Tag Archives: co-design

What happens when you are trying to design a new technology for kids and things do not go as expected?  In the case of the University of Maryland KidsTeam, you might help create Nickelodeon’s Do Not Touch button—an interactive button that plays with kids’ desire to do exactly what they’ve been told not to do. This is an example of the Cooperative Inquiry method of technology co-design in action, where children engage in the design process in equal partnership with…

Creative tools for children should be designed to ensure that learning is playful and engaging. At Scratch, we believe that it is important to use a co-design process, ensuring that the needs and perspectives of our users—especially children—are taken into account at every stage. By involving young people in the design of ScratchJr and Scratch, we can create a platform that truly meets their needs and helps them to develop the skills they need to thrive in the digital age.…

Researchers gathered last month at the biennial Society for Research in Child Development conference in Salt Lake City to discuss the impacts of various technologies and media on children’s learning and development. The Joan Ganz Cooney Center was honored to organize a conversational roundtable inspired by the Responsible Innovation in Technology for Children (RITEC) initiative, founded by the LEGO Group and UNICEF and supported by the LEGO Foundation. On March 24,  2023, Cooney Center Senior Director of Research Medha Tare…

As our digital lives continue to evolve into new mediums and devices, traditional online safety efforts are inevitably falling short. A new Aussie project, In Real Life, is re-imagining the landscape of online safety education by centering the perspectives of young people. Reimagining Requires New Ways of Creating For our team at PROJECT ROCKIT – Australia’s youth-driven movement against (cyber)bullying – elevating youth lived experience as expertise is central to our ability to remain relevant and impactful in an ever-changing…

Educational media for children should be designed to ensure learning is meaningful and playful. Children should actively engage with content, connect material to what matters to them, and have a joyful and social experience.1  However, research shows that many apps are not designed in ways that support these and other research-based principles.2 One way to ensure that new technologies meet children’s needs is to involve them in the design process. Allison Druin, a leader in the Cooperative Inquiry field and…

On April 26, 2022, the Cooney Center presented the first in a series of virtual workshops and associated research briefs devoted to promoting tween and teen collaboration with public media. These capacity-building events are an exciting part of our work on the By/ With/ For Youth: Inspiring Next Gen Public Media Audiences initiative. Designed for producers, directors, and others interested in supporting greater youth participation in public media, the workshops are focused on highlighting research-backed best practices for engaging youth…

Augmented reality (AR) allows users to see and interact with virtual objects while still seeing their environment. AR is increasingly becoming more common and is being applied to gaming, healthcare, and education. For example, if you have ever played the worldwide phenomenon Pokémon Go, then you have used an AR application, with which you saw and collected virtual Pokémon in your environment. AR applications can be created for a variety of devices, including smartphones, tablets, as well as headsets. Compared…

The “stay safe online” message is being heard loud and clear – but these young gamers can see beyond “don’t talk to strangers”. The “By Gamers, For Gamers” Project was developed by the Alannah & Madeline Foundation in Australia. The project was initially conceived by adults to be co-designed and developed in close partnership with young people. The intention was to gather the advice and experience of gamers aged 15-18 years, and then share that advice in their own words…

For the fourth part of this series, we asked experts to focus their predictions on digital play by answering the question, “How will the way children play with digital media change in the coming months and/or years as a result of the coronavirus pandemic?” A call for intergenerational and inclusive digital play J. Alison Bryant, PhD, is Senior Vice President of AARP Research. The COVID-19 world has impacted family relationships in myriad ways, and the grandparent-grandchild bond is no exception.…