Design for Service in Elderly & Children Lives by Gina Acevedo

Design for

Service in Elderly

& Children

Life

Gina M. Acevedo & Aleksandra J.Kozarzewska 2

Gina M. Acevedo Matricola: 781448 Aleksandra J. Kozarzewska Matricola: 784919 Relatore: Marco Maiocchi Correlatore: Francesco Galli Politecnico di Milano Master of Science in Communication Design December 2013

Gina M. Acevedo Thanks To: Politecnico di Milano for giving me the opportunity to be part of their educational community and continue with my personal and professional growth. École Supérieure d’Art et Design de Saint-Étienne / Cité du Design for letting me be part of your team and learn amazing things during my ERASMUS exchange. Marco M. Maiocchi for being our guide, for believing in us, for having us so much patience to allow us fulfill another dream, thank you very much. Francesco Galli for always keeping an eye on us, to scold a little during our reviews that for sure served to keep fighting even stronger, thank you very much. Aleksandra, my thesis partner, my friend, my counselor, my engine in the whole process of this research and in the entire Master. Despite the difficulties we always knew to look beyond and move forward always with our heads held high. Thanks for the patience and sorry for the stress and anxieties. Surely it would not have been the same without her and I will not have taken that much good moments and memories with me. The distance will separate us but never shall lose my friendship and I hope to meet her again wherever fate takes me. This is simply not a goodbye but a see you later I want to say to her. Dedication: First of all I dedicate this to the most important, that without his help I couldn´t have continued. Thanks God for giving me good health, be filled with wisdom and giving me this great opportunity to study outside of my country and letting me know wonderful people and enrich myself more as a person. To my parents, don’t even know where to start, thanks for all the support I have received. Thanks for such good example and for teaching me to always walk facing forward. Thanks to that is that I am where I am and that I have achieved great goals in time ever imagined. I’m proud of them and I feel fortunate to have grown up in such a warm family atmosphere and never falter. To David, that without him, I would not have had the strength to continue, thanks for being my engine and be part of another achievement. To my family and friends, thanks for always being there and believing in me, believing that I am very capable and brave to face new challenges that may come. For all the people that take part of it, THANK YOU! 6

Aleksandra J. Kozarzewska Thanks to: Politecnico di Milano for giving me the possibility to study here and for all the knowledge and experiences that I gained here. Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw for helping me and for giving me an opportunity to study in a very flexible way. Prof. Marco Maiocchi, I hope that all the knowledge that you gave to us, will be a source of success in both of our professional and personal life in the future. You are an example for us to follow. Thank you for all your help and all forbearance. Thank you and we will always remember you. Prof. Francesco Galli for your patience, all “keywords”, and for helping us to enter into the italian educational environment. I am sure that thanks to him many foreing students could feel that there is somebody who really cares about them. Thank you very much for helping and for giving us a bit of your valuable time between Hong Kong and Chile! Gina, to my friend, co-creator of this thesis - Gina. Ginseng, thank you for this beautiful time, full of changes, wonderful moments, travels, jokes, photos, videos, evenings of hard work or relax… I can’t imagine this time without her and I’m sure that there will be more beautiful moments ahead of us. Thanks for this thesis together, Thanks to her excellent organization, language skills and other features that I learned a lot. Tqm Dedication: On the beginning I should dedicate and thanks to God, for his help, for giving my this possibility, health, power and for good people that surrounds me. To my parents and my brothers because without them I wouldn’t be who and where I am now. I don’t have any words in which I could thank them for everything that I received. I hope I will be able to repay them at least a small part of all of those things that they have give me. I am very lucky to be a part of this wonderful family and to have such a greate example. I would like to thank and dedicate this to Ergis for his presence, help, and support that I received from him during my stay in Milan. I wouldn’t reach to this point without him becouse thanks to him I decided to study in Politecnico. All those good things will remain forever with me. Once again thank you for everythin. I would like to thank to my friends for all the support, and often in spite of the distance it is very important to know that you are not alone. Thank you. 8

Table of Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................................ 18 1.

The power of communication .................................................................................................................... 24

1.1 What is Communication? ............................................................................................................................. 1.2 The Impact of Information and Communications Technologies.................................... 1.3 Collaboration and Cooperation as a new form of Communication............................ 1.3.1 Virtual places: communities Love groups, Meet-upâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, Co-working, Hub creative, Apps, Design Crowd..................................................................................................................... 1.3.2 Cooperative Classification and Communication Through Shared Metadata......... 1.3.3 Design/Work with the community......................................................................................................... 1.3.4 How to Facilitate the Creative Project/ The importance of place-inspiration ......

25 26 27 27 30 30 35

Design for an Elder Population.................................................................................................................. 40

2.1 2.1.1 2.2 2.2.1 2.2.2 2.3 2.3.1 2.3.2 2.3.3 2.3.4 2.3.5 2.3.6 2.4 2.4.1

Having in mind Elder Physical capabilities for a good design............................................. Sensory Capabilities and Changes in the Elderly........................................................................ Elderly Communication Problems........................................................................................................... Barriers to Older People Adopting Digital Technologies........................................................ Elderly Isolated by Technological Advances................................................................................. The Digital World for the Elderly............................................................................................................ Risks adopting Digital Media........................................................................................................................ Benefits and Opportunities Older Users can obtain Adopting Technology........... Drive Urges Older People to get Online........................................................................................... Helping the Elderly stay Online................................................................................................................ How the iPad can be a Senior Saver.......................................................................................................... Smart Apps for Older People..................................................................................................................... Older people, Technology and Community................................................................................... Social Isolation......................................................................................................................................................

41 41 43 43 45 45 45 46 47 48 49 50 52 52

2.4.2 2.5 2.5.1 2.5.2 2.5.3 2.5.4 2.5.5 2.6 2.6.1 2.6.2 2.6.3 2.6.4 2.6.5 2.6.6 2.7 2.7.1 2.7.2 2.7.2.1 2.8

Social Collaboration plays a Critical Role...................................................................................... Lifelong Learning in Later Life..................................................................................................................... Training and Support for the Elderly.................................................................................................... Learning in Later Life Program.................................................................................................................... University for the Third Age....................................................................................................................... Home Sharing: Young and Elderly living together....................................................................... Keeping Older People Fit with Nintendo Wii.................................................................................. How can we Afford an Aging Society?............................................................................................... Developed Countries and Emerging Economies.......................................................................... The Silver Market................................................................................................................................................. A New Approach to Old Users................................................................................................................ Integration of the Elderly into the Design Process................................................................... Gerontechnology for a Super-Aged Society................................................................................ Universal Design: Innovations for All Ages..................................................................................... What Designers should have in Mind Designing for the Elderly?.................................. Guidelines for Designers Working on this Subject..................................................................... Websites for the Elderly............................................................................................................................... Key Tips for Making Your Website Senior Friendly...................................................................... Conclusion...............................................................................................................................................................

Design for Children........................................................................................................................................... 74

3.1 3.1.1 3.2 3.3

Having in mind Physical Changes in kids........................................................................................... Interaction Design and Children.............................................................................................................. PLAY + LEARN.......................................................................................................................................................... Opportunities and the Difference between Developed and Developing Countries................................................................................................................................................................... 3.4 The Media Family - Electronic media in the lives of infants and their parents....... 3.4.1 Use of Electronic Media and Communications........................................................................... 3.4.1.1 Children and Young PeopleÂ´s use of Electronic Media and Communications Family TV environment...................................................................................................................................

54 54 55 55 56 56 57 57 58 60 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 66 68

74 75 79 82 87 92 95 10

3.5 3.5.1 3.5.1.1 3.5.1.2 3.5.1.3 3.5.1.4 3.5.1.5 3.5.1.6 3.5.1.7 3.5.1.8

The Digital World of Young Children.................................................................................................. Literacy and Learning the Digital Age. At School with Design!...................................... Learning should be for Children............................................................................................................. Motivating Children to Read More....................................................................................................... Supporting Special Learners and Disable.......................................................................................... Use Digital Tools Effectively and Safely.......................................................................................... Know More about Other Countries and Cultures.................................................................... Participate in Collaborative Learning Communities.................................................................. Investigate How Digital Media Contribute to Real World Literacy............................ Learning. Recognizing the potential of the Internet as a great medium for learning, and the need for it to be introduced to students as an educational resource..................................................................................................................................................................... 3.5.1.9 Support and Spread Promising Ideas..................................................................................................... 3.5.1.10 Education: in School......................................................................................................................................... 3.5.1.11 Education: Out of School............................................................................................................................ 3.5.1.12 The Old Digital Divide.................................................................................................................................... 3.5.1.13 The New Digital Divide.................................................................................................................................. 3.5.2 Powerful Learning Tools................................................................................................................................ 3.5.2.1 E - Books.................................................................................................................................................................... 3.5.2.2 Organizations (including no profits), university centers, etc. have taken interest in digital tools and media respect to young children............................................................ 3.5.2.3 Making your Website Attractive for Children............................................................................... 3.5.2.4 Designing Apps for Kids................................................................................................................................. 3.5.3 Digital Literacy: ability to use digital media for speaking, listening, reading and writing purposes.................................................................................................................................................. 3.5.3.1 Read Printed Books using Digital Media ............................................................................................ 3.3.3.2 A Good Design can Help Normal Kids Socialize with Disable Kids ............................

100 101 103 104 105 108 109 111 113

115 116 117 118 118 119 121 121 123 128 129 130 131 134

Design for Social Good................................................................................................................................. 140

4.1

The Role of Design........................................................................................................................................... 140

140 140 141 142 143 145 145 146 147 147 149 150 151

4.1.1 4.1.2 4.1.3 4.1.4 4.2 4.2.1 4.2.2 4.2.3 4.2.4 4.2.5 4.3 4.3.1 4.4

Designing for Everyone, One Person at a Time.............................................................................. Design Is About the Experience, Not the Object...................................................................... Characteristics and Activities that Vary Throughout our Lifetime............................... From Usability to Sociability...................................................................................................................... What is Design for All?.................................................................................................................................. Functional distance between the Environment and Human Capabilities................ What does Design for All mean for companies?...................................................................... What does Design for All mean for Public Administrative Bodies?........................... What does Design for All mean for Designers?......................................................................... Examples of Design for All........................................................................................................................ Design for Social Impact.............................................................................................................................. Things to have in Mind When Designing for Social Impact.............................................. Case Studies...........................................................................................................................................................

Case Studies. and Proposal........................................................................................................................ 156

5.1 5.1.1 5.1.2 5.1.3 5.2 5.2.1 5.2.2 5.3 5.3.1 5.3.2 5.4

Elderly Case Studies......................................................................................................................................... OATS............................................................................................................................................................................. On My Life............................................................................................................................................................... Knowledge of Life Project, University EAFIT - Colombia..................................................... Children Case Studies..................................................................................................................................... ACM IDC Interaction Design and Children.................................................................................... Foundation â&#x20AC;&#x153;ABCXXI - All of Poland Reads to Kidsâ&#x20AC;?................................................................ Design for All Case Studies........................................................................................................................ Coursera..................................................................................................................................................................... Mooc............................................................................................................................................................................ Other Case Studies...........................................................................................................................................

Conclusion.........................................................................................................................................................................

156 156 156 156 157 157 158 158 158 158 158 166

Bibliography & Linkography.......................................................................................................................................... 172 12

Appendices..................................................................................................................................................................................... 182 Appendix No. 1 ........................................................................................................................................................................... 182 Design for Social Value @Politecnico di Milano - Bovisa Campus Forwards: considerations based in our experiences and during our thesis research ..... Foreign Students Problems ...................................................................................................................................... Necessities: solve the problem, have some advantages for all not anly foreigners but also Italians ............................................................................................................................................................... Vision: our proposal to solve this problem â&#x20AC;&#x201C; CROX ........................................................................... Final Observations...........................................................................................................................................................

182 183 184 184 186

Appendix No. 2 .......................................................................................................................................................................... 186 EXCHempathy Our Project Proposal and what we will like to do based on our research and taking profit of human resources. Why EXCHempathy?.................................................................................................................................................... 186 What is EXCHempathy?............................................................................................................................................. 186 How does EXCHempathy works?....................................................................................................................... 187

Introduction

Introduction As the world gets more and more crowded, our lives get busier and busier and we live further away from our families than we ever have before, it’s nice to know that technology offers us part of the answer. No matter what form it takes, staying connected is good for everybody. If we know how to apply a good communication and understand the roll of technology in our society, we can help elders become more useful and feel active helping them prevent depressions and applying their time to the new media technologies being also part of what’s going on and how fast technology changes and society has to evolve with it and take it part of their lives. The elderly have lots to offer, experience, education, wisdom and even money; we can´t leave all these on a side we need to act and change our perception of older people in our society. Kids should benefit from all of this that in one way or another is going to be useful for their learning. Some kids believe in what their grandpa´s says, in what their parents teach them and off course in what they learn in school. Kids are more capable to adapt to new environments and new languages but still its very fast and too much things that are happening at the same time and each time kids meets technology faster and younger that you get impressed of how fast they learn with this new media, or this new opportunity, if we could see it like that. What we need to understand is even if kids learn faster doesn’t mean that adults and especially senior’s can’t learn. You just have to always have in mind that you’re never

too old to learn. We need virtual connections to bring people, families together that for one reason life has separate them. Technology can add an enormous value to human relationships and permit or let you express your emotions beyond others even not having them present or standing towards or beside you. It can also help to have a better communication and improve your relationship getting closer. Kids have to understand that seniors are capable to do lots of things and that they can even benefit playing with them Nintendo Wii because it encourages body movements, that are very beneficial for both of them. Seniors can also improve their communication and isolation by house sharing. Accepting young students in their house if they have any rooms available. Students can help elderly in anything they need and they can benefit paying low rents or not paying at all and acquiring new experiences for life. Communication progress, new technologies and a better living, leads to more and more new solutions in the field of design. Thanks to all those factors, design has a big challenge to explore and find new possibilities to become part of our daily life. Designers and creative professionals have a big responsibility and must be capable to cause real change in the world through good design, designing for all. The increasing diversity between developed end 18

developing countries give designers a very important role today. Design and technology is a powerful medium to reach and to give new possibilities not only to people with easy access to Internet and digital devices. It is necessary to provide new opportunities for next generation in poorer countries, because only in this way they have a chance for a better future. A very important factor during the process of designing is to collaborate with rural people, to understand real needs and problems not excluding anybody. Service design is made for people. The social reality is created as a result of the sum of all individual actions and communication between each other. Man-made reality can only be changed and improved by man. Here is, in other words, that there is hope for all of us after all with technology.

1.The Power of

communication

zmien 23

ThePower

of Communication Throughout history, communication has been necessary and indispensable, and from the origin of media also has been observed over time an evolutionary process of the same. For this, the study of communication becomes very important, and not just the study, but also more specifically the effect of communication in nowadays society. In the past years our world has been changing gradually from what it was. The revolution of new ideas always comes up to people minds, especially ideas to improve technology and design for a better living. As the result, modern technology has been bringing people certain advantages such as ways for fast communication. Nowadays, thanks to the Internet people can get latest news from any part of the world very quickly; pay their bills online, post comments to share their own opinion with others receive comments about their posts and much more. Free or cheap apps for local calls or/ and overseas are playing a key role for people to communicate with each other. Internet and new technologies can be seen as an aid for spreading culture, because mostly all kind of communication is possible nowadays in a faster an easier way. Information Systems is the backbone of today’s communication. The development of Information Systems has forever changed the way people communicate so managing multiple levels of communication is a complex task. Today’s technology is the cornerstone to maintain links and correspondence with many different discussions and information through equipment plays a main role in

the global community’s growth in areas of human interaction. Communicating through technology is such an integral part of people’s life starting from the family, friends, national and world communities, everything continues to move forward at a fast pace. Many years ago, people used to interact with letters and telephones being far away. The less fortunate could communicate by letters, while the others could communicate through telephones. Recently a new trend emerged, electronic mails: a complete change in distance communication. Within the last decade, this trend has spread throughout the world; most people have at least one electronic mail that is nearly impossible to communicate nowadays without one. There are several simple steps to follow in order to keep us in touch with the people around the world. We really need to understand that we should make it easy for all: kids, adults and seniors. Communication is a vital tool, which aids us in breaking the distance barrier and isolation. Now with the power of the Internet, and super fast data transfer rates, people can communicate across the globe and only pay local rates. We have been talking about communication and the effects new technologies has brought in the few past decades but what is communication and what types of communication exists? How people nowadays see collaboration and cooperation as a new form of communication?

1.1 What is Communication? Communication is simply the act of transferring information from one place to another, whether this is vocally (using voice) written (using printed or digital media such as books, magazines, websites or emails) visually (using logos, maps, charts or graphs) or non-verbally (using body language, gestures or tone and pitch of voice). How well this information can be transmitted and received is a measure of how good our communication skills are. Communication is an essential part of human interaction. The benefits of effective communication are many and obvious as they enhance all aspects of our personal and professional lives. Ineffective or misunderstood communications in our personal lives may give rise to problems or embarrassment but in our professional lives the results of misunderstandings may have much more serious results. In the world of international shipping, with seafarers from many countries sailing on ships trading to all parts of the world, effective communication between those on board and between ship and shore is vitally important. Whoever said that the pen is mightier than the sword definitely knew what they were talking about. To humans, words are more than a means of communication; they can shape our beliefs, behaviors, feelings and ultimately our actions. Although swords can coerce us, and threaten, nothing is more powerful than a tool that can shape our opinions. When it comes to language and communication, the rule is that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not what you say, but what people hear. Words are one of the most powerful tools that we as humans possess; they can cause revolutions or defuse tension. 25

The problem is that words are underestimated as being central to thought and behavior processing as well as decision-making. Communication is easily overlooked, but the ability to communicate effectively is necessary to carry out the thoughts and visions of an organization to the people. The importance of speech and words whether through a paper or a voice is a communication medium to convey directions and provide synchronization. Without communication, there is no way to express thoughts, ideas and feelings. There are many ways to provide communication from the organization to the people of your community. Whether through a phone, fax, email, letter, website, instant message software, social networking websites (Facebook, Twitter, my space) and etc; you are able to communicate your organization to the world. Things can be expressed, ideas can be shared, and thoughts can be joined. The ability and the importance of communication become much more crucial when you are on a mission or need to fulfill a goal. Without a means to communicate, your organization will become isolated. The ability to effectively communicate is very important when it is usually underestimated and overlooked. Communication is a necessity as we use it to network, spread ideas, and promote. Communicate effectively through well-known mediums and convey it simply and precisely. The importance of communication is crucial to the success of your organization because you need to reach out in order to fulfill your mission. Communication has become an effective mean to survive based on creating valuable experiences with customers. Customers

want to hear from your business and your way of life. Business is becoming more personal so you must effectively communicate with customers in order to survive in an age of personal communication and interaction.

1.2 The Impact of Information and Communication Technologies The knowledge society and education The impact of new technologies and the demands of the new society are increasingly being felt in the world of education. Education is going from a secondary service to become the leading force of economic and social development. The new Technologies of Information and Communication have evolved dramatically in the recent years, especially due to its ability to interconnect via Web. This new phase of development will have great impact on the organization of teaching and the process of learning. This new learning environment and the appropriate potential use of it is an unprecedented challenge. Technological innovations have provided mankind new communication channels and vast sources of information that spread social behavior patterns, attitudes, values, forms of organization, etc. We’ve gone from a situation where information was scarce to another where the information is extremely abundant, even excessive. We live in the so-called information society. Learning throughout life is not just about providing more training opportunities but also generate awareness and motivation to learn. Requires a student to take an active part in learning, learn in multiple environments, and know to personalize learning and build based on specific needs. Education

is no longer to pack learning content and make them available to the students but to empower the learning experience. On the other hand there is a growing trend towards deinstitutionalization and commercialization of education. The identification of “e-learning” via the Internet as an area conducive to market development is attracting new investors. Increasingly considered edutainment market as a promising sector. New educational initiatives are emerging from the hand of museums, libraries and other not educational institutions. Finally the market is full of new schools and educational portals continuing education initiatives. Education is acquiring a position of great importance in the development and consolidation of the new society. The education system cannot be left out of the new changes. You must attend the formation of new citizens and the incorporation of new technologies has to be done with a view to promote learning and facilitate means of supporting the development of knowledge and skills necessary for the social and professional integration of quality. It should also prevent the digital divide create layers of marginalization as a result of digital illiteracy. The knowledge is pervasive in today’s society, however education cannot succumb to this abuse. Do not confuse knowledge and information. New technologies give access to lots of information, which should not be confused with knowledge. For information becoming knowledge the individual or person must appropriate it and reconstruct their knowledge. For this reason the first thing to be made explicit is that the incorporation of new technologies in education have not evade the notion of effort. The new computing resources can 26

contribute to the development of cognitive abilities of citizens, but never in the absence of personal effort. The technologies provide a media like ever seen before that offers an instant access to information.

1.3 Collaboration and Cooperation as a New form of Communication Internet is an environment that not only connects people together, giving them new opportunities to communicate, but refers for everyday experiences, such as the acquisition of information and knowledge, work and creative efforts related to leisure and entertainment. The network becomes an important factor in forming all our actions and mental processes. A new way of searching information, ability and willingness of cooperation, co-authorship and open content are important factors of forming culture and behaviour on global scale. Network communication gave a possibility not only to all users to adapt internet services and devices to their requirements but also to many companies and corporations to understand better needs of potential customers and to facilitate access to a broad-based product. New tools made users more independent, but they are also problematic issues that led to a simple communication. Very valuable but in the same time dangerous is digital freedom. On the one hand the idea of free culture like open source, is very useful and successful, and on the other the exchange of files or content sharing is often associated with legal and ethical problems. Surely it cannot be clearly crossed out, but is also worth to notice some disadventages of this new type 27

of online communication. Moreover now become an extremely important issue of identity and transformation of this meaning in the context of network communication with contradictory tendencies geo-localization process. The individual and collective identities are now often influenced by global factors like: social, economic, political, and technological. Internet as a communication environment has contributed to the emergence of new threats to identity, but it also opened up new opportunities for growth.

1.3.1 Virtual Places: Communities, Love groups, Meet-upâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, Co-working, Hub creative, Apps, Design Crowd Another way to get a job done in less time, in a different place and with a special budget Thanks to the new way of communication and new technological solutions, people changed the quality of daily life and way of working. Nowadays people live in virtual and real world simultaneously. New reality changed the sense and the value of time and distance. Because of that, new solutions gave the possibility to do some activities faster and in very easy way online for example: working, shopping, or even meeting friends. Moreover itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s much easier to find people with common interests, ideas and feelings over the Internet or other collaborative networks. On the begging it is important to underline the difference between the real and virtual places. Both physically existing and the virtual spaces are areas where it is particularly important to determine action and social movements. All places like a restaurant, hospital and others have some typical

behaviour, which is assigned to each of them. Therefore, virtual spaces such as games or some web portals could be considered as real places. Real events happen in real places in virtual spaces. With the arrival of social networking and other new form of communication the world become like a “Global village”. That term is closely associated with Marshall McLuhan, who described how the globe has been contracted into a village by electric technology and the instantaneous movement of information from every quarter to every point at the same time. In bringing all social and political functions together in a sudden implosion, electric speed heightened human awareness of responsibility to an intense degree. Nowadays, the term “Global Village” can be used to identify the Internet and World Wide Web. On the Internet, physical distance is deprived of many barriers compared to the real-time communicative activities of people, and therefore social spheres are greatly expanded by the openness of the web and the ease at which people can search for online communities and interact with others who share the same interests and concerns. Therefore, this technology fosters the idea of a conglomerate yet unified global society. Increased speed of communication and the ability of people to read about, spread, and react to global news quickly, forces us to become more involved with one another from various social groups and countries around the world and to be more aware of our global responsibilities. Similarly, web-connected computers enable people to link their web sites together. This new reality has implications for forming new sociological structures within the context of culture.

That has changed also the quality of daily life and way of working. People don’t need to go out to be in the same time in the work, to “meet” people and to do the shopping. Those virtual places give possibility to live simultaneously in two worlds. New reality changed the sense of time and distance a lot. It’s much easier to find people with common interests, ideas and feelings over the Internet or other collaborative networks. Because of the diversity, the meaning of virtual places is very wide, however it should be highlight that each of them has their own specify. Some of those places are destined for work, others for entertainment, but all of them conduce to facilitate our daily life. Increasing amount of ways to collaborate by the Internet like: The Hub or DesignCrowd and others have created global market, where is much easier for everyone to find some co-workers and to work without distance barriers. What would happen if there were places where you go to access the necessary knowledge, connections, resources, capital, and to transform your ideas for change into reality? This is the question posed by The Hub, a coworking place for innovation ready to welcome those who believe that with their own ideas can build a better world. Or, rather, a global network of hubs, which connects Europe and America, where there are many cities where The Hub is based, starting with the founder of London’s up to Berkeley, Toronto, São Paulo, Amsterdam, Berlin, Madrid and Milan to name a few, but also Africa and India are embracing The Hub, where it is already present in Cairo, Johannesburg, Mumbai. The purpose of the Design Hub is to provide accommodation in one building for a diverse range 28

of design research and postgraduate education. The Hub provides research base where postgraduates in fields such as fabric and fashion design works alongside those involved in architecture, aeronautical engineering, industrial design, landscape architecture, urban design and so on. The Hub was founded in response to the opportunities offered by the current context. It fits perfectly in the emerging market in fact, many traditional industries have collapsed due to the economic crisis, leaving space for the development of a new social economy that produces sustainable and inclusive solutions. An economy based on collaboration, building a common language for multiple subjects and shared platforms for Sustainable Trade. Having common goals, as well as in the spirit of The Hub, breaks down the traditional barriers, it helps to merge the ideas to build the actual value. At the same time, it creates a new way of working, to which The Hub contributes focusing on flexibility, value driven by personal vocations. In a world where people are transforming the coffee meetings, the means of public transport in work areas and mobile homes in a laboratory of ideas. The members of The Hub are working for the sector for non -profits to for -profits, representing a sample of companies from various different skills, experience, equipment, active in a broad spectrum of industries, “ for change”. Also The Hub presents itself as an ideal habitat for innovators, because it summarizes in one place the best of clubs, business incubators, the idea lab: it is a bit all this with the added comfort atmosphere of a home. Environment that is reconfigured by users themselves during the day, thus resulting dynamic but quiet enough to allow work. Changing needs of the community because it is evolving her 29

to guide its design and activities, such as The Hub responds physically adapting to constant change and supporting members in counseling rather an economic/legal. In line with the philosophy of respect for the environment and the promotion of a new way of living and producing more sustainable, The Hub centers are usually designed for energy saving and eco- compatibility. Another community is Design Crowd. It is global marketplace for design services. There is the possibility to find ideas from whole world in one place, from logo to web design to T-shirt design. It is much easier and cheaper way either for designers, to show their projects, or for clients needs. More over there are also groups that are focused on the local needs. Meetup is the world’s largest network of local groups. Meetup makes it easy for anyone to organize a local group or find one of the thousands already meeting up face-to-face; there is also new possibility for dating and love groups. But their goal is to improve themselves and their community. The main Meetup’s mission is to revitalize local community and help people around the world self-organize. Meetup believes that people can change their personal world, or the whole world, by organizing themselves into groups that are powerful enough to make a difference. Today, there are already real places in virtual spaces, which are areas permeated by spatially articulated social norms and expectations for what people do there. Consider virtual spaces presented in multiplayer online games, or in some teleconference systems. People have conversations “in” such spaces that don’t exist physically; they get into arguments “there”; they construct and return to share artifacts

“in” these virtual spaces. Geo-Real Places in Virtual Spaces graphically separated couples have been married online. If one asks of these activities in what place they happen, it would seem that “in the virtual space” is a better answer than “at the scattered physical locations of people sitting at desks all over the world.”

1.3.2 Cooperative Classification and Communication Through Shared Metadata Metadata is structured information that describes, explains, locates, or otherwise makes it easier to retrieve, use, or manage an information resource. Metadata is often called data about data or information about information.

“Metadata is information about what communications you send and receive, who you talk to, where you are when you talk to them, the lengths of your conversations, what kind of device you were using and potentially other information, like the subject line of your emails,” said Peter Eckersley, the technology projects director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital civil liberties group. An important reason for creating descriptive metadata is to facilitate discovery of relevant information. In addition to resource discovery, metadata can help organize electronic resources, facilitate interoperability and legacy resource integration, provide digital identification, and support archiving and preservation. Karen Reilly, the development director for The Tor Project, said “People don’t realize all the

information that they’re giving out,” she

said. “You can try to secure it – you can use some tech tools, you can try to be a black hole online – but if you try to live your life the way people are expecting it, it’s really difficult to control the amount of data that you’re leaking all over the place.” (Karen Reilly, McClatchy Washington Bureau, June 2013) Metadata as utilized and applied in two web services designed to share and organize digital media to better understand grassroots classification. Metadata - data about data - allows systems to collocate related information, and helps users find relevant information. The creation of metadata has generally been approached in two ways: professional creation and author creation. In libraries and other organizations, creating metadata, primarily in the form of catalog records, has traditionally been the domain of dedicated professionals working with complex, detailed rule sets and vocabularies. The primary problem with this approach is scalability and its impracticality for the vast amounts of content being produced and used, especially on the World Wide Web. The apparatus and tools built around professional cataloging systems are generally too complicated for anyone without specialized training and knowledge. A second approach is for metadata to be created by authors.

1.3.3 Design/Work with the Community “Collaborative design over the Internet is tremendously powerful, and likely the best way forward.” (Omar Yaqub from Nigeria, Open Architecture Network, 2008) Design should be based on what people really 30

need and what is actually possible to do with today’s technology. Design is about creating things together because only in this way it can have real value. To make up the strong idea is necessary to do some kind of collaborative mixture of co-workers with different backgrounds. To understand what people really want, need and respect, it is important to include lay people into the creation process of invention. Co-creation is all about understanding real motives and behaviours. The inspiration for ground-breaking idea is taken from people’s life, what they think, what they do, and what they want. A big amount of data nowadays does not help to understand exactly what one human beeing really needs. Because of data sometimes is easer to understand why it is important to do something but than it is necessary to enter deeply in human being. Product designers know about how people relate to physical objects and how to manipulate metals and plastics. Graphic designers learn about how we see images and understand information and how to manipulate marks on paper. Architects become expert in the way we relate to space and learn how to develop structures for people to inhabit. Thanks to cooperation with different people it is much easier to invent complex and successful idea. Design is all about making the world a better place.

Nowadays thanks to some designed platforms also parents can create some games for their kids. Some Apps are designed to build on a child’s natural curiosity about his or her everyday world and to encourage dialogue between kids and parents. Each game comes with a parent note that provides information about the math and literacy skills 31

woven into the game and suggestions for effective ways to interact with a child while playing the game to maximize the learning experience.

“Education is changing so much right now with the advent of new technologies, I feel that a child’s education shouldn’t be limited to school days. It should happen before and after school and on weekends,” said Rosenberg. “Most parents want to create lifelong learners, and this is one way parents and kids can pursue their interests and passions.” (Lindsay Wise and Jonathan S. Landay, McClatchy Washington Bureau, June 2013) Many designers and parents work in collaboration to design apps for children. In this way is much easier to understand the children needs and parents expectations of educational content and security. More over parents currently have the tools to protect their kids from violence and adult content. Every App has a content warning in its description and they have the ability to block that content on the device itself. Moms With Apps was spearheaded by four moms who were developing family-friendly apps and connected over Twitter in November of 2009. What started as a small brainstorming session on cross-marketing soon grew into a much larger and more diverse collaboration of developers. It is a community of parents who are up-to-speed on technology trends, who know the benefits of today’s technology, can be the best teachers for Digital Literacy at home. For example, Moms with Apps create also Apps for children with special needs, which are made by different developers of this community to assist children and families.

