Mobile Technology for Children: Designing for Interaction and Learning

By Allison Druin

Children are one of the largest new user groups of mobile technology -- from phones to micro-laptops to electronic toys. These products are both lauded and criticized, especially when it comes to their role in education and learning. The need has never been greater to understand how these technologies are being designed and to evaluate their impact worldwide. Mobile Technology for Children brings together contributions from leaders in industry, non-profit organizations, and academia to offer practical solutions for the design and the future of mobile technology for children.

• First book to present a multitude of voices on the design, technology, and impact of mobile devices for children and learning
• Features contributions from leading academics, designers, and policy makers from nine countries, whose affiliations include Sesame Workshop, LeapFrog Enterprises, Intel, the United Nations, and UNICEF
• Each contribution and case study is followed by a best practice overview to help readers consider their own research and design and for a quick reference

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Release date: Mar 16, 2009
• ISBN: 9780080954097

Allison Druin

Allison Druin is assistant professor at the University of Maryland, both in the Institute for Advanced Computer Studies and the College of Education in the Department of Human Development. Her recent work has focused on developing-with children as her design partners-new robotic storytelling technologies. Druin is the editor of The Design of Children's Technology and coauthor of Designing Multimedia Environments for Children (John Wiley & Sons, 1996).

Book preview

Table of Contents

Cover image

Copyright Page

Dedication

Foreword: Water Jugs and Ring Tones…

Preface: When a Book Came to be

Introduction: Defining Mobile Technologies, Children and Learning

Authors’ Biographies

Chapter 1. How Mobile Technologies Are Changing the Way Children Learn

Chapter 2. Harnessing the Potential of Mobile Technologies for Children and Learning

Chapter 3. Pocket Rockets

Chapter 4. Social Impacts of Mobile Technologies for Children

Chapter 5. A Disruption Is Coming

Chapter 6. Mobile Interaction Design Matters

Chapter 7. A Child's Mobile Digital Library

Chapter 8. Adding Space and Senses to Mobile World Exploration

Chapter 9. LeapFrog Learning Design

Chapter 10. Designing the Intel-Powered Classmate PC

Chapter 11. Early OLPC Experiences in a Rural Uruguayan School

Chapter 12. It's Mine

Chapter 13. Mobile Technologies in Support of Young Children's Learning

Chapter 14. Mobile Technologies for Parent/Child Relationships

Chapter 15. Using Mobile Technology to Unite (for) Children

Chapter 16. Designing the Future

Index

Copyright Page

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Dedication

To my children Dana and Aviva, who are growing up in a future we are helping to create.

And to my husband, Ben, my partner in building the future.

Foreword: Water Jugs and Ring Tones…

Jason Bellone

United Nations, Geneva, Switzerland

It was only a few months ago when I greeted some children on a dirt road in the capital city of the Congo, Brazzaville. Using my super-cool-camera-enabled-mega-pixel cell phone they invited me to take a group self-portrait. We laughed at my digital masterpiece (see Figure F-1) and after a few smiles they were back on their way to carry their water jugs home for the family. The experience for them was amusing but insignificant; another neat gadget with an entertaining purpose. Water jugs are more important than ring tones.

The picture stayed with me when back home in Switzerland I asked my 9-year-old son if mobile technology was important, he said what, you mean like cars?—not the answer I was expecting. With these real-life observations, I've come to understand that portable gaming devices, video players, micro-laptops, music players and cell phones have offered little more than playtime frolic to our children—a disappointing result for advanced technology which by the UN's International Telecommunications Union estimates will reach 50% global penetration by early 2008 (ITC Statistics Newslog, 2007).

This book reminds me that the content on these mobile technologies are as important as the hardware itself. Yet, according to Strategy Analytics in its report (Patel, July 2003), Global Ringtone Market (2003–2008), global revenues from ringtone services will reach US$ 4 billion in 2008. By contrast, in his speech of May 2008, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reminded us all that the reach of communications technology is not universal, its benefits have not been shared equally (Secretary-General, May 13, 2008). As we near the end of another decade, developers, educators, researchers, and parents are still trying to catch up to what could be possible for children's critical learning and living needs. Ringtones, MP3s, and Games may be profitable, but they will not pay dividends on our children's futures.

