How Children’s Technologies Can Entertain And Educate
There is a saying that raising a child takes a village: the task requires the involvement of an entire community to nurture and educate children to become well-rounded individuals. Similarly, creating children's technology requires a community effort. To create a tool with lasting positive impact on children, at least three areas of expertise are essential for building a tool with a lasting positive impact on children: an experienced UX designer for child-friendly and engaging design, a developmentalist for insights into age-specific needs, and a learning scientist to align the design with established scientific literature and learning principles.
Our CEO, Professor Natalia I. Kucirkova, wrote about the importance of such collaboration in 2016, drawing on her experience in developing the Our Story children's story-making app. Since then, at WiKIT, over the past two years, we have developed and refined a methodology and workflow to bring together a network of experts from each of the three categories, collaborating around a shared framework to ensure successful EdTech solutions.
The matching process for these three experts is quite a complex process, because we aim to not only complement the experts’ skill sets but also push the boundaries of what technology can achieve by combining the best talents from the industry with the latest research findings. The goal is to facilitate mutual learning of everyone involved and drive advancements in both science and innovation.
What is the role of each expert?
Developmental psychologists not only understand children's developmental stages but also consider equity-related issues such as cultural responsiveness. These experts are frequently consulted too late in the development process, after the technology design has been finalized, resulting in higher costs for implementing changes that could have been addressed earlier. In WiKIT, we solicit their input right at the start, when developing a theory of change for a tool and building a research roadmap for understanding the needs of the child audience.
Learning scientists contribute to aligning the design with learning principles and cognitive growth. This ensures that all design elements work together to create an effective learning environment that both entertains and challenges children without overwhelming them.
UX Designers ensure that the user interface is child-friendly, prioritizing child rights and perspectives. This ranges from the small aspects such as design incorporating appropriate colours and icons while integrating UX design with Learning Experience Design (LXD).
UX and LXD Designers ensure that the user interface is not only visually appealing but also clear and friendly to children and other stakeholders, prioritizing children's rights and perspectives. This ranges from the smallest aspects such as design incorporating appropriate visual elements, interactions, and usability features that resonate with young users. Furthermore, by integrating UX design with Learning Experience Design (LXD), educational platforms and tools can build a balance between being joyful, intuitive, and optimized for learning. Effective learning design necessitates a clear alignment with the tool’s theory of change, ensuring that all elements work together seamlessly to engage the child, fostering learning and holistic growth through the process.
For those interested in joining as an expert or seeking to enhance their EdTech tool with our expertise, please reach out to Polina, our Head of Community, at polina@wikit.no. She will guide you through the process and provide further information on how we can collaborate to drive meaningful impact in the field of children’s technology.