Other examples are: Abilipad: by Appy Therapy, “the WRITE TOOL for the iPad” was developed by an occupational therapist to facilitate writing. The notepad offers Word prediction to assist with spelling and to reduce keystrokes, as well as, text-to-speech that allows one to hear what was written in order to correct spelling and gramatical errors. Grace App: created by Steven-Troughton Smith. It is a simple picture exchange system developed by and for non-verbal people allowing the user to communicate their needs by building sentences from relevant images. Ideally, parents should be the ones that are responsible for their children’s actions, but realistically many parents are not that technologically literate and would have no idea that the free game they downloaded for their kids has a button that charges their credit card $100 every time someone presses it. Designing for Children Interaction Design Conference 2013 Workshops, Child-friendly, Exchange of ideas A lot of conferences debate how to improve not only the quallity of design products but also they started to think much more widely for example, how to connect encouraging fun with education. The mission of many retreats like the Interaction Design and Children (IDC) conference is to bring together researchers, designers and educators to explore new forms of technology, design and engaged learning

among children and to create better interactive experiences for children. The IDC conference’s focus on the way to understand children’s needs and how to design for them, by presenting and discussing the most innovative research in the field of child-computer interaction, by exhibiting the most recent developments in design and design methodologies, and by gathering the leading minds in the field. Interaction Design and Children is the premier, global conference on designing meaningful, engaging, interactive experiences for children. The conference convenes pioneering design and technology thought leaders and practitioners from around the world and across industry and academic sectors. The conference incorporates workshops and is organized around papers, presentations, speakers and discussions on how to create better interactive experiences for children. Participants often come from a variety of fields, including computer science, communication, child development, engineering, digital media, game design, educational psychology and learning sciences. Interaction Design Conference (IDC, 2012) Modern technologies are changing the way children play, learn, and live. New technologies have the potential to enhance communication, collaboration, creativity, and reflective thinking among children. Interaction design and children is indeed a young field, but it has strong foundations to build on. Decades of work, observations on child development and collaboration between different fields, provide a starting point. Research on children’s motor skills can guide the development of low-level interactions. An awareness of the risks that technologies may pose provides warning signs for areas to stay away from. 32

Following empirically based guidelines can facilitate the way. But many challenges remain and hopefully this survey will be a valuable tool for those who want to become familiar with the field as well as for those looking to get up to date with current research on interaction design and children. It is posible to provide children with technologies that will help them grow up to be sociable, responsible, participatory, and globally aware adults. Interaction design opens a big field of new possibilities but there are also some dangers for young users. The first possible problem can influence on faceto-face communication. This can happen when computers replace humans in children’s lives. The replaced humans can be play partners, family, or teachers. It can happen when children play games on a computer on their own instead of playing with other children, when computers are used as babysitters, and when “intelligent” tutors replace teachers. It can also happen when children use the computer to communicate with others they do not get to see face-to-face. While this can have positive effects in helping children express feelings and get comfort they otherwise could not get, there is clearly no substitute for a real human smile, a friendly hug, or a facial expression that says “I care.” Children growing up with less face-toface interactions could have difficulty developing relationships with the people they interact with on a daily basis, and could suffer from limited social skills in face- to-face interactions. In addition, there is evidence that participation in social interactions facilitates general cognitive functioning. The second plague is brought by advertising in interactive products, and the design of many 33

children’s online communities that put an emphasis on acquiring items and on children defining themselves by what they own. The aim of these communities appears to be to turn children into super-consumers. At the same time, that is far from the situation in these online communities where children are encouraged to acquire items for the sake of acquiring them, where sharing is not possible, and where one’s value in society directly depends on the amount of items acquired. Like someone wrote a graffiti near the University of Iowa campus saying “you are not what you own.” This is a very useful quote to remember when designing technologies for children. The third plague is that only a small fraction of the children in the world will benefit from the positives that computer technology can bring. The digital divide is real and it is likely to increase economic and social gaps. There are projects that are trying to remediate this issue, but even with great publicity, the One Laptop Per Child project has so far failed to reach expectations in terms of adoption by countries in developing regions. Even if hardware is made available there are infrastructure limitations that will need to be taken into account when developing solutions to address less fortunate populations. Prosumer, User generated, Advertising

“The New forms of collaboration mass are changing the way in which the goods and services are invented, produced, promoted and distributed throughout the world”. (Tapscott – Williams, 2007)

The term has also taken on multiple meanings in business and economics: the business sector sees the prosumer (professional–consumer) as a market segment, whereas economists see the prosumer (producer–consumer) as having greater independence from the mainstream economy. These differing meanings often describe the same people; consumers unusually interested in the products. It can also be used to differentiate the traditional passive consumer with an active consumer role more involved in the process, such as activity in the design or customization of the end product. Today consumers are not limited to modify and customize the products offered to them, but aggregate into spontaneous communities in order to design themselves what they most desire, exchanging opinions and tricks of the trade, becoming in effect “prosumer”. An example of this big impact of the new prosumers is the creation of a social video game called Second Life, as being created by its customers. When customers are also the producers, you have the phenomenon: Prosumer. This game evolved as an idea by founder and former Linden Lab. Young and elderly living together Home Sharing Home sharing is a residential option in which an elderly or adult with a developmental disability shares a home with someone who is contracted to provide ongoing support. Homes may be owned or rented by the home sharing provider or by the individual requiring support. In some situations, the

home sharing provider’s family lives in the home. In others, people live together as roommates in a reciprocal relationship. In most situations, home sharing involves very close relationships. The individuals within the home share not only their physical space, but also their lives. The members of the home spend a lot of time together and are actively involved in one another’s daily activities. In other situations, the home sharing arrangement is characterized by more independent relationships. Members of the home generally go their own ways and come together at specific times or for specific purposes. Individuals tend to choose this option because it provides an ideal balance of support and independence. It is entirely person-centred in that it allows individuals to select a home sharing provider and home environment that meet their unique goals and preferences. Support is flexible and evolves according to the individuals’ changing needs. For some, home sharing is a stepping-stone to even greater independence. For others, it is an arrangement that will last for many years. The following have been identified as principles of high quality home sharing arrangements: Support is provided in a manner that respects the individual’s right to make choices, lead planning, and direct service. Services are regularly reviewed and appropriately adjusted to meet the evolving needs and preferences of the individual. Individuals have the opportunity to participate in valued social roles, experience the rights of citizenship, and contribute to community in a personally meaningful way. Individuals are treated with dignity and are 34

respected regardless of their religious, cultural, or lifestyle affiliations. Individuals have the right to live in a safe environment. Individuals have the opportunity for personal growth and skill development. Family, friends, and members of the individual’s personal network are welcomed by those providing support and their involvement is encouraged. For example, Politecnico di Milano has this option of home sharing with students who want to stay in Milano for free just giving some help to older users and helping them with their needs. The program is called Solidarity Accommodation, Milano “Prendi in casa uno studente” (Welcoming a student in your house) Project. Politecnico, in collaboration with MeglioMilano, a non-profit organization, sets up the project “Welcoming a student in your house” to encourage meeting between university students looking for accommodation, and pensioners with an available room. Students can save the rent towards the costs of housekeeping and doing some small useful services for the elderly, in the interests of good relationship and cooperation. The association MeglioMilano collects requests, organizes cohabitations and is helpful with meetings and advice.

1.3.4 How to facilitate the Creative Project / The importance of place-inspiration Sense of place has been defined and used in many different ways by many different people. To some, it is a characteristic that some geographic places have and some do not, while to others it is a feeling 35

or perception held by people. It is often used in relation to those characteristics that make a place special or unique, as well as to those that foster a sense of authentic human attachment and belonging. The importance and the purpose of place depend on many different aspects but also what that place means for each individual. Today many urban projects include people with very different backgrounds and inhabitants in the process of creation of some place. From psycological point of view it is very good method to make people feel more close to that place and to other neigbours. Moreover it cause that people who participate in the projects feel like co-creator and they identify themselves with that space. In this way main creators can also understand better what lay people really need to feel good, and they can do some kind of brainstorming and than to choose the most interesting ideas. Meeting places / People are creating something together The places are not mere shelters or containers of things and people, they are environments with their own personality, which, if well designed, can spontaneously bring to life experiences and play the role of facilitators of flow. They are vital when relationships can be established, when there are many possible interactions with the multi-functionality of space, where there is freedom of expression and acceptance towards multiculturalism. Squares, cafes, art galleries, theaters, libraries, Universities, have a long history within the community, lots of public, cultural participation and entertainment. These places

proudly expressed the importance given to the development and dissemination of knowledge. Every public space should be adapted for young, elderly and disable. Each of those groups in society has the specific needs, which should be considered. Some projects are created, in collaboration with some organizations, like hospitals, schools, etc. An interesting example is “Urban Lights for Children” which took place in Milan. It was a collaborative project between the association “Pesce colorato”, schools, hospitals and students from “Light Design” course at Politecnico di Milano. The main goal of the project was to include local communities to the decisions related to the future of the city. The intention of this action was to call a sense of belonging, intended as a supplement to the social, cultural and environmental sustainability of the area in which people live. In this case kids become small designers, they open their imagination and invent some lightening to change the atmosphere of the city. Students had to adapt the ideas of the kids to real needs and technological requirements. After all that process the final ideas were exposed in “Euroluce Milan Design Week” and probably some of them will be realized with collaboration with some brands. Another very interesting and much bigger Project is Superkilen, a revitalization of urban space in the center of Copenhagen in Nørrebro. Superkilen is home to more than 60 nationalities, and is considered to be one of the most ethnically diverse and socially challenged neighbourhoods in the Danish capital. The hope is that Superkilen can help renovate the area by giving it a global identity and unifying its

inhabitants. The new park contains 3 areas: the ‘Red Square’, the ‘Black Market’ and the ‘Green Park’. Bike lanes traverse the park, which features playgrounds as well as spaces for basketball, football, cultural activities, picnics, socializing and relaxing. The main aim of park is to support the diversity of local inhabitants by using globally found objects, which symbolise the home countries of those who live in the area. The objects include neon signs from Qatar and Russia, bollards from Ghana, an imposing sculpture of a bull from Spain and Palestinian soil. It is a world exhibition within the space of just half a mile.

“Normally when you design a park in Copenhagen, you only have two or maybe three kinds of benches to choose from. Now we have the entire world (to choose from)”, said Jakob Fenger from the art group Superflex. Superkilen is the result of collaboration between the architects from Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), Berlinbased landscape architects from Topotek1 and the Danish art group Superflex. Together they have created a fusion between architecture, landscape and art. The local people were actively involved in the process of choosing the different objects to be placed in the three different areas of the park.

“We went traveling with five different groups of people from the Superkilen neighbourhood to a country of their choice, following a specific story or memory that would eventually lead to objects for inclusion in Superkilen”. (Jakob Fenger, Superkilen Diversity, Website of Denmark, 2013.) 36

2. Designing for an Elder Population 38

Designing for an

Elder Population We are living in a unique historical period. Never before could people expect to live so long. Never before have older people formed such a large proportion of the total population. Never before have physical and mental capabilities remained so high into advanced old age. The speed of these changes has been remarkable, and our societal structures, attitudes and policies are struggling with the implications of these changes. The sheer numbers and proportions of older people, together with their spending power, provide a strong business case for designers and manufacturers to cater to older consumers. We really need to go beyond the numbers, to understand the lifestyles of todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s older adults, as well as their physical and mental capabilities. We definitively need to change our thoughts of the older user as a wheelchair user or as severely disabled, hard of hearing or partially sighted. Older users are that vast number of people who, in advancing age have little discernable impairment, but have a strong drive to remain independent and to contribute to the community, but are hampered by inappropriate design. Better design can play a crucial role in enabling older people to remain physically and mentally active. What you really have to have in mind is that if you are over 50, you are classed as an older user. If you are under 50, you are on your way to becoming an older user. So, whatever your age, awareness of inclusive design and improvements in the design of

everyday objects will benefit you. We all should think that inclusive design holds the key to a better future for all of us. We should bring to light the experiences and perspectives of elderly people as users of technology, and further improving them for the benefit of senior citizens and society. Also develop new ways of bringing the wisdom of elderly people forward and making use of it in the culture. Life for elderly people should function as well as possible. They should be able to change life styles with desired degrees of dependence and independence. These changes create special opportunities and special problems in a design context. The opportunities include many elderly people wanting to have about the same things as younger people, perhaps in another assortment and possibly in another form (better manuals, fewer and clearer buttons, other colors, other light relationships, stronger input to the senses). An additional problem for the designer can be the difficulty of defining the group of end users in a manner that makes them identify with the group. It requires a strong awareness not only of the diversity in the group (design for dynamic diversity) but also of the factors that unite them. These include the physiological (physical and mental) effects of aging as well as the effects of having lived a long life with reflected experiences from different eras with different norms. 40

2.1 Having in Mind Elder Physical Capabilities for a Good Design Research has shown that older age is not in itself an obstacle to computer or Internet use. However, older adults use of electronic technology may be affected by age-related changes in vision and in cognition for example, the ability to remember, learn, think, and reason. Cognitive abilities that change with age and that are likely to affect computer use include working memory, perceptual speed, text comprehension, attentional functioning, and spatial memory. Good web design can help counteract many of these age-related changes. Use of the appropriate typeface, colors, writing style, navigation structure, and accessibility features can make a website easier for older adults to access. Furthermore, good web design is beneficial for web users of any age. Implications for design Good design can play a major role in maintaining or increasing physical independence among older adults. Good design can ensure that age-related impairments in physical capabilities are not disabling. Designs which impose physical demands which are well within the capability of most older people can play a part in maintaining their physical activity, which in turn reduces physical decline. Designs which largely avoid physical demands (voice-activation) are valuable for those with severe physical impairment, but may be a disservice to the average older person. To be inclusive, design should take account of the physical capabilities of older women, since women have less strength and power at all ages than men, and they comprise the majority of older users. Changes in bodily dimensions, need to be considered 41

in the design of everyday objects. Where possible and appropriate, heights of products should be adjustable, and tasks should be achievable using one hand rather than two to allow for strength variation between the hands and to allow for balance support while undertaking the task.

2.1.1 Sensory Capabilities and Changes in the Elderly To obtain information about the world around us, we rely on our five main senses: vision, hearing, taste, smell and touch. Physiological changes occur in all our sense organs as we age, reducing our sensitivity to incoming information. Vision Age-related physiological changes lead to a decline in our ability to see detail, to focus on near objects, to discriminate differences between levels of contrast, adapt to changes in brightness, and manage in extremely bright light, as well as to mild impairments in colour vision and depth perception. Implications for design Lighting levels in homes, inside cars and in public places need to take account of the far higher levels of illumination required by older adults to see objects and details, but harsh or excessive lighting which produces glare should be avoided. Visual displays should use appropriate font size and type and adequate word and line spacing. Displays should be simple, uncluttered and concise, prioritising important information. Clear graphic symbols should be used as an

adjunct to words where possible. Surfaces should be non-reflective, and brightness and colour contrast high. Blueviolet-green combinations should be avoided. Stairs should have clearly marked edges. Hearing Implications for design Audible signals should be adjustable where possible, so that both volume and tone can be altered to suit the user. A combination of audio and visual signals increases the chance that messages are received. Ambient sound produced by the product or environment should be minimized to avoid auditory confusion. Lower frequency sounds should be used to convey important messages. Taste, smell and touch Implications for design For elderly people, the appreciation of food is enhanced by attention to its appearance. Dangerous smells (burning, gas leakage) should be signalled where possible by strong messages from several sense modalities. Textile and other surfaces should take account of the diminished tactile sensitivity of elderly users. Cognitive capabilities: The ability to function independently is as much related to our mental capabilities as to our physical capabilities.The term cognition refers to the set of mental capabilities

by which we pay attention to the world around us, interpret the information that comes in from our senses, learn and remember, solve problems and make decisions. While all of these abilities decline to some degree with advancing age, impairment may only be evident when an individual is faced with a situation that is novel, demanding or complex. Mental abilities which are based on bodies of information acquired over long periods of time (ex: vocabulary, work-related expertise, hobbies and interests) tend to remain stable with advancing age, whereas abilities which require the rapid assimilation and analysis of new information tend to decline quite rapidly. Attention and concentration: we are constantly bombarded by masses of information coming in through all our senses. It is impossible to pay attention to all of it, so we must select what we attend to while at the same time monitoring other sources of information so as not to miss important or dangerous signals.The ageing process is associated with impairments in our ability to pay attention to the world around us. On average, our ability to sustain attention and to shift our attention between incoming sources of information decreases as we get older. But the most dramatic change in our attentional processes is in our ability to do two or more things at a time. Learning and memory: however, even in advanced old age it is possible to learn new skills, as demonstrated in some classical studies of individuals aged between 60 and 90 who were taught a new language and a musical instrument, and maintained their skills for many years thereafter (Harwood and Naylor, 1975). 42

In general, memory is impaired in relation to the processing demands of the memory task; the greater the demands the greater the impairment. For this reason, recalling information (ex: title of a book or a street address) is far more difficult than recognising the information when it is presented. Memory for recent events is more affected than memory for remote events. Anyway many of the stereotypes of older people do not apply to the senior citizens of today. Today’s older people are fitter, healthier, wealthier and more independent than ever before. Inclusive design has a crucial role to play in maintaining their health, capability and independence. Inclusive design can also minimize the difficulties encountered by those who have impairments, thereby preventing them from being disabled by their impairments. Designers and manufacturers who meet the challenge of ageing will find a receptive and growing mature market. For people who have lost the ability to do and to learn, depression is close at hand. Doing and learning not just as diversions, they also contribute to a feeling of self worth and add rhythm and variation to the extent a person so desires. We have to be keenly aware that older people are not a homogenous group. There is a great difference between a 65-year-old, who is still in work and actively engaged in learning about technological developments and a person over 80, who never used a computer during their working life and may regard themselves as too old to start now.

2.2 Elderly Communication Problems Ageing is a normal process and generally speaking 43

the changes taking place are gradual, allowing the individual to slowly adapt and accept the process. There are times however, when the changes can be rapid, causing much fear and distress. These instances may be due to sudden trauma or to a number of neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, dementia or stroke. The independent individual may suddenly find themselves dependant, in varying degrees on others to aid them Life changes dramatically for them and their loved ones, just being able to communicate could become a huge problem. Problems in communication in the elderly may again develop gradually, as part of the ageing process; the most common impairment being hearing. There could also be difficulties in being able to speak, due to problems with their teeth, salivation or due to side effects from drugs prescribed. The most common cause, however, of someone suddenly losing the ability to communicate is due to suffering a stroke.

2.2.1 Barriers to Older People Adopting Digital Technologies We know that a large proportion of older people do not use communication technologies, the question is, why not? Many older people believe they don’t understand technology, aren’t equipped to deal with it, and don’t really need to: technology is for the young, not for them. Older people don’t get access to the Internet because they think they don’t need it. They just prefer to watch TV because simply they don’t see any benefits in the Internet. Also home Internet access is higher among those from higher socio-economic groups. Well these

are some of the barriers to older people adopting digital technologies. Lack of home access to the Internet: “Only half of people aged 60-69 have access to the Internet at home, but this falls to 17% among the over-70s. Adults over the age of 60 are also less likely than younger adults to get Internet access in the next year. The dominant reason for not having or seeking access is that older people don’t feel they need it”. (Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Older people, technology and community, 2010). Low awareness of what technology can offer:

“10% of people aged 60-69 has access to the Internet but don’t use it. They feel that digital technology has no relevance for them and that they would gain nothing by using it“. (Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Older people, technology and community, 2010.) Inadequate marketing: Marketing does not reflect older people´s interests. Technology marketing is generally aimed at the young, promoting fashionable aspects of products that don’t interest older people. Or, marketing is aimed at the fragile elderly, a group with which the older people don’t identify. Inappropriate design: Digital equipment is designed to attract young buyers who have grown up using technology. Small buttons, fiddly controls and unnecessarily complicated interfaces can all be barriers to older, or less

adept, users. The appearance of ‘special’ equipment is also a disincentive for some older people who don’t want ugly objects cluttering up their homes. Another aspect could be that some of the equipment is not design for people with disabilities (bad hearing, not able to move, etc.) “Most technology gives the impression of being designed by and for 24-year-old males. Little technology is sensitive to the needs and wants of older people”. (Alan Newell, Dundee University). Anxieties (Cost): Older people tend to have certain fears regarding technology. One of them is cost: they assume, for example, that computers cost more than they actually do. Another is breaking equipment or doing something wrong. As technology has become ubiquitous, prices have come down. Other costs of course come into play, and older people may also be concerned about the costs of ongoing support, of replacing hardware and updating software and maintaining a broadband connection. Another issue, is the fear of breaking equipment. “Some older people

may have worked in factories where an error could break a machine and cost lives (and their jobs)”. (Kevin Doughty, Centre for Usable Technology York University). Security: although most older people don’t know enough about technology to be familiar with common security problems, many know enough to be concerned. Additionally concerns about security and privacy as barriers for older people using the Internet. 44

2.2.2 Elderly Isolated by Technological Advances Elderly are being isolated by technological advances that leave them with fewer opportunities to meet people. For example, a charity report found that older people have trouble getting information about public services, such as details of libraries and public transport, because so much of it is kept online. Changes such as the automated payment of pensions, which means pensioners no longer need to visit the Post Office, can also make them feel lonelier. David McCullough, the chief executive of the charity (UK’s biggest charity organizations), pointed out that much of the money being spent on helping elderly people live independently is going on “telehealth” systems that use phones and selfmonitoring equipment to avoid trips into town to see a doctor. He said that in some areas, pensioners are even being encouraged to order groceries online rather than receive Meals on Wheels, which would cut the number of welcome visitors to their homes. Mr. McCullough said that loneliness affects older people more than ill-health, and can in turn lead to depression and earlier onset of dementia. Loneliness can also cause depression and loss of meaning in life. For many, direct contact with people is the most important, but like everybody else, it is not so much a matter of human contact in general. On the contrary, it has to do with contact with those to whom you are closest: children, grandchildren, other relatives and good friends. If you move more slowly, think more slowly, do not see or hear as well, the old ways of communication may not be the best. 45

“There’s almost a sense that people expect to have illness or pain, but the thing that hits them most is going from having family, friends and connections to being a person sitting on their own in a room 24 hours a day”. (Martin Beckford, Nov. 2011)

2.3 The Digital World for the Elderly In the great digital era, we are witnessing many rapid scientific and technological developments in human-centered, seamless computing environments, interfaces, devices, and systems with applications ranging from business and communication to entertainment and learning. These developments are collectively best characterized as Active Media Technology (AMT), a new area of intelligent information technology and computer science that emphasizes the proactive, seamless roles of interfaces and systems as well as new media in all aspects of digital life. An AMT based system offers services to enable the rapid design, implementation and support of customized solutions.

2.3.1 Risks Adopting Digital Media Access to technology is not an end in itself; there should be more focus on what it can enable individuals and groups to do for themselves and others.”The problem with talking about

technology is that it focuses minds on kit, rather than purpose, outcomes, services and applications such as the way smart and inventive use of communications, information

or knowledge can make new, really important things posible”. (Kevin Johnson, Cisco) We conclude that there are relatively few projects that use technology to help older people renew or develop social contacts and actively engage in their communities. And those projects that do exist are generally small-scale and many tend to be shortlived. Some are sceptical about whether technology can reduce social isolation or whether it actually reinforces it. There is concern, for example, that public sector efforts to deploy technology in social care will result in older people feeling more isolated as face-to-face contact is replaced by remote monitoring systems. Implications and Potential Effects of digital media Attention/ orientation Processing speed Attitudes towards learning Digital Literacy: ability to use digital media for speaking, listening, reading and writing purposes Visual connections to being people together -reduced depression on the elderly

2.3.2 Benefits and Opportunities Older Users can Obtain Adopting Technology We live in an age in which technology offers quick and relatively cheap contact with colleagues, friends and relatives across the globe. A proportion of us are highly networked, using technology to supplement and maintain periodic direct contact with a large number of individuals with whom we

have something in common, such as work, hobbies or common experiences. This concludes that technology does offer solutions to older people. It explores the barriers to their use of technology and makes recommendations about how best to develop work on this theme in the future.

“Video is perhaps the most disruptive and liberating area of technological development right now. It is also one of the most relevant for social inclusion, because it’s about enabling human contact, interaction, participation and engagement”. (Kevin Johnson, Cisco, 2010). Here are some examples of the way video could be used: Live interaction: easy-to-use, ultra high definition links between individuals or groups in community facilities, at home, and public spaces; Recorded video: new, easy ways to share moments with others, help people feel involved, and feel good. Broadcast video: sharing events via digital media platforms, to interest, amuse or create a buzz.

“What we often discuss in terms of new technology isn’t really new technology anymore. For example the telephone is about 100 years old, TV about 80 and the computer 30, and we’ve been doing video conferencing for 30 year”. (Kevin Carey, founder of humanity). We don’t need new technology. Instead, we need continued improvement in technology’s speed, functionality and interoperability, further reduction 46

in costs and easier ways to interact with it. Most of all we need to apply the technology we have intelligently, developing service options that: Encourage and support older people’s use of technology by taking into account such issues as training, ongoing support, cost and design (including appropriate interfaces); Apply technology creatively to enable older people to make connections, build networks and actively engage in their communities. The implication is that we need to help older people better appreciate both the costs of technology and what it can offer them, while giving them the right support and training to enable them to use it well, developing their confidence and skills. If we want to enable older people technologically, we need to help them appreciate what technology can do for them. This means tuning in to their interests, attitudes and expectations and designing programmes around their needs. The belief that technology is a good thing per se doesn’t necessarily exist amongst older people. They need to have its value demonstrated in concrete terms, with direct application to their lives for example, enabling them to connect to family members living on the other side of the globe using Skype.

“Once someone has seen a photo of a grandchild or bought something online or checked their bank account then they’ve got it and you’ve successfully engaged them with digital media and, unbeknown to them, the relevance of digital literacy”. (Emma Solomon, Digital Unite). Training and ongoing support help older people 47

overcome some of their anxieties, build skills and develop their confidence in using technology. What we lack is the human element: the people and programs to deliver the necessary training and support. After studying older people benefits and barriers of technology we identified four principal projects that work with it: Digital Unite, CareOnLine, INtouch kirklees and Angus Gold. These projects have each begun to apply technology creatively to enable older people to make connections, build social networks and actively engage in their communities. They have some other key features in common like: good design, including appropriate interfaces for the target group; training focused on how older people want to use technology; ongoing support from a trusted source; and low costs for participants.

“The most common examples given by older people of why they get on to the Internet are to send and receive photos and keep in touch with family and friends. We must talk about technology in terms of what it can help them do, and how they can benefit from it rather than in technical or theoretical terms. Making it easier to shop, bank, get the latest knitting patterns, is much more appealing than talking about the Windows platform, hardware, and broadband speeds”. (Steve Tyler - RNIB, Older people, technology and community, UK)

2.3.3 Drive Urges Older People to Get Online Getting on-line can help your ageing parent to communicate, shop, manage their finances and

learn new things. It can be a companion, a help and in many cases, they can save money on their purchases. Online sells/shopping: facilitates the non-physical displacement, Paying for the bills online. Yet it is important to stay safe on-line. Here’s a quick guide for helping the elderly to get on-line safely: On-line shopping and banking - The Internet is a really useful way to shop and manage money from their home. - However, if your elderly relative does make purchases, or banks on-line, they need to make sure that they protect their financial information. - They should always use a secure website when entering credit card information, so that the information they send cannot be read by anyone else. They can check if it is a secure site by: Looking for a padlock symbol in the browser window, not on the webpage itself. The website address should begin with ‘https://’ (The ‘s’ stands for ‘secure’.) If they get a pop-up message warning them about a website’s security certificate, they should be very cautious, as it may redirect to a fake website. Click on the padlock symbol to check that the seller is who they say they are and that their certificate is current and registered to the right address The padlock is not a guarantee of safe shopping, however. Ageing parent should also:

Use a strong password that cannot be easily guessed, avoiding maiden names etc. and ideally for a random mix of upper and lower-case letters, numbers and keyboard symbols. Remember that if a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is! Avoid anything that is offered in an unsolicited or spam email. Advise your parent to use one credit card for Internet transactions only, so it can easily be cancelled if anything goes wrong. They should never give out financial details online unless they are completely confident of the company and the company displays a full contact address and telephone number. Use on-line retailers that have a good reputation, either as high-street shops, or established online stores.

2.3.4 Helping the Elderly Stay Online “Technology isn’t the thing we want older people to access (or anyone else for that matter) – it is the services and capabilities and experiences that technology can enable. Ubiquitous network connectivity, and easy access is the key to the door”. (Kevin Johnson, Cisco) We suggest that older people do have the capacity to use technology and are willing to learn. This willingness, coupled with enthusiasm for acquiring new knowledge, appears to be one key determinant of success for older adopters of new technology, just as it is across all age groups. Also, older people are the fastest growing group of internet users 48

(although a smaller percentage of older people are online and people aged over 65 who have internet access spend more hours online than the average for all ages (perhaps because older people have more time). Nearly one-third uses the Internet for transactions (for example banking, or shopping) on a weekly basis. Over one-quarter uses it to look at news. “Only 8% of those aged 55 and older

have a social network profile compared to 25% of all adults”. (OFCOM)

2.3.5 How the iPad Can Be a Senior Saver This is not about recommending Apple Company products but to recommend its approach to providing easy access to online information. Older consumers should take a serious look at this tool. You may think the computer age has passed you by but the iPad makes a strong case that what’s passed you by is the high-tech “members only” phase of that age. What the iPad has done, better than other computing devices, is make the technology invisible. You don’t need to repair a car in order to drive it, and you shouldn’t need to be a computer jockey in order to turn one on and use it. But it’s pretty much been a rite of passage that you needed to understand hard drive storage sizes, the brawn of your central processor, and the speed of your Internet connections. Not so with the iPad. You turn it on and it works. There is no boot-up time lag. It’s ready to go as soon as you turn it on. If you have an intuitive sense of how something should be done on an iPad, there’s a good chance that’s exactly how you do it. As with the smaller iPhone, you don’t 49

type in commands but use your fingers on a touchsensitive screen. No keyboard. No mouse. By providing Internet and e-mail access, and a full range of media capabilities that can be remotely downloaded, the iPad can help seniors avoid becoming isolated. If you can’t get to the library, the video store or the newsstand, they can come to you. Such remote access, via an intuitive device that is easy to use, will become a big deal. Prices for everything will fall, just as they have for other digital communication devices. Entire industries will adopt tablet computing and develop ways to use it to increase and improve their relations with customers. Health care, in particular, will make enormous use of this mobile device. Doctors and other care providers will enter medical records directly into a tablet, and patients will be able to see all their records easily, including x-rays and MRIs, and share them with other doctors and family members if they wish. A second thing that the iPad can’t do is multitask. This, too, has proven a wonderful product benefit for my underdeveloped mobile computing skills. I don’t need to be downloading some mission-critical document for an upcoming meeting while making online travel reservations and chatting with a buddy about whether Tiger Woods will win four more major golf championships and tie Jack Nicklaus’ record. Doing one thing at a time is OK by me. Based on research about how seniors interact with new technology, it’s likely to be OK with them, too.

“Now my iPad is one of my best friends and I use it daily, several times in fact. I took it with me on a recent visit to see my own 86-yearold mother who has Dementia and lives in a

care home, to show her some photographs. I saw her look at it wistfully as she reminded me that she had been a senior secretary when she was younger. I told her that an iPad is different to a typewriter and to demonstrate the point, gave it to her and suggested she type my name. I couldn’t believe my eyes as she typed ‘Christine’ exuding triumph with every tap. I found myself thinking, what a great way to connect older people who are lonely and isolated, to the digital world and social media”.

Stephan Fussel’s team, who conducted the study with e-book company MVB Marketing as saying. - Volunteers who participated in the study were asked to read different texts of varying difficulty levels on a Kindle, iPad and traditional paper book. The reading behaviour was measured by tracking their eye movements, and monitoring levels of electro-physical brain activity.

(Chris, Digital Technology, Social Media and Older People, 2012)

As eyesight fades and it becomes harder and harder to see the printed page, so the tablet offers a wonderful facility to their users to simply expand the type to a size that is easy to read There is no embarrassment to have to ask for a large type newspaper or book. You can simply push your fingers apart and make the type whatever size works for you Your parent can easily read e-mail from siblings, children and grandchildren who want to keep in touch with them Even if they cannot type themselves, they can at least receive and enjoy communications from their friends and loved ones.

There are thousands of apps for older people. Some are entertainment-based and some just highly practical. Older people read faster using iPads and Kindles German researchers have revealed that though people from different age groups could read just as well from iPads and Kindles as they do from traditional books, older people read faster using iPads and Kindles. The underlying reason behind such an interpretation is the iPad’s screen, which helps them process the information on the page. A team from Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz in Germany dispute claims that traditional books were easiest on the eyes. - “This study provides us with a scientific basis

for dispelling the widespread misconception that reading from a screen has negative effects,” the Daily Mail quoted Professor Dr

Why it’s easier for the elderly to read a tablet rather than a book

2.3.6 Smart Apps for Older People The Apple iPad can be a wonderful way to connect older users to the digital world. Without more devices like the iPad, the nation’s fastest-growing demographic group, people over 65 and over 85, will not participate as online devices become society’s dominant means of communicating. The benefits an iPad can offer in connecting older 50

people to the digital world and how its appeal is enhanced by the clever and useful software applications, universally known as ‘Apps’. The most beneficial aspects of the iPad and the increasing number of Apps suitable for older people that are being developed, is the creation of a new common ground between older people, their children, and their grandchildren and their ability to connect families living across the globe in a way that would never have been possible a few years ago. Here is a list with some of the most interesting Apps for seniors: Pill Reminder Pro (Cost) Enter in the name of your pill, dosage, frequency, and what time(s) of day, and Pill Reminder sends a message via PUSH alert. VizWiz (Free) This app, developed by a team from the University of Rochester, is targeted at partially sighted users. It allows users to take a picture with their phone, speak a question and receive multiple spoken answers. Read2Go (Cost) This Daisy (digital talking books) book e-reader allows users to browse, search, download and read books directly from Bookshare, as well as read Daisy books and publications from other sources. The app allows users to control visual choices for font size and colour, background and highlighting colour, and text-to-speech preferences. Dragon Dictation (Free) This voice-recognition application allows users to dictate text or email messages and see them instantly. Users can also dictate status updates for Facebook, tweets, or send themselves notes and reminders.