So, why is reading this book important? The question has a clear answer which takes us to the main theme and purpose of this book. We’ve come to a time where action is needed to take advantage of an opportunity. This book enlists its readers in a call for action to promote mobile technology development for child development. Under the guidance of experts from around the world, each chapter presents a compelling picture of the need, opportunity, and potential impact of mobile technology solutions for children.

Perhaps most refreshing is the book's timely emphasis on purpose and application of mobile technology innovations for children and education. Case studies with tangible results and valuable lessons learned provide actionable models for enhancing and improving the educational and communications opportunities for children. From urban Northern Virginia to rural Uruguay, the full range of possibilities is explored in vivid detail: field trips, content creation, ebooks, SMS, school-in-a-box, and dozens of field-tested examples. The cases are real, the results are measurable, and the opportunities are affirmed in the writers’ experiences which assure us that the preconditions for success, know-how and infrastructure have paved the way for action.

The potential for such action was highlighted in a joint Asian Development Bank Institute and UNESCO workshop report titled Mobile Learning for Expanding Educational Opportunities, which underscored how ICT applications and mobile devices are increasingly recognized as strategic tools that have the potential to enable global access to educational materials and improve the quality of education (UNESCO & ADBI, July 21, 2006) The report discusses the potential of mobile technologies for enhancing the reach and quality of education and describes the concrete action plan of 13 countries in developing mobile learning programmes. In similar fashion, action is the key theme of this book and measureable results are its purpose.

Let the journey begin to shape the course of this technology to explore its advantages for education; to re-examine approaches to education through public policy, curriculum development, content creation, knowledge sharing and communications. Perhaps when comparing to ringtone and gaming sales, education resources are not the most profitable. But the expense of their absence is even more costly. Although this focus has escaped our attention far too long, turning this page is a step in the right direction.

References

ITC Statistics Newslog, http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/newslog/ (November 22, 2007).

Patel, N., Real music ringtones: changing dynamics in the $ 4 billion ringtone market, http://www.strategyanalytics.com (July 2003).

Secretary-general, In message for world telecommunication and information society day, calls for research to develop universally accessible technology, http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2008/sgsm11566.doc.htm (13 May 2008).

UNESCO & ADBI, Mobile learning for expanding educational opportunities, jointly produced by UNESCO, Thailand Office and the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001436/143684e.pdf (July 21, 2006).

Preface: When a Book Came to be

Allison Druin and Benjamin B. Bederson

University of Maryland/ICDL Foundation, USA

During two snowy February days in 2008, 42 leaders from industry, academia, government agencies, and non-profit organizations came together for a workshop at the University of Maryland, supported by the National Science Foundation. Representing work in 12 countries, experts talked about the development and use of mobile phones, educational laptops for the developing world, pen-based computing, and much more. Participants gave examples of how children from around the world could use these mobile devices for everything from learning the alphabet, to collecting science data, to playing outdoor games, to collaboratively reading books.

Representatives from the World Bank and the United Nations began the workshop by describing the needs, opportunities, and challenges in this area of research and deployment. There were lively discussions that followed concerning classroom use or non-use, the unintended consequences these technologies can have, and the power and importance of an array of learning applications for the world's children. We explored issues comparing the importance of mobile phones to inexpensive educational laptops. Concerns were raised in regards to the impact on local cultures and industry. We discussed the implications of these technologies and how they might influence research, new products, and government policies. Not only were there formal talks and informal discussion, but time to share live demonstrations of our current work (see Figure P-1).

The two days ended with a brainstorming session that considered how to bring together this diverse work for use with children in war-torn countries. Our UNICEF participants set the stage by describing who these children are, where they live, and what their needs could be. They explained that increased violence and ethnic conflicts have created a mass displacement of children to other countries. These children, especially girls, have limited access to basic literacy, numeracy, life skills, and technical and vocational skills. Access to education is limited. It was with this in mind, that workshop participants created ideas ranging from virtual classroom connections with mobile technologies, to materials that would be accessible through radio, mobiles, laptops and more (see Figure P-2). It was a truly unique experience to have this many minds from so many disciplines and countries come together to focus on the application of cutting edge technology to support children in such difficult circumstances.

From this extraordinary experience, we began to understand the depth and importance of what is being done in this area of mobile technology for children. But more importantly, we began to understand what is needed in the future for the world's children. Already, this workshop has led to new research initiatives in labs around the world; it has lead to shared conference panels and discussions at international venues; and it has led to this book.

