Kinect in Education! (kinectEDucation)

Although I'm currently exploring the world of interactive HTML5, interactive video, etc., I think I just might make "kinecteducation" the focus of my tech-hobbies. I have some experience with game programming-one of my computer courses required a project using XNA- and I know quite a bit about gesture and multitouch, multi-user interactio, so it would'nt be too much of a stretch.


My motivation?

As a school psychologist, my main assignment is a school/program for students with disabilities, including about 40 or so who have autism spectrum disorders. Yesterday, the principal of the school attended a demonstration of the Kinect and requested that our school be considered for piloting it. One of my other assignments is a magnet high school for technology and the arts, and rumor has it that it will be offering a game programming curriculum.  I'd love to co-sponsor an after-school game club and encourage the students to program educational apps for the Kinect sometime in the near future! 


I'm also working as a client, in collaboration with come of my educator colleagues, with a team of university students who are creating a communication/social skills game suite geared for students with autism and related disabilities....


I'm inspired by the possibilities!


We have large SMARTboards in each classroom and in other locations around the building, and we have a Wii set up in the large therapy room adjacent to my office. The Wii has proven to be very useful in helping the students develop social and leisure skills that they can use in and outside of the school settings, but some of the students have difficulty manipulating the buttons on the controllers.


You can get Kinect-based apps from the Kinect Education website! Below are selected links from the website:

• 9 Excellent Programming Resources for Kinect
• Kinect Lesson Plans
• KinectEDucation Blog
• Teacher's Guide to Kinect and Gesture-Based Learning

You can also get additional information from the Microsoft in Education "Kinect in the Classroom" website.

Below are a few videos to give you an overview of how open-source applications designed for the Kinect can be used in education: 

CHI 2011 Workshop Program and Related Links: UI Technologies and Impact on Educational Pedagogy, Related Child-Computer Interaction Papers and Courses

WORKSHOP PROGRAM
CHI 2011 will be held at the Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver. The UI Technologies and Pedagogy workshop will be held on Saturday, May 7th,  in the West Building, Level 1, Room 119/120.  PDF versions of the following presentations can be found on the workshop's website.


9:00am – 09:05am Introduction
Edward Tse and Johannes Schöning
9:05am - 10:05am Paper Session I (8 min presentation, 4 min Discussion)
Chair: Yvonne Rogers
Evaluating Pervasive Classrooms
• Son Do-Lenh et al.: Classroom-experience evaluation: An ecological approach to evaluating pervasive technologies in classrooms 
• Kathryn Rounding et al.: Evaluating Interfaces with Children 
• Dan Morris et al.: Using Machine Learning to Scaffold Artistic Creativity in Education
• Tamara Polajnar et al.: Enabling Picture-based Querying and Learning with the JuSe Interface
• Hamed Alavi et al.: Lantern 2.0: A Pervasive Scripting Tool
•Quincy Brown et al.: Mobile Natives: Unlocking the Potential of Educational Technology
10:15am - 11:00am  Coffee Break and Preparation time for short talks
11:00am - 12:10pm  Paper Session II (8min presentation, 4min Discussion)
Chair: Max Mühlhäuser
Collaboration in Math: Fears, Myths, and Insights.
• Nicola Yull et al.: Pass the iPad: Comparing collaboration on paper and screen
• Veronika Irvine et al.: Math Education: A Creative Approach
• Group talk: Math and Embodied Agents
a.Kristina Richter et al.: Bridging Diagnosis and Learning for Mathematics Education in Classroom Setting
b.Lisa Anthony et al.: Handwriting Interaction for Math Tutors: Lessons for HCI in Education
c.Andrew Jensen et al.: Using Embodied Pedagogical Agents and Direct Instruction to Augment Learning for Young Children with Special Needs
• Group talk: Dispelling Myths About the Next Generation Classroom
a. Alex Thayer et al.: The Myth of the Paperless School: Replacing Printed Texts with E-readers
b.Sharon Oviatt: Designing Digital Tools for Thinking, Adaptive Learning and Cognitive Evolution
c.Alexandra Dunn et al.: Designing Classroom Technology to Meet the Needs of All
• Group talk: Games, Wearables and Fun Learning.
a.Christiane Moser et al.: Child-Centered Game Development
b.Lizbeth Escobedo et al.: Blue’s Clues: An Augmented Reality Positioning System
c.Si Jung Kim et al.: Wearable Story: A Story Telling Jacket for Young Children to Improve Their Independent Physical and Learning Activities
12:10pm - 1:30pm   Lunch
1:30pm - 2:30pm   Paper Session III (8 min presentation, 4 min Discussion)
Chair: Richard Beckwith
Tangibles and Tabletops
• Izdihar Jamil et al.:    Communication Patterns in Collaborative Peer Learning around Interactive Table
• Aura Pon et al.:   Graspable Music and Vuzik: Music Learning and Creativity using an Interactive Surface
• Ahmed Kharrufa et al.: Learning at interactive surfaces and designing for reflection
• Cristina Sylla et al.: TOK – a Tangible Interface for Storytelling
• Group talk: Tables and Tangibles
a.Robert Sheehan:    Constructionism, Programming and Touch Interfaces
b.Orit Shaer et al.:     Making the Invisible Tangible: Learning Biological Engineering in Kindergarten
c.Sebastien Kubicki: Evaluation of an interactive table with tangible objects: Application with children in a classroom
d.Cristina Emilia Costa et al.:  I-Theatre: developing narratives skills in kindergarten children
e.Wooi Boon Goh et al.:  Potential Challenges in Collaborative Game Design for Inclusive Settings
2:30pm - 3:00pm       Coffee Break
3:00pm - 4:00pm       Breakout Discussion (What are future challenges? Next years workshop?)
4:00pm - 4:45pm   Closing Keynote by Allison Druin: Mining the Imagination from Time Travel to Anti-gravity: The Future of Child-Computer Interaction
"If you’ve ever sat with a child imagining the future of new technologies, you will undoubtedly hear about “anti-gravity machines,” “peace-technologies that work by tickling people,” “backpacks of the future with ice cream makers,” and “time-travel-mobile-phones that when you call someone it takes you back in time.” The question is how can these child-like imagined technologies lead us to real answers for the future?