FixMyStreet (Free) An app to help people report problems in their local area, directly to the council, from their phone. So if you are walking past a pothole, an abandoned car or some graffiti, simply whip out your phone and create a report for your local authority. iMutt (Free) Animals provide great companionship for older people, but they also can be timeconsuming and expensive to care for. The Dogs Trust has a game that allows users to feed, play, walk and interact with a virtual pooch, without the need to pay a vet’s bill or trudge out in the rain. An Android version is expected soon. WhereToGo (Free) Points of interest finder helps find the closest pharmacy, hospital, taxi firm, restaurant, dentist, clinic and many more, to wherever your elderly loved happens to be. Red Panic Button (Cost) When an older person is in trouble, they just have to press the Red Panic Button and it will send a message to a pre determined phone number or email address which contains the older person’s address and location. Days Until (Free) This enables you to input special events for the older person such as, birthdays, Christmas, outings, etc. to show them a countdown of the number of days left until the event. Virtuoso (Cost) This app is just a simple introduction to the amazing world of music accessible via the iPad. Use the Virtuoso keyboard to play the piano by yourself or set up this app to let you play a duet with the person sitting across from you. Epicurious (Free) Find recipes plus their ingredients.

Build a shopping list. Search for foods you like and see them used in recipes. Develop a list of favorites. If you’re a foodie, Epicurious will whet your appetite for the growing volume of iPad food and nutrition apps.

Commision on Achieving Necessary Skills, U.S. Department of Labor) Technology and design are almost always associated with change. This has obvious drawbacks when it comes to the area of aging.

2.4. Older People, Technology and Community

2.4.1 Social Isolation

The potential of technology to help older people renew or develop social contacts and to actively engage in their communities. We are mindful that there are many facets to wellbeing. The New Economics Foundation (NEF) has identiefied five ways to safeguard wellbeing in everyday life: Connect, be active, take notice, keep learning and give. We believe that access to the Internet and digital technologies through relevant supported services can indeed enhance all these aspects of life for older people, so long as technology is seen as the means to an end, not the end in itself. Older people are not all vulnerable and in need of help: many, particularly the younger old, are active and engaged in giving back to society, by volunteering or looking after younger relatives, for example.

“What is often most significant is being able to maintain the most important human contacts. Technology, fueled by information, and driven by knowledge. The influence of technology will go beyond new equipment and faster communications, as work and skills will be redefined and reorganized”. (Secretary´s

Social isolation and loneliness are real issues that everyone can relate to and feel empathy with. Just as universally, social networks and social engagement are positive features of a healthy society. So we have battled with language, favoring the terminology of engagement and social contact over that of exclusion and loneliness.

“As the population ages and as more people are living alone, social isolation amongst older people is emerging as one of the major issues facing the industrialized world because of the adverse impact it can have on health and wellbeing”. (Dr. Robyn Findlay, Australasian Centre on Ageing, University of Queensland). Social isolation and the feelings of loneliness it leads to are common problems for older people living nowadays; here we can mention few of them: 1. Fear of being alone is a major source of anxiety, as people grow old. 2. Some older people go for days without seeing another person; many die alone. 3. Old people in deprived inner city areas suffer severe loneliness. 4. Certain ethnic groups are particularly vulnerable. 5. Isolation and loneliness can damage both mental and physical health in older people. 52

Whatever the causes, social isolation and loneliness take their toll on the quality of life of a significant proportion of our population. The charity WRVS (Royal Voluntary Service) identified that 8% of the people it works with see no one each day, while 72% see only two people a day and 32 older people a day die alone at home. Fear of being alone is a major source of anxiety, as people grow old. Research suggests that the influential factor is not the number of relationships but their quality. The result is that housebound older people with a carer visiting three times a day for 15 minutes may continue to feel lonely because they miss the contact that they had in the past with friends and family. There are a multitude of reasons why people become increasingly isolated in later life. Many older people have to make the transition to living alone because they are widowed and/or children scatter. Health factors, as we have already mentioned, also play a part: chronic illness and/ or mobility problems may confine older people to their homes more than they would like (6% of older people leave their home once a week or less); while sensory impairments or mobility problems may make older people self-conscious and less inclined to socialize. Social isolation and loneliness among older people is a major problem and suggests that technology may be part of the solution, helping older people to renew or develop social contacts and to actively engage in their communities. Better use of the technology that already exists (which is constantly evolving) 53

Technology by itself is not the answer, it cannot replace human contact, but it may be a means of better facilitating it; Older people need training and support to start using and keep using technology; Design and ease of use issues need to be addressed; The benefits of technology need to be marketed to older people in a way that reflects their needs and aspirations; We need to develop and support intermediaries to empower, educate and enable older people to be part of the solution, for example, by volunteering in peer-to-peer support schemes; We need to develop service options which support/create opportunities for older people to connect and participate. Improve quality of life of older people.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Using existing technology in a new way is likely to be the way forwardâ&#x20AC;?. (Alan Walker, University of Sheffield) The issue of how digital communications technology can enable older people to develop and maintain social networks and actively engage in their communities. Its not just about a simply access to technology but more about how technology can foster improved social interaction, engaging older people in their communities and promoting high quality face to face contact. In the last decade, an array of technologies has changed the way many of us interact. Internet communication systems such as email and social networks sites like Facebook and Twitter have revolutionized personal communication for younger people. Government service provision is being transformed by technology, too, and many

people are enjoying faster, easier access to public services through digital means. Not the over-65s, though: studies show that they have been largely excluded from this revolution and the benefits it brings. Aproximately 70% have never used the internet. Technology can provide opportunities to participate in meaningful work and other activities (whether paid or volunteering), interact in a new way with relatives and friends, learn, develop skills and gather experience; share learning, skills and experience with others. Having in mind that older people are the ones that have live the most so all the experience they have should be a benefit for all of us. Ex: Home sharing a perfect excuse to learn from them and them from us.

2.4.2 Social Collaboration Plays a Critical Role Older People are not all vulnerable and in need of help, particularly, the younger old, are active and engage in giving back to society. That’s why we have to have in mind all the tools we can take profit and the people that can help to end with isolation that sometimes it just not affect older adults. Social isolation and loneliness are real issues that everyone can relate to and feel empathy with. We just have to understand they are like us, just like you and I, understand the society as a whole. Social networks and social engagement are positive features of a healthy society. The important part social networking plays in young people’s lives and what potential technology might have to enable older people to engage actively in community life.

2.5 Lifelong Learning in Later Life Adult learning is important for many reasons and participation whether for our own academic development or for social or cultural reasons are all equally important. It has been shown that learning can contribute to enhancing our quality of life and to helping us keep healthy. We have also found an increasing number of later life learners want to develop new knowledge and skills for re-entering the labour market in today’s world whether in a voluntary or paid capacity. The definitions of ‘later life’ and ‘older adults’ constitute enormous bones of contention. There are, however, a number of alternative possible ways to determine when later life starts and to identify older adults although none is perfect. Old people are in fact young people? Really? What happens to all those years they have lived, the things they have learned, the selves they have evolved from and the selves they are becoming? Years are not empty containers: important things happened in that time. Why must these years be trivalized? (Andrews, 1999 : 309) Later life, it is argued, has latched upon the consumer revolution to transform itself into a ‘cultural field’ in which actors face a multiplicity of choices, opportunities, and futures. Older persons are, within some limits, living their life as they please before being overtaken by physical frailty. Retirement is thus being underpinned by the post-war transformations in the nature of global capitalism, in cumulative improvements at all ages, and in health, wealth, and happiness (Gilleard & Higgs, 2005). The late Robert Butler (2006:41), who coined the 54

term, defines ageism as a “process of systematic

stereotyping and discrimination against people because they are old, just as racism and sexism accomplish this for skin color and gender”. Ageism, which is deeply ingrained in social relations, arises from the younger generations’ attempts to cease to identify with older persons as means to reduce their own sense of fear and dread of growing old. Ageism manifests itself in everyday life through a variety of myths and misconceptions such as that ageing results in a lack of productivity, disengagement, inflexibility, senility and loss of sexuality. Age discrimination is a human rights violation - that is exhibited in various social domains ranging from employment, health care, the media, and even education, as a result of which older adults are denied opportunities and resources on account of their age (Bytheway, 2005). Care provision for older adults: A key experience of ageing is shaped and contextualized by health resources. As people grow older, many actors tend to experience a decline in their capacity to remain independent. Some will require a number of social and health care services in order to continue living in the community. Others experience more grievous health issues and may have to enter either residential or nursing care. As a result, later life is intimately interrelated with policies providing care for older people. There is no ‘one size fits all’ in older adult learning and activities must be sensitive to the different psychological traits and unequal volumes of social, economic, and cultural capital that typify the older cohorts. Another central concept in older adult learning is ‘generation’ as young-old and old-old 55

persons will harbour, due to different life histories, different perceptions of and expectations from the learning experience. The entry of older persons in residential and nursing care homes must not be allowed to function as a barrier to learning. Apart that learning is a human right to all irrespective of disability, studies show how older adult learning in care settings promotes residents’ health and well-being.

2.5.1 Training and Support for the Elderly One of the biggest problems is education, making sure there are ways for people to access technology, which make it attractive. Lots of money is often put into capital purchases like hardware or infrastructure but ongoing training and support... is what people want and need. (Steve Tyler, RNIB) With regard to training, those questioned preferred small classes or one-to-one tuition that would allow them to learn at their own pace, not feel embarrassed by asking questions and learn alongside people like themselves. Provide training for people in their own homes either because they may be unable or unwilling to visit community facilities or other venues where training is provided. Access to technology and the contact that it enables is likely to help reduce social isolation but so too will the training, education and support which facilitates access, particularly if based around group activities.

2.5.2 Learning in Later Life Program The Learning in Later Life Program provides lifelong learning opportunities for people aged 50 and over, through its extensive daytime program, as well

as providing a range of social, volunteering and personal development opportunities. The Learning in Later Life Program started in 1987 and is now one of the largest programs of its kind in the world. Our classes are open to all older people regardless of previous educational experience and reflect our commitment to sharing the expertise of the University within the surrounding community. Classes are offered during the day, and are aimed at older adults, who bring with them a broad range of interests and experience. Classes cover subjects and topics of particular interest to mature people, including art, computer studies, current affairs, health, languages, literature and social studies. Classes such as: How to Look at Art, Art Since 1940, A Grand Detour – Scotland to Rome through the exhibitions, Surrealism for Beginners, Stage 1 Drawing and Painting, Taking Your Acrylics Further 1, Learn to Draw Cartoons, Learn to Paint Using Watercolours, Introducing Portraiture, Creating iPad/tablet Art, Patchwork and Quilting, seminars and workshops: How Does Music Work?, The Art of Acting 1,2, 3 and 4, Finding Your Voice for the Over 50s, Stand-up Comedy, The Art of Directing 1, Wine appreciation, photography and digital image manipulation, modern languages, etc.

2.5.3 University for the Third Age The University of the Third Age is an international organization whose aims are the education and stimulation of retired members of the community, those in the third ‘age’ of life. It is commonly referred to as U3A. The University of the Third Age (U3A) movement is an unique and exciting organisation which provides, through its U3As, life-enhancing and

life-changing opportunities. Retired and semi-retired people come together and learn together, not for qualifications but for its own reward: the sheer joy of discovery! Members share their skills and life experiences: the learners teach and the teachers learn, and there is no distinction between them. The U3A movement is supported by its national organisation, the Third Age Trust. “Belonging to a U3A has taught me that it’s never too late to try something new”.

2.5.4 Home Sharing: Young and Elderly living together Home sharing can be carried out in a variety of ways, but one way, which seems to work really well, is when the share involves the young and the old. This type of Home share brings together older adults (the Hosts), who have a spare room to rent in their homes, and young people (the Guests), who are looking for affordable accommodation. This type of accommodation is especially suitable for young people undertaking low-paid work experience, apprentices and interns. Home sharing creates a wonderful opportunity for these Hosts and Guests to benefit each other and solves problems for them both. Hosts using the service can benefit from additional income and the opportunity of sharing their home with someone, on a flexible basis to suit their needs With a reliable and friendly young A Guest, who is willing to help around the house, and hopefully a friend with whom to spend time and share interests and experience. The Young will get very cost-effective accommodation and in some cases even free accommodation. Young Guests, who may 56

be new to the area, will have a friendly Host to welcome them. They will settle more quickly and get more out of their stay. They may also learn from sharing skills and experience with their older Host. Home share recognizes that two people have needs and something to offer. Sharing a home, while being a significant life step also goes great lengths to combating loneliness, lack of support and financial pressures. Home sharing brings together like-minded individuals, who can help with care and jobs around the house.

2.5.5 Keeping Older People Fit with Nintendo Wii Nintendo Wii was originally developed for the usual gaming market, children, teenagers and young adults, but many studies have now been conducted on the benefits of the Wii for older people. These include: increase mental stimulation or activity, provide good exercise for the body, increase social interaction among seniors as well as with their family members, may improve hand-eye coordination and provide fun and entertainment. The controllers respond to real body movements. There are very few buttons to master and many games can be played just by swinging your arm. The Wii encourages body movement, but it can be played with varying degrees of mobility. There are many Wii games that are designed for family participation. Like many consoles, the Wii can be quite addictive, but because it encourages movement, the more you play, the fitter you get.

2.6 How Can we Afford an Aging Society? The elderly market is the largest market there has ever been. Early retirement and the growth of pensions mean that a sizeable part of the new market is commercially significant and has the money to pay for design. Physical independence is the treasure. Design should encourage the body to work in a healthy way. Throughout the history of mankind, the aging concept has been one of the oldest and most significant concerns of all societies and individuals. In the contemporary world, increasing ageing of the population has globally created phenomena and priorities that affect life styles and worldviews of all people. Demographic changes show the elderly population is the fastest growing part of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s population, particularly in Japan, Europe and the USA. Therefore, populations become older and more disabled and these trends continue in the future. The aging process restricts the many physical and cognitive abilities of the elderly. Besides, most of elderly people continue to live their own households. Presenting products that for increasing aging population living alone have become inadequate to meet their changing physical, sensory and cognitive requirements during the aging process. For this reason, product design for elderly and its criteria, which can be adapted to global needs of people to reach an optimal solution, should be considered profoundly. Products, which can respond many physical problems of elderly, help them to accomplish the activities of daily living in interior spaces and act as a physical and cognitive assistive role in their lives.

Technology and design are almost always associated with change. This has obvious drawbacks when it comes to the area of aging. Our view, instead, is that technology is subordinate. Even change, as a phenomenon is subordinate. Change will come as it may, but that is not the goal. A common characteristic in older people is that they have many years of experience and have already realized much of what they want out of life. Many of them would very much like to continue to realize and perhaps renew, but above all, they want to maintain their abilities. Ageing is a normal process and generally speaking the changes taking place are gradual, allowing the individual to slowly adapt and accept the process. There are times however, when the changes can be rapid, causing much fear and distress. These instances may be due to sudden trauma or to a number of neurological disorders such as Parkinsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s disease, dementia or stroke. The independent individuals may suddenly find themselves dependent, in varying degrees on others to aid them. Life changes dramatically for them and their loved ones; just being able to communicate could become a huge problem. Through awareness-raising, campaigning and stimulating the creation of effective services and appropriate tools, including but not exclusively concerned with technology, this coalition will seek to enable older people to renew or develop social contacts and actively engage in their communities in order to feel, and be, better connected.

2.6.1 Developed Countries and Emerging Economies As a matter of fact, in developed countries as a whole, the number of older persons has already surpassed the number of children (persons under age 15), and by 2050 the number of older persons in developed countries will be more than twice the number of children. But this trend is not restricted to the developed world. In developing countries as a whole, even though just 8% of the population is today aged 60 years or over, that proportion will more than double by 2050, reaching 20% that year. Population projections by the United Nations (2010) report that the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s number of people aged 60 years and over is expected to almost triple in the next 40 years (from 737 million to 2 billion). Developing countries will experience the steepest increase of the older population segment. Psychological ageing: The adult years also bring changes in personality, mental functioning, and sense of self. Whilst the memory and intelligence of some individuals improve as they age, others find they are doing worse as they get older (Marsiske et al., 2001). The crucial point here is that such decline or improvement is not simply to changes in the ageing brain but also the result of specific social contexts such as the historical era in which one is born and the contexts in which everyday lives are situated. Biological ageing: The passage of time for humans is related to a number of physical and biological changes that range from the greying of hair and wrinkling of the skin to a degeneration of oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reproductive capacity, 58

immune system response, and cardiovascular functioning (Morgan & Kunkel, 2001). Social ageing: Ageing does not occur in a linear manner, according to scientific rules and maxims, but arises as a multidimensional and dynamic force. People age differently according to the images, words, and behaviours of the world around them. Our ageing experience is tied to the way in which society uses age to assign people into roles, to channel people in and out of positions in the social structure, to allocate resources, and to categorise individuals (Morgan & Kunkel, 2001). An aging population has become a demographic trend of the majority of developed societies, such as Japan, the USA, and Europe (Cf. Moody, 2006). But it is becoming progressively a trend in developing countries as well: the elderly populations are now growing more quickly in developing countries than those in developed countries (Shrestha, 2000). The aging phenomenon is generally attributed to the improvement of health conditions, living standards, and the decline of mortality and fertility rates (Cf. Moody, 2006). Generally, society uses age to define roles and positions in the social structure: societies distribute resources based on socially constructed ideas of what “aging” is (Morgan & Kunkel, 2006). Most developed countries legislatively set the age of 65 as a cutoff to define an elderly, or “senior”, person-associating the chronological age (years lived or years after birth) with the statutory retirement age at which one may legally begin to receive pension benefits (WHO). With the increase of life expectancy rates, those who were once 59

considered “old” are now considered “young” (or at least “not so old”): between 1800 and 2000, life expectancy at birth grew from approximately 30 years to a global average of 67 years (Riley, 2001). There are, of course, different life expectancy rates across the globe. For instance, data for 2010 shows that Afghanistan is the lowest ranked country with a life expectancy rate of 45, while Japan is top ranked with a life expectancy rate of 83.5 (UN, 2010). It is difficult to define a common limit for the age when a person becomes old, and so there is still no global standard criterion. The majority of European Countries use 65 and over as a cutoff, while the World Health Organization (Cf. WHO) and the United Nations use 60 and above (Cf. UN, 2008). But both organizations use the elderly dependency-ratio: a statistical measure that refers to the elderly as someone of 65 years of age or above. The process of aging is also subjective: individuals with the same age can have different physical and mental abilities, which may or may not be related to the length of time they have been alive (Cf. Sharkey,1987). To tackle the heterogeneity of chronological aging, other indicators emerged. From the literature, the commonly used nonchronological indicators of age are: Functional age Perceived age Social age Cognitive age We further expect this development to be relevant for industrialized nations as well as for certain emerging economies.

At the same time, chances and opportunities are often neglected. The emergence of new markets, the potential for innovations, the integration of older people into jobs and work places, the joy of active aging, and their varied oles within society are just a few examples of how what at first sight appears to be a crisis could be turned into an opportunity. One particularly essential implication of the demographic shift is the emergence and constant growth of the “graying market” or “silver market,” the market segment more or less broadly defined as those people aged 50 or 55 and older.

2.6.2 The Silver Market This market segment can be seen as very attractive and promising, although still very underdeveloped in terms of product and service offerings. We need to know what the needs of aging/aged people are compared to other age groups, and we need to look for practical solutions to their needs. There is also a lack of concepts, processes, and practical solutions in various fields and functions of management: How to segment and approach the silver market? How to adapt product development, design, and delivery of value to the silver market? How to grasp the latent needs and wants of the potential silver customers? We will have lots of opportunities ahead. The baby-boomers will continue to age and retire, and so will their children in the future. The silver market phenomenon will not only be an opportunity for business but also an opportunity for innovation and invention, creativity, learning, and social response and responsibility. Thus, whereas earlier generations

would refrain in old age from spending their hard-earned money, today’s retirees are active: travelling, serving in Senior Expert Service (SES), renovating their houses or even buying high-end cars. Consequently, it comes as no surprise that the average age of a Porsche buyer is said to be 58. As a result, being above 60 no longer means looking, behaving and acting like a grandfather or grandmother. Specifically, we must recognize the limits as well as the benefits of ageing societies by offering our older citizens the opportunity to contribute in a meaningful way. We must start thinking of what can be, and learn to cooperate to achieve what should be: a meaningful and peaceful community of all generations.

“We are all constituents of an ageing society, rural and city dwellers, public and private sector identities, families and individuals, old and young alike. It is crucial that societies adjust to this human paradigm as record numbers of people live into very old age, if we are to move towards a society for all ages. [Let us]...continue the dialogue and build on partnerships that can bring us closer to a society that weaves all ages into the larger human community in which we thrive”. (Alfonso Sousa-Poza, Secretary of the Foundation, WDA Forum & Prof. of Economics, University of Hohenheim, Germany)

2.6.3 A New Approach to Old Users When designing innovations for the silver age, it is not sufficient to discover old people’s needs only. 60

In addition, one also has to discover old peoples’ new roles as consumers, citizens and innovators. Since these are people who until recently have been given few opportunities to make their voices heard, there is a need for methods that identify their needs and demands. By “innovations” I mean new ways of doing things in methods, products or services. Exploring old people’s needs and demands is about defining the appropriate method. Old people’s needs are not absent just because they are not visible. Expressed demands are easy to identify, but also problems and hidden abilities can become sources of innovations. Not least, a new approach to old users will contribute new business opportunities for industry.

in their own homes. Consequently, innovative products should be developed that are of interest for all ages in the sense of a “design for all” concept, but that especially offer elderly people more safety and comfort in their everyday home life.

2.6.4 Integration of the Elderly into the Design Process

Therefore, what does a product and its adequate marketing strategy (catchword: image) have to look like so that it fulfills the needs of senior citizens but is not recognized and decoded at first sight as “a product for old people”. Thus, design also means “making something beautiful” in a specific, nonstigmatizing manner. This meant that we not only had aids for seniors in mind, but also did not focus exclusively on elderly people. Central to our approach toward senior-friendly design, we should always keep in mind that the results are just as usable and appropriate for other people, that the elderly people are only an indicator of the deficits in their everyday home lives, but product design is intended to stretch beyond this specific target group and its handicaps.

The goal is to develop products and services for an increasingly aging society so that seniors can maintain their independence in daily life as long as possible. Demographic change poses an enormous challenge for product manufacturers and service providers because conventional offers do not always meet the demands of elderly people, who complain about lack of user-friendliness and being overtaxed. One essential reason for this is the lack of empathy, especially on the part of young developers dealing with elderly to very old consumers. Equipped with innovative quality features, the solutions for such a financially strong target group range from being interesting to being necessary, in order to allow people to become old with the greatest amount of self-determination possible 61

Product formation and design do not simply mean the design of the form/shape. “With design” means that we are not only dealing with the product “in itself”, but that the design is always embedded in cultural and social interrelations. Everyday culture, consumer habits, life styles, and thus also the pluralization of life styles and corresponding product worlds, are all embedded in the goal of design.

What products are there at present for elderly people? How functional and senior-friendly are these offers really? What image is used in

advertising to stage-manage and communicate these products? We should think then about what is best known as “Inclusive design”. This happens by integrating the needs of groups that have so far been excluded from consideration, because of their age, their handicap, or on the basis of changing technologies or work structures. The aim of the design work is to develop products and services that support people’s independent living in everyday home life and that do not use any kind of stigmatizing seniorspecific product language. Researchs and different projects have been made confirming that elderly people don´t like products that are developed solely for the “elderly” or for “seniors.” They prefer “solutions for everyone”.

2.6.5 Gerontechnology for a Super-Aged Society Various rapidly developed technologies are supporting the daily lives of younger users, but have left older adults behind. However, in a super-aged society, technologies could (and should) contribute to helping older adults maintain independent lives. At this point it´s important to mention the term “gerontechnology,” which means the study of technology and aging, for the improvement of the daily functioning of the elderly. Efforts should be made to help more people become familiar with it. For example japanese society has aged rapidly and has now become a “super-aged” society. Parallel to the rapid growth of an older population, various technologies have been developed at high speed (in support of the era of rapid economic growth of Japan). For instance, most younger adults

have no problem using a mobile phone, whereas older adults often experience great difficulties like before mentioned: small buttons that are difficult to press, a small display that is hard to look at and read, a ring tone that is hard to hear, and menus that are very complicated and difficult to operate. Due to these difficulties, many older adults still shy away from mobile phones. This phenomenon is common in most developed countries. Technologies are developed to support human beings and improve our lives, and this should also be true for older adults. The development of technical products that take into consideration the needs of older adults is one of the most important tasks in our highly aged society, a task that can be addressed using gerontechnology. What Is Gerontechnology? “Gerontechnology” is a composite word combining gerontology and technology, which means the study of technology and aging for the improvement of the daily functioning of the elderly. Gerontechnology covers very wide areas of research. Technology and aging here encompass terms such as research, design, manufacturing, and marketing. Gerontechnology is a new research area, and experiments with and surveys on older adults sometimes require more effort than is the case with young participants. Older adults are slower and less successful at acquiring new procedures compared to younger adults.The rate of information processing is slowed if a task is complicated, and the performance of older adults in coordinating multiple tasks is worse than in younger adults. With 62

regard to movement control, older adults respond more slowly, and move less precisely and with greater variability than younger adults. For example modern home appliances are now highly developed and offer various “useful” functions. This tendency is especially strong in Japan. Home appliances with “additional” “useful” functions, such as microwave ovens which offer huge variety of cooking menus, washing machines with disinfection function, or rice cookers with voice guidance, are made by Japanese companies. However, such home appliances are frequently difficult to use for older adults. The more menus there are, the more buttons there are. As space for buttons on a device is limited, the size of each button decreases. The legibility of text or symbol on each button and display should be secured by adjusting the contrast, luminance level, font size and typeface to suit the visual functions of older adults. We can also say that ICT (Information Communications Technology) products are far more complex than home appliances. A mobile phone offers not only a verbal communication function, but also messaging or e-mailing, a Web browser, camera, music player, television, scheduler, address list, etc. At the same time, the body is made compact for ease of carrying. The smaller the mobile phone’s body, the smaller the screen and buttons. The use of computers by older adults is gradually increasing. However, difficulties with operating the keyboard and mouse, looking at visual information such as text and icons on the computer display, and using application software still keep older adults 63

away from computers. For instance, a cordless vacuum cleaner was regarded as good because its weight was light, so that it did not require too much strength to operate it, and there was no danger of tripping over a cord.

2.6.6 Universal Design: Innovations for All Ages Demographics require companies to abandon the concept of solely targeting young customers. They need to create new products that are attractive to both younger and older customers. The “new” elderly generation is much more vital, has a higher purchasing power and increasingly loves to experiment with new products compared to “older” elderly generations. A focus on only younger customer generations is wrong. Most companies are still overwhelmed with the opportunities and corresponding challenges of demographic developments. Some companies have tried to address older customers by offering products that are particularly declared and promoted as products for the elderly. However, developing products especially for seniors has not shown to be effective in addressing these customers. As most of the people over 50 are still physically fit and vital, they prefer to buy their products in the same locations as younger generations. This leaves companies with no other choice than developing products and services independent of the customers age. “Creating products for

younger generations excludes the elderly. Creating products for all ages, however, includes all generations, young and old.”

Personalized interactions are especially important to older consumers because of their deteriorating physical and cognitive abilities and their growing social isolation. Reductions in mobility, sight, and hearing leave the older person vulnerable in many consumption situations where physical adeptness is required to locate, compare, select, and carry products. Similarly, shrinking social networks can make the older person overly reliant on interactions with the providers of goods and services to obtain human contact. Customer service targeted at the older consumer would be therefore ideally characterized by friendly but respectful interactions, the provision of physical assistance where needed, and the pacing of information to suit the customer’s processing needs. Such an approach can provide a source of differentiation that is valued by older consumers and is also likely to be attractive to members of other segments that prioritize high quality service.

2.7 What Designers should have in Mind Designing for the Elderly? People still think that elderly means pathetic, poor and unfortunate. Elderly people have not been considered important in the past with the result that designers have not had any significant opportunity to design for them. But what we shoud really consider is that the elderly market is the largest market there has ever been. Early retirement and the growth of pensions mean that a sizeable part of the new market is commercially significant and has the money to pay for design. What is such a market looking for? The fundamental requirement of elderly people that emerged was that the product should enhance and not degrade

their health. All in all, we found it’s interesting to look at the differences between children, elderly and adults. As designers, we should always consider thoughtful who we are designing for, and what they expect from the product. From this assignment, We’ve learned not only the way of finding specific needs or design issues. But also We’ve learned we should translate these design issues in design guidelines for products intended for a specific target group. Social exclusion, isolation and loneliness contribute to the incidence of mental illness, particularly depression. There will also be older people who begin to find it difficult to use technology as they age because of poor vision, poor dexterity, poor hearing, and/or cognitive problems associated with ageing and who require assistance to stay connected. We also have the current problem to address: the older old (those over 80) are most likely to need the social support technology could facilitate since they are more likely to have outlived spouses and friends. That’s why we have to be able to design for them having in mind the appropriate characteristics of who are we designing for, all cognitive problems associated so that will be good for them (easy to use) and they feel it was made for them, thinking about them so they can get really interested. There is also a clear link between social exclusion and digital exclusion. The Oxford Internet Institute found that those most deprived socially are also most likely to lack access to digital resources such as the Internet. There are relatively few projects, which use technology to address social isolation 64

among older people. There exists a lack of interest on the part of designers that can explain why some products aren’t as user-friendly for older people as they might be. The appropriate response to this problem is not to create specially designed products for older people but rather encourage more inclusive design for all. Older people don’t want ugly equipment, which would not look out of place in a hospital, in their home. In common with everyone else, they want objects they are happy to live with because they are aesthetically pleasing.

2.7.1 Guidelines for designers working on this subject Do not design ‘special’ products for elderly people Elderly people are not disabled. A shoe or saucepan designed for a disabled foot or hand is unlikely to suit an elderly foot or hand. Provided elderly people are considered at the right stage, all products should be suitable for young and old. ‘Design for the young and you exclude the old. Design for the old and you include the young’, said Professor Bernard Isaacs, of The Centre for Applied Gerontology, Birmingham. The conventional approach to design through style or materials is obsolete When Helen Hamlyn of the Hamlyn Foundation coined the phrase ‘New Design for Old’, it suggested to me a new way of designing products determined by the way they are used and the effect on the health of the body, rather than careless, stylistic 65

dictates which ignore or are ignorant of important human needs. Physical independence is the treasure. Design should encourage the body to work in a healthy way Older people say that the most important thing in life is physical independence for as long as possible. We do not escape from early misuse of the body. “The body sends you a bill later”, as T’ai chi Master Li put it recently to her students in a class teaching the ancient Chinese mind/body discipline that is now becoming better known in this country. Designers have to understand their responsibility related to this and put it into practice. Find the balance between undersupport and oversupport In order for the body to remain healthy it has to ‘work’. The design of products should encourage the body to work in a healthy way but not, of course, to an extent where stress is caused. Herbert Spencer, the philosopher, once wrote: “Each faculty acquires fitness for its function by performing its function; if its function is performed for it by a substitute agency, none of the required adjustments of nature takes place, but nature becomes deformed to fit the artificial arrangements instead of the natural arrangements”. Understanding good body use (what we should do) is far more important than data on what we can do. Ergonomic data may depict an articulated dummy to show what the body is capable of reaching. It is not part of design or ergonomic education to know whether such actions are healthy or natural. Elderly

people may be able to reach a certain height, but should they? Peter Laslettâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lecture to the Society, demonstrated not only the special potential of people in the Third Age but also some of the similarities between older and younger people. Provided certain things are understood, products for elderly people can suit younger ones, too. Here is a design opportunity, which could be of advantage to all members of the community.

2.7.2 Websites for the Elderly Create websites that work well for older adults, being the fastest-growing group of Internet users. Besides sending and receiving email, older adults search the web for health, financial, and religious or spiritual information. They also use the Internet to shop, play games, perform genealogy searches, and book travel. As the baby boomers age, the number of older adults using the Internet will continue to grow, and web designers will increasingly be called on to tailor websites to this population. Health information and prescription drug sites probably expect that most of their visitors are age 50 or older because that is when many of the conditions covered begin to set in. Genealogy.com and Audubon.org are easy to skim and to read due to their clean layouts, large type, and noticeable headings. Three sites, all of them shopping sites, have no task failures and no serious problems: Amazon.com, eToys.com, and LLBean.com. To give some specific examples: On travel sites, the navigation links are well grouped and highlighted at the beginning, making it easy to get started. Further into the task, however, the presentation of search results sometimes made it difficult to distinguish

content from advertising. The icons on the home page are obvious, but then later, on internal pages, there are non-obvious icons with no help or labeling. On financial services sites, the explanations on some pages are plain and simple. In other sections of the same site, the web writers assumed more knowledge on the part of the user about the domain.