For all of these opportunities, we are grateful to the National Science Foundation which understood how much a workshop was needed in this emerging field. In particular, Ephraim Glinert, Bill Bainbridge, Amy Baylor, and Mary Lou Maher, were courageous in paving the way for these efforts. In addition, we were fortunate that Mary James and Denise Penrose, our publishers at Morgan Kaufmann, understood the time was right to build on this important workshop to create the book you now have before you.

Transforming a workshop into a book took authors that understood the urgent need for a timely publication, and could communicate to a broad audience about the breadth and depth of this emerging field. We also expanded the community of thinkers to include more authors that are doing very important work that weren't able to be part of the initial NSF workshop. All together, this book represents a critical path forward to bringing mobile technologies to the world's children. We believe there are few things more important, because every time new technologies enable children to do something they never dreamed of, there are new possibilities for the future.

Introduction: Defining Mobile Technologies, Children and Learning

Allison Druin

University of Maryland/ICDL Foundation, USA

I remember six years ago when my then 4-year-old child began using my mobile phone. I was amazed at how comfortable she was chatting to daddy on a phone while shopping at the grocery store. She thought nothing of using this object that had no plugs or wires to hear her father's voice. Today this same child has a younger sister who not only takes mobile phones for granted, but assumes anything can be a mobile phone. I remember when my youngest was 2-years-old. She would pick up any random object and just begin talking into it.

For my children in suburban Maryland, mobile technologies are now an integral part of their everyday living and play experiences. But this is not the case for all children. Many live in places where mobile technologies are just becoming affordable. Others live in areas where there is no cell phone service at all. And still other children live in places where basic living necessities outweigh the need for electronic technologies. There are extreme differences in children's opportunities and challenges for learning with new technologies. This book is about mobile technologies for all of these children.

This book is not about how to make mobile technologies. It is about how to make BETTER mobile technologies for the world's children. This book is about how to understand the impact that these technologies can have, and apply those lessons to making new learning experiences for children that are more effective, engaging, and expressive. This book will ask you to consider a diverse landscape of research and products to inspire and challenge your thinking.

This would have been a much easier book to write if the authors could give you a step-by-step guide on what to build and how to use it, but that just isn't possible. The world is too large, diverse, and messy, and the pace of innovation is just too fast. There are so many technological solutions to consider, so many contexts to explore for scenarios of use, and so many different goals that could support learning. Together this suggests the need for a rich and complex book.

This is the book you now read. It contains the work of 43 authors from 9 countries. These authors have diverse points of view, in part due to the disciplines they represent. They are computer scientists, HCI professionals, social scientists, educational researchers, non-profit or NGO leaders, academic and industry researchers and practitioners. They are people making change in their organizations. They work in developing countries and industrialized nations, in war-torn areas and established centers of commerce and peace. They consider the use of mobile technologies in classrooms, homes, outdoors, and public spaces. And the mobile technology that they consider spans a wide variety of platforms—including mobile phones, GPS systems, laptops, game controllers, mp3 players, book readers, and even pen-based computing. This diversity in perspective, experience, and technology is critical in understanding future new directions.

Today's young people—the ichildren

What makes this book on mobile technologies unique is its focus on children as users. Before reading any chapter in this book, you should consider that there are large differences in how people define children. There is no one correct answer, just a spectrum of possibility. The only thing most people can agree upon is that children are quite different than adults. They have different needs, abilities, and interests than their parents, teachers, extended family and friends (Druin, 2002).

For the purposes of this book, we discuss children as technology users that range from 24 months to 12-years-old. It is somewhere around that 24-month-mark that young children are able to manipulate new technologies and understand screen-based interfaces (Revelle & Strommen, 1990). These young people however, are very different than the oldest end of the spectrum. At 12, they are no longer as concerned with keyboard input, spelling, and direct manipulation (Large & Beheshti, 2000). They can be tech-savvy with Facebook encounters, cell phone texting, and iTunes downloads. But it should be understood that even two years can make a big developmental difference in what a child can understand, physically manipulate, and find socially acceptable (Hourcade et al., 2004). Thus, it is important to remember that big differences can be seen in what a 9-year-old can do with, for instance a mobile phone, as compared to a 7-year-old or even an 11-year-old. Seven-year-olds, are just beginning readers, typists, and spellers (Solomon, 1993). Yet by the time children are 11-years-old, many have been texting for years, and for quite a large number of children they may even own a mobile phone themselves (Project Tomorrow, 2008).

