Apps for early childhood. Tips and best practices for choosing and creating quality interactive content.
The youngest children are the least critical and expert users and yet among the most enthusiastic users of mobile and tablet devices. The use of these devices, almost always connected to the web, is growing in families.
Recent research suggests that children are using these devices as early as 2 years old, not only before they go to school, as was the case with traditional media, but before they start talking or walking, in the sensory-motor phase of development. Parallel to the use of interactive content, the offer of Apps for pre-school children has grown exponentially. Now, as never before, the digital industry is creating interactive digital resources for children. The constant search of parents and educators for resources that help children learn, play and be entertained fuels this production and floods the market.
The project is developed from the field of communication, pedagogy and developmental psychology, considering the construction of knowledge of children under 8 years of age from the learning processes through a constructivist vision. For this reason, the proposal moves away from models that propose the possibility of leaving the child alone in front of a "machine" (as well as in front of the television or in the choice of a toy) and underlines the necessary role of educators (teachers, social workers, health sector professionals, carers, parents, etc.) in the child's learning processes.
The overall aim of the project is to improve the quality of digital content for children to ensure the protection of minors as users, as well as to facilitate and inform the selection and creation of safe and quality content by educators and developers. But the protection of minors cannot be limited to avoiding online chat, violent content or foul language, as proposed in current rating systems. From the perspective of the project researchers, it is necessary to reconsider the assumptions underlying child protection mechanisms and relate them directly to the appropriateness and accessibility of interactive games for children's development.
Periodo:
2018 to 2019Tipo de proyecto (innovació | investigación):
de investigaciónEntidad financiera:
Consell de l’Audiovisual de Catalunya