2.7.2.1 Key Tips for Making Your Website Senior Friendly Organizing Web Information Many older adults have had little training in the use of computers and the Internet and are unfamiliar with the way information on websites is organized. In addition, changes in working memory may affect their ability to simultaneously grasp, retain, and manage new information. Declines in perceptual speed can increase the time it takes to process information. A website with a simple design, uncluttered layout, clear labels, and short sections of information can make it easier for older adults to select content, absorb and retain what they read, and avoid information overload. Here are some guidelines: Make it clear how the information on the website is organized: users should easily be able to determine what information your site offers and how it is organized. They should be able to figure out a starting point and predict what type of information a link will lead them to. It should also be clear how they could find more information as well as how to return to 66

previously visited pages. Keep the website structure simple and straightforward: a broad and shallow site hierarchy reduces complexity and makes it easier for visitors to learn how information is organized. Break information into short sections: giving people a small amount of content at one time makes it easier for them to grasp and recall information. Group related topics visually: use page layout to show how information is organized. Write a clear, informative heading for each section: clear headings give people anchors on the page and help them select desired content. For example, headings can be: Put key information first: the most important information should be located where people can find it most easily, at the top of the website and at the top of a web page. Put the sections in logical order: think about how older adults might look for information. Minimize scrollingand use single mouse clicks. Writing Online Text Age-related changes in text comprehension can make it harder for older adults to understand written material that is not expressed in a straightforward or concrete manner. Changes in attentional functioning may make it more difficult for older people to stay focused on specific information and eliminate distractions. Many older adults may be unfamiliar with technical language. To keep the text 67

senior friendly: Limit the number of points you make: stick to one to five messages in each section. Keeping your information brief can make it easier for web users to stay focused. Put the key message first: Putting the main message at the beginning ensures that your website visitors will see it. Keep paragraphs and sentences short: Paragraphs should express one main idea. Sentences should be simple and straightforward. Designing Readable Online Text Vision commonly changes with age, often making reading from a computer screen difficult, as the eyes become less sensitive and less able to detect light, color, and details. Keep these features in mind: Space: - Allow sufficient white space on the web page to ensure an uncluttered look. - Put a space between paragraphs. - Allow enough space around clickable targets, such as links and buttons, so that each one is easy to target and hit separately. Typeface - Use a sans serif typeface. - Use a typeface that is not condensed. Type size - Use 12- or 14-point type size for body text. Justification - Left-justified type is best for older adults. - Left justification allows an even left margin and an uneven right margin. Lines start at the same place on the left side of the screen but do not always

end at the same place on the right. Backgrounds/Contrast - Use dark type or graphics against a light background. - Avoid patterned backgrounds. Color - Use high-contrast color combinations, such as black type against a white background. Avoid layering shades of the same color, such as dark blue type on a light blue background. Avoid colors that clash. For example, dark blue on red is very difficult on the eye. - Avoid yellow and blue and green in close proximity. The differences in these colors are difficult for many older people to see. - Use colors to group information visually. Provide summary information: -Summarizing information reinforces it and helps with recall. If you repeat information at different places in your site, make sure the messages are consistent. These tips can help you create websites that work well for older adults, the fastest-growing group of Internet users. Besides sending and receiving email, older adults search the web for health, financial, and religious or spiritual information. They also use the Internet to shop, play games, perform genealogy searches, and book travel. As the baby boomers age, the number of older adults using the Internet will continue to grow, and web designers will increasingly be called on to tailor websites to this population.

2.8 Conclusion We can conclude that communications technologies can help prevent and alleviate social isolation and loneliness among older people. With the right support, older people will have the ability to become part of the solution. Loneliness equals bad health results in years. In our view more voluntary organizations could act as intermediaries, encouraging and supporting older people in their use of communications technology. Unfortunately only a few have made the connection between access to technology and the broader issue of helping older people stay healthy, happy, independent and engaged in society. Our view is that technology, if deployed in the right way, as a supplement to and an enabler of direct contact, can help older people to maintain and develop social support networks. Some aspects of technology have obvious benefits. Email and voice over Internet calls can enable quick and cheap contact with friends and relatives across the globe. They are motivated to use technology by a number of factors. These include the desire to remain active and independent and to communicate with family and friends, especially remote ones, using email. They are also motivated to use technology in order to ensure â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;the world does not pass them byâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, to seek information, particularly news and health information, and to 68

support their learning and education generally. Having the ability to get online gave them the sense of having more social support. Some reasearches reported feeling more mentally alert, challenged, useful and ‘younger’. We definitively need more volunteers to become involved, families to take responsibility. It’s about actually spending time with people and talking to them, people making them selves available through technology. We need that people accept that being a virtual or remote friend is something that is needed. We therefore need to develop service options focused on facilitating older people’s opportunities to connect and actively engage. In summary then, we need service responses that enable older people to get online and which support them to stay safe online. At the same time, services should use technology creatively to provide opportunities for older people to connect with others and develop mutually supportive networks. Simultaneously with the aging of the population, we are witnessing unprecedented development and the diffusion of technology into all aspects of everyday life. Currently, all forms of technology, including computers, communications, safety, and health monitoring devices, are being used to perform routine tasks and activities. The use of technology has become an integral component of work, 69

education, communication, and entertainment. All in all, we found it’s interesting to look at the differences between children, elderly and adults. As designers, we should always consider thoughtful who we are designing for, and what they expect from the product. From this assignment, we’ve learned not only the way of finding specific needs or design issues. But also we’ve learned we should translate these design issues in design guidelines for products intended for a specific target group.

2. Design for Children

Design for

Children 3.1. Having in mind Physical Changes in kids According to the age, designers should focus on different aspects because “Children” constitute a widely diverse range of behaviours and ability. From early primary years, children are pre-literate or have very limited reading skills. As major achievement can be considerd typing their name. In later primary school, skills develop rapidly, but there is wide variance between children of the same age. Generally children are highly social, dependent on peers for feedback, and highly conscious of their relationship with the adult world. Children’s online behavior shows an extreme reluctance to read extraneous information, and an expectation of immediate response from user interfaces. On the other hand they are open for new rapid changes in online preferences but in contrary to popular belief, children are not imbued with an innate understanding of digital technologies. For many kids, computers and mobile devices are synonymous with games. Only in later high school years becomes a more “serious” device. While designers are making up new things for kids they should follow the general principles such as: Provide age-appropriate materials. Be cautious of designing for exceptional children. Inclusive design practices will enable the broadest possible range of children to participate in your technology. Leverage knowledge children may have gained

on social networking sites and games. Maintain frequent contact with your target user groups, so that you can understand trends and changing behaviours. There are many specific rules that can be devided according to the age of child and it can help to undestand needs of each of those group. The division is made on four groups: Early primary years, Later primary years, Later primary years, and High school years. Early primary years Use text redundantly with pictures so that preliterate users can access your product. Use simple and easy text. Use fonts that rough how children learn to write. For example, many fonts use “a” and “q” in variants that do not match how some children are taught to write those letters. Do not use dialog boxes. Don’t demand explicit “save” operations. Save work automatically. Eliminate unfamiliar content. Provide interesting interactive applications. Try to do easy interfaces. Provide large target areas. Allow children to personalise. If applications will be used on a smartboard, do not use a footer that can be accidentally activated by children leaning against the surface. Avoid errors. 74

Support cooperative use, with two or more children using your product at the same time. Design to help teachers and parents, who are likely to be assisting or supervising usage. Later primary years Use simple text. Provide content that appears more “grown up” than that for early primary years. Provide time-saving shortcuts. Leverage knowledge children may have from social media and popular games. Avoid appearing to patronise. Apply sensible defaults. High school years Ensure more sophisticated personalisation capability. Promote social networking. Don’t try to appropriate or emulate kids’s behaviour or speech Give increasingly “grown-up” content towards later years. Design guidelines for children interactive products Some important guidelines to follow while designing for children include: Design age-appropriate content Understand children’s mental models Use appropriate language Identify ergonomic constraints There are many important aspects, one of them is size of font, that shouln’t be too teeny. Another aspect is good color contrast, because children respond better to colourful products. As young children don’t necessarily have the fine motor skills required for making very precise and accurate target movements. Because of that it’s important that 75

input devices such as keyboards and touchscreens have keypads that are bigger than standard ones. Research has also showed that children tend to be able to perform point and click activities quicker and more accurately than drag and drop. With this in mind, designers should try to apply suitable interaction styles according to the target age group. Just like any other user-centred design process, evaluation is critical for finding out how users interact with a design so that it can be improved. However, it’s important to bear in mind that methods appropriate for evaluating interactive products with adults don’t necessarily work for children. For example, children with limited language skills might not provide much insight during traditional usability evaluation methods such as think-aloud or structured interviews. Also, children are more likely to give superficial responses while answering questions if they don’t understand a question. They are also highly susceptible to suggestions and have a poorer recall for events from their memory.

3.1.1 Interaction design and children Designing for an age-appropriate audience is key while designing children’s interactive products beaouse children go through many different stages in their cognitive development where they acquire new skill sets in areas such as literacy, mathematics, and their thought processes at different ages. Another reason is developement of children’s fine motor skills over time. These factors should be given prominence before, during, and after the design of children interactive products for different age groups.

Designing interactive works for children shouldn’t be different from other user-centred design process, but the methods for carrying out user research, the implementation of different design guidelines and evaluating the products need to cater for the young or little audience group. So how exactly are these methods different? Interactive products for children are usually fun and educational, but the question is what children need? Common ways of gathering user necessarily apply to children given their limited language skills and attention span. Also, children might not necessarily know what they need. In this case very helpful can be cunsulting “indirect” users such as parents and teachers. For example, by talking to parents and teachers, the designer might realise that what the child needs is not a game on solving multiplication problems per se, but also a better way to memorise the multiplication table. Another method could enroll them to the process of designing or be observing children in their natural environment such as during play or in a learning classroom might provide insight on the types of activities children enjoy and also how children interact with different products to inform the design solution. Some ways to overcome this include: Do the evaluation in the natural environment of children. Participatory observation is particularly useful in this context as it allows the evaluator to observe the child’s behaviour without having to rely on recall of events Avoid leading questions and typical terminology to prevent some superficial responses

Use free-recall questions rather than tsome specyfic questions to increase reliability insights on the child’s interaction with an interactive product and other useful information Make it fun Designing for children depends on the nature of the project and the age-group of the children involved. Always determine the age-group of the target audience and use appropriate methods for conducting user research, implementing design guidelines and evaluating the designs. Lastly, a good designer must never forget the ethical considerations involved while designing for children and should exercise their limits accordingly. Interactive multimedia technology wants to enhance creativity among young children that focuses on the development of drawing applications. Some examples of these applications are: TuxPaint, Drawing for Children, and Shidonni. Those apps were primarily designed for children. Very interesting example of design for children are interfaces. Children‘s comprehension of novel computer interfaces was studied in a series of studies with three-to-five year olds. In one study 117 children were presented with four novel interfaces differing in levels of complexity and familiarity. Parental questionnaires were used to assess children‘s previous technology experience. Comprehension of the interface was measured by children‘s ability to recognize the actions needed to play the game. Findings revealed a significant three-way interaction between age, technologyexperience, and complexity; with age and experience moderating the effect of complexity 76

on children‘s comprehension and creating three significant interface- comprehension groups. Familiarity had an overall positive main effect. The implications of the importance of designing for low complexity, high familiarity, and the appropriate age and technologyexperience level are discussed. Usability, Young children, Digital interfaces, Ageappropriate design. How do children know what to do on novel digital interfaces – where to click, what to drag, how to scroll? What role do child factors such as childdevelopment and technology-exposure play? What role do the interface design and elements such as complexity and familiarity play? While a lot of adults struggle with understanding nowadays kids are a generation of ”clickerati” approach these interfaces with the same matterof-fact approach to getting dressed, but usually with the excitement—and motivation—of going to anamusement park. However they may not completely understand how to use it, or what the implications are. are stuggling children with design features, so actually succeeded in understanding adult-oriented then there have been improvements in website‘s design for children, but the situation is far from standardized in terms of visual language and conventions.

According to User Centered Design, designing 77

interfaces should be done according to users‘ capabilities, needs, expectations, using usability testing to undercover problems and an iterative method, kid‘s special characteristics are important in creating a successful user experience for them However, child factors such as age and technologyexperience have not been incorporated consistently in children‘s interface research, so we do not know how they interact with each other, or with other factors such as the design elements themselves. As people develop from birth to adulthood, many of their cognitive and physical abilities increase over Children are very different than adults in the way thinking and learning. The variable of age, therefore, encompasses in it many critical developmental differences in children‘s ability to interact with technology. While there are a lot of age groups, studies have shown important differences in the way children interact with interfaces even with one year age difference Another important aspect is experience. There have been studies that show that children‘s previous experience with technology significantly enhances their ability to learn novel interfaces, however it is still not clear to what degree, and how this effect changes over time.

Children with special needs - Interaction with children with special needs Recently, a lot of designers include children with special needs in the process of designing technology for children with special needs. Involving the child in the design process as users, testers, informants, or design partners, gives possibility to create an overview of the ways in which kids with special needs have been included in design processes. Some designers have included children with special needs in technology design processes, and children with a wide range of disabilities have participated in the design process, to varying degrees. Developing technology for children with special needs, it is necessary to consider that it must be devoted for the unique children and their unusual needs. Successful inclusion usually appears when a child is given all of the supports needed – both physical disability matches appropriately to the environment into which the child is placed. Moreover experts note that teamwork among adults is important in helping inclusion succeed. However to complete all the process it is necessery to work also with parents of disable children. Very good example are the apps made by the developers at Moms With Apps to assist children and families. Each of app has specifited goal such as: offering a versatile and entertaining speech therapy tool such as helping children with speech sound delays, or learning system designed for children with autism and other special needs. Moreover, today there is many organisations and conferencess for childrens with some special problems. One of those kind of meeting is the ACM

It is a major multidisciplinary international forum to discuss about children’s needs in relationship to interactive technology and present the most innovative research in the field of interaction design for children. is to discuss how to design for full-body playful solutions for children with special needs, and to examine how to make design decisions and evaluations grounded in experience and theoretical frameworks. Conference bring together researchers from a wide spectrum of disciplines – psychologists, therapists, educators, medical personnel, experts in special needs, as well as engineers, programmers, computer scientists, interaction designers for children, whose work address children with special needs or full bodied interaction, or are interested in exploring the challenges of this field, which expand horizons and open new possibilities. The general term “special needs” should be devided into specifications, depending on the type and the level of incapacity. The first and the lightes

of people, with harder impediments, represents Disability. A disabled person is someone who has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day

Play is an essential element of childhood and should be part of a child’s education. It is also an essential element in children’s life, which is initiated by inherent curiosity. During the play, children learn in painless way about themselves and others. ciclic pattern of varied cognitive development. Play embraces the educational, recreational and has long been recognized as an important aspect of However, there is a question how the objects and way of playing are changing? While, indoor virtual world of computer gaming can help children in memory training, learning and argues that children are becoming alienated from nature, referring to this as “nature-deficit disorder”.

almost no green spaces left for them to play. Even parks and playgrounds are manicured, and do not invite curious, open-ended exploration. Children today are thus robbed of a very essential part of childhood: of connecting on a one-to-one basis with nature. One of the ways to overcome this gap is by

Resources are linked in one or the many ways. With the help of such toys, the child should understand the linkages and the learning should support the children for the required development. Before toy design it’s important to understand the unique propositions with respect to LEEC cycle, along with the current status of the children. With the play the children become sensitized, imaginative and develop the ability to create and learn. Their curiosity helps them to enjoy the newer things and to learn. Learning is a continuous

told that this change in way of playing is possibly due to changing environments, drawing attention to the ‘inner-city children who will never gain adequate access tounpeopled places’. The book urges adults to rethink our children’s contact with nature and warns of the consequences that may result today’s changement in the way of education. In an age crammed with TV, computers, and electronic gadgets, children are isolated from the

enter to play. As they play freely, they use what they already know and this Exploration allows them to Experiment where they would like to test and observe the results. Experimentation allows the children to understand the world surrounding them. Moreover kids try to become creative and innovative during the continuous play. In their play, children create their own world. They are recreating their pasts and imagining their future, while grounding themselves in the reality and fantasy of

As it is, academics, along with classes and extracurricular activities, leave children with little time to play outdoors. And even if they do, there are

The right and well thoughtful toys can help the child to enjoy the replication of nature through which the child can see through the natural

resources. One can’t restrict the child’s imagination with the toys. The cognitive development of the child is described by Piaget’s Stage Theory. In his view the early cognitive development involves changes in cognitive process and abilities which later progress into changes in mental operations. His study concluded that children were not less intelligent than adults, they simply think differently. The sensation of movement can be developed to an infant by allowing it to watch the movement of animals, small and color full insects. However for all practical purpose and colorful rolling ball can meet the pleasure of movement. This combination of representation can be established through Morphological Techniques and deconstructing them to find an innovative toy. Once this is done the toy labeling will be much more effective than by just specifying the age. Since the children’s developmental stage is well analyzed and aligned with natural resources, the toy label will contain the current level of the child’s development and upon which the toy will help to play and learn successfully. Easy access and the tecnological developement resulted in varied and incredible amount of electronic games today. Educational games are designed with educational purposes, or which have incidental or secondary educational value. All types of games may be used in an educational environment. That games are designed to teach not only children about certain subjects, expand concepts, reinforce development, understand an historical event or culture, or assist them in learning a skill as they play. There are different types of games such as: board, card, and video games. Video games with the increase and availability of technological

devises, there has been a shift in what types of games people play. Video or electronic gaming has become more widely used than traditional board games. Player can immerse easily in the gaming process by identifying himself with the carácter he has choosen and the all virtual enviroment of is a type of game play that has defined learning outcomes. Generally, games based on learning are designed to balance subject matter with gameplay and the ability of the player to retain and apply said subject matter to the real world. According depends on three approaches of software. These three approaches are: building games from scratch created by educators and programmers; integrate games from scratch by the students. Including the games in to the educational process, teachers can ecourage students to learn and can get more effective progress of learning. Games often have a fantasy element that engages players in a learning activity through narrative or storylines. Educational video games can be perfect way to motivate children and allow them to develop an awareness of consequentiality. Children can express themselves as individuals while learning and engaging in social issues. Today’s games are very social, with most teens playing games with others at least some of the time and can incorporate many aspects of civic and political life. Student who participate in educational video games can offer deeper insights in all academic areas. The success of game-based learning strategies owes to active participation and interaction being at the center of the experience, and signals that current educational methods are 80

not engaging students enough. Experience with and affinity for games as learning tools is an increasingly universal characteristic among those entering higher education and the workforce. Game-based learning is an expansive category, ranging from simple paperand-pencil games like word searches all the way up and role-playing games. The use of collaborative game-based role-play for learning provides an opportunity for learners to apply acquired knowledge and to experiment and get feedback in the form of consequences or rewards, thus getting the experiences in the “safe virtual world”. The built-in learning process of games makes a game more enjoyable. The progress a player makes in a game is through learning. It is the process of the human mind grasping and coming to understand a new system. The progress of understanding a new concept through gaming makes an individual feel a sense of reward whether Well-designed games that motivate players are the ideal learning environments. Real-world challenges are easier faced within a game containing effective, interactive experiences that actively engage people in the learning process. In a successful game-based learning environment, choosing actions, experiencing consequences, and working toward goals allows players to make mistakes through experimentation in a risk-free environment. Games have rules and structure and goals that inspire motivation. Games are interactive and provide outcomes and feedback. Most games also have problem solving situations that spark creativity. While learning through games can be very effective, they can become a distraction, causing them to 81

become too focused on the game and not on learning.

“…It cannot be denied that a great deal of learning does happen in games. Computer games that are considered “good” (popular and highly rated) already provide information in various formats, although the preference in most games is for information to be visually presented. By providing information in multiple formats (visual, textual, auditory, etc.), players cannot only choose a style that matches their own preference, but they can also practice their skills in others, and sometimes they do this even without realizing it.” “By design, good games support the approaches of concrete learners through a myriad of feedback mechanisms: visual, auditory, textual, progress charts, etc. while abstract learners can ignore which ever feedback mechanisms they choose – often by simply switching them off. Abstract learners can develop theories and test them out within games in ways not feasible in real life. The “reset” button remains available to both whenever they get into trouble.” Traditionally, technology used in school operates at the base level. Very often they invent case studies designed to introduce students to certain technologies in an effort to prepare them for a future major assignment that requires the aforementioned technology. In the future, technology and games are expected to be used in simulation environments to simulate real world problems. In the professional area, such as flight training, simulations are already used in an effort to

prepare pilots for training before actually going out into planes. These kind of training sessions are used to replicate real life stresses without the real risk.

3.3 Opportunities and the difference between developed and developing countries more than half of them girls â&#x20AC;&#x201C; have no opportunity to attend primary school. One in three children in Africa that are enrolled in school drop out of primary education. For socially disadvantaged groups such as rural or indigenous communities, poor urban dwellers, AIDS orphans or the disabled, access to education is especially difficult. Four out of five children who do not go to school live in rural regions. In many countries, traditional role patterns stop parents enrolling girls in school. The stronger the cultural preference for boys in a particular country or region, the greater the gender disparities in the educational sector, for instance in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and in South and West Asia. Moreover, a lot of children are not able to go to school on account of crises and wars. Mostly woman and children are forced to flee armed conflict. In many countries where civil war is raging, the majority of schools have been destroyed. Currently, developed countries form approximately twenty percent of the estimated six billion people who live in this world today.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The other four billion people that live in developing countries, seventy percent of those

four billion are illiterate and cannot take advantage of information that is presented in print or other forms of mediaâ&#x20AC;? Typically these people are farmers, women and craftsmen that are unaware as to how the information that they have no access to would greatly help them with their day to day work. They normally receive information verbally from relatives, colleagues, friends, community members and religious personnel. This situation is typical comprised of illiterate craftsmen and farmers. great need of the many new technological and communicative developments that are present today. Unfortunately, these developments are not easy to come by for a developing country.

in developed nations live in media-saturated homes,

For young children in these countries the following story can be reality. It is an ordinary school day, as a group of kindergarten students gets off the bus. Suddenly, one of them spots an unusual bird high up in a tree. Running inside, they tell their teachers in excited voices that there is an owl in the tree. Armed with cameras, they run back outside with their teacher, who identifies the bird as a red- tailed hawk as students capture it digitally. Discussing the bird 82

on their way back to the classroom, one student asks, “Can I Google red-tailed hawk?” He does so, sharing his findings with his classmates via largescreen projector. Using multimedia software, each student creates a small piece of illustrated writing about the hawk, some emailing what they have created to their parents. At the students’ request, the teacher organizes the class to create a tornpaper collage of the red-tailed hawk, which is framed and displayed prominently in the classroom

many young children are developing digital media literature on the effects of interactive media on to five-years-old children can use a mouse to point themselves, and 37 percent can turn the computer on by themselves. Moreover, most children have acquired these skills by three and one-half years of proficiency with media has prompted Mark Prensky natives” and the rest of us “digital immigrants.”

access to television, as well as widespread access to computers, the Internet, cell phones, video games, DVDs, mobile music/ video players, podcasts, e-books, digitized toys, and more. In the words

In developed nations, immersion in digital media is clearly affecting emergent literacy skills

“gadgeted,” and opportunities to learn from digital study, zero to six: Electronic media in the lives

addition, it is leading to substantial learning outside

the degree to which young children are immersed in digital media, and a follow-up survey study, The media family: Electronic media in the lives of infants, toddlers, preschoolers and their parents

have noted, there is a “potentially revolutionary

confirmed the findings of its predecessor. Today many of Young children have computers computers designed for preschoolers are currently , offering USB ports, wireless capacities, and fully functional operating systems. All are designed to be user-friendly for young children. Clearly, 83

phenomenon in American society: the immersion of our very youngest children, from a few months to a few years old, in the world of electronic and interactive media. The impact that this level of media exposure has on children’s development is unknown, but one thing is certain: it is an issue that demands immediate attention from parents, educators, researchers and health professionals” noted the striking lack of empirical research on this phenomenon, and remarked that changes resulting from the move to digital media are happening

in “ways unknown in previous generations” empirically based knowledge, it is clear that most young children in developed nations live in a world of multiple emergent literacy opportunities and a near surfeit of digital media, and that their contemporaries in other nations are seeing those opportunities become more and more commonplace by the day.

While children in developing and least-developed nations may not be absorbed by digital media to the same degree as their counterparts in developed nations, their digital learning opportunities are emergent literacy lives of millions of young children. This developement is due primarily to the rapidly increasing availability of low-cost, easily available digital media. Moreover, as easy to notice, research on the impact of digital media on young children in developing and least-developed nations is almost about the influence of digital media in general on these kids have started, as evidenced by chapters in the International Handbook of Children, Media shows that the effects on young children can differ across languages and cultures. According to Oakes digital media can “shape, mediate and/or modify

effects” it is “clear that the interactions of the child’s individual traits with characteristics of the family... as well as the macro characteristics of society, are central in forming and understanding mediacultural and language norms in many developing and least-developed countries vary markedly from Western norms, it is possible that digital media may influence on literacy skills in these nations in ways that cannot be foreseen. Language and culture may not always be the major influences on how digital media affects young children. Many families around the world face enormous day-to-day challenges, such as basic safety, nutrition and health, attitudes toward formal education, and even the availability of However, despite of all problems the use of digital media becomming more frequent in the daily lives of these families. As Cooney Center report shows on mobile technologies, Pockets

“more than half of the world’s population owns a cell phone”

people will begin to use cell phones, proceeding the newest technology adoption in history. For future generation it mean that cell phones will lead the technology onslaught, followed probably by other mobile technologies such as handheld iPods, phone devices, and gaming platforms. Shuler will get at all kids around the world, “because of their relatively low cost and accessibility 84

in low-income communities, handheld devices can help advance digital equity, reaching and inspiring populations ‘at the edges’” opinion, appears to be confirmed by the latest statistics. According to the report of Pockets of Potential International Telecommunications Union Annual Report, Cell phone growth has been documented in the Cooney Center report Pockets of Potential Union Annual Report, which documents that there are four billion cell phone users on our planet, and the number is growing. The other interesting statistics show Internet usage. In Africa is now

science and technology, social life and culture, so existing practices can be improved on. Governments

“need access to information to make proper decisions, plans and policies” shown in developed countries, such as the United where information is used as a basic resource. Unlike these developed countries, nations such as those in Africa, the Caribbean, and Asia, “lack the modern

information technology and old practices, customs and slow and laborious technologies still prevail” are typically underdeveloped and, access to information and media would extremely impact their improvement for way of life and it could help. The Globalization of Media

Internet usage in Asia in the same period increased

“the world’s core countries, which contain about five percent of the world’s population, make up ninety percent of the Internet users” four billion cell phone users and 1.7 billion Internet users around the world, many young children are watching, listening—and learning. Importance of Media For all people around the globe, not just the privileged in developed countries, information is a vary necessery aspect. Information is “needed

to facilitate decision making and engender progress” some information about progress in techniques in 85

globalization is the ‘digital divide’ which appears between the developed and developing countries. The ‘digital divide’ is the “inequality of access

to telecommunications and information technology, particularly the Internet” between the developed countries and developing countries.

“The larger the economic gap between nations, the larger the distance between their abilities to access telecommunications products and services, and in consequence, participate in

the worldwide whirlwind of communication” States and those in Asia or Europe, have much easier and bigger access and much more technological solutions of communication services and products. Generally on the global scale, the globalization of media is reinforcing technological irregularity rather than reducing them. “The millions who struggle daily for enough food, clothing, housing and transportation are unable to afford the hardware, software and service charges associated with information and communications technology. Ironically, in most developing countries there are the privileged wealthy few who many have even more technology than the average American” access and those that do not is actually very visible and it is still increasing. Bridging the “digital divide”- technology in the classroom One of the most important aspect in the education Is easy accsses to wide information. Becouse of limited budgets of schools, many educational institutions will not have any computers for teachers or students to use. However an institution can to look for inexpensive machines or build a partnership with a corporation, they are required to have an established and permanent infrastructure for information and communications technology. In remote areas, which are still lacking the electrification and telecommunications services, this presents the biggest problem for the institution. Meanwhile, in areas that there is an infrastructure in existence, typically it is not as secure and reliable as those in developed countries. These infrastructures are

usually prone to serious problems such as “surges

in electrical lines that can damage hardware, slow telecommunications rates that make Internet access extremely timeconsuming, or the cost may be prohibitively expensive for users” Access to the Internet and the newest media technologies, can greatly impact the educational process. Use of some videos on programs such as Windows Media Player and Real Player, students might not have even possibility to venture outside of CD-ROMs can “hold more information on

a few discs than can be found in the small school libraries in developing countries and its multimedia materials can help arouse interest in topics” Another chance due to the globalization of media is the idea of distance learning. Distance learning, is known especially by people in developing countries, because of access to educational resources and materials that would not exist without the help of “mega-universities” modeled after the British Open University3. Connection with students is through

“mailed materials, broadcasts, and now over the Internet to hundreds of thousands, thereby significantly expanding the higher education systems of many developing countries” Even though this technology exists, unfortunately, it tends to benefit the wealthy few in the Third World because they are able to useand accsses to the technology to take the classes. It couses that average person in the poorer countries usually is 86

more likely to take online local courses.

the lives of infants and their parents The enormous influence of electronic media changed completely daily life of all families today. The way of growing up is also more connected to the media, because of that some parents try to control the time spent infront of the television and computer by their kids. There are thousand ways to put some rules, for instance mother of My kids know when it goes off they have to stop.” years old who have ever watched television, a large rules about what their child can or can’t watch on

they have rules about how much time their child

Children who are living in households with rules about TV time are less likely than those without

connected to media, but not through formal “rules.” As the mother of 1-3 year-old in Irvine said,

“It isn’t really a rule. There is time for that, and time for other things. That’s just the way things are. We don’t say it’s a rule because if we did, he would immediately want to break the rule.” Some parents in the focus groups mentioned the TV ratings. One mom from Columbus said,

“I have it blocked on all my children’s TVs with the V-Chip. Anything past TV-13 they aren’t allowed to watch.... I think it’s a great thing.” Most parents talked about selecting shows or products based on familiar brands — PBS, parents said their younger kids had been exposed to content through older siblings, without the parents being aware of it ahead of time. For example, the mother of one 1-3 year-old from Denver said, “My

7-year-old watches this horrible stuff. I don’t even know what it’s called. I don’t see how he watches it. My younger child watches too because he’s lonely, so he goes in with his brother.” Amount and frequency of children’s media use Even the youngest children in our community today have a substantial amount of experience

no significant difference between children whose parents do and do not have time rules in terms of the percent of children who use computer and video games. Many parents are speaking about keeping an eye on the amount of time that their children spend 87

video games.

is not designed especally for children. and under live in households where the television is who play either handheld video games or console. The amount of percent of children who watch TV in a typical day is somewhat smaller than the share mothers of 1-3 year-olds from Ohio described it, Among children who use a medium and how long

and 7 minutes using a computer, making the average screen use for all children in this age range about

said that TV is on mostly all the time, because her husband likes to turn it on and then walk away to put it like the background noise. Perhaps not surprisingly, children who live in “heavy

Obviously, here are averages with some variation, from children who spend no time using a given medium, to those who spend an extraordinary amount of time with a medium. Parents media use / sons with old parents A lot of kids are growing up in huseholds with parents who are used to watchig a lot of TV, put the TV on during meals, and leave the TV on during the day, even if anybody is watching it. Lately research shows that the “background” of television has an important possible influence on young children — maybe because of the potential to interrupt the child’s play and concentration on other activities, perhaps because it may indicate that the parent’s attention is less focused on the child, and perhaps because the content of such background television

spend more time watching than those who live in households where the TV is on half the time or TV is always or mostly on during meals, compared with those where the TV is on less often during Children who live in heavy TV households are less willing than other children to read or be read to

As noted above, the amount of time parents spend using media could be relevant to children’s media use patterns in several ways: because of children’s exposure to adult content; because competition over TVs and computers may influence which media 88

children use and whether they have them in their rooms; and because parents may model media consumption habits that influence their children.

TV at night, so their kids weren’t exposed to “adult” content. Others talked about their children interrupting them while they were trying to watch their own shows; these parents would sometimes put up with the nuisance, postpone their

using screen media at home, with those parents media use. Sixty-eight percent watch their own

common reason parents gave for putting a TV in their child’s bedroom was so the parent and other the mother of a 3-year-old from Denver noted, “I

Children whose parents spend more time watching TV and using other media are more likely to watch TV themselves. For example, children whose

try to take over the TV when I want to watch something; then he has to watch what I am watching. We fight over the TV.” Some parents

in a day are much more likely to watch TV that day than children whose parents spend less than

in the focus groups felt they could watch their own shows without it having much of an impact on their kids. For example, the mother of a 1-3 yearold girl from Irvine said: “I watch CSI .... She/he

However, they don’t spend less time than other children reading or being read to. Moreover to their own television use, many kids are also exposed to television when their parents

time while the parent was watching. “I usually don’t get to watch TV until they go to sleep because I like the science fiction horror shows, and I don’t want them to watch that.” Said mother of 1-3 year-old Denver from Colorado. Amount of time parents spend using screen media, in a typical day: In focus groups, many parents told of only watching 89

will sit down and watch with me. I don’t know how harmful it is to her. It’s sometimes gory, but it doesn’t seem to bother her. She hasn’t had any nightmares from it.” Some mothers said they monitor what’s on the family TV more closely than their husbands do. “My other problem is my husband,” said one

“He’ll watch whatever’s on. He watches things that I don’t want my son to see. The TV will be on in the living room, and my son is in the living room. My son wants to see the blood and gore. My husband doesn’t care.” Another thing that concerned some parents was children being exposed to the commercials found in non-children’s TV. “I’ve had to go into a lot

of things with my kids that I don’t want to

because of the commercials,” said the mother One positive aspect of parental media use that some mothers mentioned was the possibility that their husbands and sons could bond while playing video games. One Denver-area mom was considering getting a video game player just for that purpose:

“I think playing video games is something my husband and my son would bond over. Right now they don’t have much in common. With work and school and homework, they only get a couple of hours on the weekend.” Another mother from Irvine said that video games already

“For us it is a bonding experience. My son will watch his dad play and play with him. They bond while they are interacting.” “I don’t think media has anything to do with how I am as a parent. I would never sit her in front of the TV so I could go do something. I learned a long time ago that the dishes can wait until tomorrow. It can all wait. I’ve seen my 15-year-old grow up in the blink of an eye...I take advantage of all the time I can get.” Said mother of a 1-3 year-old child from California. TV’s effect on children There are very different effects of TV on the say that TV tends to calm their child down, while child excited. Television’s effect on children does not vary reliably with the child’s age or gender.