However, readers must remember, the iChildren I am describing primarily live in industrialized countries where access to mobile technologies is commonplace. I call them iChildren because they are interactive, independent, and international. These young people use many forms of technology, where they expect to interact with others through such social computing experiences as Webkinz or Facebook, or through simple email, texting, or mobile phone communication. They are also surprisingly independent or self-sufficient as they wander the web and use media. These children can also be refreshingly aware of the greater world around them. Technology has helped increase children's understanding of others from around the world—from a YouTube video to a blog written half-way around the world. And the gap is closing between what boys at these ages are doing compared to girls. There still are gender differences in the amount of gaming (boys do more) versus communication (girls do more), but as games become more social, and more point-to-point communication is possible, the frequency of activities is changing (Klopfer, 2008; Project Tomorrow, 2008).

On the other hand, the digital divide still exists not just between those in developing and industrialized countries, but for those in various parts of industrialized countries. Poverty changes the technologies children can access. Low-income children may not have mp3 players, mobile phones, and laptops. And while they may have access to mobile phones, the number of minutes of online time, and the quality of the phone may be limited. In certain developing countries, children see these minutes as more valuable than almost anything else, and can at times purchase cell phone minutes before choosing to buy shoes or other basic necessities (Jones & Marsden, 2006). One thing that is common across many children is their use of these new technologies for gaming (Druin et al., 2007; Klopfer, 2008). Unfortunately, the use of mobile technologies for learning remains inconsistent at best.

Over the last few years, children in a number of developing countries have begun to have access to computers more powerful than mobile phones. Educational laptops from Intel (Chapter 10) and One Laptop Per Child (Chapter 11) have changed the way children from Uruguay to Mongolia are learning. Yet, mobile phones continue to be used for a broad set of important applications. All one needs to do is to look at the work by UNICEF (Chapter 15) in countries around world, to know that new learning opportunities are possible, even in the most extreme circumstances.

But readers should remember that children do not have to wait to be in a classroom to learn. There are huge informal learning possibilities that mobile technologies enable. Children can learn at home, as they walk through public spaces, and even as they wander around outside. With mobile technologies, the walls of the classroom are not needed to learn about the letter G or read stories or even collect scientific data. The many chapters in this book will inspire you to consider the diverse places learning occurs. And learning goes beyond traditional cognitive development. We so often forget that social and emotional development in children are also valid forms of learning. For example, in Chapter 14, authors from numerous countries discuss the possibilities for using mobile technologies for enhancing relationships between children and parents.

These diverse learning experiences support children in consuming information (e.g., reading, searching, observing) as well as creating information (e.g., storytelling, collecting data, taking notes). Sadly enough, a number of the authors in this book point out that many traditional educational institutions currently have banned most mobile technologies in the classroom. And this remains an ever-growing complaint from children in how they see the potential of learning technologies. Yes, it is a annoying to be interrupted by a cell phone ring while teaching, but it is sad to have to miss out on all the other exciting learning opportunities, especially the ones described in this book. Clearly, there is much work to be done to balance the risk and benefit of mobile learning technologies.

This book

As you read this book, you will see there are three lenses used to look at this world of mobile technology for children. In the first section, The Landscape, five chapters take a broad look at what is possible. They give an overview of the technical research (Chapter 1), the educational possibilities (Chapter 2), and the important commercial options (Chapter 3). In addition, cautions, unintended consequences, and critical considerations are shared both in a worldwide context (Chapter 4), but within the walls of the classroom (Chapter 5).

In the second section Designing Mobile Technologies is explored. It starts with an overview of various kinds of design methods (Chapter 6). This is followed by a chapter that focuses on a co-design case study, expanding the mobile phone for reading and storytelling (Chapter 7). The next four chapters then look at the horizons for mobile technologies. There are discussions of how to enhance the hardware to expand what is possible with learning (Chapter 8 and Chapter 9). Then the design and use of micro-laptops are explored (Chapter 10 and Chapter 11). First the Intel laptop is discussed and then the use of the One Laptop Per Child XO laptop is presented.

