue, D. L. 1989. Understanding Motor Development: Infants, Children, Adolescents (2nd ed.). Indianapolis, Indiana: Benchmark Press.
[16]
Gesell, Arnold, Francis Ilg, Louis Bates Ames, and Glenna Bullis. 1977. The Child from Five to Ten. New York: Harper and Row, 1977.
[17]
Ishii, H. and Ullmer, B. 1997. Tangible bits: towards seamless interfaces between people, bits and atoms. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.
[18]
Johnson, M. P., Wilson, A., Blumberg, B., Kline, C., and Bobick, A. 1999. Sympathetic interfaces: using a plush toy to direct synthetic characters. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.
[19]
Lester, J. C., Stone, B. A., and Stelling, G. D. 1999. Lifelike Pedagogical Agents for Mixed-initiative Problem Solving in Constructivist Learning Environments. User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction 9, 1--2 (Jan. 1999), 1--44.
[20]
Malik, S., McDonald, C., and Roth, G. 2002. Hand Tracking for Interactive Pattern-Based Augmented Reality. In Proceedings of the 1st international Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality. Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality.
[21]
Mandryk, R. L., Maranan, D. S., and Inkpen, K. M. 2002. False prophets: Exploring hybrid board/video games. In Extended Abstracts of the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 640--641.
[22]
Mansor, E. I.; De Angeli, A.; De Bruijn, O. 2008. Little fingers on the tabletop: A usability evaluation in the kindergarten. Horizontal Interactive Human Computer Systems, 2008. TABLETOP 2008.
[23]
OpenAL++. http://alpp.sourceforge.net
[24]
OpenSceneGraph. http://www.openscenegraph.org
[25]
Piaget, J. 1936/1952. The Origins of Intelligence in Children. International Universities Press, New York.
[26]
Piper, A. M., O'Brien, E., Morris, M. R., and Winograd, T. 2006. SIDES: a cooperative tabletop computer game for social skills development. In Proceedings of the 2006 20th Anniversary Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work
[27]
Rizzo A, Marti P, Decortis F, Moderini C. The POGO story world. In: Hollnagel E (ed). Handbook of Cognitive Task Design. Laurence Erlbaum, London 2001.
[28]
Ryokai, K., Marti, S., and Ishii, H. 2007. I/O brush: beyond static collages. In CHI '07 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems
[29]
Scarlatos, L. L. 2002. TICLE: using multimedia multimodal guidance to enhance learning. Inf. Sci. Inf. Comput. Sci. 140, 1 (Jan. 2002), 85--103.
[30]
Soloway, E. and Bielaczyc, K. 1994. Interactive learning environments: where they've come from and where they're going. In Conference Companion on Human Factors in Computing Systems.
[31]
Tapscott, D. 1997 Growing Up Digital: the Rise of the Net Generation. McGraw-Hill, Inc.
[32]
Wellner, P. Interacting with Paper on the Digital Desk. Comunication of the ACM/vol 36/n. 7, July 1993.
[33]
Wertsch, J. V. (1985). Vygotsky and the Social Formation of Mind, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., and London.
[34]
Zuckerman, O., Arida, S. and Resnick, M. 2005, Extending tangible interfaces for education: Digital Montessori inspired manipulatives. In Proc. of CHI '05, ACM Press, 859--868.

Cited By

View all
  • (2019)Tackling developmental delays with therapeutic activities based on tangible tabletopsUniversal Access in the Information Society10.1007/s10209-017-0582-418:1(31-47)Online publication date: 1-Mar-2019
  • (2017)A Tangible Interactive Space Odyssey to Support Children Learning of Computer ProgrammingProceedings of the 2017 ACM International Conference on Interactive Surfaces and Spaces10.1145/3132272.3135077(300-305)Online publication date: 17-Oct-2017
  • (2017)Tangible Educational Toys for Children with Type-1 DiabetesProceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3027063.3027139(291-296)Online publication date: 6-May-2017
  • Show More Cited By

Index Terms

  1. Bringing tabletop technologies to kindergarten children

    Recommendations

    Comments

    Information & Contributors

    Information

    Published In

    cover image ACM Other conferences
    BCS-HCI '09: Proceedings of the 23rd British HCI Group Annual Conference on People and Computers: Celebrating People and Technology
    September 2009
    532 pages

    Sponsors

    • British Computer Society: BCS

    In-Cooperation

    Publisher

    BCS Learning & Development Ltd.

    Swindon, United Kingdom

    Publication History

    Published: 01 September 2009

    Check for updates

    Author Tags

    1. augmented reality
    2. autonomous agents
    3. children
    4. game
    5. input devices
    6. interaction design
    7. learning
    8. tabletop
    9. tangible
    10. user center design

    Qualifiers

    • Research-article

    Conference

    BCS HCI '09
    Sponsor:
    • British Computer Society

    Acceptance Rates

    Overall Acceptance Rate 28 of 62 submissions, 45%

    Contributors

    Other Metrics

    Bibliometrics & Citations

    Bibliometrics

    Article Metrics

    • Downloads (Last 12 months)7
    • Downloads (Last 6 weeks)0
    Reflects downloads up to 20 Feb 2025

    Other Metrics

    Citations

    Cited By

    View all
    • (2019)Tackling developmental delays with therapeutic activities based on tangible tabletopsUniversal Access in the Information Society10.1007/s10209-017-0582-418:1(31-47)Online publication date: 1-Mar-2019
    • (2017)A Tangible Interactive Space Odyssey to Support Children Learning of Computer ProgrammingProceedings of the 2017 ACM International Conference on Interactive Surfaces and Spaces10.1145/3132272.3135077(300-305)Online publication date: 17-Oct-2017
    • (2017)Tangible Educational Toys for Children with Type-1 DiabetesProceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3027063.3027139(291-296)Online publication date: 6-May-2017
    • (2017)Game-based learningMultimedia Tools and Applications10.1007/s11042-016-3829-976:12(14091-14105)Online publication date: 1-Jun-2017
    • (2016)Moving Beyond BoundariesProceedings of the 7th International Conference on Software Development and Technologies for Enhancing Accessibility and Fighting Info-exclusion10.1145/3019943.3019973(200-207)Online publication date: 1-Dec-2016
    • (2016)Hidden symbolsInternational Journal of Human-Computer Studies10.1016/j.ijhcs.2016.03.00690:C(53-67)Online publication date: 1-Jun-2016
    • (2016)Designing an accessible low-cost interactive multi-touch surfaceUniversal Access in the Information Society10.1007/s10209-014-0396-615:3(419-429)Online publication date: 1-Aug-2016
    • (2014)Co-designing interactive tabletop solutions for active patient involvement in audiological consultationsProceedings of the 8th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction: Fun, Fast, Foundational10.1145/2639189.2639221(207-216)Online publication date: 26-Oct-2014
    • (2013)How to Make Tangible Games and Not Die in the AttemptProceedings of the 10th International Conference on Advances in Computer Entertainment - Volume 825310.5555/2770015.2770060(513-515)Online publication date: 12-Nov-2013
    • (2013)3D Interactive Applications on Tablets for PreschoolersProceedings of the 8th European Conference on Scaling up Learning for Sustained Impact - Volume 809510.1007/978-3-642-40814-4_7(71-83)Online publication date: 17-Sep-2013
    • Show More Cited By

    View Options

    Login options

    View options

    PDF

    View or Download as a PDF file.

    PDF

    eReader

    View online with eReader.

    eReader

    Figures

    Tables

    Media

    Share

    Share

    Share this Publication link

    Share on social media