Children who watch mostly entertainment shows are more likely to be calmed by TV than are those

seen their child imitate some type of behavior from TV. Far more parents say their child imitates positive their child imitates aggressive behavior, like hitting old Columbus from Ohio “She was going around

kissing everyone with her mouth open. She wanted to be like Ariel and Eric.”

In focus groups, when asked to list the positives and negatives of TV for their children, many parents mentioned commercials as a negative. But when asked how many commercials their children were exposed to in a typical day, most parents seemed liked commercials and were influenced by them. There are a number of significant differences in children’s media use patterns — and in their home media environments — based on their parents’ income and education, and on their race and ethnicity. In general, children whose parents have a lower income or less formal education tend to watch more television and play more video games; they are more likely to have TVs and video game players in their bedrooms, to have parents who watch 90

more TV, and to live in homes where the TV is left on much of the time. Conversely, children with wealthier parents or those with a higher level of education tend to read more and are more likely to have used a computer. For example, children from families with incomes

Children of Hispanic parents spend less time reading

are far more likely than White or Hispanic parents to report that their children have played console from those upper-income families spend some more likely than Hispanic parents to report that children from the lower-income group. These same differential patterns occur between children whose parents have a high school education or less, as compared to children with a parent who is a college graduate. Here the differences are even more pronounced for time spent reading and for the likelihood of playing video games in a typical day, and slightly less pronounced than income differences for time spent watching TV or using a computer. And while a family’s income doesn’t predict whether there will be differences in rules about media use, parents education does: parents with a higher level of education are more likely to have rules about both TV content and time spent watching. There are also similar patterns with regard to children’s racial or ethnic backgrounds. For example, children of African American parents spend significantly more time watching TV than

and are more likely than both African American and Hispanic parents to report that their children read

Regression analyses were conducted to determine whether these patterns hold independently for each of the demographic factors — income, education, and ethnicity — or if one or the other factor were dominant. In addition, the regression analyses were designed to ensure that the age of the child was not a factor influencing the differences found by income, education, and ethnicity. The regression analyses were conducted on a subset of measures, including: hours spent watching TV in a typical day; whether the child has ever used a computer or video game; whether they are daily readers; how much time they spend reading in a typical day; whether they have a TV in their bedroom; and how often the TV is left on in the home, whether anyone is watching or not. The results indicate that each of these demographic characteristics — income, parental education, and

race — has an independent relationship with the media behaviors in question. Thus, even when controlling for a child’s age and for the family’s income and education, the parent’s race remained a significant predictor of how much time the child spent reading, watching TV, and so on. In other words, independent of a family’s income and a parent’s level of education, the general patterns for these media behaviors continue to hold, based on the family’s race and ethnicity. Likewise, those from different income and educational levels have different media behaviors, whether they are from the same racial or ethnic group or not. On the other hand, although there originally appeared to be differences in media behaviors among children from single- vs. two-parent families, those differences disappeared when controlling for parent education and family income. In other words, children from low-income homes or families with less formal education had similar behaviors whether they were from single- or two-parent families.

communications Early childhood to teenage years Young children through out the world are surrounded by opportunities to develop and use emergent literacy skills—listening, speaking, reading, and writing. These opportunities are as diverse as the language, cultures, and peoples they represent and acknowledge the many linguistic, cognitive, and socio-emotional resources available to young children in their daily lives. Opportunities found in every culture of the world include watching, listening,

and quantity play a critical role in emergent literacy skills development, which lays the foundation for adolescent and adult language use and thinking as documented in a large and robust international research base. At almost any opportunity, three-, four-, and five-year- old children will spontaneously engage in emergent literacy activities. In today’s world they have multiple opportunities to observe, explore, play with, and learn from digital media— television, DVDs, MP3s, Touch/iPhones, computers, video games, cell phones, smart toys, and the Hasebrink, Livingstone, Haddon and Olafsson, learning opportunities come at a particularly critical period in their development. Their brains are remarkably supple as neurons make and reinforce connections with almost every experience. This is a time of discovery and exploration during which they are developing a natural sense of wonder and joy about their world, as well as a time when their emergent literacy skills are beginning to develop based on their experiences and neural circuitry. Until recently, the surge in young children’s digitalmedia- based learning opportunities has drawn scant attention. Despite this interest, however, it is difficult to gauge what is actually happening, because the little that is known about the effects of digital media on emergent literacy skills development comes from educational television and computer studies, as well as from a few studies of other media Human Development Study of Early Child Care;

This lack of empirical research has been noted found â&#x20AC;&#x153;little research into early technology

experiences of children aged three to five, and how these experiences might relate to emerging literacies, or the implications for subsequent developmentâ&#x20AC;? Laerning happens automatically and naturally for these children as they hear and see language and the language and cultural practices that enable the development of emergent literacy skills. A new generation of young children is experiencing a new kind of interconnectedness in the language they see, hear, and use. For example, a young child may observe a sister talking with a friend, text. Young children are increasingly surrounded by language sculpted by digital media, and this process has implications for the way their neural circuitry

Media equipment in family homes Home access to computers and the Internet has expanded dramatically over the last two decades, and the ways children, youth, and adults use these tools are in rapid flux, as new technologies are now include not only computers, but televisions, electronic books, and other handheld devices such as music players and cell-phones. Increasingly, the lines are blurred between computers and many other types of electronic media. 93

Young people are most likely to use a computer for social networking, playing games, and watching videos. Ten percent report reading magazines or have looked up online health information. Research on the effects of home computer and Internet use on children is limited and often does not control for the presence of other potentially confounding factors. However, there is widespread concern that children may be exposed to sexually explicit, violent, and other ageinappropriate content on the Internet. Research, while inconclusive about the impact of nonviolent sexually explicit material, has consistently demonstrated that exposure to violent material desensitization to violence, increased hostility and imitation of violent behaviors, and greater anxiety and fear among children and youth. In addition, time spent with a computer may take the place of time spent exercising or being active, and may put children at risk for obesity, and eye, wrist, and back problems. There is little evidence that having a computer at home improves studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s academic performance, or narrows achievement gaps associated with race or socio-economic status. To the contrary, the available evidence suggests that widespread provision of home computers would have negative effects on academic achievement overall. Children who have access to a computer at home are defined as those living in a household with at least one computer. Some year-to-year changes in the data may be a result of changes in question

household that responded yes to the question: “Is

there a computer in this household?” the question was changed to: “Is there a personal

computer or laptop in this household?”. was: “At home, do you or any member of

this household own or use a desktop, laptop, netbook or notebook computer?”. the question was: “How many desktop, laptop, netbook, notebook, and tablet computers are there in use in this household?”. Children and youth who use the Internet at home are defined as those who answered yes to whether they access the Internet at home; question wording has Overall media use Access to computers and the internet in family households increased where there were older children. Children and young people’s access to with age, with teenagers far more likely to have these technologies than younger children. Computers were available in more than 71 per

consuming media in a typical day—an extra one The research shows that this increase can be largely attributed to widespread adoption and use of new mobile and online devices, in particular mediaenabled mobile phones and MP3 devices such as the iPod.

for iPods and MP3 players. American youth occurred on mobile devices—mobile phones, iPods or handheld video game players. to broadband internet increased from 71 per

differences in media use levels. African-American and Hispanic youth consumed 94

considerably more media than other American young peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;an average of over nine hours of media per day for African-American and Hispanic

electronic media and communications Watching television content

youth.

Most kids plug into the world of television long infants and toddlers watch a screen an average of

studies cannot be directly compared because of methodological and other differences, it is apparent that American youth consume more media content across all platforms than their Australian minutes per day of media for young Americans in

TV and videos or DVDs. However kids and teens

video games.

of discretionary time available to Australian young

Australianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s were maintaining their relationship with traditional media such as broadcast television, while at the same time embracing new media platforms including the internet, mobile phones, and personal mobile devices. Three years later, environment, including digital television switchover and adoption of media-enabled smart phones, are providing Australian youth with even more opportunities to access more media content. Future Australian studies should continue to monitor the relationship between increased access to technologies and levels of media use by young Australians. 95

for brain development. TV and other electronic media can get in the way of exploring, playing, and interacting with parents and others, which encourages learning and healthy physical and social development. As kids get older, too much screen time can interfere with activities such as being physically active, reading, doing homework, playing with friends, and spending time with family. Of course, TV in moderation can be a good thing: Preschoolers can get help learning the alphabet on public television, grade schoolers can learn about wildlife on nature shows, and parents can keep up about it â&#x20AC;&#x201D; TV can be an excellent educator and entertainer.

But there are some disadventages determined by watching too much television content: hours per day watching TV are more likely to be overweight. show aggressive behavior but also fear that the world is scary and that something bad will happen to them. TV characters often depict risky behaviors, such as smoking and drinking, and also reinforce gender-role and racial stereotypes. The research about the time spent watching TV shows that three to four-year-olds watched television for an average of one hour and 11 minutes

with the importance of communications activities such as instant messaging and social networking, as well as the popularity of playing games, clearly apparent. play games at least weekly. Parents also reported to do work for school at least weekly.

A study of infants and television in the early nineties

Computers and internet Time spent using a computer by young Americans increased from an average one hour and two computers and the internet, and the emergence of social networking and online video content.

Video and computer gaming

played on relatively low specification technology gaming platforms, including mobile devices to people who may not own an interactive television 96

or personal computer. Many young people spend a significant amount of leisure time each week playing computer games, often 7 hours or more games have become for many children the chosen Both males and females enjoy playing computer games. It has been found that males are more likely to play to impress friends and for a challenge

electronic games system for an average of around

been found ‘to perceive themselves to have peer approval for moderate amounts of game playing’ Mobile phones technologies

and

other

communications

Use of electronic communications technologies including fixed-line and mobile phones, instant messaging, and email increased dramatically once children were of high school age. females ‘prefer less aggressive and less demanding

A recent study by The Marketing Store found that

both boys and girls enjoy violent computer games. A slight tendency of girls to be more academic has been found: although boys are substantially heavier users of the internet, girls tend to use the internet more for schoolwork than boys and spend more

The reason of increasing amount of mobile phones it is to ease parents’ safety fears when their kids are out and about. However in the same time it is important to remember there’s much more to modern mobiles than just the handset. An additional survey by mobile phone insurance company, mobileinsurance.co.uk, showed that

Others found that girls use word processing and educational software rather than computer games their mobiles for, raising obvious concerns that children may be accessing unsuitable content on the internet, or being bullied via their mobiles.

using electronic communications services including text messages. There is evidence that young people’s preferences for particular communications services change as they grow older and gain greater access and competency with technologies such as mobile phones and the internet. communicate with friends using a fixed- line phone

were least likely to communicate using a landline Parents management of children’s media use Today’s children are spending an average of seven

hours a day on entertainment media, including televisions, computers, phones and other electronic devices. To help kids make wise media choices, parents should monitor their media diet. Parents can make use of established ratings systems for shows, movies and games to avoid inappropriate content, such as violence, explicit sexual content or glorified tobacco and alcohol use. Studies have shown that excessive media use can lead to attention problems, school difficulties, sleep and eating disorders, and obesity. In addition, the Internet and cell phones can provide platforms for illicit and risky behaviors. By limiting screen time and offering educational media and non-electronic formats such as books, newspapers and board games, and watching television with their children, parents can help guide their children’s media experience. Putting questionable content into context and teaching kids about advertising contributes to their media literacy. Parents can establish “screen-free” zones at home by making sure there are no televisions, computers or video games in children’s bedrooms, and by turning off the TV during dinner. Children and teens should engage with entertainment media for no more than one or two hours per day, and that should be highquality content. It is important for kids to spend time on outdoor play, reading, hobbies, and using their imaginations in free play. Television and other entertainment media should be avoided for infants rapidly during these first years, and young children learn best by interacting with people, not screens. More over rules about both television content and television timing were more often in place 98

for younger children, and declined with age. The

hour and 13 minutes per day playing video games,

about television content. Sixty-two per cent had rules about how much television their child could

was through mobile gaming devices.

about when their child could watch television rather than rules about television content. controlling their child’s viewing from a young age. All mothers said they exercised some form of

was a significant increase in the popularity of electronic gaming among Australian boys, largely due to online gaming against other players. Australian children and young people were also cent of eight to 17-year-olds reporting they had played games on a mobile phone over three diary

methods they used. These included knowing what their child liked, switching off or changing channels, monitoring preferences, discouraging random viewing, and talking about the program during viewing.

games on a hand-held device such as a PlayStation

child’s video/computer gaming . Family television enviroment Managing internet use never or only switched on if someone is watching a particular program.

Ease or difficulty for parents in managing their child’s internet use was strongly associated with their child’s age, with more parents having difficultly managing teenager’s internet use.

reported that the television is sometimes on even

be always or often on in family households with difficult to manage their child’s internet use. Managing video/computer gaming

Managing mobile phone use

for young Americans. On a typical day, eight to

Parent’s view on children’s media activities

involvement in media activities. that both Australian and American teens spend considerably more time texting than talking on their of the total time spent on mobile communications

to be less involved in media activities. A small minority of parents in both studies would be happy for their child to be more involved in media

spent talking. While levels of mobile phone ownership among high-school-aged children appear similar in both

to acquire a mobile phone earlier than Australian children. Thirty-one per cent of American eight

cent of Australian children aged nine to 11 years

Hard as it is to believe, the Internet became available to the average American less than a decade ago. Today, we still find ourselves in the process of defining cultural and societal norms for Internet and Web usage. Children are not looking to or waiting for adults to establish those norms— they are simply jumping into the fray, exploring the world of chat rooms, avatars, MP3s, and digital communication with aplomb.

“Children are native to cyberspace and we, as adults, are immigrants.” And there in lies both a challenge and an opportunity: How adults, with the least 100

experience in this milieu, provide leadership? How aldults help children use their native intelligence about technology in sophisticated, responsible ways that serve them well as they make their way in the Digital Age? Yesterday’s education is not sufficient for today’s learner. Academic excellence must be acquired within the context of today’s technological environment in order to fully prepare students to thrive in the Digital Age. the economic implications for us: “The current

and future health of America’s 21st century economy depends directly on how broadly and deeply Americans reach a new level of literacy—‘21st Century Literacy’ ”. Children now have at their fingertips a virtual world—with all its promises and pitfalls.

At school with design Young children throughout the world are surrounded by opportunities to develop and use emergent literacy skills—listening, speaking, reading, and writing. These opportunities are as diverse as the language, cultures, and peoples they represent and acknowledge the many linguistic, cognitive, and socio-emotional resources available to young children in their daily lives. Opportunities found in every culture of the world include watching, quality and quantity play a critical role in emergent literacy skills development, which lays the 101

foundation for adolescent and adult language use and thinking as documented in a large and robust

At almost any opportunity, three-, four-, and fiveyear-old children will spontaneously engage in emergent literacy activities. Today’s youngsters use laptops, pagers, instant messaging, and cell phones to connect to friends, family, experts, and others in their community and around the globe. They are bombarded with visual messages from the media — messages specifically targeted to tap into the billions in discretionary spending they control observe, explore, play with, and learn from digital media—television, DVDs, MP3s, Touch/iPhones, computers, video games, cell phones, smart toys,

These learning opportunities come at a particularly critical period in their development. Their brains are remarkably supple as neurons make and reinforce connections with almost every experience. This is a time of discovery and exploration during which they are developing a natural sense of wonder and joy about their world, as well as a time when their emergent literacy skills are beginning to develop based on their experiences and neural circuitry.

Until recently, the surge in young children’s digitalmedia-based learning opportunities has drawn scant attention. That situation is now changing

now gathers data that measures digital media use

In the last year, a comprehensive governmental separate volumes have focused on digital media and children, with one focused solely on literacy

Despite this interest, however, it is difficult to gauge what is actually happening, because the little that is known about the effects of digital media on emergent literacy skills development comes from educational television and computer studies, as well as from a few studies of other media and surveys

of empirical research has been noted, for example, found “little research into early technology

experiences of children aged three to five, [and] how these experiences might relate to emerging literacies, or the implications for subsequent development”. While almost any exposure to people and

language presents a potential emergent literacy learning opportunity, these opportunities can exist through “intentional” activities such as educational commonly through “non-intentional” activities that have no expressed learning objectives or curriculum. Young children may simply be watching, listening, and talking to others who are using digital media like Pokémon or cell phones. These lessthan-classical learning opportunities exist because adolescents and adults are now using a variety of digital media for communication and entertainment and because young children are inextricably

In this way, learning happens automatically and naturally for these children as they hear and see language and interact with those around them learning opportunities, “learning occurs either directly or unintentionally from models in one’s immediate environment. However, a vast amount of information about human values, styles of thinking and behavior patterns is gained from the extensive modeling in the symbolic environment of the mass media” means that digital media— including ubiquitous cell phone and video games—can affect emergent 102

literacy skills development. Very important question is about how digital media learning opportunities, including non-intentional opportunities such as cell phones and video games, when combined with intentional learning opportunities such as educational television or computers, may be affecting emergent literacy An understanding of this phenomenon is important, because when new digital tools and media, as well as novel combinations of old and new media, become available and commonplace, “the media

that children use and create [will be] integral to their growing sense of themselves, of the world, and of how they should interact with it” the language and cultural practices that enable the development of emergent literacy skills. A new generation of young children is experiencing a new kind of interconnectedness in the language they see, hear, and use.

Proficient reading is an essential tool for learning a large part of the subject matter taught at school. With an ever, increasing emphasis on education and literacy, more and more children and adults are needing help in learning to read, spell, express their thoughts on paper and acquire adequate use of grammar. A dyslexic child who finds the acquisition of these literacy skills difficult can also suffer a lot of anguish and trauma when they may feel mentally abused by their peers within the school environment, 103

because they have a learning difficulty. Much can be done to alleviate this by integrating the child comfortable and develop confidence and self esteem. Many of association and workshops are inventing how to facilitate life and the educational sphere place Workshop prepared by Assciation of specialists came to explain how technology can help students to maximise their potential and learn how can alleviate their déficits thanks to numerous applications that can compensate areas of weakness. equipment or technology, which either removes barriers to or helps any individual in learning. AT is not a cure for dyslexia or other specific learning differences, but does provide alternative strategies for students and adults that can increase skills and maximise an individual’s potential. AT includes a variety of devices that help provide access to learning through technology, such as text to speech, speech to text, audio books, talking pens, talking spell checkers and computer programs. These devices can be high to low tech, and free to costly. These tools compensate rather than remedy, allowing a person with learning differences to demonstrate their intelligence and knowledge. Those devices can increase a child’s self-reliance and sense of independence. The potential of digital media to build the basic understandings that ground successful reading has particular import for special educators, according to

Center for Learning Disabilities. He points out that close to three million children in the nation’s public learning disabilities are language-based and thus tend to surface as children are learning to read. “In high-poverty areas”, other children have reading difficulties that have not been classified as learning disabilities. Others say that multimedia formats do not simply sharpen visual acuity or skills. “Kids use pictures

to consolidate concepts that would otherwise elude them...,” of Michigan said. “Multiple media can be used to teach kids vocabulary words in taxonomic categories that enable them to understand not just words but also concepts, and then to infer concepts beyond those we are teaching.” coding theory posited that learners are far more when they are accompanied by referent pictures than when paired only with their pronunciations

“When you have multiple media, then you have experiences coming in multiple channels,” she observed.

e Motivating children to read is one of those challanges that every parent and teacher has to deal with these challengesand sooner or later.

“The most effective way to encourage your children to love books and reading is to read aloud to them, and the

earlier you start, the better. Even a baby of a few months can see pictures, listen to your voice, and turn cardboard pages.” Reading takes practice, so teachers are always trying to increase the amount of time children spend practicing skills and grappling with texts. Here, digital media can be powerful motivators. reinforce the neuronal connections associated with watching his daughter practice literacy skills: “The

computer would show her words and say them as many times as she wished, with more patience and repetition than I — or a teacher — would have been able to manage.” Digital media offer high production values, with exciting images, color, and movement that captivate kids. Visual appeal is even more important than many educators have realized. “Kids care a lot

about the physical world — about the way things look,” Allison Druin told us. Children appear to be motivated to read independently when text is embedded in online explorations or digital games. “An interesting recent finding,” said Donald Leu, who codirects the

“is how much kids are reading online...much more than we thought.” Funding for research on early reading and online experiences has been sparse, and some interviewees say that this needs to change. “When you use

multiple media to bootstrap children’s learning, you see gains.” 104

believes that such digital experiences can help many students, including English Language Learners, who, in the primary grades, can outperform native English-speaking beginning readers but then hit a wall around grade four when comprehension and cultural knowledge become increasingly necessary for reading success. Many experts we consulted made the point that digital adventures do not replace the real-life experiences that children share with their families and friends, real experiences crucial to children’s development. But digital adventures can certainly supplement the learning that happens in the real world, and for children who rarely leave their neighborhoods, digital experiences can help narrow what Milton Chen

commercials in the media and other promotional activities, educational and organizational Foundation Every day! - Is a wise way to spend time with the child and the best investment in the future. At the same time, the Foundation reiterates the need to control the quantity and quality of television programs and computer games, which in the life of the average modern child takes longer than a school.

disable

and supported by the Association of American Publishers. GCR encourages to order free posters, read newsletters, download free videos, and join the thousands of celebrities, booksellers, teachers and librarians who continue to embrace this campaign across the country.

Today, the education of students with disabilities appears to be “everybody’s business.” In an era of inclusion and collaboration, educators on all levels need information about the myriad ways in which technology can enhance the performance capabilities of these students, facilitate participation in instructional activities, and improve scholastic achievement. Technology and good design can support much of the effort toward curriculum access, participation and progress. Technology increases independence, personal productivity and empowerment. It can facilitate the kinds of interactions that occasion instruction, and it can transform static curriculum resources into flexible digital media and tools. In educating students with disabilities, the IEP

support the emotional health - physical, mental, and moral - children and young people through educational activities, educational, organizational, promotional and lobbying. By broadcasting

remains critically important. It details the student’s current levels of performance, sets annual goals and delineates the services, supports and ancillary aids necessary to accomplish those goals. With increasing numbers of children served in inclusive settings, the IEP is today framed more in the

the “knowledge gap.” Whatever the terminology, the key idea is that children need a wide range of experiences scaffolded by caring adults. In many countries took place some nationwide campaign to remind people of all ages how much fun it is to read. One of them, is english campaign

105

context of the school and its curricular offerings. This means that the IEP team must not only consider the disability-related needs of the student but also the settings demands of the school. Instruction occurs within a context of space and time in which teaching and learning procedures become routine. While the “I” in IEP remains paramount, IEP team members as well as other school personnel must act proactively by putting policies and practices in place that maximize the accessibility of curriculum and instructional offerings. Planning curriculum and instruction at the outset—with the widest possible range of students in mind—has the potential of reducing the time, costs and efforts associated with designing a high quality educational program for all students, especially those with disabilities.

“Digital media can be incredibly powerful, precisely because they support different path of engagement for different types of learners. Kids can enter into a media-rich experience and take away from it what is particularly compelling to them.” Wendorf predicts that products geared to helping struggling readers will proliferate because of policy changes related to eligibility for special education services.

software program enables struggling readers to read the same texts as their peers, while employing prompts, hints, exemplary answers, and immediate feedback to provide differentiated instruction and individualized support. CAST is also the developer of the first universally designed literacy program, Web site accessibility assessment tools. CAST

is currently partnering with Google to develop universal learning editions for literacy. The potential of digital media to build the basic understandings that ground successful reading has particular import for special educators, according to Center for Learning Disabilities. He points out that close to three million children in the nation’s public learning disabilities are language-based and tend to surface as children are learning to Other children have reading difficulties that not been classified as learning disabilities. “In poverty areas,” according to Wendorf, “well

thus read. have high-

over half of children in K–3 settings are considered to lag behind in their reading development.”

To be sure, special educators encounter many other challenges. “I wouldn’t want to downplay

other literacies; they’re very important,” Wendorf said. “But for a significant percentage of children, it is the core literacy development that absolutely must be front and center.” Because the supplemental support children receive often takes place outside of the classroom setting, interactive technologies have a huge role to play. Interactive technology can help kids learn how to decode, comprehend more effectively, and build vocabulary. Digital-based materials, when designed well, may also be particularly well-suited to providing more opportunities for engagement and understanding. Said Margaret Honey of Wireless Generation, “Digital media can be incredibly

powerful, precisely because they support different path for different types of learners. 106

Kids can enter into a media-rich experience and take away from it what is particularly compelling to them.” Wendorf predicts that products geared to helping struggling readers will proliferate because of policy changes related to eligibility for special education services. Technology-related professional development is especially crucial for teachers who are responsible for meeting learners’ special needs. Researchers say that multimedia projects can powerfully motivate students with disabilities — if classroom teachers are clear and intentional about what they are trying to achieve and how digital media can help The mission of the Center for Applied Special opportunities for all learners, especially those with special needs, through Universal Design for Learning versatility of digital media to reach all learners by offering multiple means of representation to give students various ways of acquiring information; multiple means of expression to give students many ways to demonstrate what they know; and multiple means of engagement to leverage students’ self-motivation to learn. This is often achieved by employing digital media. One result of CAST’s research is the Thinking upper elementary and middle school students that exemplifies the principles of UDL. This software program enables struggling readers to read the same texts as their peers, while employing prompts, hints, exemplary answers, and immediate 107

feedback to provide differentiated instruction and individualized support. CAST is also the developer of the first universally designed literacy program, Web site accessibility assessment tools. CAST is currently partnering with Google to develop universal learning editions for literacy. Another solution to make for disable children better world is “Moms With Apps”, which was spearheaded by four moms who were developing family-friendly apps and connected over Twitter brainstorming session on cross-marketing soon grew into a much larger and more diverse collaboration of developers. Apart from playing an instrumental role in the assessment and remedial cycle, technology can help in the following ways: - E-learning can be used to train teachers on how to identify children at risk, and provide them standardized teaching strategies and classroom management techniques to support children with learning problems. - Databases can help doctors, psychologists and special educators to store students’ history, records, test scores as well as provide statistical data such as average age of detection, male vs female ratio, demographic data on which states, nationalities the condition is more prevalent. - Websites are being used to create awareness and build communities and support groups bringing together different stakeholders including children, parents, doctors and educators. - Assistive devices such as calculators, touch

monitors, digital pens etc. help children and adults with LD keep up with daily tasks even in some cases if remediation is not possible

discussed study that found that playing video games, like taking cocaine, is associated with sharp

safely

issued a report on the effects of video games

Public concern about children’s immersion in digital media, especially action games, tends to focus more on their social-emotional development and overall well-being than on their cognitive growth. “The question we have to ask ourselves,” said Donald Shifrin, co-chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Council on Communications and Media, is “Are kids too wired, too often, for too long?” Shifrin is concerned that risks associated with young children’s unmonitored Internet use, including sexuality, predators, violence, cyber bullying, and gambling, can adversely affect their The American Academy of Pediatrics also suggests limiting the time children spend with digital media. Many adults are impressed by the power of digital media to grab and hold the attention of children who are otherwise hard to engage. They are eager to take advantage of technologies that motivate children to read large chunks of instructional or narrative text, think through complex strategies, and sustain effort despite obstacles. But where is the line between intense engagement and overstimulation or addiction? Such concerns are

Data can be found that justify as well as alleviate

about their overuse. The AMA report stated that

“dependence-like behaviors are more likely in children who start playing video games at younger ages.” The report cited research estimating that in the United States, “anywhere from a small minority to resisted pressure to call heavy gaming an addictive behavior, concluding that “there is currently

insufficient research to definitively conclude that video game overuse is an addiction” response to contradictions among existing studies of the impact of video games. The AMA report also pointed to potential benefits of video and virtual-reality games, reporting that digital learning games, when used effectively, can play a role in helping children manage diabetes and asthma and alleviating some phobias. Game designer who spent time playing a game called Re-Mission. Players “enter” a cancer patient’s bloodstream to see what is going on and blast cancer cells with drugs. that, compared with a control group, those who spent time playing the game were more likely to 108

adhere to treatment regimens and therefore had, on average, higher levels of the prescribed drugs in

There are many programms like TrueCare, which does not involve spying on kids or invading their privacy; instead, TrueCare is a collaborative Internet-based tool that allows parents to connect with children and protect them against potential online dangers. Activity on social media websites like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter can lead to cyber bullying, communication with sexual predators or even selfdestructive behavior. TrueCare helps reduce these online risks. Another four following Applications are can help tackle that challeng: regulate and monitor the way the Internet is used on a device. Like other parental control of Internet usage on the computer. It also posible to control access times and block certain sites. To protect kids from the sites you have not specifically blocked, this app also includes a filter that restricts access to sites based on URL keywords. “Family Safety” is the default parental control seperate accounts for children on the device. To create the, just it is necessery to check the box saying that the account belongs to a child. From there, it is possible to set up restrictions on the account, including web filtering, time limits, and app restrictions. 109

“CyberPatrol” includes basic tools for blocking undesirable websites and keeping track of what happens on Internet connection. It goes a step further, though. Teenagers will balk at being under the same Internet yoke as parent’s elementary school aged children, and parents so not have to force the issue. CyberPatrol lets to choose which restrictions apply to certain age groups so everyone is browsing the Internet in a way that fits their level of maturity. The “Minormonitor app” is a great application for Macs and PCs that aim specifically to safeguard your children from the dangers inherent in social media, particularly Facebook and Twitter. This free app lets you know when your child adds a new friend with few or no mutual friends. It also keeps track of your children’s activities, such as shared photos, status updates, and private messages. “App Friday”, allow parents and teachers to view demo videos to ensure apps are suitable for their children before downloading.

and cultures An obvious but often overlooked feature of the world today is that it is global, and this fact presents challenges to an educational system that has historically downplayed the importance of international content. In recent years, many

Geographic Society, and the Committee for Economic Development, have called upon U.S. policy-makers and educators to respond to this have undertaken complementary research showing that our high school and college students are ignorant of the most basic facts of world geography and politics. Only a small minority many failed to identify the Pacific Ocean as the

These groups have made substantial progress in recent years in enlarging the definition of education to include knowledge of other world regions, languages, and cultures. Vivien Stewart, Asia Society’s vice president of education, made this case forcefully. She pointed out that global literacy has generally been seen as an issue for the high school curriculum, while prejudices solidify much earlier, and therefore years. Stewart stressed the potential of digital media to accelerate progress in this sphere. “We

have effective practices for teaching reading and math,” she said. “We just don’t use them consistently or well enough. That’s not true in the realm of global literacy. That’s where I see the greatest potential for digital media. That’s where their intrinsic strengths — universality, connectivity, powerful visual imagery — can really pay off.” For this to happen, Stewart says, educators need a

broader understanding of global literacy. Traditional global literacy includes world geography, world history, and sometimes one or more foreign languages. But today, almost every current issue has a global dimension, and to grasp such issues fully requires students to learn innumerable facts not covered in the classroom. Thus the field is wide open for technological solutions. Stewart envisions applications that use many modalities. “Games and

Internet-based exchanges can be effective,” she says, “but they need to be tailored to meet each need and each audience.” She suggests that elementary school children’s natural interest in cultural stories and family traditions may be advanced through strong literacy experiences, perhaps facilitated with digital technologies. In the realm of foreign language learning, digital technology offers important tools. Today, only half of our nation’s high school students study a foreign language. The vast majority of those who introductory course. Interest in Chinese and Arabic For all of these reasons, digital media are important tools for foreign-language learning. Some designers have created multimedia, immersive languagelearning environments that motivate students by giving them roles in an unfolding story and letting them move through authentically depicted settings Children need to know how and they need to know what. But in an interconnected world, they also need to be able to know with. Today’s children are growing up at a time when knowledge development is a team sport. 110

communities Today children need to know how and they need to know what. But in an interconnected world, they also need to be able to know with. Participatory knowledge development is at the heart of the generated Web sites and content dominate. In this setting, children need to master not only the tools that allow collaborative exploration or invention but also the social and communication skills needed to respond to and improve on others’ ideas, designs, or creations. They need the cultural sensitivity to share insights with people who come from other backgrounds and experiences. And, as they engage with others in group interpretation, they need to negotiate shared understandings and problem-solving strategies. Today’s elementary school children are growing up at a time when knowledge development is a team sport. The process is increasingly participatory, democratic, and resistant to external control. For participants, this can be both empowering and confusing. Participatory knowledge tools tap the experience of countless people with many kinds of experience, factoring their insights and beliefs into the process and the result. They allow participants to engage in real-time collaboration and to coconstruct solutions to problems. At the same time, they compound the problems of credibility that can already be overwhelming in an interconnected world. The anonymity of online collaboration can also create problems of safety and security. The tools that facilitate participation are fast111

proliferating. Learners can take part in threaded discussions, contributing ideas or taking the conversation off in a new direction at any time. They can visit multiuser virtual environments that let people explore virtual worlds together and collaboratively create new understandings based on their experiences. Children can contribute to a Wiki, a collaborative Web site, perpetually in process, that combines the work of many authors and allows users to edit, delete, or modify content provided by previous contributors. Learners can also share their online explorations with others using social bookmarking — an online mechanism that allows users to save links to Web pages that they want to remember or share. To the surprise of many adults, elementary-age children are increasingly involved in building online communities themeselves. On popular Web sites, starring their favorite television characters. They are also immersing themselves in complex virtual worlds such as Whyville, Webkinz, and Club Penguin. The trend appears to have great momentum, and adults interested in children’s healthy development and learning should be working to make online experiences safe and meaningful for children. Many educators say that digital collaboration prepares children to participate in learning communities. In the adult world, they are known as communities of practice, meaning groups of individuals who share a common way of knowing and

understandings but also shared values. The group

but the participants share more than membership cards from the same professional associations or a predilection for scouring the same Web sites. They share an epistemic frame: that is, ideas about the kinds of problems that are worth solving, the kind of knowledge that matters most, and the kinds of processes that are likely to yield desired results. They share assumptions about what counts as evidence. Educators today often talk about the importance of teaching children to “think like” scientists or “think like” artists. This does not mean training elementary school children for these careers; rather, they want children to experience being part of a community of practice, to know that different communities of practice may have different ideas about what constitutes an important question or a good answer. Educators also believe that “thinking with” provides a meaningful approach to multiculturalism. By thinking about how individuals and groups know what they know, children can gain deeper insights into cultural diversity. They explore and gain insight into how cultural assumptions, frames of reference, perspectives, and biases influence how knowledge