In the final section, Learning and Use—authors discuss what children are doing with mobile devices from Uruguay to northern Virginia: from supporting literacy development (Chapter 13), to enhancing parent/child relationships (Chapter 14), to supporting the well-being of children through UNICEF programs (Chapter 15). The book ends with a look at the future, the technical possibilities, pitfalls, and the power of learning (Chapter 16).

Throughout this book, no matter what the section or authors, you will find a focus on the important problems to solve and the trade-offs to consider when it comes to hardware, content, and context of use. And at the end of each chapter are lessons learned, so you can leave a chapter or a section of this book with concrete ideas to build upon. Ultimately, that is the goal of this book, that each of you will look to the future and explore opportunities and challenges with mobile technologies in ways you never thought possible.

References

Druin, A., The role of children in the design of new technology, Behaviour and Information Technology 21 (1) (2002) 1–25.

Druin, A.; Weeks, A.; Massey, S.; Bederson, B.B., Children's interests and concerns when using the International Children's Digital Library: A four country case study, In: Proceedings of joint conference on digital libraries (JCDL’2007) (2007) Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, pp. 167–176.

Hourcade, J.; Bederson, B.; Druin, A.; Guimbretiere, F., Differences in pointing task performance between preschool children and adults using mice, ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction 11 (4) (2004) 357–386.

Jones, M.; Marsden, G., Mobile interaction design. (2006) John Wiley & Sons, NY.

Klopfer, E., Augmented learning: Research and design of mobile educational games. (2008) MIT Press, Cambridge.

Large, A.; Beheshti, J., The Web as a classroom resource: Reactions from the users, Journal of the American Society of Information Science 51 (12) (2000) 1069–1080.

Project Tomorrow, Learning in the 21st Century: A trends update, http://www.tomorrow.org (2008).

Revelle, G.L.; Strommen, E.F., The effects of practice and input device used on young children's computer control, Collegiate Microcomputer 8 (4) (1990) 33–41.

Solomon, P., Children's information retrieval behavior: A case analysis of an OPAC, Journal of the American Society of Information Science 44 (5) (1993) 245–264.

Authors’ Biographies

Book editor, preface co-author, introduction author, ch7 co-author, ch16 co-author:

Dr. Allison Druin

Dr. Druin is the Director of the Human-Computer Interaction Lab (HCIL) and an Associate Professor in the University of Maryland's College of Information Studies and Institute for Advanced Computer Studies. Her work includes: developing digital libraries for children; designing technologies for families; and creating collaborative storytelling technologies for the classroom. Dr. Druin's most active research is the International Children's Digital Library (ICDL)www.childrenslibrary.org, now the largest digital library in the world for children which she and colleagues expanded to a non-profit foundation. She is the author or editor of three previous books: Designing Multimedia Environments for Children (Wiley, 1996), The Design of Children's Technology (Morgan Kaufmann, 1999) and Robots for Kids (Morgan Kaufmann, 2000). She received her Ph.D. in 1997 from the University of New Mexico, her M.S. in 1987 from the MIT Media Lab, and a B.F.A. in 1985 from Rhode Island School of Design.

Foreword author:

Jason Bellone

Mr. Bellone is responsible for information and communications technology (ICT) services for the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG). In his span of nearly ten years with the United Nations, he has worked with dozens of field missions spanning the global on subjects ranging from public health to ICT-for-Development. Prior to taking post with the UN, Mr. Bellone held several public service positions with the U.S. Government. He holds graduate degrees in operations research, systems engineering, and public policy. Most importantly, Jason is a father of four children, who use and learn from mobile technology everyday.

Preface authors:

Dr. Allison Druin (see above for information)

Dr. Benjamin B. Bederson

Dr. Bederson is an Associate Professor of Computer Science and the previous director of the Human-Computer Interaction Lab at the Institute for Advanced Computer Studies and iSchool at the University of Maryland. His research is on mobile device interfaces, information visualization, interaction strategies, digital libraries, and accessibility issues such as voting system usability. He is also co-founder and Chief Scientist of Zumobi, a startup offering mobile information services based on his decade of research on zoomable user interfaces. His most active university project is the International Children's Digital Library (www.childrenslibrary.org) which he and colleagues expanded to a non-profit foundation, the ICDL Foundation. Dr. Bederson holds a bachelor's degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Ph.D. and Masters Degrees from New York University.

