EcoRaft Evaluations

The effect of tangible interfaces on children’s collaborative behavior

Authors: Danaë Stanton, Victor Bayon, Camilla Abnett, Sue Cobb and Claire O’Malley

link

Abstract: The physical nature of the classroom means that children are continually divided into small groups. The present study examined collaboration on a story creation task using technologies believed to encourage and support collaborative behaviour. Four children used tangible technologies over three sessions. The technology consisted of a large visual display in which they could input content
(using Personal Digital Assistants (Pda) and a scanner), record sounds (using RF-ID tags) and navigate around the environment using an arrangement of sensors called ‘the
magic carpet’. The children could then retell their story using bar-coded images and sounds. The three sessions were video recorded and analysed. Results indicate the
importance of immediate feedback and visibility of action for effective collaboration to take place.

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The KidStory project was designed to examine how children interact with each other when working in small groups using tangible technology. Throughout the project, instant feedback was incorporated so the children were always aware of the consequences of their actions. The software, KidPad, is a collaborative authoring tool designed specifically for children. It allows the subjects to create stories using links and also to input images and sounds to their stories. PDAs and scanners were used to input pictures and microphones were used to record a sound. Additionally, an RF-Tag was placed on the tag reader while the sound was being recorded. When the RF-Tag was removed, a barcode was printed out on a label for later playback. The subjects used a "magic carpet" (12 floor sensors placed in a square with a rubber mat covering them) to navigate through the game. Whenever a subject interacted with a system, be it by recording a sound, scanning an image, or using a PDA, an icon for each technology was displayed on the screen.

Researchers observed three types of collaboration among the children: unspoken collaboration, aiding & tutoring one another, and tactic development-problem solving. The children collborated without verbal communication to help one another use the technology. For instance, problems with the scanner were avoided because one subject would anticipate it before any action was taken. The researchers believe that this lack of verbal communication indicates that "the design of the technology encouraged collaborative behavior." Similarly, the subjects spoke to one another to help with the uses of the technologies available. Oftentimes, the researchers observed one child taking the role of the tutor to help his or her classmates. The researchers also observed how the children, by trial and error, managed their time and resources to use the technologies. For instance, when scanning a picture, they realized that there was no space available on the screen for images and thus quickly moved the screen to create more space. By trial and error, they discovered that they could use the time delay of the scanner to make more space available on the screen.

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It is important to note that it is not specifically stated whether or not the researchers used any written or verbal evaluation methods. It is known, however, that the researchers observed the subjects and their interaction with the project. I think that the observation aspect of this experiment can be useful for our project if we let our subjects interact with the exhibit without any instructions. However, I think our evaluation method would not be complete without some verbal/written communication with the subjects.

posted by Anonymous @ 12:12 AM