In my talk I will propose that “data mining” is not enough, that “mining the imagination” is critical to understanding the future. I will describe the “iChild” and the interactive, independent, international, imaginative child we need to consider designing for in the future. If we look for real change, we need to listen to children, not because they know more, but because they can help us question, explore, and push us in true directions for change."


Allison Druin is an Associate Dean for Research in the iSchool at the University of Maryland and is Director of the Human-Computer Interaction Lab. For almost 14 years, she has led an intergenerational research team, where children, ages 7-11 years old partner with an interdisciplinary group of adult researchers to develop new technologies for children. With this team, she has helped to developed new digital library and storytelling tools with such partners as the U.S. National Park Service, Sesame Workshop, Nickelodeon, Nokia, UNICEF, and many others. In 2010, she received with Ben Bederson the SIGCHI Social Impact Award for her work leading the International Children’s Digital Library (www.childrenslibrary.org).
4:45pm - 5:00pm Closing Remarks (All)
7:00pm Optional Workshop Dinner


RELATED CHILD-COMPUTER INTERACTION SESSIONS AT CHI 2011
CHI 2011 will be offering a variety of opportunities for people interested in interaction design and technologies for children.  Detailed information regarding the researchers/ presenters can be found on the IDC-SIG News/Events page.


CHI2011 COURSE - Evaluating Children's Interactive Technology
Monday 9th May 2011 - 16:00
Janet C Read - University of Central Lancashire
Panos Markopoulos - Technical University of Eindhoven
CHI2011 COURSE - New Methods for Designing for and with the iChild: Strategies for Today’s Mobile, Social, and Internet Technologies
Thursday 12th May 2011 - 09:00
Allison Druin - University of Maryland
Jerry Fails - Montclair State University
Mona Leigh Gubler - University of Maryland
CHI2011 Paper Session - Engaging Youth  Thursday 12th May 2011 - 11:00
Exploratory Evaluations of a Computer Game Supporting Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Adolescents
In the Mood: Engaging Teenagers in Psychotherapy Using Mobile Phones
Breaking Boundaries: Strategies for Mentoring through Textile Computing Workshops
Brick by Brick: Iterating Interventions to Bridge the Achievement Gap with Virtual Peers
CHI2011 - Other IDC Related Papers
Paper Session: Art, Music and  Movement: Monday 9th May 2011
MOGCLASS: Evaluation of a Collaborative System of Mobile Devices for Classroom Music Education of Young Children
MoBoogie: Creative Expression Through Whole Body Musical Interaction
Paper Session: Low-cost ICT4D Tuesday 10th May 2011
Utilizing Multimedia Capabilities of Mobile Phones to Support Teaching in Schools in Rural Panama
Infrastructures for low-cost laptop use in Mexican schools
Paper Session: Storytelling and Perceptual Crossing Wednesday 11th May 2011
ShadowStory: Creative and Collaborative Digital Storytelling Inspired by Cultural Heritage
Paper Session: Learning
Practical, Appropriate, Empirically-Validated Guidelines for Designing Educational Games