Ch1 authors:

Dr. Yvonne Rogers

Dr. Rogers is a professor of Human-Computer Interaction in the Computing Department at the Open University, where she directs the Pervasive Interaction Lab. From 2003–2006 she had a joint appointment in the schools of Informatics and Information Science at Indiana University (where she continues to be a visiting professor). Prior to that, she was a professor in the former School of Cognitive and Computing Sciences at Sussex University. Her research focuses on augmenting and extending everyday, learning and work activities with a diversity of interactive and novel technologies. She was one of the principal investigators on the UK Equator project (2000–2007), where she pioneered and experimented with ubiquitous learning.

Dr. Sara Price

Dr. Price is a senior research fellow at the London Knowledge Lab, in the Faculty of Culture and Pedagogy at the Institute of Education. She is a principal investigator on the EPSRC funded grant, ‘Designing Tangibles for Learning’. Much of her work explores ways in which emerging digital technologies can enhance learning in terms of their impact on interaction and cognition. From 2001–2004, Sara worked as a post-doc researcher on the EQUATOR interdisciplinary research collaboration. Her research focused on mobile and pervasive technologies as tools to mediate learning, exploring how combined physical digital environments can promote novel forms of playing and learning, and encourage new ways of thinking.

Ch2 authors:

Carly Shuler

Carly Shuler is the The Joan Ganz Cooney Center's Industry Initiatives and Research Fellow and author of D is for Digital, an analysis of the informal educational media market for the under-12 age group. Carly recently graduated from the Harvard Graduate School of Education with an Ed.M. in Technology, Innovation and Education, where she studied how new media and emerging technologies can be used to effectively educate children. While at Harvard, she contributed to a number of children's educational television shows, working as a research associate for the early literacy program Between the Lions and completing a graduate internship for Postcards from Buster. Prior to her graduate studies, Carly worked in the toy industry at Spin Master Ltd., where she managed product development and marketing for a number of educational preschool brands, including Aquadoodle, an award-winning toy that encourages creativity, and Word World, a licensed line based on the animated children's series that seeks to increase literacy.

Dixie Ching

As Senior Manager of Research and Communications, Dixie Ching manages the Joan Ganz Cooney Center's research projects, publication activities, online presence (www.joanganzcooneycenter.org), as well as the Cooney Center Fellows program. Ms. Ching has also worked in the field of documentary television, helping to produce shows for the Discovery Channel and PBS. Before coming to the Center, Ms. Ching was a researcher at the Center for Children and Technology (CCT), part of the Education Development Center. At CCT, she conducted research on novel educational technology products, including an NSF-funded science simulation for secondary school students. Ms. Ching holds a bachelor's degree in Cell and Developmental Biology from the University of California, Berkeley, receiving an I.L. Chaikoff Award for the quality of her research.

Dr. Armanda Lewis

Dr. Lewis is the Joan Ganz Cooney Center's Postdoctoral Researcher. She is completing her master's degree in the Tisch School of the Arts’ Interactive Telecommunication Program (ITP) at NYU, where she is acquiring an extensive background in digital media and emerging technologies. At ITP, she is investigating and developing tools to promote language and concept learning with the aid of location-based programming, visualization applications, and physical computing. Prior to her work at ITP and the Center, Armanda taught language, literature, and culture, as well as explored the question of otherness in the 19th-century Latin American novel. She obtained her doctorate from the Spanish and Portuguese Department at Columbia University.

Dr. Michael H. Levine

As Executive Director of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, Dr. Levine oversees the Center's efforts to catalyze and support research, innovation and investment in educational media technologies for young children. Prior to joining the Center, Dr. Levine served as Vice President of New Media and Executive Director of Education for Asia Society, managing the global nonprofit organization's interactive media and educational initiatives to promote knowledge and understanding of Asia and other world regions, languages and cultures. Previously, Dr. Levine oversaw Carnegie Corporation of New York's groundbreaking work in early childhood development, educational media and primary grades reform, and was a senior advisor to the New York City Schools Chancellor, where he directed dropout prevention, afterschool and early childhood initiatives. Dr. Levine has been a frequent adviser to the U.S. Department of Education and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, writes for public affairs journals, and appears frequently in the media. He received his Ph.D. in Social Policy from Brandeis University's Florence Heller School and his B.S. from Cornell University.