Invent, create and design alone with others Invent, create, and design — alone and with others As children take part in collaborative processes, they can try out many different roles: peers, novices, leaders, writers, editors, scientists,

and critical friends. Many of the experts we interviewed say that the most important identities they can experience using digital tools are those of designers, creators, and inventors. As Margaret Honey observed, “America’s future lies in abilities

that are neither ‘offshorable’ nor the realm of the machine: inventing and creating.” As journalist Thomas Friedman has stressed, ingenuity has long been a key to our nation’s prosperity. We part, on individual thinkers’ flashes of brilliance; but those flashes would have soon dimmed if we had not built collaborative structures that allow groups of people to refine and build on those insights or inventions. Mitchel Resnick wants to of drawing meaning from information, with the “Creative Society.” Resnick believes that “success in the future will be based not on how much we know but on our ability to think and act creatively” How does a society teach its children to dream? How do we prepare them to invent together? Some experts believe that in our efforts to define learning standards and assure accountability, we are neglecting children’s imaginative lives. Gee and Shaffer have written of a coming crisis in education:

“Young people in the United States today are being prepared — in school and at home — for “commodity jobs” in a world that will, very soon, only reward people who can do “innovative work” and punish those who can’t”

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Others believe that the kids are way ahead of the adults who design their educational experiences. As Ellen Wartella of the University of California at Riverside remarked, “The social network explosion is an entrée into creating. Right now we don’t understand it — we’re just observing the phenomenon.” According to Ellen Meier, “Kids are

doing inventive things with technology and media all the time. And in schools we say: Turn it off, put it away, and don’t do it here.” To be sure, in schools across the nation, many children and teachers are experimenting with digital media. Some are taking advantage of digital media to imagine, invent, or develop what-if scenarios. Learning from students, some teachers are encouraging multimedia authoring projects, one-fifth said that they considered multimedia authoring programs to be essential for teaching Those teachers who do encourage students to invent together meet steep obstacles. These

undervalue invention and leave little class time for

contribute to real world literacy Examine whether the skills children learn from 113

digital games or social Web sites are transferable to the real world. In addition, examine whether they learn facts of history, literature, or science that they can use to support an argument. Children learn wherever they are. These days, they are also likely to experience digital media wherever they are. Educators and parents need to know more about how children learn in different settings, and they need effective strategies for bridging the learning that takes place in classrooms, afterschool programs, libraries, and homes. As we interviewed leaders across a number of fields — including reading, special education, educational technology, neuroscience, game design, the communications industry, and government — two different approaches to digital learning emerged. One focused on the informal learning that occurs in homes and communities, seeing change as coming primarily from outside of schools. Proponents were excited by the boundless possibilities presented by interactive, mobile devices, as well as by technologies embedded in the many settings where children live and learn. They saw today’s school-based computer labs and technology resources as limited and transient, and called for new ways of thinking about learning and teaching. The other approach focused on the formal learning that takes place inside schools. These leaders urgently sought strategies for building schools’ capacities to support struggling learners. They wanted to see powerful content, with high production values, for the technologies that schools already own or will soon own, along with efforts to strengthen professional development for

teachers. They understood that outside of school, many children encounter more sophisticated technologies and challenging applications than they find in their classrooms, but out of concern for equity, believed that schools should be the locus of efforts to accelerate learning with digital Teachers College put it this way: “Obviously, rich

learning can take place outside of school, but until we get it right within schools, we won’t have equality of opportunity. If we focus primarily on spreading opportunities outside of schools, we will advantage the advantaged, and they will be the ones who will continue to produce and consume in our society. So there is a strong equity rationale for working through schooling.” What will it take to create a vision of digital learning that encompasses both in-school and out-of-school settings? A logical starting place may be the bringing together of policy-makers and researchers from diverse fields who are deeply interested in children and share the hope that digital media can accelerate learning but approach this goal from markedly different standpoints. digital learning, we need to know more about the children doing the learning. Said Margaret Honey of Wireless Generation, “We tend to

paint divergent portraits of the children we’re trying to educate. On the one hand, we talk about tech-savvy, digital natives, and, on the other, schools struggle to address the achievement gap and educate all students to higher standards. We need to develop a

much more articulated understanding of the relationship between digital competencies and foundational skills, and carefully examine how these skills relate to a child’s socioeconomic background.” The assumption is that one set of kids is techWebkinz, and Wikipedia, and, when it comes to digital tools, leave most adults in the dust. When we think about these children, the challenge is about making our classrooms places where kids can use the same kinds of tools they are routinely using in the rest of their lives. The other set of — the ones whose scores must rise for schools to reach their Annual Yearly Progress targets. We have myths about these children too. We assume that they do not read outside of school, that they need to spend every moment practicing basic skills, and that they can ill afford to spend time with technology. We need a much better understanding of their interests and needs as well. To be sure, there are more and less tech-savvy children; there are kids with stronger and weaker reading skills and academic records. But the reality is that most of these children are immersed in digital media. They are playing games or spending hours online. The great majority are in schools that are connected to the Internet. The old digital divide remains, while a new digital divide is gradually coming into focus.

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of the Internet as a great medium for learning, and the need for it to be introduced to students as an educational resource One of the first researchers to write about the possible effects of the Internet on literacy discussions on intentional and non-intentional learning opportunities available on the Internet. Although these discussions have not focused on emergent literacy per se, they have offered compelling evidence that unprecedented changes in literacy development and practices are taking place as a result of the Internet. Although there is still no empirical research on the effects of the Internet on emergent literacy skills development, numerous online intentional and non-intentional learning opportunities exist in the major languages of the world. A Google search reveals many intentional learning intentional programs such as games designed for young children. Many feature structured curricula and carefully designed activities for young children The widespread Internet availability in developed nations means that intentional learning sites for young children hosted in these nations can contain multiple languages from developing and least-developed nations. Sesame Street Workshop recently launched Panwapa World, an international, multilingual site for young children four to seven 115

years old that follows six characters on an island that floats around the world visiting other nations. The site offers access in English, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, and Arabic. The International Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a free, online childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s literature library with reading in the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s children and to help them understand and respect diverse cultures, languages, and ideas through literature. The web site also contains theme-based activities for teachers and parents. As discussed, many children also access emergent literacy opportunities simply by watching and listening as others use the Internet. Intentional and non-intentional Internet learning opportunities for children in developing and least- developed nations are not possible without Internet portals and access, which are increasing in number. The two largest Internet user nations are China and India, and the number of portals and access points beginning low-cost, wireless, Internet penetration in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, the Philippines, billion subscribers within five years. Since computers of some kind are also required, a recent development of interest is the availability of low-cost computers with Internet capabilities. developed a laptop with Internet capability. The mission is to ensure that all school-age children in the world have access to a personal laptop with Internet access and to ensure free and widespread

use. OLPC has worked with schools, teachers, and children in Haiti, Ethiopia, Mongolia, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, and Rwanda. Other efforts to develop low-cost Internet-capable computers have come from Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, and Microsoft. As mentioned earlier, there are several Internetcapable netbook computers now available for young children. Also noteworthy is an effort by called Connect the World, which uses publicprivate partnerships to provide low-cost laptops for children in least-developed nations. service portal and access arena. In Indonesia, a nonthe goal of providing all villages with community that Internet access in poor rural areas can lead to improvements in health, learning, and economic development. SARI is a project of IIT-Madras, Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Harvard University Law School, the I-Gyan Foundation, and n-Logue Communications. The pilot phase provided ensuring watching, listening, and non-intentional learning opportunities for many young children.

Today’s children are using multiple applications and platforms, often at the same time. They are

becoming adept at cutting and pasting, not only texts but also ideas, images, musical compositions, literary works, video clips, and other content. Many are learning the art of mash-up — a hip-hop music term that describes the process of mixing data from two or more sources into an integrated experience. With digital tools, users take things apart and put them together in new, ever more ingenious ways. encyclopedia entries, remix stories or novels into new multimedia forms, and reassemble elements of other people’s designs into new creations. In the new century, children must be able to follow a line of reasoning or a storyline across multiple media or platforms. But the challenges extend well beyond making sense of remixed content. Electronic networking has also led to the unbundling of institutions, bodies of knowledge, and even the concept of self. Children are prompted to try out multiple identities, sometimes anonymously. It can be challenging, in this context, for children to experience authenticity and coherence in their learning experiences. For parents and teachers, helping children recognize and meet this challenge may be the most difficult task of all. A number of experts pointed the way toward narrative as a way of knowing that helps children organize disparate experiences and data, giving them a sense of coherence. As Ellen Meier put it, “Kids are drawn

by striking visual images, color, and action — they certainly are part of the appeal of digital media. But what kids are always trying to do is make meaning of the action. Kids are always looking for a storyline. The most compelling digital media are built around stories.” 116

Stories provide a sense of direction. Most often, they have a beginning, middle, and end. Of course, the advent of hypertext has exploded assumptions about sequencing, but even when there are multiple pathways through a story, narrative asks children to grapple with notions of ordering that can help them organize their thinking. Stories also bring focus to remixed or seemingly chaotic productions by grounding them in emotion. They help students find wholeness in a remix world. As Jerome Bruner has written, narrative is “an organizing principle

by which people organize their experience in, knowledge about, and transactions with the social world” Game designers understand this principle, and the most popular online games and simulations are built the secret behind what digital learning experts or exploring virtual worlds gain competence and knowledge as a by-product of their involvement in the storyline. In this sense, game designers may have a great deal to offer other curriculum designers. According to Bruner, schools traditionally favor logical, scientific thinking, and treat the decoration, not necessity. And yet, as Bruner points out, “It is only in the narrative mode that one

can construct an identity and find a place in one’s culture. Schools must cultivate it, nurture it, and cease taking it for granted”

Over the last two decades, most school districts 117

have made significant investments in computer hardware and software. Today’s public schools are better equipped and better connected than ever

classrooms have several desktop computers, laptop carts have become more common, and many schools have broadband and/or wireless Internet connections. This represents significant change, but we know more about the presence of the machines than about whether or how they are used. According to the U.S. Department of Education, “Despite regular

reports of increasing school-level access to computers and technology, little nationallevel data is available on teacher opinions regarding the availability and usefulness of the technology in their classrooms”

and elementary teachers agreed that computers and other technology were sufficiently available in their classrooms. The findings raised a number of questions about teachers’ attitudes toward and readiness to take advantage of computer-based technologies. The survey found, for example, in their classrooms for students to use agreed with the statement that classroom technology

Given the demonstrated power of digital media to

engage children and expand their horizons, why would so many teachers be satisfied with few or no computers in their classrooms? The reasons are complex, educational leaders say. A key factor is public schools’ focus on meeting learning standards and demonstrating progress in doing so. The more engaging tools and programs are not currently aligned with these standards. In addition, educational technologists say that it has been especially difficult to integrate technology into elementary school classrooms, despite the availability of good applications and tools for younger children. The problem lies elsewhere: Middle and high school students often use digital media in computer labs or technology centers; in the primary grades, children generally stay in one room. “In a really good elementary classroom,” said Jim Pollard of Intel’s Education Group, “the

teacher is continually adjusting activities to kids’ emerging interests and needs. There’s an organic flow. Technology can be disruptive in that environment. You have to stop and turn on the machine, and in elementary schools that’s almost always problematic. The network may be slow, or you need to reboot.” Pollard predicts that the movement toward one-on-one change the paradigm. “The computer would no longer be an event,” he said. “It could be much

better integrated.”

have seen, from their early years, children from all socioeconomic strata spend a great deal of time with digital media. Shadowing kids in and out of school can be an eye-opening experience for researchers, said Douglas Hartman of the University of Connecticut. “In school, even though the kids

I studied could read, they chose not to. Out of school and online, they were voracious readers and writers.” Online or in their bedrooms, kids are involved in games that revolve around multifaceted narratives and involve complex rules. These games can be very challenging — what one educator has called “hard fun”. A number of experts have observed that, at times in the realm of reading and math, pop culture demands more of our children than schools do. One often-used example is the Japanese video

“You need to know your chances of winning when you’re up against a particular character. Kids can master this concept long before probability is introduced into the school curriculum.” In addition, mastering the Pokémon trading card system also means mastering a sophisticated vocabulary, including such terms as holographic, evolution, whirlpool, swagger, magnetic, and so forth. “Pokémon cards are more challenging

than many fourth-grade textbooks, though no one is taking this seriously,” said Henry Jenkins of MIT.

Today, three quarters of American homes have Schools have certainly made progress in acquiring 118

and linking educational technologies, but the likelihood that children will benefit from digital media continues to depend a great deal on their ZIP code. Teachers need better access to technology as well as the professional development needed to use it well, but barriers to equity are not only about access. “The digital divide didn’t pan out quite as expected,” said James Paul Gee of Arizona State University. Access is just one barrier, but another is competing priorities. In low-performing schools where the pressure to improve scores is most intense, teachers are less likely to invest in technology. Further, as the International Society

even when computers are available, teachers are less likely to value technology as an instructional tool since the activities it makes possible are not generally aligned with the kinds of mastery that high-stakes tests assess. Moreover, in a policy framework that emphasizes standards and accountability and places a premium on improved test scores, funding for technology is often hard to come by. of La Raza emphasized, children in low-income communities remain less likely than their betteroff peers to have computers and Internet access at home. Schools can sometimes help to fill the gap by making computers available in their libraries or afterschool programs, but in many cases principals eager to protect the school’s investment lock up the computers during nonschool hours, when 119

students have the most free time to use them. For all of these reasons, more must be done to overcome the old digital divide — the one that is mostly about access and use of computers in schools. But at the same time, educational decision-makers need to focus on a new digital divide that comes from disparities in the kinds of scaffolding children receive from adults to support basic literacy and the use of new digital tools.

Circuitry and software are only part of a larger learning system enabled by new technologies. That learning system includes the people whose conversation and advice support digital learning scaffolding is an indispensable element in that learning system. Many parents and teachers are surprised by children’s need for adult support because they feel so strongly that in the realm of technology, kids are way ahead of them. Experts in educational technology may have unintentionally promoted this idea by popularizing the distinction between

using digital media but generally do so more slowly

Play is an essential element in children life, which unstructured methodology to address curiosity

and initiates play. At the end of the play, children learn about themselves and others. Learning will be painless when itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s executed through play. The is very effective in this natural learning. This varied cognitive development follows the cyclic pattern which is defined through Learn, Explore, Experiment However the recent concern from the researches pinpoints the lack of interaction between children Through the structured methodology these toys to bridge the gap. In this paper, Morphological Resources in the form of dimensions and its options. When the Children play, boundless energy and imagination is shown. During the play children understand that the surrounding is a diversified

explore the possibilities for he deep understanding. This Exploration allows them to Experiment where they would like to test and observe the results. Experimentation allows the children to understand go to and fro in Exploration and Experimentation to gain the deepest understanding. Children will be motivated to become creative and innovative during the continuous Exploration and Experimentation. With the collective experience the child finally ends up in Contribution. Contribution results in newer invention, which is for the betterment. The child must have crossed the child phase by the time they enter into effective Contribution. The strong foundation of Learn, Explore and Experiment will support for the effective Contribution as the child grows. become more informed, engage all their sensesof perception. Research has proven that exposure to green outdoor setting helps to reduce symptoms

Resources provide inspiration, motivation, materials play the children become sensitized, imaginative and develop the ability to create and learn. With the high curiosity index, children enjoy the newer things and the learning curve will start. Learning is a continuous process for a child and starts from

robbed of a very essential part of childhood: of connecting on a one-to-one basis with nature. One of the ways to overcome this gap is by mapping the

how young, children enter to play. As they play freely, they use what they already know and augment it, challenge it, build on it, and reaffirm it. As they rebuild their learning, they Explore

in one or the many ways. With the help of such toys, the child should understand the linkages and the learning should support the children for the required development. Before toy design itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important to understand the unique propositions with respect to LEEC cycle, along with the current status of the children.

peripheral Learning, Exploration stage is initiated. They begin to poke, prod, pour, pound, pinch, and

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Our daily work as designers is motivated by a very defined idea of play, the one that considers imagination and fantasy as a very important tool for children development. For imagination we mean the unique capacity to observe, interpret and reinvent reality that every child has as an innate designer and creativity theoretician Bruno Munari imagination is the ability to visualize what fantasy and invention create in a person’s mind. Without a guide for this powerful tool, the child will not fully develop his imagination and lose the chance to get consciousness of it. An adult with a good creative education will not have to be an artist of course, as Munari wrote,

“a mature imagination will mightly help his self confidence and increase his capacity of problem solving and make decisions even in the case of unforeseen situations.” This involves the work environment as well as interpersonal relationships. Designer is in charge to provide imagination to the child is wrong, our role is to create an environment to let imagination grow and to help children to familiarize with it, in order to give them confidence in its use in every circumstance. Creating powerful learning tools, thanks to all media devices and technology is a very wide and full of possibilities field. Circuitry and software are only part of a larger learning system enabled by new technologies. That learning system includes the people whose conversation and advice support digital learning as well as the machines that make 121

say that adult scaffolding is an indispensable element in that learning system.

proposed the idea of the “Dynabook”, a device through which children could not only have access to digital media and content, but also the power and ability to manipulate and control the content creatively. Today’s ebook-reader efforts draws inspiration largely from his work, as well as work done by the Seymour Papert and others. In his Powerful Ideas, Seymour Papert introduced the concept of microworlds – simulated environments with idealized conditions where children can programmatically conduct experiments. Example of a microworld include a computer simulated hold perfectly, and children can try out various experiments without having to deal with realworld factors such as friction, atmospheric windresistance, etc. For this particular micro-world, Papert suggested modifying the familiar Logo turtle to become a “dynaturtle”, with additional properties such as velocity and acceleration. These dynaturtles could then be controlled by children to get an intuitive and more relevant understanding Digital technology has provided us with the tools and means to redefine not only the processes of publishing and distributing books, but also the entire concept of reading. It is important that we

utilize this opportunity to the fullest, and perhaps children could be the greatest beneficiary of this change. As with traditional books, the largest amount of innovation and “deviation from the norm” has happened with childrens’ books, and hopefully, in the new age of ebooks, this trend will continue. While the features and possibilities mentioned above are the ones that evoke the most interest, to ensure the best possible reading experience for our young users, there are a number of other “standard” features that need to be taken care of as well. These features address real world challenges, which include issues like availability of power, network connectivity levels, language support, etc. I will describe in short, some of the most pressing issues that our deployments face, and how our ebook-reader software stack tries to work around them. The past years has witnessed an explosion in the

Even more general-purpose devices have not been spared from the ebook wave, a phenomena illustrated by the fact that ebook related software

format with their new movable type technology, with painstakingly hand-drawn illuminated decorations, etc. This trend of mimicking the old, along with certain limitations of current screens, comparatively slow UI response times, possibilities offered by the digital medium. At One Laptop Per Child and Sugarlabs, while working on implementing a book-reader system, we have been exploring these new possibilities in parallel with our usual engineering efforts. The initial iterations of our work have already reached more than a million children in 31 countries all over the world. Perhaps the most obvious components whose inclusion is made possible as a book becomes an ebook are video and audio. Instead of static images, a page in an ebook can contain audio-visual elements, coming alive either automatically, or manipulate-able via simple controls embedded in the page. This simple feature alone could make a world of difference in the reading experience and is the first step towards the next form of ebooks. There were varying results regarding eBooks’ support of students’ reading motivation and engagement in current research studies. For example, Jones and

category in the iPhone App Store. However, with the dominating trend seems to be an attempt to mimic the traditional ink and paper book as closely as possible. This is not unexpected, and to many, this may seem like a repetition of a process Johannes Gutenberg and his contemporaries tried to meticulously mimic the older handwritten book

no impact on the enjoyment the students perceived from the storyline in their study of twenty-two third grade students in the southeast part of the United States. Eleven boys and eleven girls were given satisfaction surveys and comprehension tests during three reading lessons, one lesson using a traditional print book and two lessons using an eBook. Overall, the students showed no preference 122

for reading the books in either format. They did find that students prefer to have a choice in reading material and that format was not an important factor in students’ reading engagement. Students’ connection with the story’s characters and settings was the key factor in reading engagement and motivation. Student choice rather than format impacted reading engagement and comprehension. comprehension, confirmed this study and found no significant differences between print and eBooks’ effect on student motivation.

books. found that reading eBooks on an Ipad increased a fifth grade student’s engagement and attention enough to be able to increase his reading level by one grade in both word recognition and comprehension in six weeks’ time. This case study was done on a fifth grade boy with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder who was reading at a second grade level. The child had always been tutored in reading, but for six weeks, the print book that he normally read during lessons was replaced with an eBook. He went from a second grade reading for comprehension on the third grade tests. The test subject had previously been unable to hold his attention during previous tutoring sessions and the eBook was what seemed to have made the difference in holding his attention enough to learn to read. The researchers also noted that his use of the iPad for reading also improved his attitude and motivation toward learning and school in general.

storybooks had on first grade students’ reading motivation and listening comprehension and found that eBooks did have an influence on student motivation and engagement. She studied six students in Canada who were recruited through convenience sampling. She conducted twelve sessions with the students over a three month period. A pre and post comprehension test and a reading motivation questionnaire were given before and after the sessions. All of the participants increased their comprehension scores at the end of the program and really enjoyed reading the eBooks. The students especially liked the interactive features of the eBooks, such as the narration and highlighted or moving words. Ciapma found that the interactive features helped to hold the students’ attention without being distracted by the external environment. The automatic feedback the students’ received from the book also added to their reading enjoyment. In this study, as opposed

university centers, etc. have taken interest in digital tools and media respect to young children.

preferred reading electronic books over printed

Several

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Clearly, more research is needed on the topic of eBooks’ support of student reading motivation and engagement. The studies may continue to have mixed results regarding motivation and enjoyment because the topic is so subjective and may be an issue of personal taste.

organizations,

including

non-profits,

foundations, university centers, corporations, and

Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop

interest in digital tools and media with respect to young children in developed nations, and some are beginning to show an interest in their impact on children in developing and least-developed nations. These organizations include the Henry J.

The Joan Ganz Cooney Center supports research on digital media to advance children’s learning.

at Sesame Workshop; John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Esmée Fairbairn Foundation; International Clearinghouse on Children, Youth and Media; the Pearson Foundation; and the BBC World Service Trust. A sample of these efforts is reviewed below. Historically, this foundation has supported projects in the areas of child and family health. In the last few years, however, the foundation has begun to support research on the effects of digital media on young children. Although they have focused on of interest. Electronic media in the lives of infants and role of media in the lives of American children aged six months to six years and is one of the earliest reports to include children under two years of age. The findings indicated immersion in digital media by

percent can load a CD-ROM by themselves.

practitioners and researchers in today’s educational landscape where children are immersed in digital media opportunities. The report covers children in the elementary school age group, interviewing concluding that there are broad challenges facing digital media and learning. According to author Rima Shore, “most of the important questions

about the impact of interactive digital media on children’s development have yet to be answered,” and “sustained research within and across diverse disciplines is needed to shed light on the potential benefits and risks of digital media for children of different ages, backgrounds, and learning profiles”. D is for Digital: An analysis of the children’s interactive media environment with a focus on mass of children ages. The report confirmed other data that show increased and earlier use of digital media by children, as well as noting that parents “accept that children have become digital media consumers, with a majority believing that video games are a positive part of their children’s lives”. It recommends the development of educational video games and eWeb/toy hybrids, capitalizing on the popularity of virtual worlds and creating standards to evaluate products that are marketed 124

as educational

other foundation efforts have not focused on early childhood or developing or least-developed

Pockets of potential: Using mobile technologies chronicles the use of mobile technologies by children across the world and offers a list of opportunities, challenges, and goals for their effective use as learning tools, both inside and outside of formal school settings. The report notes five significant challenges—negative aspects of mobile learning, cultural norms and attitudes, a lack of theory on mobile learning, differentiated access and technology, and limiting physical attributes of the technologies. Ready to Learn Initiative, studied family use of cell phones to help three- and four-year-old children learn letters and the alphabet song. Investing in digital play to advance children’s promise: Transforming learning with innovative uses on using digital play to advance children’s learning about health as well as emerging uses of digital media to enhance learning. MacArthur Foundation, Center on Media and Learning The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is one of the most prolific private providers of educational grants in the United States. The determine how digital media are changing the way young people learn, play, socialize, and participate in civil life. To date, however, the initiative and 125

Confronting the challenges of participatory can meet the digital literacy challenges. Living and learning with new media: Summary of findings from one of the foundation’s digital media and learning initiatives, the Digital Youth Project, that began in found that older children and adolescents used digital media to extend friendships and interests as well as for self-directed and peer learning. In the Internet Project to document the widespread and diverse use of video games and the often overlooked advantages of gaming such as increased social engagement. The foundation has also partnered document how digital media changed learning for ten young people, and supported the GoodPlay Project at Harvard University, which studies ethical and socially productive ways young people ages other online communities. The foundation also collaborates with the Cooney Center on The Global programs designed to support teenagers in thinking critically about the role of digital media in their lives, promote constructive use of new media forms, and document experiences. The initiative uses contests, online dialogues, a virtual world, podcasts, a blog, and other venues to gather valuable input

from young people about their relationship with foundation has not sponsored studies focused solely on very young children, these efforts do provide valuable information about the digital media environments that surround preschoolers as they develop emergent literacy skills.

community support programs around the world through its philanthropic efforts, including literacy programs for young people and professional development training for educators throughout developing and least developed nations. These programs include the Foundation’s own We Give

Esmée Fairbairn Foundation The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation is one of the largest

programs, as well as innovative partnerships with non-profits including Jumpstart, Booktime, Room to Read, and the Jane Goodall Institute.

supporting cultural life, education, and the natural environment and helping disadvantaged people participate more fully in society. The Digital

its literacy efforts to include digital literacy as well. The program, which has served more than

of popular culture, media, and new technologies This report was one of the earliest to recognize the degree that digital media other than television International Clearinghouse on Children, Youth and Media Góteborg University, the Clearinghouse’s web site is a must-bookmark for anyone interested in research on children and media. The goal is to increase awareness and knowledge about children, youth, and media, offering perhaps the most complete repository of studies available and a searchable archive of newsletters covering developed, developing, and least- developed nations. Pearson Foundation The Pearson Foundation has long been a major player in efforts to improve literacy among young children. The foundation sponsors classroom and

States since its inception, has recently expanded to provide MLI Leadership Summits for educators and administrators in Africa and Latin America. Agency for International Development, and the Bridgeit projects in the Philippines and Tanzania, an effort that combines mobile phones and existing wireless services to deliver educational programs to teachers and children who otherwise would not have access to them. BBC World Service Trust developed nations for the last ten years, the BBC World Service Trust demonstrates that digital media can reach children and families living in poverty. While only a few of the trust’s efforts are targeted directly at young children, many are targeted at families, with non- intentional learning effects on children and emergent literacy skills development. The BBC World Service Trust is an independently funded charity of BBC World, 126

in new digital environments. early child development in Brazil, Moldova, Uganda,

Other Organizations on improving education for children in developing have focused their efforts on education for young children in developing and least-developed nations. Learning about food with games - interactive mediadesign The use of interactive technology in learning for children is as natural as using a pencil and paper were to past generations. The use of digital media in education has led to an increase in the use of and reliance on interactive learning, which in turn has led to a revolution in the fundamental process of education. Increasingly, students and teachers rely on each other to access sources of knowledge and share their information, expanding the general scope of the educational process to include not just instruction, but the expansion of knowledge. Digital media and designers are focused on cennection between education and play. use of interactive media saying that children who use computers show superior spoken communication and cooperation, can play better within a set of rules, share leadership roles, take turns, and initiate interactions. Children love the idea of virtual playgrounds, places where they can create their own identities, or avatars and interact with others 127

of a more equitable, participatory, and effective ecosystem of learning keyed to the digital and introduced a new model of learning -- connected learning -- that taps into the rich new world of information, knowledge, and online collaboration available to youth and learners. Connected learning suggests an approach to education that integrates and connects learning across different settings in a young personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life including in-school, after-school, and home environments. Connectedlearning. tv serves as the community website that houses information and resources regarding the connected learning model. The website is meant to be a gathering place for those interested in learning more about the research and vision behind the connected learning model and to discover those who are already practicing connected learning. Very important goal today is to cultivate a healthy, symbiotic ecosystem and way of life. Designers created may apps which are spread ingthe knowledge about healthy food in funny way. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Food the focus on balance and togetherness..This App teaches the principles of the USDA Food Pyramid and the concept of eating a balanced diet. Food families, is produced by Octave Media International and its partners. Octave Media International, founded by Frederic and Marta De Wulf, creates, develops and produces on-line services solving real problems with global impact

Following are some of those apps: Smash Your Food shows in real-time the amount of sugar, salt and oil that is in ‘commonly abused foods.’ Vince and Lyn cartoons entertain while supporting the messages in What Food Am I? And Smash Your Food, as well as the need for exercise. learn while playing. What Recipe Am I takes children on a whimsical food adventure.

children The Internet has emerged as a ubiquitous space for Information Age interactions. What is of significance to an educator constantly on the lookout for learning opportunities, spaces, and methods is that children are accessing and using this space for a variety of purposes, be it playing, communicating, Learning in a new medium, which is quite egalitarian comes with its own challenges. There are several design challenges in turning World Wide Web into a learner’s interface. Why does a website merit as a tool for carrying out environmental education? In simple terms, education through a website enhances the ‘play’ factor. The design innovation lays in striking the fine balance between content, approach and intent to achieve joyful learning. Unless these are understood and addressed, the becomes one who uses the internet for specific learning tasks. This paper explores learnings in planning to facilitate children’s engagement and

learning through a website. The website had to provide content that provided a clear direction and quality for the learning, without losing the spirit and spontaneity of play. Designers of the website had to make a meaningful transition to developing resources with new dynamics of the text and visual formats. Written texts, images and sounds had to combined innovatively to create a learning resource for children; had to convey meaning, explain activities, present messages through games, and respond to asynchronous communication. The content design had to consider factors like children’s attention spans, readability, interest factor, retention, analysis, and fostering other higher order learning skills through the design format. The design had to estimate use of multimedia representations that demand new ways of accessing, manipulating, organizing learning and response to information by the user. The text progression through navigation and hyperlinks had to be so designed to enhance comprehension. Likewise, print material was usually created for a specific socio-cultural and academic context of the learner. A website reached children all over the world. The communication had to be presented in such a way that it was more or less appropriate for users across countries and cultures and social contexts. And importantly, the purpose of this educational resource was not to overwhelm the user with distracting use of font, colour, animations and visuals but rather to use these to complement support and enrich. The design has developed organically and spontaneously in response to the feedback of the users and the nature of the content. The elements on the graphic user interface used 128

elements that enticed a child and were close to representation of the environment. Free hand drawings were used to create the homepage and inside pages. The colour palette was given critical importanceâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;colours were brilliant. The fonts were played around in a variety of styles, shapes and sizes to achieve the liveliness. Animated icons were used to represent buttons to various sub sections of the website. These features of the website became those that caught the attention of users. Recognizing the potential of the Internet as a great medium for learning, and the need for it to be introduced to students as an educational resource, Centre for Environment Education

is to see a transformation in the way the web is utilized by learners as learning support material. The website empowers users with information and knowledge, enhances skills, fosters appropriate attitudes and values, and shares action ideas and initiatives, so very critical and integral to EE/ESD opportunity and challenge, even while utilizing traditional learning media and spaces. The design of an educational resource in a relatively new learning medium as the internet, the website needed to take into cognizance various critical factorsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;it had to propagate EE philosophy; utilize principles of learning, approaches and methodologies unique and essential to EE and ESD; ensure use of the website by young learners in schools and at homes, while also optimizing the opportunities of the medium itself. When the website was to be launched in 129

web based resource being planned for children and the instructional design therein had to facilitate transformation of all learnings and experiences from the print medium into formats fitting the exciting new medium. This was the challenge that instructional design had to address. kidsRgreen was for the Stockholm Challenge Award. In this paper we explore our involvement in the instructional design, website format and design, aesthetics and propagation of its use, as well as learnings there from.