CHI2011 Paper Session - Families Tuesday 10th May 2011 - 11:00

Learning Patterns of Pick-ups and Drop-offs to Support Busy Family Coordination

Mediated Parent-Child Contact in Work-Separated Families

Hello, is Grandma there? Let’s Read! StoryVisit: Family Video Chat and Connected E-Books

Family Portals: Connecting Families Through A Multifamily Media Space

If these topics interest you, consider making plans to attend IDC 2011!
IDC 2011:  The 10th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children
June 19-23,  University of Michigan (My alma mater!)

Algodoo physics app. for the SMART Board 800 series, supports multi-touch and multi-user interaction!

A few years ago, I came across "Phun", a free, hands-on application designed for use in science education.  I was impressed, and had the chance to use it with a few students.    Phun was Emil Ernerfeldt's MSc Computer Science project, created at the VR lab at Umeå Universityin Sweden, under the supervision of Kenneth Bodin. 


Phun is now known as Algodoo, and is part of the family of applications offered by Algoryx, a company that develops multi-physics and 3D simulation software.  As you can see from the recent video below, it has improved over the years.  The most recent news is that the application was transformed for use on the SMART Board 800 series, and supports multi-touch and multi-user interaction.  


One of the reasons that I like Algodoo is that it supports social interaction during learning activities, something that can enhance deeper learning among students.  It allows students to move and work in a "hands-on" fashion.  In schools that have invested stimulus money on technology and now have limited funds for upgrading traditional science equipment, applications such as Algodoo will most likely provide a good "bang for the buck".


Algodoo: Science education for a new generation

"Algodoo is a totally unique program. A program that gives you the opportunity to play with physics - using your own hands. Apply a constructionists learning paradigm, learning by doing. Use simple drawing tools to design, construct and explore with. Sounds like an interesting idea? Watch this video and learn how!" -Algoryx


Algodoo demonstration on a SMART Board 800 multi-touch/multiuser interactive whiteboards:





RELATED
Alogryx Simulation integrates Algodoo application with the SMART Board 800 series Smart Technologies
Algodoo website
Algoryx Multiphsyics and 3D Simulation website


Information about Phun, an earlier version of Algodoo:

You can download the music used in the videos and the Phun application from the following URL: http://www.phunland.com/download/Phun_theme.mp3

Video of original version: Phun - 2D physics sandbox:


Interactive Physics: Algodoo, the educational version of Phun, optimized for the Classmate PC (Interactive Multimedia Technology, 1/16/09)



Engaged Learning and Social Physics: Phun, an Interactive 2D Physics Sandbox
Interactive Multimedia Technology, 6/08/08

Interactive Touch-Screen Technology, Participatory Design, and "Getting It", Revisited

I've been planning on updating one of my popular posts, "Interactive Touch-Screen Technology, Participatory Design, and Getting It" for a while. 


Here is a compromise - since much still rings true two years since I wrote it, the bulk of this post remains the same.   I've updated a few sections with additional video examples of interactive touch-screen applications, good and bad, along with a few links and resources, located at the bottom of the post. 


(The missing piece of information?  An update about apps for the iPad and similar touch-screen tablets.)

Sit back and enjoy!

-Images: HP; Wired

There's been some discussion over the reasons why so many people don't understand touch screen, or "surface" computing, even though research in this area has been going on for years.

As the new owner of the HP TouchSmart, I know that I get it.