Ch3 author:

Dr. Warren Buckleitner

After five years in the classroom and ten years at the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, Dr. Buckleitner established Children's Technology Review earning him SIIA's first Journalism Codie Award for BestSoftware Reviewer. He is an advisor to Consumer Reports WebWatch and teaches both at NYU and the Rutgers Graduate School of Education. He is also a regular contributor to the New York Times Circuits page, and writes for Parents, PARADE, Scholastic Parent & Child and others. A former preschool and elementary school teacher, he holds a BS in Elementary Education, an MS in human development and a Ph.D. in educational psychology from Michigan State University. He is the founder of the Dust or Magic Institute (www.dustormagic.com) and the Mediatech Foundation (www.mediatech.org).

Ch4 author:

Dr. Christopher Hoadley

Dr. Hoadley is an Associate Professor of Educational Communications and Technology at New York University's Steinhardt School of Education, Culture, and Human Development. He designs, builds, and studies ways for computers to enhance collaboration and learning. Hoadley is the director of dolcelab, the Laboratory for Design Of Learning, Collaboration & Experience and is an affiliate scholar for the National Academy of Engineering's Center for the Advancement of Scholarship in Engineering Education (CASEE). Hoadley previously chaired the American Educational Research Association's Special Interest Group for Education in Science and Technology (now SIG: Learning Sciences), and served as the first President of the International Society for the Learning Sciences. With Naomi Miyake, he co-edits the Springer book series on CSCL. During the 2008–2009 academic year, he served as a Fulbright Scholar in Nepal and India.

Ch5 authors:

Dr. Elliot Soloway

Dr. Soloway is the Arthur F. Thurnau Professor with joint appointments in College of Engineering, School of Information, and School of Education at the University of Michigan. Dr. Soloway has published extensively on learner-centered design and hand-held learning experiences for the classroom, and has won numerous awards for his teaching. He is the co-founder of GoKnow!. a startup company which integrates the use of technology, instructional design, and professional development to support educators and students in inquiry-based learning activities. Over the past two years, hundreds of teachers and over 10,000 students in public school classrooms from Detroit, MI to Montgomery, AL to Chicago, IL have tested beta versions of the company's products.

Dr. Cathie Norris

Dr. Norris is the Regents’ Professor in the Department of Technology and Cognition at the University of North Texas. She has written numerous articles on the hand-held centric classroom and has leveraged this research to co-found GoKnow!. This startup company builds new mobile technologies, evaluates them, and instructs educators in how to use such technologies.

Ch6 author:

Matt Jones

Matt Jones is a Reader (Associate Professor) in Computer Science, Swansea University where he is helping to set up the Future Interaction Technology Lab. He has worked on mobile interaction issues for the past fourteen years and has published a widely in this area including the book, Mobile Interaction Design (Wiley & Sons, 2006), with Gary Marsden. He has had many interactions and collaborations with leading industry partners, most recently as Nokia Research Visiting Fellow in Finland. Further details are available at www.undofuture.com.

Ch7 co-authors:

Jerry Fails

Jerry Alan Fails is a Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science at the University of Maryland. His dissertation work focuses on new mobile interfaces to support collaboration between children—the overarching goals are to provide social and cognitive benefits for children via collaboration, and reading, creating and sharing stories in mobile contexts. His research has been a part of the lab's partnerships with the National Park Service, Discovery Communications, and the Microsoft Corp. Besides leading the technology development on mobile platforms, he works with the lab's child design partners using co-design techniques developed over the years.

Dr. Allison Druin (see above for information)

Dr. Ben Bederson (see above for information)

Dr. Ann Weeks

Dr. Ann Weeks is a Professor of the Practice in the College of Information Studies at the University of Maryland. She leads the collection development of the International Children's Digital Library (www.childrenslibrary.org) and was a founding Director of the non-profit foundation formed to serve the outreach needs of the library. Her focus of research is on how youth librarians use educational materials to support children at home and in school.

Dr. Anne Rose

Anne Rose is the Assistant Director of Technology in the Human-Computer Interaction Lab (HCIL) at the University of Maryland. As a faculty research assistant, she leads the software development for the International Children's Digital Library. Her focus has also included working with over 1,000 translators world-wide to support the library, and to adapt the library for a wide range of new technologies including the One Laptop Per Child's XO and Intel's Classmate PC. She has been a staff member at the HCIL since 1996.

