Children's storytelling and programming with robotic characters

Abstract

We introduce mixed physical and digital authoring environments for children, which invite them to create stories with enriched drawings that are programmed to control robotic characters. These characters respond to the children's drawings as well as to their touch. Children create their stories by drawing props and programming how the robotic character should respond to those props and to physical touch. By drawing, programming the robotic character's behaviors, and organizing and negotiating the order and meanings of the props, children's story events unfold in creative ways. We present our iterative design process of developing and evaluating our prototypes with children. We discuss the role technology can play in supporting children's everyday creative storytelling.

Comparing the Effectiveness of Online Learning Approaches on CS1 Learning Outcomes

“…First, we told them their task was to "Use a creative canvas tool to create multiple stories for a robotic character named Gidget." This is based on several works, primarily by Kelleher et al [38,39], which shows that adding storytelling elements to open-ended creative environments can significantly increase users' engagement [33,60,72]. Second, we told them about the various help features available (see previous paragraph and section 3.1.2), and how to access them.…”

Using children's drawings to improve a programming app

“…Usually the drawings are used as a vehicle to start or progress design [14]. Sometimes the drawings are used to control programmable objects [15]. In our case we used drawings to find features missing in our existing prototype.…”

Sharing Stories “in the Wild”

“…Yet, the body of research that combines integrated design for storytelling, a focus on children, and mobile devices is relatively small [Franckel et al 2010]. Most research has typically targeted one design goal, such as a desktop tool that supports the creation of personal narratives by adults [Landry and Guzdial 2006]; similar nonmobile interfaces for children [Bailey et al 2006;Klerfelt 2006;Ryokai et al 2009]; mobile-based multimedia toolsets for adults that lack integrated storytelling features [Wu et al 2007]; or similar mobile text-messaging tools designed for children that lack story creation support [Makela et al 2000]. Fails et al's [2010Fails et al's [ , 2011 work to support collaborative mobile storytelling by children (8-11 years old) represents one strand of research that integrates all three facets (children, mobile devices, shared storytelling).…”