The research I've conducted in this area suggests that people will "get-it" only if there is a strong commitment to develop touch-screen "surface" applications through a user-centered, participatory design process. In my view, this should incorporate principles of ethnography, and ensure that usability studies are conducted outside of the lab.

This approach was taken with Intel's Classmate PC. Intel has about 40 ethnographic researchers, and sent many of them to work with students and teachers in classrooms around the world. (A video regarding ethnographic research and the Intel Classmate project can be found near the end of this post.)


-Images: ClassematePC


Where to start?
K-12 classrooms and media centers. Public libraries. Malls. Hospital lobbies and doctor's offices. Any waiting room. Staff lounges in medical centers, schools, and universities. Community festivities and events. Movie theater lobbies. Museums and other points of interests.

I believe we need to take a "touching is believing" approach.

Here are some thoughts:
When I try to explain my fascination with developing touch-screen interactive multimedia applications, (interactive whiteboards, multi-touch displays and tables, and the like), many of my friends and family members eyes glaze over. This is particularly true for people I know who are forty-ish or over.

Even if you are younger, if you never saw the cool technology demonstrated in the movie Minority Report, or if you have limited experience with video games, or if you haven't came within touching distance of an interactive whiteboard, the concept might be difficult to understand.

The reality?
Even people who have the opportunity to use surface computing technology on large screens do not take full advantage of it. Multi-touch screens are often used as single-touch screens, and interactive whiteboards in classrooms are often serve as expensive projector screens for teacher-controlled PowerPoint presentations.

Most importantly, there are few software developers who understand the surface computing approach, even with the popularity of the iPhone and iPod Touch. Most focus on traditional business-oriented or marketing applications, and have difficulty envisioning scenarios for surface computing.  There is a need for a breath of fresh air!

Another factor is that not all people entrusted to market surface or touch screen computing fully understand it.

Despite a cool website showing off the goods, Microsoft's Surface multi-touch table has been slow to take off, limiting hope of bringing down the price tag to a price most families or schools could afford. (The picture above depicts an application for the Surface designed for health care professionals, not K-12 science education.)

Although you can't buy a Surface table for your family room, it is possible to buy a TouchSmart.  HP's TouchSmart website is engaging and highlights some examples of touch-screen interaction, but most people don't seem to know about it. (Since this post was last written, there are many more touch and multi-touch options available to the public, such as the  Dell, the iPad, etc.)

Unfortunately, you wouldn't have a clue that the HP TouchSmart exists browsing the aisles at Circuit City or Best Buy!

When I was shopping for my new TouchSmart, I noticed that from a distance, the TouchSmart looked just like the other larger flat-screen monitors filling up the aisles. The salespeople at both stores were not well-informed about the system. The only reason I knew bout the new TouchSmart was related to my obsession with interactive multimedia touch-screen applications- designing them, developing them, studying them, reading about them, blogging about them.... ; }

More thoughts:

After studying HCI (Human-Computer Interaction), and relating this knowledge to what I know as a psychologist, my hunch is that the "Window Icon Mouse Pointing-device" (WIMP) and keyboard input mind-set is embedded in our brains, to a certain extent. Like driving a car, it is something automatic and expected. This is true for users AND developers. (Update - See The Post WIMP Explorers' Club: Update of the Updates for a review of a discussion among passionate post WIMP folks)

Think about it.

Suppose one day, you were told that you no longer were allowed to control your car by turning on the ignition, steering the wheel, or using your feet to accelerate, slow down, or stop the car! Instead, you needed to learn a new navigation, integration, and control system that involved waving your hands about and perhaps speaking a few commands.

For new drivers who'd never seen a car before, this new system would be user-friendly and intuitive. Perhaps it would be quite easy for 16-year-old kids to wrap their heads around this concept. For most of us, no. Imagine the disasters we would see on our streets and highways!

When we think about how newer technologies are introduced to people, we should keep this in mind.

In my mind, spreading the word about surface computing is not a "if you build it, they will come" phenomenon, like the iPhone. We can't ignore the broader picture.

From my middle-age woman's vantage point, I believe that it is important that the those involved with studying, developing, or marketing surface computing applications realize that many of us simply have no point of reference other than our experiences with ATMs, airline kiosks, supermarket self-serve lanes, and the like. (The video clip at the very end of this post provides a good example of touch-screen technology gone wrong.) -UPDATE: additional videos were added to this post.