Ch8 co-authors:

Dr. Maria João Silva

Dr. Silva is an Associate Professor (Professora Coordenadora) at the School of Education of the Polytechnic Institute of Porto. She received her Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from Universidade Nova de Lisboa in 1999. Her main research area is the design of multisensory interfaces for environmental education. She is a member of the coordination team for the research project SchoolSenses@Internet and she was a researcher in the Senses@Watch project.

Dr. Cristina Azevedo Gomes

Dr. Gomes is an Associate Professor of ICT at the Polytechnic Institute of Viseu. She received her Ph.D. in Informatics Engineering from the University of Coimbra. Her research focuses on design, and evaluation of learning environments for children and virtual communities. She coordinates the ERTE/PTE Centre of Viseu, a governmental initiative to promote the use of ICT in elementary and secondary schools. She is also a member of the coordination team for the research project SchoolSenses@Internet.

Bruno Pestana

Bruno Pestana is an Informatics Specialist at the Informatics Centre of the Superior Education School of Viseu. He received his M.Sc. degree in Informatics Engineering (Dissertation title: Children's Interfaces for Ubiquous and Multisensory Communication) from the Faculty of Engineering of Porto University in 2008.

Dr. João Correia Lopes

Dr. Correia Lopes is an Assistant Professor at Faculty of Engineering of Porto University, Department of Informatics Engineering, and a researcher at INESC Porto. He received his PhD in Computing Science from Glasgow University in 1997. His research has been focused on Web Applications, Location-based Information Services, data interoperability and management of structured and semi-structured data.

Dr. Maria José Marcelino

Dr. Marcelino is an Assistant Professor at Faculty of Sciences and Technology of University of Coimbra, Department of Informatics Engineering, and a researcher at CISUC (Center for Informatics and Systems of the University of Coimbra). She received her Ph.D. in Informatics Engineering from University of Coimbra in 1999. Her research interests are in the areas of multimedia, education, design and simulation. She is the principal investigator of the SchoolSenses@Internet project.

Dr. Cristina Gouveia

Dr. Gouveia has a PhD on environmental engineering from Universidade Nova de Lisboa. Her main area of research is the use of information and communication technologies to support environmental management ranging from monitoring to decision-making and public participation. She is part of the SchoolSenses@Internet project team and has also been involved in the Senses@Watch research project.

Dr. Maria Alexandra Fonseca

Dr. Fonseca is a researcher in the Geographic Information Research Department (DSIGIG) of the Portuguese Geographical Institute. She received her PhD in Environmental Engineering from Universidade Nova de Lisboa and has been involved for several years in research projects exploring the use of ICT to improve public participation, volunteer environmental monitoring (VGI), children's learning skills, geo-visualization and interfaces for environmental management.

Ch9 co-authors:

Dr. Jim Gray

Dr. Jim Gray is Director of Learning at LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc., where he oversees the curriculum and learning design of all products to ensure that children's experience is engaging, fun, and educational. Jim previously ran the LeapFrog Lab, where he directed user experience and product development research with thousands of children. He is a regular speaker at learning technology-related conferences, and an Advisory Board member for PBS KIDS Next Generation Media and for Stanford University's Graduate Program in Learning, Design, and Technology. Jim's academic background includes research at the Center for Innovative Learning Technologies and teaching Interactive Media Design at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He holds a doctorate from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education from Michigan State University—and may also hold the unique distinction of having once been the world's tallest preschool teacher.

Dr. Jennae Bulat

Dr. Jennae Bulat is Director of Research at LeapFrog Enterprises. In this role, she oversees research on the effectiveness of LeapFrog's technology-based educational products—including education programs developed by the LeapFrog School division—supporting the development and marketing of products that are both scientifically research-based and supported by sound field evaluations. Dr. Bulat works closely with third party research firms, academic institutions, and educational research advisors, most recently collaborating with the US Department of Education and the US Department of Health and Human Services on nation-wide evaluations of reading intervention products. Specializing in reading development and the use of educational technologies, Dr. Bulat earned her doctorate in education from the University of California, Berkeley, and has conducted research in the fields of reading exposure and the role of orthographic self-teaching mechanisms among emergent readers.

Dr. Anne Cunningham

Dr. Cunningham is a Professor of Cognition and Development in the

Reviews for Mobile Technology for Children

[Dharani Danabalan · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The tittle looks interesting and the introduction has made me to feel like reading it