Designing for children requires careful planning depending on the nature of the project and the age group of the children involved. Always determine the age group of the target audience and use appropriate methods for conducting user research, implementing design guidelines and evaluating the designs. Lastly, a good designer must never forget the ethical considerations involved while designing for children and should exercise their limits accordingly. Apps for kids should be both educational and recreational. Understand childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s needs and how to design for them, by presenting and discussing the most innovative research in the field of interaction design for children, by exhibiting the most recent developments in design and design methodologies, and by gathering the leading minds in the field of interaction design for children. The design of digital and physical tools for children can benefit greatly from considering insights

and knowledge based on educational theories. These theories can also inform the choices that have to be made regarding the learning settings and environments for the application of digital technologies. Further, when designing digital media for and with children, the diversity of children should always be kept in mind. The encounter of children of different cultural backgrounds as a consequence of migration technologies can be used for addressing potential problems and creating new opportunities related to cultural diversity. This also includes the specific requirements of young people in developing countries. Designers during process of invention should think about app‘s issues like the speed of splash screen, becouse if it takes more than ten seconds to load will give rise to comments from kids such as, “Mommy, it doesn’t work.” An app’s home screen is generally not useful for children between one instance, that if a child wants to restart or resume a game, story, or activity, the child will not tap on the back button, which is designed to resume the game or revert back to the home screen. This means that apps aimed at children between one and three years of age should immediately launch when they are opened, with no home screen or any other interstitial screens. It is better to use the size of the target tappable areas, and create the sensation of clicking so it feels like they are physically clicking on the buttons, which can help prevent possible mis-taps. If an app has settings that require frequent configuration, they should

be designed to be so simple that if the child accidentally changes them, it will not greatly affect the app’s performance. Another important thing is audio-visual enhancements that kids need in order to interact with the app should be obvious in the majority of cases, although, the sudden discovery of hidden features prompts kids to play and arouses curiosity in older children. This sudden discovery enhances the joy that preschooler kids need once in a while to delight their curiosity in fun ways and make them notice that there still some hidden areas waiting for be discovered. In Toy Story for iPad, small details such as the glowing light in the middle of the image give kids a clue that they can tap on the image and release new actions, such as hearing the voices of the characters or watching a short clip from the movie. This happens because the device interprets child’s hand holding the screen as a long tap, and does not execute the action being requested with the other hand. Other important a thousand times just for the joy of it, and that’s when learning happens.

media for speaking, listening, reading and writing purposes “Everything is literacy now!” one of our interviewees told us with a mix of exhilaration and exasperation as we discussed the range of understandings that children must now master: computer literacy, global literacy, visual literacy, scientific literacy, and others. To be sure, the capacity to make sense of text differs in important 130

ways from other competencies that may now be thought of as “new literacies,” such as gathering, sorting, and analyzing information or negotiating cultural differences. The key point is that in an interconnected world, children must become fluent in the use of many symbolic systems and communication tools, particularly visual means of expression. They must come to terms with a much wider range of ideas and understandings, including knowledge of other countries and cultures.

American educators need to focus on “high-level

thinking and reasoning skills...using insight and reflection to solve problems, and being able to formulate and communicate arguments and explanation.” In these areas, we lag behind many The general public agrees with the experts on the need to redefine education for the new century. According to a recent survey by the Partnership said that students need more than just reading,

have been discussed in dep by many experts and institutions across the nation, and several institutions have begun to identify and advocate reports stress the need to prepare young learners to make meaning from masses of information, take part in collaborative problem-solving, and move beyond the bounds of conventional thinking. Reports from other parts of the world strengthen the economic case for new approaches to Schleicher, author of a recent Organisation for report comparing education in many nations, predicted that “tomorrow’s high-skilled jobs

in innovation and R&D will be relocated in Asia unless the E.U. and U.S. make significant progress.” America’s leadership in many spheres resulted from the massive investments in education made after World War II. That may change, says Schleicher, because today, “You see that more

and more countries reach and surpass U.S. qualification levels.” In particular, he said, 131

believe students are ill-equipped in critical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills. The Partnership’s report concluded: “Voters generally

are not happy with the direction our schools are headed with respect to ensuring we have the skills to compete”

media Digital Media will offer designers a possibility to encourage children to read printed books, as it offers them some of the high production values that 3D and 3D effects that attract readers. Visual appeal is very important to children and this is not realised by most educators. Talking about a printed book means a physical world which children care about statement by one of her study participants saying that when developing a digital library it should contain the attraction and interest that printed books do, which are often chosen for their cover

colour and design. For children, the book cover may be what attracts their interest in a title and the subsequent illustrations may maintain this interest. However, adults can’t understand this desire. Eye-catching, visual appeal is known as the physical factor, and this itself is certainly part of the motivating power of digital media to hold children’s interest. The digital media revolution will be the vehicle that inspires children to spend time and effort reading printed books. Children will appear to be motivated to read independently when book text is embedded within online site content that creates enough interest for them to find the suggests that children have become fascinated by the new digital media and that they are spending their free time interacting with this, rather than with non-electronic products such as books. He said that children visit libraries less, read fewer books and even watch fewer television programmes. Mostly children spend time, which would once have been spent reading or watching television, using the internet and playing yet more computer games, neglecting the fact that books can provide both education and entertainment.

which aimed to develop innovative software and a collection of books that specifically address the needs of the new generation of children as readers. He has discussed various ways to enhance user experience in an information space; by developing interest, awareness, motivation and trust and by in social interaction using the ICDL’s social booklist

system. Governments and education authorities are requested to provide greater guidance to parents on the educational value of digital media and to seek ways to increase children’s interest in the printed books. Existing research mostly concerns the enhancement of the digital reading experience and way of creating social environments such as reading groups and digital libraries to encourage found which explored the use of digital media and interactive programs to encourage children to read printed books. Studies have shown that interactive media have extraordinary potential in helping children to enjoy learning and to learn effectively. Interactivity through collaboration with others is a proven learning strategy, which is commonly used effectively with children in many ways, for example, by undertaking collaborative work with their peers. Similarly, stimulating collaboration in children’s story-telling play can lead to improved writing skills. Multimodality is a system dealing with onscreen interactivity. In addition to more and more robust modalities, conceptual and empirical work on the usage of multiple modalities is now available for guiding the design of efficient, usable multimodal interfaces. It combines graphics, text and audio output with speech, text, and touch input to deliver a options for inputting and receiving information. This technical method enables users to interact with the information through a new digital media and to recall the information; as multimodality used a source of gaining knowledge can develop the 132

literacy of the user. Children engage with multimodal computer applications in many ways: they point, gesture, gaze at the screen, they move the mouse, click on icons and sometimes talk. Children will learn from interacting with all modes presented on the screen, not only from what is written and said. Children differ in the ways in which interaction with multimodal systems shape their learning. Individuals respond to modalities differently have different preferences. Various multimodal texts offer different filters for understanding and offer different potentials for engagement with text, image, sound and animation. with the sensory information that they need to interpret and respond to the program.

context. instruction with digital media technologies; they described how digital media and literacy are interwoven within the activities of a fourth-grade classroom. This new technology prepares students to understand to have an understanding of literacy extended from the traditions forms. For instance, teachers may identify with past models of literacy that are paper and pencil bound, but students extend this traditional experience through the comprehension of web-based information sources. is to build children’s literacy skills in a safe environment. These institutions try to follow new ideas and include new technologies with aim to support reading and improve children’s literacy.

Jewitt listed major contrasts between the old from the medium of book-page to the digital medium of a computer-screen changes what it means to read and write. Considering differences between the page and screen; and the impact that these differences have on the user’s experience, will be information crucial to this project, since this work is about encouraging the reading of text on a physical page through the use of multimodal new of creating a children’s book which develops new ways to utilise digital media alongside traditional methods and techniques such as mark making, drawing, painting and collage. The aim of this work was to promote and develop language and literacy within an innovative contemporary illustration 133

keep in mind the importance of the printed book in the life of the young children. Classic books offer children a window into another, different world, a world where they can think outside of their normal A different perspective towards “teaching and learning” - Learning should be fun for children It is well known that learning should be fun for children. Fun develops the child’s innate ability to understand while learning because the fun enhances the natural curiosity that all kids are born with. When children do something for fun, they will repet it just for the joy of it, and that’s when learning happens. Learning and comprehending happens

when children are exposed to some stimuli and information. Fun and learn should be put in the same context; if not, learning stops being natural Young children throughout the surrounded opportunities can develope emergent literacy skills—listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Education in its broadest sense is any act or experience that has a formative effect on the brain, character, or some physical ability of an individual. Education in turn happens through a learning methodology. These opportunities are as diverse as the language, cultures, and peoples they represent and acknowledge the many linguistic, cognitive, and socio-emotional resources available to young children in their daily lives. Opportunities found in every culture of the world include

therefore our responsability to help them put the pieces together and realize their true potential. Special children can only work in conjunction with the collaborative support, understanding and encouragement from parents, teachers and doctors. The best way to socialise disable children with those typical is to give them possibility to learn together in individual way. School schould be well prepared for needs of all students, and showing them the importance of collaboration. As a result of evolving legislation and educational with physical, emotional, learning, cognitive, visual, and hearing disabilities receive some or all of their the most recent year for which data are available, general-education classroom, up from 31 percent

in emergent literacy skills development, which lays the foundation for adolescent and adult language use and thinking as documented in a large and robust international research base. To every child should be given the freedom to think, explore and then do. In a normal school a child’s potential is marked by just marks, and very often their individual and particular skills of those children are underestimated.

socialize with disable kids Within every classroom exists a young farmer, a nurse, a builder, a doctor, an actor and a scientist yet to grow and blossom, but there are also disable. These are the ones who will shape the future, it is

The first step toward implementing inclusion properly is to improve the training of teachers. Teacher-training programs for regular and specialeducation teachers often coexist within colleges of education, but rarely are classes jointly taught by regular and special-education professors. These programs must begin to cross boundaries and integrate instruction, just as the public schools are being asked to do. Classes need to focus on a variety of teaching strategies designed to address the range and abilities of the students with whom these future teachers will work. In other words, the university setting must mirror the classrooms the teachers will eventually lead. Moreover, the goals–and effectiveness–of inclusion 134

must be determined by each child’s individual program that schools are mandated to create. It is crucial to recognize that inclusion means different things to different people. To the parents of a child with a cognitive disability, it may mean learning to say “hello” or “Can I play with you?” to nondisabled peers. To the parents of a child, with a learning disability, it may mean that their child will receive accommodations to the general curriculum and will have an opportunity to go to college. also outside of school, but it’s not always easy to find ways to keep them involved and active with other kids. Depending on your child’s disability, you can keep him connected with others through organized activities or through more casual encounters on the local playground. Parents of disabled kids need to play a proactive role in creating opportunities for socialization. The easiest way to keep your child active and in touch with other kids is through organized activities. There are many organization like “Special Olympics” organizes a number of activities for disabled youngsters, socializing them with other normal kids, participatin on the local baseball team or joining an art class. Many kids with disabilities can take a dance or gymnastics class with typical children. Moreover disable have much more possibilities to connect to each other thank to Meetups, the world’s largest network of local groups. Meetup makes it easy for anyone to organize a local group or find one of the thousands already meeting up in local communities each day, each one with the goal of improving themselves or their communities and to socialize. Mission of many Meetups are 135

created with the goal to help disable children and their Family. In this way it is posible to revitalize local community and to help people around the world self-organize. Organizing people into groups is much easier to find new solutions such as many giffernt grups where disable children can take a part of, in the same time socializing them with normal kids. Our future generation have to know how to collaborate with disable, becouse is an important group of our community.

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4. Design for

Social Good

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Design for Social Good 4.1 The Role of Design Design is a process that makes connections. The design process has the proven ability to unlock solutions, forge connections between people and organisations and address change. Designers can visualise and make tangible new ideas and solutions thus facilitating further dialogue, encouraging innovation whilst reducing risk and making it practically possible to take the first small steps to bring radical innovation to life.

“In an economic world dealing in knowledge, the secret of success is the re-combination of different types of expertise in a productive manner. This new kind of design sets out to increase the flow of information within and between people, organisations and communities. A new way to think about design is as a process… that stimulates continuous innovation among groups of people within continuously changing contexts”. (John Thackara,

our ability to perform basic tasks related to things such as mobilization, personal hygiene and communications. Many companies are looking to develop products and services that address these basic human needs and abilities, from a sense of social responsibility and for the opportunity to gain a competitive edge. Toward both goals, older consumers can be a viable, lucrative target market. A problem with discussions about design and older consumers is that the topic often carries two assumptions: one, that older consumers are all impaired, and two, that younger consumers are not. In corporate language, the word “age” is commonly confused with “ability.” In America for instance, in actual number there are almost as many younger people with arthritis as older people. There are also, of course, many nonarthritic older consumers.

MIT Press, February 17, 2006)

Designers need to focus on that diversity, considering everybody. This is a real and difficult challenge. The goal is not necessarily to design a single product that suits everyone. The goal is to make products, technologies and services available to everyone.

4.1.1 Designing for Everyone, One Person at a Time

4.1.2 Design Is About the Experience, Not the Object

Products that surround us have a profound impact upon our lives. When they empower us to complete daily tasks with ease, speed, and dignity they contribute to our wellbeing and independence. Design influences all aspects of our lives, including

In the U.S., for example, the meaning of the word “design” is changing. People are associating design not with a physical product or aesthetics, but with the experience of using a product. Users became a more integral part of the process. We advocate 140

that design is too important to leave to designers alone, and integrating the user at the beginning of the process offers more benefits to all, including the mainstream user. A great product needs to exceed expectations, not just meet them. When designing for real people, the team incurs more empathy. Team discussions become much more personal and warm. Effective designers recognize their ability to create successful products is enhanced through gaining empathy with users. For many professions, empathy may not be critical, but designers need to acknowledge their own boundaries of understanding and knowledge. With the shift away from generalizing users and a move towards developing more empathy with users, empathic modeling can provide valuable insight. Design is less about generating products and more about creating positive experiences for users. With this in mind, future designers need to be fluent in traditional design skills (drawing, model-making) as well as research skills (empathic modeling, shadowing, cultural probes). We are entering an era in which consumers require fewer products, but products with more personal meaning. For products and services to be effective, design decision-making processes need to be based on “authentic” understanding of the user. This can be realized by focusing on the real needs of real people. Empathy can play a significant role in ensuring more intuitive design outcomes, as the designer feels more in-tune with the target user. Design can tangibly contribute to enhancing a person’s high quality of life, sense of empowerment, independence and wellbeing. Designing products or services to be used by real people requires a reality141

based approach. It is time to design for real people, real situations and real needs.

4.1.3 Characteristics and Activities that Vary Throughout our Lifetime As children, our dimensions prevent us from reaching or manipulating a series of objects, sometimes for security reasons and sometimes because children have not been taken into consideration as possible users. As adults, we can find ourselves in some situations that temporarily restrain our relationship with the environment e.g. holding a baby, a bandaged hand, a plastered leg, cooking while wearing glasses, carrying the shopping, being in a foreign country and not being able to speak its language, etc. Once we reach a certain age, strength and resistance begin to decrease and the reach of our articulations diminish; our senses weaken and it is more difficult to remember things. It is also possible, although no very frequent, that at some point in our life we may suffer from a physical, psychic or sensory disability. But if we are fortunate and this doesn’t happen, at least 40% of our life we will suffer from interaction problems with the environment, this may be because in the design process neither the users’ diversity nor the changes that they may undergo throughout their lives have been taken into account. Alternatively, it could be that we have been less attentive when acquiring products and then adapting our environment. Up to now the general trend has been the products and services adaptation to the user’s needs and desires. Nevertheless, the important social, economical, cultural and technological

transformations will modify some aspects that seemed to be immovable such as the user’s participation in the creation of products and services and its adaptation to human diversity. Different factors cause this changing process in social dynamics: Socio-Political factors People are living longer in developed countries as a result of the combination between falling birth rates and the increase in life expectancy and this reflects the following data:

“It is estimated that there are approximately 100 million older people and 50 million people with disabilities in Europe, which is 15% of the total population (800 million approx.) To this percentage, the population, which is temporally disabled due to illness or injury, and people that have disabilities such as dyslexia or allergies, must be added. Due to the fact that people are living longer, it is calculated that by the year 2025 there will be 113.5 million people over the age of 65 in the European Union”. (Francesc Aragall, Design For All

The globalisation of markets and the increase in the circulation of citizens have generated a greater cultural diversity and for that reason, we need a more open and democratic society where everybody can participate and where individual rights are respected. Technological factors New Technologies of the Information Age (the Internet, mobile telephones, domotics, miniaturisation, genetics, etc) are making products, services evolve very quickly, and for that reason, it is difficult for consumers to obtain advantages from the new possibilities of technology. There is a risk of a new social fragmentation among citizens with access to new technologies and the technologically “illiterate”. Because of the technological advances, designers are completely absorbed in new techniques and materials; however, on the other hand, there is a lack of means to detect users’ real needs. Therefore, there is an increasing distance between technological possibilities and the user’s knowledge that can only be corrected by investing more time in getting to know and satisfying their needs.

Foundation, Barcelona 2010) Various agreements and declarations at international level (Human Rights Declaration, UN Standard Rules) and legislation at a national level, together with different initiatives from the European Union, promote an important intervention on the environment in order to make it appropriate for all. Experience shows that when products, services are designed for people with specific needs, the result favours the whole population.

4.1.4 From Usability to Sociability Good design comes from the successful synthesis of a solution that recognizes all the relevant constraints, and the nature of the constraints defines the difference between design disciplines. Product designers know about how people relate to physical objects and how to manipulate metals and plastics. Graphic designers learn about how we see images and understand information and how 142

to manipulate marks on paper. Architects become expert in the way we relate to space and learn how to develop structures for people to inhabit. Designers are both enabled and controlled by the constraints that they learn about and come to understand; they are fluent with their tacit knowledge, in their own media, and in the contexts that they are familiar with and understand. This makes it difficult to develop a new design discipline in response to new kinds of constraints, but design problems are changing all the time. We choose the things we surround ourselves with not just because of what they mean to us, but also because of what they mean to other people. Most Italians have a mobile phone but many young Sicilians, for instance, can’t afford the calls. They still buy the phones, though, because sporting one says, fairly explicitly, “I’m connected to a network of family and friends.” The symbolic function is as important as the practical one, perhaps more. Artists and designers are trained to use the language of implicit meanings to add a rich communicative element over and above direct functional communication. If we only design the function of something, not what it also communicates, we risk our design being misinterpreted. Worse, we waste an opportunity to enhance everyday life. To designing for usability, utility, satisfaction, and communicative qualities, we should add a fifth imperative: designing for sociability.

“When IT systems fail to support the social aspect of work and leisure, when they dehumanize and de-civilize our relationship with each other, they impoverish the rich social 143

web in which we live and operate, essential for both well-being and efficiency”. (Indiana University School of Informatics, Interaction Culture, Class Blog, September 2008)

4.2 What is Design for All? Design for All is the intervention on environments, products and services with the aim that everyone, including future generations, regardless of age, gender, capabilities or cultural background, can enjoy participating in the construction of our society, with equal opportunities participating in economic, social, cultural, recreational and entertainment activities while also being able to access, use and understand whatever part of the environment with as much independence as possible. Often the traditional design plans for an abstraction: the standard man. By doing so penalizes real people with their diverse abilities, skills, desires and aspirations. Design for All promotes a design for the actual individual, inclusive and integrated, which enhances the specificity of each one, involving human diversity in the design process. Design for All means creating products and services having in mind that: degrees of physical, cognitive, sensorial, dimensional and cultural characteristics exist. being designed by human beings, for human beings and so it must be an environment that adapts to our needs and not the contrary. and their capabilities and attitudes change with the movement of time: from a total dependency

as children to a dependency with people and the environment that allows us varying degrees of autonomy throughout our lifetime depending on our age, capabilities and individual abilities, economic resources, looking after somebody, etc. adapting products and services to their needs and expectations. For the implementation of Design for All two simple principles must be taken into consideration: Facilitate the use of products and services. Fortunately, the prevailing technological aesthetics of recent years is diminishing which meant that electronic devices presented a greater number of buttons and lights distributed in an incomprehensible fashion and lent the device a series of features, which we were unable to use. To make products simple to use, the following seven characteristics are necessary: operations must be kept to a minimum. capacity of perception, process of information; taking into account the user’s strength, dexterity, size, habits and culture which, in turn vary with his or her age, degree of ability or inability etc, Therefore, it must be flexible enough to be adaptable to the user’s diversity. unequivocally what it is and how it should be used. functionality adapted to the user’s previous experience, abilities and expectations.

the activation systems at the user’s disposal and the results they produce. the user informed about the activity and state of the product. that users could misuse the product or use it for unforeseen purposes without causing harmful consequences. Ensure that the needs, wishes and expectations of users are taken into consideration in the design process and the evaluation of the product or service. It is impossible to reflect on the above-mentioned criteria of the product without the user’s participation, either directly or through experts in the field. Therefore, users should be present from the beginning throughout the design process and not, as often happens, be remembered when the product is already on the market or is about to be launched. The sentence “We’ll design the product and the marketing team can figure out how to sell it”, is still often heard frequently. The user’s participation in the design process ensures two fundamental aspects: the first is that the product is really adapted to their needs and the second is that they will value the product more because they will have participated in the design process. On the other hand, when users who have not directly participated in the design process realise that other people with similar characteristics have, 144

it in turn increases their confidence in relation to the product or service and the company or administration. One would think that users’ participation in product and service development would increase costs in the process. However, on the one hand, it has been proven that user participation does not increase the price more than a 2% of the total cost of the product or service development and on the other hand, the price is easily paid off because of the increase in consumers and the guarantee of success. Ultimately it is also important that the company promotes and establishes a feedback system in order to know the user’s opinion about the product or service so that the company can improve it and avoid mistakes in future products. Following these steps does not increase or slowdown the design process. On the contrary, the company saves money and increases sales. Therefore, these are good reasons to change the creation process of products and services.

4.2.1 Functional distance between the Environment and Human Capabilities From the beginning of time, human beings have modified their natural environment and created tools to adapt it to their needs. We can say that humanity’s advances are measurable through the efforts made to reduce the functional distance between the inadaptable, unsafe, hostile environment and individual needs and desires, thereby improving security, hygiene and comfort. As can be observed from the following chart, the objects of Design for All are to reduce the functional distance among the environment’s 145

elements and the capabilities of people. This is be achieved by increasing the usefulness of environmental elements, avoiding that no sector among the population is excluded (by educational processes, technical aids such as reading glasses or crutches, etc.) and guaranteeing that individual solutions don not obstruct the development of improvement for everyone. Therefore, Design for All is based fundamentally on clearly putting into practice the respect for human diversity in environments, products, and services.

4.2.2 What does Design for All mean for companies? Design for All offers companies several advantages: Increase in the number of potential users of products and services and, thus, increasing sales. It improves the satisfaction of the user’s needs. Therefore, increasing their loyalty to the company. It improves competitiveness with respect to other companies and, especially those from the United States, which are making Design for All law. It improves the public image of the company by showing that, apart from economical benefits, the company also pursues social objectives by the adoption of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). It increases the possibilities of success of a product because consumers have participated in its development process and they will appreciate it from the very outset. The fact

that there are already many companies that, with consumer apathy when confronted with new products offset by increasing the publicity budget and confronted with the enormous effort when introducing new products in new markets, have decided to modify their strategies by including Design for All as a part of their global philosophy and this results in some changes both in product development and in marketing strategies. All companies generate, with a product or service, a value, which must serve to improve the quality of life of people. Consumption is a fundamental element that does not only generate wealth for the business person, but it allows people participate in society and any social barrier that obstructs a particular group using a particular product or service is limiting its possibilities in social participation. For example: there are few mobile telephones on the market that are adequate for older people for several reasons: because the buttons are too small, the screen is too small and the information includes much reduced letter size or navigation is too difficult. Design for All can help correct these barriers. Maybe there is a market opportunity?

4.2.3 What does Design for All mean for Public Administrative Bodies? There are several reasons why public administrations promote Design for All and continue promoting it. Firstly, there is the concept of equal opportunities approved by the United Nations through the Human Rights Declaration and Standard Rules. Therefore, in order to achieve that everybody,

regardless of gender, capabilities, age, race, or beliefs, can have the same equal access to jobs, public healthcare, products and services, it is necessary that these are apt to be used by everyone regardless of their abilities. On the other hand, the population of older citizens in occidental societies is increasing very fast. Consequently, governments have either to create a great number of social services or to guarantee a more independent life for older people; that is to say, transport, shopping centres, official buildings, the media, consumer products and their own housing have to be allowed to be used by people with difficulties interacting with them. It is obvious that leading an independent life in which everyone can choose their level of dependence on others is more rewarding and has lower economical and social cost than the residential services in which the dependency level depends on the organisation. There would also be the possibility of creating special products for each sector of the population (furniture and electrical household appliances for older people, specific technical aids for various activities, etc.) but all these solutions will be both discriminatory and would mean elevated costs. On the other hand, experience shows that many products have been designed with people with disabilities in mind (bus ramps, remote controls, etc.) whose use has generated and resulted very useful for the majority of the population. Other reflections that must be carried out by administrative bodies is that applying the implementation of Design For All means the creation of products that satisfy the user more for a longer time and, therefore, lengthening the productâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life reduces energy costs and production waste, and likewise, strengthening ecological policies. 146

4.2.4 What does Design for All mean for Designers? Whether they are architects, software programmers, industrial designers or electronic engineers, it is evident that present day designers are living under intense pressure due to competition, the need to be kept continuously updated on new materials or new manufacturing techniques and also the challenge to continue offering products and services with favourable commercial results. These pressure elements are probably the reason why up to now, a reduced number of designers have implemented Design for All as part of the central axis of their work, beginning to demonstrate with examples that this concept has a future. Design for All provides the following advantages for designers: A reduction in the elaboration time of the product or service briefing because users or specialised centres will give them the necessary information quickly. An increase in the possibilities of success of the product because the needs and capabilities of potential users have been taken into account. Being constantly updated of what users need and how they want it. So as to be able to offer new products to customers. Consolidation of the ethical position that every professional must defend by advising their customers, apart from being better fro them, it is better for society in general. In order to achieve the advantages of the Design for All implementation, it is necessary to: Change their conception of the human being. Taking into consideration that others are not 147

a reflection of one self and ”what is good for me is good for all”. On the contrary, humanity means diversity, everybody is different, and, therefore, one has to get closer to others to know if something will work. The problem arises because designers only think about three of their five dimensions i.e. they only take into account height, width and depth but forget that: They have a temporary dimension. If they thought about themselves as individuals who were born, grew up and will age, without having reproduced or not, they would also think of their children, old people and all those situations when they had problems interacting with the environment. They have a social dimension. Nobody can remain completely isolated. All of us depend on others at least during the first years of our life. Therefore, everybody is part of humanity that evolves thanks to the relationship between individuals. That is to say, thanks to diversity. Each one of us contributes something, in greater or less quantities, something, which is unique and unrepeatable, and one of the designer’s social roles is to facilitate that each person’s individuality is expressed with autonomy and comfort. It is important to point that, having said that the professional is a key element in the creation of environments for all, it is also necessary that education centres change their education plans regarding user knowledge.

4.2.5 Examples of Design for All Around the world, designers are demonstrating the

potential of Design for All through people-centred approaches to design thinking. The result is a fresh take on the design of environments, products, services and interfaces that put people first. Productos Urbanos

The configuration of the Big Button phone was based in part on existing manufactured elements in order to reduced the initial investment cost. The elements which make the product inclusive are not immediately obvious which could be stigmatising, but are subtle and in the main invisible: large buttons â&#x20AC;&#x201C; well spaced, wide buttons to compensate for tremor, simple layout â&#x20AC;&#x201C; easy to navigate, large graphics â&#x20AC;&#x201C; colour contrast , easy grip handset, large call indicator light.

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The designs are especially developed to suit the varying requirements of people using the park, allowing children to play and older less agile people to rest briefly or sit for longer periods.

Alan Tye, Royal Designer for Industry, has worked closely with Allgood Modric, a manufacturer of door furniture, to develop two ranges of age friendly products. The Unilite range has a luminescent feature for the location of items and surfaces in the dark. The ‘Limbar’ range is designed to be operated by the forearm.

4.3 Design for Social Impact Social impact applies to a broad spectrum of contexts. To designers, it is about the impact of products or services on individuals and groups of people. We look at the broader impact of all of the design work we undertake. We think about balancing the needs of the individual with the needs of the overall community. On every design project, we can consider and take into account social, environmental, and economic impacts. When starting a social impact initiative, it is advisable to 149

declare a specific intention. Design and innovation can play a large role in many complex problems, including education, distribution, water, energy, healthcare, and job training. “Social Impact by Design” is a solution that addresses a basic need of our humanity. Any solution must not be prescriptive and must respect the values and culture of the group being designed for and emerge out of immersive ethnographic research. As people concerned with the need for significant social change, we believe in the power of design thinking, a human-centered approach to problem solving and innovation. How can we harness the passions and talents of designers to address some of the world’s largest problems? (Poverty, climate change, and diminishing resources worldwide, etc.) How can we continue to do what we do best while having a significant positive impact on the world? As Bruce Nussbaum wrote in a Business Week column,

“It’s great design that can solve social as well as economic problems. They (designers) took the methodology of product design and applied it to services. Now they are moving beyond that to systemizing design methodologies for all kinds of arenas, including social problems”. (Brown Tim, Design Thinking, July 22, 2008) Social impact relates to the capacity of this type of work to create positive social change on communities and individuals. Some call it design for the greater good., others call it Social Design. Whatever you call it, it’s clear that an altruistic impulse is on the rise in the design community.

4.3.1 Things to have in Mind When Designing for Social Impact Perspectives on designing responsibly Designers are privileged with the incredible ability to influence interactions, identities, information, emotions, habits , and above all, the future of human experiences. But that bestows on us great responsibility to be thoughtful about how and what we design. Especially when the people we work with are vulnerable, we must ensure that what we create is relevant, respectful, and genuinely beneficial. Power inequalities naturally inhere in relationships between benefactors (the Haves) and beneficiaries (the Have-Nots), but we can either mindlessly reinforce these disparities or we can eliminate power imbalances as much as possible to truly build toward a more socially just and equitable world. Here are some guideliness for designing for Social Impact

problem. 2. Talk to and observe users to ensure that what you’re doing is, in fact, actually serving their needs. Sure, you may be brilliant. Sure, you may have created the most innovative piece of design/ engineering/technology in the world. But none of that really matters if it doesn’t suit the needs of the people you’re pretending to help. You might think you can pull a Steve Jobs and invent something that people will want, but even on the off chance that this actually does happen, it’s still important to verify with users that your idea is actually improving their lives. Entrepreneurs, designers and NGOs too often create well-meaning products that fail to connect with their target demographic or solve problems that don’t actually exist. Ernesto Sirolli sums up the sentiment most aptly in his 2012 TED talk: “Want to Help Someone? Shut Up and Listen!”

1. Design with, not for.

3. Work to eliminate, not reinforce, harmful stereotypes and power imbalances.

Social solutions are not a heroic gift you’re bestowing upon mankind; they are a collaborative effort. Stay humble. Solutions have a higher chance of longterm success when the people you’re designing for are actively involved, providing feedback or lending their abilities and insights wherever possible. Failure to include them could result in wasted effort. The people you’re serving are in many ways experts in the issue you’re dealing with, and may even think of and create better solutions than you could. By recognizing this, you acknowledge that they are not accessories or passive recipients of your work, but rather teammates in a shared effort to solve a

It’s unfortunately far too easy to defer to assumptions and stereotypes to explain social problems. Take what the social sector calls “poverty porn” — campaigns like “Kony 2012” and “I Am Africa”, riddled with pitiful, exoticized images that homogenize the developing world into a mess of war, disease, genocide, famine, and helplessness that only the West’s almighty dollars, talents, activism and time could rescue. Painting Africa in broad, dismal strokes may lead to more donations, but it masks the nuances of the actual situation, feeds the inherently unequal donor-recipient dynamic, and encourages a culture of dependence 150

among the recipients. The microfinance venture Kiva was founded partly in response to this, by accepting loans, not donations, lendees are on par with their lenders since they’re borrowers, not recipients. In your own work, be aware of biases so that you don’t perpetuate concepts that directly or indirectly hurt your users. 4. Test iteratively to get the best version of your idea possible. Even if you’ve identified a serious problem in the community and co-created with your users to develop a potentially successful solution, ideas often look and work great in concept but run into unforeseen setbacks once they’re realized. This isn’t anyone’s fault; it just means your solution needs some tweaking. Naturally, the best time to do that is before you commence full implementation, this way, you have ample opportunity to make sure you’re on the right track, whether this means tweaking a few features or completely starting from scratch. Don’t be afraid to fail (in fact, you should do it fast, early, and often!), you’re in the pursuit of the best possible solution for your users, not the coolest project you can put in your portfolio. 5. Strive for long-term, long-lasting, effective solutions. Conventional charity or designing for a short-term problem (providing money, resources or products) is often a temporary solution for aid and perpetuates dependence. But really, ain’t nobody got time or money to sustain band-aid solutions to major problems like health inequality or homelessness. To create genuine social impact, strive for solutions that will help your users for years to come, not 151

just for the next month or so. Usually this means working toward solutions that empower your users to eventually sustain themselves without you. Above all, cultivate an unfailing compassion for others and a hope for a brighter future that fuels your work. By all means, be ambitious and unreasonable, dream big about how many people you could help or what incredible impact you could create. Just remember to pause every once in a while and ensure that the impact you’re creating truly reflects and lives up to all of your good intentions.