Be aware that there are substantial numbers of people who might benefit from surface computing who prefer to avoid the ATMs, airline kiosks, and self-serve grocery shopping.

Realize that the collective experience with technology, in many cases, has not been too pretty. Many people have had such user-unfriendly experiences with productivity applications, forced upon them by their employers, that any interest or desire to explore emerging technologies has been zapped.

My own exposure to interactive "surface" related technology was somewhat accidental.
A few years ago, a huge box was deposited into the room I worked in a couple of days a week as a school psychologist at a middle school. After a week or so, I became curious, and found out that it was a SmartBoard. Until then (2002!), I did not know that interactive whiteboards existed.

The boxed remained unopened in the room for the entire school year, but no worry. I played with the only other SmartBoard in the school, and found a couple at the high school where I also worked. I hunted for all of the applications and interactive websites that I could find, and tried them out. That is when I was hooked. I could see all kinds of possibilities for interactive, engaging subject area learning activities. I could see the SmartBoards potential for music and art classes. With my own eyes, I saw how the SmartBoard engaged students with special needs in counseling activities. (By the way, if you are working with middle school students, PBS Kid's ItsMyLife website activities work great on an interactive whiteboard.)

A few years have passed, and reflecting on all of my fun experiences with interactive whiteboards, with and without students, I now understand that many teachers still have had limited exposure to this technology.

This school year, many teachers are finding themselves teaching in classrooms recently outfitted with interactive whiteboards, scrambling along with educational technology staff development specialists, to figure out how it works best with various groups of students, and what sort of changes need to be made regarding instructional practice.

For the very first time, interactive whiteboards were installed in two classrooms at one of the schools I work at. One of the teachers I know thanked me for telling her about interactive whiteboards and sharing my resources and links.

If I hadn't let her know about this technology, she wouldn't have volunteered to have one installed in her classroom. It has transformed the way she teaches special needs students.

In the few months that she's used the whiteboard, I can see how much it has transformed the way the students learn. They are attentive, more communicative, and engaged. The students don't spend the whole day with the whiteboard - the interactive learning activities are woven into lessons at various times of the day, representing true technology integration.

Now let's see what happens when all-in-one touch-screen PC's are unleashed in our schools!

UPDATE:  Take a look at a post I wrote for Innovative Interactivity just after SMART Technologies acquired NextWindow - the post describe in detail how interactive whiteboards are transforming learning and teaching in a program for students with special needs.
SMARTTechnologies Acquires NextWindow: A "smart window" to the world


There are some interesting changes going on at the intersection of HCI and educational technology research.  I participated in a workshop at CHI 2010 last April and was impressed by what is going on in this area, around the globe:   Next Generation of HCI and Education

Value of ethnographic research:
Ethnographic Research Informed Intel's Classmate PC
"Intel looked closely at how students collaborate and move around in classroom environments. The new tablet feature was implemented so that the device would be more conducive to what Intel calls “micromobility”. Intel wants students to be able to carry around Classmate PCs in much the same way that they currently carry around paper and pencil." -via Putting People First and Ars Technica

The video below is from Intel's YouTube Channel. Information about Intel's approach to ethnographic research in classrooms during the development of the Classroom PC is highlighted. This approach uses participatory design and allows the set of applications developed for the Classmate PC to reflect the needs of local students and teachers. Schools from many different countries were included in this study.




FYI: TOUCH SCREEN DISPLAYS:  NEED FOR IMPROVEMENT!

Touch Screen Coke Machine at the Mall: 90 Seconds to get a Coke


User-Unfriendly Interactive Display in the Rain (Ballantyne Village Shopping Center)

User-Unfriendly Information Kiosk Interactive Map

I encountered this puzzling and frustrating interactive directory/map at the Cleveland Clinic.  When I went to visit a relative at the hospital a year or so later, the map was no longer there.


