Children's Services in the Digital Age: Technology Competencies

transcript

• Genesis Hansen, Mission Viejo Library

Sunday, November 10, 13

Two Key Skills

• Exploring new hardware

• Evaluating digital media

When someone has a question about an

Observe

• Look at the casing first

• Buttons?

• Power

• Volume/mute

• Home?

• Headphone jack?

• Ports

Then turn it on

• Are some controls on screen instead of on casing?

• Settings: in an app or accessed from menu?

• Multiple screens? - swipe to test

• Apps and widgets?

• Battery life indicator?

Approach with a spirit of play

When in doubt, tap stuff and see what happens

(This works when evaluating apps and ebooks, too!)

Question:

• What criteria do you use when evaluating children's books?

Question:

• Apply the same criteria to digital media (apps and ebooks)

Question:

• Apply the same criteria to digital media (apps and ebooks)

• Plus, a few extra considerations

Interactive elements: enhance or distract?

Irrelevant interactivity

• Doesn't relate to the story

• Distracts from the flow

Paid vs. free?

• Watch out for ads and in-app purchase links

• Use free versions for evaluation purposes

• Always worth the investment to skip the ads

• ESPECIALLY for kids

Controls on bottom of screen

• Easy to hit by accident

• Attractive buttons lead out of the app...

• Which leads to this:

Intrusive music, etc.Sunday, November 10, 13

Look for apps that support early literacy skills

• Print motivation

• Print awareness

• Letter knowledge

• Vocabulary

• Phonological awareness

• Narrative skills

Affordance: movement indicates interactivitySunday, November 10, 13

Affordance: arrows indicate action to take

Little delights

Helpful cues

• Letter is repeated when you touch tile or destination

• Destination is highlighted when correct tile is close

• "Magnetic" pull of tile to destination

Unobtrusive controls: difficult to exit app unintentionally

Ability to change or turn off features

Customization options allow apps to grow with the childSunday, November 10, 13

Effective, unobtrusive navigation

Children's Services in the Digital Age: Technology Competencies

Education