4.4 Case Studies A movement to ignite, accelerate and amplify design-driven social change Design for Good is a platform to build and sustain the implementation of design thinking for social change. This platform creates opportunities for designers to build their practice, their network, and their visibility. Design for Good recognizes the wide range of designers’ work and leadership in social change, which benefits the world, our country and our communities. Design for Good supports and sustains designers who play a catalytic role in communities through projects that create positive social impact. By connecting and empowering designers through online networking tools, inspirational stories, chapter events, training, national advocacy and promotion, Design for Good serves as a powerful resource for designers who wish to work in this area and a beacon for designers leading the charge.

A web-based resource has been created by the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design at the Royal College of Art to share ways to design with people. Get started by meeting real people and exploring a range of activities of daily living. On this site you can review design methods, develop protocols for ethical practice and contribute your own ideas. This website presents resources that support a general shift in design practice from designing for people to designing with people. Considering people who are going to use or benefit from design during the design process is not a new concept in practice – many leading designers in the 20th century emphasized this relationship. Published examples include designing for People (1955) by industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss and Designing for the Disabled (1976) by architect Selwyn Goldsmith. However these relationships between designers and design users seem restricted to a quantitative approach based on measuring people’s bodies and analyzing the usability of designs in relationship to people’s capabilities. Gradually, this ‘designing for’ approach has been challenged. In the introduction to the EUfunded project Presence: New Media for the Old (1999), John Thackara urged designers and design researchers to reposition their relationship with ‘users’. He advocated a shift form ‘designing for’ to ‘designing with’. Jane Fulton Suri of IDEO also presented this paradigm shift at the Include 2007 Conference – a democratic design development that encouraged ‘designing with’ people. This new model indicates that design practices should also consider people’s

emotional needs rather than only their capabilities to use design, and should seek to involve them actively in a co-design process.

Founded in 1991, the Community Design Collaborative strengthens neighborhoods through design. The Collaborative provides low-cost predevelopment design services to nonprofit organizations, offers unique volunteer opportunities for design professionals to dopro bono work, and raises awareness about the importance of design in community revitalization.

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Case Studies and Proposal

5.1 Elderly Case Studies 5.1.1 OATS OATS engages, trains and supports older adults in using technology to improve their quality of life and enhance their social and civic engagement. OATS has opened the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first tech-themed center for older adults. The new Senior Planet Exploration Center, located in Manhattan, features dozens of computers, digital cameras and other devices for seniors to use, and classes, workshops, programs, lectures, and special events. https://vialogues.com/vialogues/play/9091 http://www.oats.org/

5.1.2 On My Life On My Life is an innovative, online repository for memories, photographs, documents and other digitized memorabilia. Its principle aim is to enable elderly users (commonly) unfamiliar with digital technologies, to easily and intuitively use the site as a place to store and share their histories. It serves as a conduit between the elderly, their careers and their families to contribute to and share in the stories and memories of all its contributors. http://www.desis-lab.org/projects/14

5.1.3 Knowledge of Life Project, University EAFIT â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Medellin, Colombia The Knowledge of Life project of EAFIT University, aims to facilitate the integration of the elderly increasing population over the country with the society in general. Population aging is a reality in Colombia and this raises, no doubt, many challenges for society. This reality provides an overview of multiple options, where the University acquires a new role. The University, under this new perspective, can provide services as an agent of awareness of society about how to, more comprehensively, address the needs of the aged and aging, how to provide to older adults greater spaces for intellectual and social growth, promoting the integration of this community to the productive life of the country, facilitate meetings between generations and contribute to change the social paradigm respect to age and aging. In this context arises Knowledge of Life, a project of the University EAFIT, product of natural evolution, experience and knowledge of the educational needs of older people and responsible commitment with the community, which seeks to provide alternatives for seniors. Education, research and outreach Education has no age; it is never too late to learn. So what better time to satisfy this desire when you have more free time? Knowledge of Life is intended for people over 55 156

who want to continue their education in disciplines that for some reason (work, money or time) could not attend in the past. These programs enable intellectual activity, through a wide academic offer that is renewed each semester, and offer various opportunities for tenure at the University, in order to meet the needs of our students. Thus older adults may form on topics such as politics, history and mental gymnastics, among others, 6 months or annual programs with classes that invite critical reflection on some subject, without the stress of assessments or examinations. The Knowledge of Life programs aim to learn to have and keep the mind and the brain active in a space to meet new friends and share experiences. Participants in these programs enjoy not only classes in college, but also take part in field trips, cultural and tourist attractions, in addition to the possibility of national student exchange of Knowledge of Life in other cities and other universities in the world. This program has helped seniors with new intellectual and social challenges, psychological well being as it relates to his contemporaries and to share ideas. Additionally, it has provided a new vision of adult life, they have recognized themselves as people with great intellectual potential and that can give knowledge and experience in labor and social fields. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Lo4TxJQhQA

5.2 Children Case Studies 5.2.1 ACM IDC Interaction Design and Children 157

The IDC conference’s mission is to bring together researchers, designers and educators to explore new forms of technology, design and engaged learning among children. The conference incorporates papers, presentations, speakers, workshops, participatory design experiences and discussions on how to create better interactive experiences for children. Several of the workshops will also be child-friendly. IDC 2013 will offer a wide-ranging program, supporting and facilitating the exchange of ideas within and between all of these communities, with a special emphasis on supporting interaction and impact for children in at-risk and marginalized populations. http://idc2013.org/

5.2.2 Foundation “ABCXXI - All of Poland Reads to Kids” A polish campaign, which was founded in December 1998 by Irene Komiska. The purpose of the Foundation is to support the emotional health - physical, mental, and moral - children and young people through educational activities, educational, organizational, promotional and lobbying. By broadcasting commercials in the media and other promotional activities, educational and organizational Foundation argues that reading for pleasure - 20 minutes a day. Every day! - Is a wise way to spend time with the child and the best investment in the future. At the same time, the Foundation reiterates the need to control the quantity and quality of television programs and computer games, which in the life of the average modern child takes longer than a school. http://www.allofpolandreadstokids.org/index. php?opcode=WYBIERZ _STRONE&param1=72

http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=GC5GygQVoDE

5.3 Design for All Case Studies 5.3.1 Coursera They believe in connecting people to a great education so that anyone around the world can learn without limits. Coursera is an education company that partners with the top universities and organizations in the world to offer courses online for anyone to take, for free. Our technology enables our partners to teach millions of students rather than hundreds. We envision a future where everyone has access to a world-class education that has so far been available to a select few. We aim to empower people with education that will improve their lives, the lives of their families, and the communities they live in. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PojLL3E-zk0

5.3.2 Mooc A massive open online course (MOOC) is an online course aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the web. In addition to traditional course materials such as videos, readings and problema sets, MOOCs provide interactive user forums that help build a community for the students, professors, and teaching assistants. MOOCs are a recent development in distance education. https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=B81Xp4WO7w8

5.4 Other Case Studies Elderly Elder Hostel â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Road Scholar Elderhostels are learning and activity experiences for folks who are at least sixty years old. There are literally thousands of classes and field experiences available throughout the United States, covering every subject imaginable. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BDQ4REv0b0

Home share Home share gives older people live-in support and companionship in their own home. Home share is a simple affordable service for people who feel vulnerable or isolated, or who need help and companionship around the home. Our carefully selected Home sharers can help with things like cleaning, laundry and shopping, as well as providing friendship and security. http://crossroadscarecnl.org/what-we-offer/ homeshare/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=738SprlZibE http://homeshare.org/resources/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Tsj2Ap_QcY

Wii Hab Wii Hab is a term coined for using the Nintendo Wii games for the purpose of facilitating rehabilitation. It may be used to enhance outcomes or to make exercise more enjoyable, enhancing compliance. The Wii system has games suitable for all ages, 158

from 3 to 103. Balance and coordination are critical components to the improvement and efficiency of safety in functional mobility. The Wii, using full range-ofmotion movements, is a great way to integrate functional and recreational activities with balance and coordination into to the education and awareness of the patient to improve their confidence and mobility. http://www.wiihabcourses.com/Wii _ Hab _ Courses/What _ is _ Wii _ Hab.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS9oAMsiZLc

University for the Third Age The University of the Third Age (U3A) movement is an unique and exciting organization which provides, through its U3As, life-enhancing and life-changing opportunities. Retired and semi-retired people come together and learn together, not for qualifications but for its own reward: the sheer joy of discovery! https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=YEAcBWUqxDc

Kids: AgentPiggy AgentPiggy is an online piggy bank that allows parents to teach their kids financial responsibility by means of depositing their allowance money through our platform. Consequently we educate the children in concepts of fiscal discipline around the concepts of saving, donating and spending. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fJsLfMG5SY https://www.agentpiggy.com/ 159

BBC’s Bitesize Is really 7 distinct sets of online learning activities organized around the UK’s National Curriculum. There are sets of activities for ‘Key Stage 1- (Years 1-3), ‘Key Stage 2- (Years 3-6), ‘Key Stage 3- (Year 7), ‘GCSE’ (secondary students aged 14-16), and ‘Higher’ (senior secondary). KS1, KS2, and KS3 activities are organized under the three headings of Literacy/ English, Math, and Science. Secondary activities are organized under an extensive list of subject areas. BBC Bitesize offers flash activities, videos, games, quizzes, and more. http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LekacMuM12Y - Nuclear energy

Sesame Workshop Sesame Workshop is the nonprofit educational organization that revolutionized children’s television programming with the landmark Sesame Street. The Workshop produces local Sesame Street programs; seen in over 150 countries, and other acclaimed shows including The Electric Company, to help bridge the literacy gap. Beyond television, the Workshop produces content for multiple media platforms on a wide range of issues including literacy, health and resilience. Initiatives meet specific needs to help young children and families develop critical skills, acquire healthy habits and build emotional strength to prepare them for lifelong learning. http://www.sesameworkshop.org/ http://www. youtube.com/watch?v=IxDHaKHnpmg

V-Chip It is a generic term for technology used in television set receivers in the USA, Canada, and Brazil, which allows the blocking of programs based on their ratings category. It is intended for use by parents to manage their children’s television viewing. http://www.fcc.gov/guides/v-chip-puttingrestrictions-what-your-children-watch

TrueCare True Care is a social network-monitoring tool that helps protect children from the potential dangers of sites like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. Cyber bullying and online predators are real dangers, and there is a strong need to monitor kids’ online activity while starting an ongoing conversation with kids on the importance of Internet safety. http://www.truecare.com/why-truecare

The International Children’s Digital Library Offers a free, online children’s literature library with hundreds of books in 53 languages and hopes to soon reach 100 languages. The mission of the International Children’s Digital Library Foundation (ICDL Foundation) is to support the world’s children in becoming effective members of the global community - who exhibit tolerance and respect for diverse cultures, languages and ideas -- by making the best in children’s literature available online free of charge. The Foundation pursues its vision by building a digital library of outstanding children’s books from around the world and supporting communities of children and adults in exploring and using this

literature through innovative technology designed in close partnership with children for children. The ICDL Foundation is a non-profit corporation. www.childrenslibrary.org http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0koLVz0FD-4

World Literacy Foundation The World Literacy Foundation is an independent not-for-profit charitable body, founded in Australia in 2003. http://www.worldliteracyfoundation.org/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_ embedded&v=ELDWHOSvZ1c#t=167

“Food N’ Me” Food N’ Me™ promotes healthy eating with others with the focus on balance and togetherness. What Food Am I? Teaches the principles of the USDA Food Pyramid and the concept of eating a balanced diet. Smash Your Food shows in real-time the amount of sugar, salt and oil that is in ‘commonly abused foods.’ Vince and Lyn cartoons entertain while supporting the messages in What Food Am I? and Smash Your Food, as well as the need for exercise. Food Quiz gives children the opportunity to learn while playing. What Recipe Am I takes children on a whimsical food adventure. Food N’ Me™, an on-line experience for children and families, is produced by Octave Media International and its partners. Octave Media International, founded by Frederic and Marta De Wulf, creates, 160

develops and produces on-line services solving real problems with global impact. http://www.foodnme.com/smash-your-food/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCAz1Fiof5A

Apps for Healthy Kids Apps to develop fun and engaging software tools and games that drive children to eat better and be more physically active.

Zis Boom Bah Zis Boom Bah is a unique company dedicated to empowering children between the ages of 5 and 13 and their families’ with just the right online tools to make healthy living achievable. www.zisboombah. com/pickchow

Design for All Superkilen Superkilen is a kilometer-long park situated in the Nørrebro area just north of Copenhagen’s city center. Superkilen is home to more than 60 nationalities, and is considered to be one of the most ethnically diverse and socially challenged neighborhoods in the Danish capital. The hope is that Superkilen can help revitalize the area by giving it a global identity and unifying its inhabitants. The park comprises 3 areas: the ‘Red Square’, the ‘Black Market’ and the ‘Green Park’. Bike lanes traverse the park, which features playgrounds as well as spaces for basketball, football, cultural 161

activities, picnics, socializing and relaxing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vketcVIiVc

Start up Chile Is a program of the Chilean Government to attract world-class early stage entrepreneurs to start their business in Chile. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=415iM8rr1X8

Change Makers An ecosystem to find & grow your project. Change makers builds on Ashoka’s three-decade history to build a global network that embodies the Ashoka vision of an “Everyone a Changemaker” world, where people gain the skills and resources they need to collaborate on solving complex social problems. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfFbNOsNmek

Task Rabbit Get just about anything done by friendly, trustworthy people. Our vetted TaskRabbits can help with errands, cleaning, delivery & so much more Is an online and mobile marketplace that allows users to outsource small jobs and tasks to others in their neighborhood. Users name the task they need done; name the price they are willing to pay, and a network of pre-approved TaskRabbits bid to complete the job. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzcCxGvvShI https://www.taskrabbit.com/

Quirky Shop for the world’s best products, invented by real people just like you. If you’ve got an incredible idea for a product, we want to know about it. Submit an idea, get involved, and shop. http://www.quirky.com/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YapQtbmit1k

AIGA What can designers do to change the world? A lot. In this video, hear from leaders in the AIGA community about the importance of design in solving society’s trickiest and most pressing problems, see examples of how individuals, chapters and companies are already making a difference, and learn more about the ways in which you, and designers everywhere, can get involved in Design for Good a movement to ignite, accelerate and amplify design-driven social change. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb o _eoCxHWs

Design Crowd Is an online marketplace for logo, website, print and graphic design services by providing access to freelance graphic designers and design studios around the world. Design Crowd gives you access to a ‘virtual team’ of 61,393 designers from around the world (via a process called crowdsourcing) - helping you to tap into the very best international design talent available, at a low cost. Post a project on Design Crowd and watch designs pour in from around the world (the average project receives 50+ designs). http://www.designcrowd.com/how-it-works 162

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Conclusion Conclusion About twenty years ago, when personal computers were first becoming popular, they were mostly used as professional tools, or games machines for teenagers. Nowadays, the situation has changed radically. Now everybody (kids, parents, grandparents) uses them or wants to use them every day, at work, at school, at home, in the car while they get to work or at the bus while they get to school. Everything has change now with mobile connectivity, everywhere you go you can be online and stay connected. So that’s why today we need to design technology differently, to make it a graceful part of everyday life, like the other things we own: our clothes, the plates we eat off, the furniture we buy for our houses, etc. We’ve come to a stage when computer technology needs to be designed as part of everyday culture, so that it’s beautiful and intriguing, so that it has emotive as well as functional qualities. Needs to be designed for all individuals having in mind the human diversity in the design process, abilities, skills, desires and aspirations just to mention a few. People are now more interested in what technology can do for them than interested in the technology in itself. For sure, they don’t want to spend much time learning how to use it and hate being made to feel stupid. So if it’s hard to use, they won’t buy it. Computer and telecommunications technology it’s no longer used only by professionals but by a wide range of non-experts, who just want to use it to

pursue their everyday lives. Designing for these new users is more challenging than just designing tools for technical professionals. Users are, justifiably, not prepared to spend time mastering tricky new systems, everything needs to be done fast, in less time and in a good way. They’re not obliged to use the products: if they can’t make them work, they just take them back to the store. When considering the technological innovations of the past 50 years, the Internet is probably the one that has had the greatest impact on everyday life in developed economies and has to be in the emerging ones. We need to understand technology is made for all and can be a very useful tool to break some barriers and help others; others just like us, just like your mom and dad, like your brother or sister and why not like your grandparents. Why not teach your grand parents how to use your iPad? And why you don’t learn from all their experiences that will enrich you? Older people have live more than us and we should take this into consideration and not leave them on a side. They mean an enormous amount of our population and will continue growing so we have to include them in the technological revolution that is taking part nowadays. Everything is going online, working online, banking online, communicating online, shopping online, collecting pensions online, and playing online that older people being the greater part of the future population should be commanding. Its about trying to benefit with an exchange of existing human 166

resources that are unknown or hidden for some people in our society. Conversations between the generations are fundamental to a well-functioning, happy society and the Internet is the perfect place for those conversations to take place. From webinars, which bring older people into the classrooms to online Q&Aâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, the young and the old should meet in the digital ether, actively promoted by Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or other social networks and reach an effective exchange of existing human resources. In our ageing society is critically important to realize that we should understand how to use human resources to link children with elderly people. Because today we are those who can create a better future not only for ourselves but also for next coming generations, which will still increase amount of elderly needs. And we have an important role to prepare todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s children for this problem that they will have to carry on. Because of that, it is very important to prepare them in the best way, and to show them this problem to be conscious of the situation. World is changing very fast giving more and more possibilities and solutions, but also giving as more challenges to resolve. Through design we have an opportunity to prepare next generation for real problems. By easy and funny way we can encourage and present the problems, converting them into some benefits. Furthermore, even where modern digital technology is still too complex for individuals use, there are number of ways in which simple technologies can facilitate interactive creative experiences for older people of varying physical ability. Not only are the user interface and software of mainstream technological devices such as camera phones and 167

iPads becoming easier to use, but also recent design trends have meant that the weight and form factor of these everyday tools makes them increasingly accessible to people with limited mobility. Such tools can, and should, play a more common role in bringing creative opportunities to older people, both within participatory projects, and in their day-to-day lives. However it is certainly true that many creative technologies do require a substantial degree of explanation and learning prior to their use. There is a clear need, but also an opportunity, for the benefits of work with older people to be reflected within these priorities, just as has been done already for work with children and young people. The use of digital arts with older people will continue to increase in relevance and importance in years to come. There will inevitably be progress in the capabilities, physical accessibility and ubiquity of digital technology. However alongside the benefits that this will bring in enabling new forms of creativity among older people, it is likely also that this progress will produce new digital divides. Although design has become eminently newsworthy among the general public in our society, there is very little understanding to be found of the values and implications that underlie it. Design generates much heat but little light: we live in a world that has much design consciousness, but little design awareness. We should be able to create genuine social impact, solutions that will help users for the years to come, not just for the next month or so. The Internet also can be a source of great good. For example, as evidenced by the role-played by Internet-based mapping and communications in the

relief effort following the Haiti earthquake. Easy access to the Internet and the newest media technologies, have greatly impact on the educational process. It changed all way of life for everyone and nowadays it opens enormous opportunities but also creates bigger differences between develop and developing countries. Critical feature of media globalization is the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;digital divideâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; which appears between the developed and developing countries. However there is also a chance to give new possibilities to those poorer areas, because according to the globalization of media is the idea of distance learning. It gives them also a chance to learn other languages and to know about other cultures. Even though this technology exists, unfortunately, it tends to benefit the wealthy few in the Third World because they are able to use and accesses to the technology to take the classes. However this way of learning and connecting gives also new opportunities not only to poorer countries but also to elderly people. In the same time we are responsible to learn about children critical thinking and smart ways of using media and technology. We all, have to realize that children absorb very fast and easy all commercial rubbish, and how many risks it can bring. For that reason our important role is to control children media use and to fulfill market with good design.

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Linkography www.designforchildren.net http://www.housingcare.org/ www.myageingparent.com http://www.responsible-advertising.org/media _ literacy.asp http://www.worldliteracyfoundation.org/ http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/advertising. html http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendlyresources/ucd/older-users-design.shtml http://www.nia.nih.gov/health/publication/makingyour-website-senior-friendly www.springer.com

http://www.myageingparent.com/how-ipads-canhelp-your-ageing-parent-get-more-out-of-life/ http://www.myageingparent.com/helping-theelderly-stay-safe-on-line/ http://www.myageingparent.com/keeping-theageing-fit-and-well-with-a-nintendo-wii/ htt p : / / w w w . mya g e i n g p a re nt . co m / e ld er ly communication-problems/ http://www.companionsforseniors.com/ http://www.inclusivedesigntoolkit.com/ h tt p : / / w w w . a d ver t i s i n g t o b a b y b o o m er s . com/2010/11/silver-market-phenomenon-2ndedition.html www.lookinglocal.gov.uk

www.utadeo.edu.co

http://interactioncultureclass. wordpress.com/2008/09/06/wk-1%E2%80%9Csociability%E2%80%9D/

http://www.relativematters.org/digital-technologysocial-media-and-older-people/

http://design.ncsu.edu/index.php/cud

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/07/yourmoney/07iht-mbrf1.html?_r=1&

http://www.collaborate.so/2008/07/the-harvardbus.html

http://www.ehow.com/way_5143374 _advertising-ideastargeting-elderly.html

www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/access/ access

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advertiseelderly-11884.html

http://pinterest.com/assistedliving/best-apps-forseniors/ 176

http://www.assistedliving.com/best-ipad-apps-forseniors/

http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/comune _ di _ siena _ grandmother

http://www.localdaughter.com/technology-forseniors/best-ipad-apps-for-seniors

http://adsoftheworld.com/media/tv/rammstein _ universal _ music _ senior

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player _ embedded&v=kk3lM5ztqVw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk3lM5ztqVw magnify app

http://www.youtube.com/user/HomeInsteadInc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nN6iV7wxVs Nintendo wii

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAhSyuA5SaE http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/companions _ for_ seniors _ piano http://adsoftheworld.com/media/tv/rammstein _ universal _ music _ senior http://www.desis-lab.org/projects/7 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgpqNzXw4rc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vilUhBhNnQc dove pro-age http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8k_f1Q6G _Y Potential of an Aging Society http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCCdmGKtxPA - Ted Talks A Cure for Ageing http://www.babble.com/kid/50-best-kids-appsfamily/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiLErcapmXY http://appsforhealthykids.com/ http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/companions _ for _ seniors _piano

http://uxmag.com/articles/designing-apps-for-kids

http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/companions _ for _ seniors _ shoelace

http://adsoftheworld.com/media/tv/reading _ is _ fundamental _ book _ people _ unite

http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/companions _ for _ seniors _ steak

http://adsoftheworld.com/media/dm/children _ of _ the _ world _ help _ me _ read _ this

http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/volkswagen _ dentures 177

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Appendices Design for Social Value at Politecnico di Milano - Bovisa Campus The following notes are not related to the content of the thesis, but are born from personal experiences carried on during the graduation track in Milan. We insert here the notes below because what we examined for children or for elder can be considered in general as some kind of support for a person “different” from the average. In this sense, a foreign student is not “different” in many countries and universities in the world, but we felt that we were “different” at Politecnico di Milano. We think that what we examined in the thesis is suitable for reducing such kind of problems, and this fact amplifies the meaning of the examined solutions. Furthermore, the described experience, both from the emotional and behavioral point of view is in any case a witness that seems to be unknown to most of the people in Politecnico di Milano. The proposals are really far from a concept, but the goal is not a concept: we want simply report common but unknown experiences and some possible research lines for a reduction of

problems. For the above reasons we put this note out from our thesis work. Forwards: Considerations based in our experiences and during our thesis research The fact of having the opportunity to travel around different places truly has let us gain a lot of experience to share and the capacity of continuing learning from new events that may arrive. Meeting different kinds of people, places, cultures, etcetera, has contribute with the birth of innovative thoughts and ideas, useful for our career goals and have make us a better person. We love to travel and we love to meet different people and cultures from all around the world that’s why we took the decision to study abroad and why not to an important city, Milan. Its amazing to meet people and try to understand why they do what they do, and try to not judge them for what we some times see in the news that often cannot describe or tell who a person really is. We for sure can’t generalized! First of all we should take into consideration the actual situation of the city we where going to. Milan is an international and cosmopolitan city with people from all over the world that work and live. Milan is a culturally diverse city. Foreign-born citizens, from 155 countries, make up almost 17% of the resident population. Milan hosts a great number of foreign cultural institutes and 100 consulates. Milan also 182

has the most internationalized university system in Italy: 80 courses at all levels (undergraduate, masters and PhDs) taught in English across the whole academic field. When we thought about having an studying experience abroad we thought lots of different things will happen, that we were going to meet a lot of people and gain more experiences, different from the ones we already have being in another country and talking a another language. Unfortunately, Milan wasn’t as we expected. The first days we were so nervous, like we already mentioned, another country, another language, and another culture. It’s true that when you arrive to a new place with new people you have to be open, you have to be kind, smile for being introduced into the class group. We tried to be the best we could but we didn’t have the chance to meet a lot of people, in fact the only friends we make in the University after two years where from: Iran, China, Colombia, being the countries with more presence in Politecnico. Not as much Italians as we thought and as we would like. We talked with an Italian ex roommate of one of us and even she told us that it was difficult also for her meeting Italian friends in her University in Milan. Anyways, every lived experience brings new knowledge into your life, so if we didn’t meet as much Italians as we wanted we have the chance to meet great people, people that we never thought. Like one friend once told us: “The more you know, the more you get”, “New experiences influence your criterion”. That’s why we loved to travel because it’s priceless and enriching. Every day that you live away from your hometown makes you stronger and let you appreciate lots of things you did not 183

appreciate before. Problems Foreign Students International students arrived as the new students; mostly all of the Italian students have met from 3 or 4 years before in the Laurea Triennale that could be a possible reason of why they weren’t open to us in the Laurea Magistrale. They have already made strong links between them years before. International students may have troubles in classes when they first arrived, because of the language limitations, it is not easy for international student to fully understand what the professors say or what the professors want at the beginning, not to mention participating in class discussions. International students need assistance to overcome difficulties originating from cultural and linguistic differences and enhance their academic performance. Actually, the question remains whether our university has been able to give their international students sufficient help and the attention required for adjusting them in a foreign territory. Our analysis through the problem in Italy of Italian language before students come to Italy. classes start. international students. open to international students since Italy in the last few years has had a lot of immigrants that

haven’t behaved in the best way and they start to generalized thinking that all foreigners are the same. We made some interviews to around 15 people with different majors and nationalities to go more deeply through their challenges and problems in communicating in Milan. We asked them about 15 questions about all challenges they had here first with their problems here and then if there was some opportunity for them to integrate with Italians or find some class notes, summarize lessons or have contact with people who could help them with things they didn’t understand. Almost all the answers we gathered were almost in common but we found some useful points that we can divide them into two main groups: For international students whose their course was taught in English the academic challenges weren’t that much a big problem but for sure they had lots of problems in their daily life. For the other group who their course was held in Italian there were a lot of problems like:

outside the school was easier to integrate and have meetings with other Italians. Necessities With all these information we gathered, we start thinking about something that could solve to break this barriers. A system (interface) connected to the university you are studying in; a system, which could help international students to solve some of the problems mentioned above. The service goal was to be in contact with other students, international or Italians that wanted to volunteer helping you explaining some of the classes you couldn’t attend or that you didn’t understand. Uploading videos, class notes or simply being open to meet with you inside or outside University to get the point explained and why not share experiences and finally break that language barrier. Plan meetings with them to be able to integrate with in a face-toface conversation. Users could also upload a work and have the chance to get corrected by volunteers or by tutors. Vision

level A2 or B1 challenging for them

Solve the problem, have some advantages for all not only foreigners but also Italians – CROX project.

they preferred to speak Italian students first while of being in Italy, the most important point was that most of them found their Italian friends not in the University. They found them at work, in parties, at the gym, etc. Definitively we found that 184

What is Crox? If you couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t participate in a class or could not get all the point explained by the professor, CROX is here to help you. Crox is a free online community for language practice. It is a service linked to the university you are studying in to give you the chance to review your classes and have latest news and articles about what you are interested to know in an academically environment. It connects people across language. Why Crox? Crox was born to share studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s capabilities and mix all kind of help that native speakers, students with a good level in other languages and specific tutors can give to international students. major. international students. native volunteers, with tutors and with non-native but with good knowledge in the language you are having problems with.

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Final Observations Don’t let language be a barrier on your learning. We are here for a purpose and we can’t let language became a barrier for us to learn, because every day we spent here, away from home can bring use unforgettable moments and experiences.

EXCHempathy Our Project Proposal and what we will like to do based on our research and taking profit of human resources.

possibilities to link seniors with students, to benefit both sides. Moreover for elderly it would be an opportunity to meet other people in the same age and with different expectations. Young designers during the work on the projects could understand the needs of elderly people and be more conscious of their problems. On the next step elderly should be inserted in the design process, having in mind that we are all getting old, and that should be an impulse to start to prepare our world for their increasing needs. The main goal is to break the stereotypes about the elderly, try to emphasize students with elderly and make strong connections and exchange of ideas and human resources.

Why EXCHempathy? elderly and young people.

Concept: “EXCHempathy” A platform that can insert elderly in the educational environment, taking profit of human resources. It could help seniors to feel more useful and to spend their free time and money helping students to develop or reinforce their projects or ideas, in the same time receiving help from their side. At Politecnico already exists “Home Sharing”, which can be connected to our platform, to give more

What is “EXCHempathy”? EXCHempathy is a free online community for taking profit of elderly and young students human resources. It is a service linked to the university you are studying in to give you the chance to find housing for free or cheaper, for gaining some money developing simple tasks, participating in workshops 186

for and with atypical users (elderly) and to be able to develop that project that you couldn’t because of lack of money, or any interested sponsor.

something that will benefit all society, at the end all of us are going to be old some day.

Old people could be part of student’s projects helping them with money and also helping them with their knowledge and participating in the design process. Also it could break with older adults isolation and include them in a different environment to be useful and students learn from them and taking profit from them too. EXCHempathy was born to share student’s capabilities and mix all kind of help taking profit of human resources. Old people knowledge and experience and younger students ideas, constant learning and help in day-to-day activities.

Banca di lavoro (paid and volunteering) - (150 ore) It is a virtual place where it’s possible to find or to post different paid or volunteer job. It could be connected with 150 ore, which already exist for students, but we would like to give the opportunity to seniors too.

How does “EXCHempathy” works? Do you want to study abroad but don’t have the money for living? EXCHempathy is here for you! Was your thesis or lab project good but you don’t have the money to develop it? Here is EXCHempathy to fid the perfect sponsor that could be interested in developing your project and being part of it. Taking part of the process and learning with you. Do you need help from an expert of a specific theme? It’s being so hard to learn at school? There are people willing to help you just for the fact or knowing they are useful for society. Really lets include the seniors in the design process, in our decision taking there are people that have more experience than us that for sure can be useful for making real our projects or ideas. We are making 187

Open lessons for seniors - Politecnico could open some of their regular lessons for seniors, and help to insert them into the student community. There could also be another opportunity to insert open lessons out of the regular calendar to students taught by elderly that are experts on a subject and share his/her experiences with a students. For example how to create company or other necessary information about the working field. Simple task - It is an easy way where students can earn some money, helping seniors or other students, with an specific task, for instance: shopping, cleaning, or teaching seniors how to use different technological devices. Projects sponsorship - It is a virtual place where students can share their ideas, or projects, that

couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be done because of their economical situation, or because of lack of knowledge about the subject. Older people who have the money could be their sponsor and they could take part of the design process of the project. So they will feel useful and less isolated. (Older people/retire/money)

going to supermarket etc. especially for elderly with reduced mobility. People can upload videos or photos for making it easier for the user that is either searching where to live or needing help.

Workshops - Open short-term workshops, where students and elderly could work together to develop some projects and make sure to involve elderly into the design process and possible solutions. Thinking about possible solutions about elderly problems - isolation, loneliness, depression, how can we afford aging society? etcetera. Outside of school activities - (activities/ trips) Knowing that Politecnico already offers some outside activities for students, would be nice to open them also for seniors. It will help to create links between students and elderly in different subject (architecture, engineering, design, etc.) Another option could be to open specific trips to seniors. Why not travel to countries of the foreign students that have studied at Politecnico? It would be like Couch Surfing, but jut for older adults. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not about an couch accommodation, but about coffee meetings or just showing them their city. Politecnico could contact their ex-students to offer that possibility. It is also the way to emphasize with atypical users in other culture. Home Sharing - It is a virtual place where students can find an available dormitory on elders house. Low cost or free housing. Elderly can also find available students that are searching for a place to live. The students can also help to elderly with cleaning, 188