BETTER EXAMPLES OF INTERACTIVE SCREENS:

Here are some interesting pictures from lm3labs, which are in my interactive usability hall of fame:

Samsung's new Omnia SDG i900 was re-created in a much larger size, using lm3lab's Ubiq'window touchless technology.For more about lm3labs, including several videoclips, take a look at one of my previous posts: Lm3Labs, Nicolas Leoillot, and Multimedia Interaction

Midwife Toad App on a Microsoft Surface, Discovery Place Science Center


TellTable:  Digital Storytelling on the Surface:  Microsoft Research, UK


DECEMBER 31, 2009 -Interactive Soda Machine for Fun

The interactive screen on the Coke machine attracted the attention of this young child. He loved spinning the image of the bottle. So did the dad! He said, "I'd like something like this for my home!". I told him about the HP TouchSmart - both the dad and the mom did not know that there were affordable all-in-one touch screens available, but they knew about SMARTboards, because their children's classrooms had them.  Note:  No one from this family actually purchased a soft drink.  I was hoping to time how long it would take them to do so!

Some resources:

Multimedia, Multitouch, Gesture, and Interaction Resources (Mega-list, work in progress)

lm3labs (catchyoo, ubiq'window)

NUITeqNUI Group (See member's links)

Sparkon (See members links and multi-touch projects)

3M TouchNextWindow

Fingertapps

thirteen23

SmartTechnologies

SMARTTable

Perceptive Pixel - Jeff Hans

Microsoft Surface

InfoStrat

Reactable

RENCI Multi-touch

iPhone

iPad

Stantum

DELL MultiTouch

Vectorform

HP TouchSmart PC website, with demo

HP's TouchSmart YouTube videos

(More information and resources can be found by doing a "multitouch" or related search on this blog or The World Is My Interactive Interface.)

If you have plenty of time, take a look at my Post WIMP Explorers' Club YouTube playlist.
"Natural user interfaces, gesture interaction, multi-touch, natural interaction, post WIMP examples and more..."

FYI: I visited the Ballantyne Village shopping center a couple of months ago to follow up on the interactive displays, including the one I tried to use while it was raining.   The shopping center changed ownership, and the displays were replaced by the old-fashioned kind, pictured below:

SepiaTown: View and Share Mapped Historical Images On-Line

What is SepiaTown?
"In a way, it's a time machine. SepiaTown lets you use your computer or mobile device to see what the very spot you're standing on looked like decades or centuries ago...SepiaTown lets you view and share thousands of mapped historical images from around the globe....The objective of SepiaTown is to map a virtual past by collecting and mapping a vast collection of historical and vintage photographs, prints, film, audio and other media. Please help this collection grow and share your history - contribute your own early photos, pieces of history, and other media from yesteryear"


This site would be great for history teachers and their students, especially in classrooms that have interactive whiteboards!

Image: SepiaTown


RELATED

SepiaTown Blog

SepiaTown Facebook

SepiaTown Twitter

History Pin  "Pin your history to the world"

via O'Reilly Radar, 
via Fresh + New(er) -"discussion of issues around digital media and museums"
"Fresh+New is a blog primarily written by Seb Chan at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney. The purpose of the site is to act as a repository and sounding board for discussions around digital media and its use in museums. It evolved from a team discussion tool into a sector resource."

Child-Computer Interaction: A Featured Community at the Upcoming CHI 2011 Conference!

Last year, I attended CHI 2010 and participated in a workshop about the next generation of HCI and education.  It was a wonderful opportunity to share ideas with people from all over the world who are interested in emerging technologies, kids, and education.  I plan to attend CHI 2011 in Vancouver, Canada next May 7-11, and even though the conference is months away, I can barely wait.  The good news it that the Child-Computer Interaction community will have an important presence at the 2011 ACM CHI conference.  I wanted to share a little bit about this development on this blog. 

During CHI 2010, I signed up for the  "Designing for the iChild" course.  In one afternoon, I learned more than I had expected, especially the technique called "Layered Elaboration", a collaborative design strategy that involves inter-generational teams of children and adults.  

One of the leaders of this course was Allison Druin, Associate Professor and director of the Human-Computer Interaction Lab at the University of Maryland.  Dr. Druin's focus is in the area of child-computer interaction and how children can be meaningfully involved as partners in the design process.  

The quote below, found on the HCIL Children as Design Partners website, explains why this is so important:

"We have a chance to change technology, but more importantly we have a chance to change the life of a child. Every time a new technology enables a child to do something they never dreamed of, there are new possibilities for the future."  -Allison Druin

In my work as a school psychologist, I use technology with students quite often, especially when I'm at Wolfe, a program for students who have more complex disabilities, including severe autism.  I have been fortunate to have a new SMARTBoard at my fingertips, and access to the school's SMARTtable.  I learn from my students every day.

I believe that we are only at the "tip of the iceberg" with this sort of technology- and related applications such as the iPad and similar devices.   In my experience, well designed technologies and applications can open up a meaningful window to the world for children, teens, and others with disabilities.

Most of the information below was taking from the CHI 2011 conference website:

About the Child-Computer Interaction (CCI) community:

"At CHI, the CCI community will want to attract papers and contributions that represent real advances in the understanding of, or development and refinement of methods for, child computer interaction. It will also seek to unearth groundbreaking innovations addressing the needs, capabilities and preferences of children that have the potential to become reference works for developments in this field."

"By its very nature, The CCI community will have to be divergent in its thinking at CHI; it must also be about two of the mainstream CHI communities – engineering and design, but will potentially also be concerned with many of the communities of technologies (Smart devices, surfaces, mobile), of experiences (Play, Learning, Communication) and of methods (participatory design, evaluation)." ....

"Child Computer Interaction is a new community for CHI. It is a place for contributions where a method or a design is proposed that is especially suited to children and that could not sensibly be easily adapted for adults.  

We are keen to have contributions to all the usual CHI tracks but are also offering four special tracks for our own extra special community. These are:

• Child Partnership Projects (CPP): A design competition for teams that include children.

• Participatory Papers: Scholarly publications that are disseminated for children readers. (i.e. written in a different way)

• Lessons from the Trenches: Targeting industrial cases and experiences. A lively venue where experiences can be exchanged, and researchers can be exposed to the realities of industrial practice in this domain.

• Theatre pieces: High quality video contributions, available in a library after the conference, of methods that can be re used and learned from."

Child-Computer Interaction Chairs:
Janet C. Read
University of Central Lancashire
Panos Markopoulos
Eindhoven University of Techology
Allison Druin
University of Maryland
childcomputerinteraction@chi2010

RELATED
Walsh, G., Druin, A., Guha, ML, Foss, B., Golub, E., Hatley, L (2009)  [PDF] Layered Elaboration: A New Technique for Co-Design with Children.  ACM CHI 2009 

Video Experiments: Sea Life Medley: Extended version with music

I'm playing around with my sea life video clips to get ideas for creating interactive educational videos in the future for use on interactive whiteboards and other large touch-screen surfaces.

Here's my YouTube description:
This is a medley of several video clips taken of sea life, mostly living in aquariums. Awesome jellyfish can be viewed from 1:34- 3:45. The music consists of clips from iMovie, and then William Orbit's "Sea Green" and "Surfin". I created this video for students I work with who have more complex disabilities, such as severe autism.

Interactive Technology in the Carolinas: Discovery Place Science Center

I recently visited the Discovery Place science center in Charlotte, N.C.  It was my first visit without kids, and I thought it would be fun to explore all of the exhibits at my own pace. I was excited to play with the interactive applications created for exhibits running on Microsoft's Surface table-top computers. There were so many kids and teens at Discovery Place that every exhibit was in use. Fortunately, I obtained permission from parents to videotape/photograph some of the action.

Next time, I'll make sure that I visit at a less-busy time!

The following displays were developed by the Microsoft Surface team at Quatrefoil.  Quatrefoil is a company located in Maryland that develops immersive interactive experiences, primarily for museum exhibits and related projects.

Midwife Toad App on a Microsoft Surface

Project Build Exhibit video, from the Quatrefoil YouTube website, helps people understand the architectural design process:

THEM exhibit, from the Quatrefoil YouTube site:

"This health-related exhibition at Discovery Place in Charlotte, NC, explores how the human body is an ecosystem with a myriad of flora and fauna. Visitors are presented with an exciting and educational experience. The content is delivered in a way that carefully walks the line between gross-out information and the need to keep the context within the human body...Quatrefoil Associates designed the exhibit and produced creative media including Attack of the Superbugs, a video about antibiotic-resistant bacteria." -Quatrefoil Associates

The Reactable at Discovery Place