Young children’s ability to use a computer mouse

Donker, Afke; Reitsma, P. H.

doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2005.05.001

Cited by 77 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…As computer game becomes a very successful element in today's entertainment landscape and an integral part of daily life [1], this happy learning idea is getting more and more popular and fascinating. However, the application of digital educational games (DEGS) in preschool education is facing an unavoidable problem: mouse and keyboard, the dominant interactive devices, are difficult for children to use [2], which leads to the failure of capturing all the information released by children. And the success of a game often depends on the success of child's operation of the software [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental Development of Competitive Digital Educational Games on Multi-touch Screen for Young Children

Zhang

Ren

et al. 2010

Entertainment for Education. Digital Techniques and Systems

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Abstract. Multi-touch technology offers us a new opportunity to develop digital educational games (DEGS) for children. Current researches are focusing on the area of cooperative learning, and the devices used are mostly horizontal. Can we develop competitive DEGS for children? How would it look like if these games are shown on vertical screens? Based on these assumptions, we did some experimental development researches. In this paper, the design and implementation of four competitive DEGS are introduced, each of which targeting a specific kind of intelligence (verbal-linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical and visual-spatial) based on the theory of multiple intelligences. Tryout was made on some preschool children and the problems encountered are analyzed. The experiences gained in the whole process are summarized in the end.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental Development of Competitive Digital Educational Games on Multi-touch Screen for Young Children

Zhang

Ren

et al. 2010

Entertainment for Education. Digital Techniques and Systems

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…In contrast, Donker and Reitsma (2005) believe children can use a mouse and we can design software for them like elder people. According to the study, they found young children between ages 6-7 are clearly capable of using a computer mouse.…”

Section: Jcsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review on User Interface Design Principles to Increase Software Usability for Users With Less Computer Literacy

Darejeh

Singh

2013

Journal of Computer Science

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This article presents a review on how software usability could be increased for users with less computer literacy. The literature was reviewed to extract user interface design principles by identifying the similar problems of this group of users. There are different groups of users with less computer literacy. However, based on the literature three groups of them need special attention from software designers. The first group is elderly users, as users with lack of computer background. The second group is children, as novice users and the third group is users with mental or physical disorders. Therefore, this study intends to focus on the mentioned groups, followed by a comparison between previous researches in the field, which reveals that some commonalities exist between the needs of these users. These commonalities were used to extract user interface design principles such as (a) reducing the number of features available at any given time, (b) avoiding using computer terms, (c) putting customization ability for font, color, size and (d) using appropriate graphical objects such as avatar or icon. Taking these principles into account can solve software usability problems and increase satisfaction of users with less computer literacy.

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“…Conducting a study almost a decade after Inkpen and Joiner, Donker and Reitsma [67] found the opposite result with five to sevenyear old children conducting drag-and-drop tasks faster and with less errors than when following a click-move-click approach. This study used letters as items to move, which had different sizes and aspect ratios, making it difficult to compare results with other studies.…”

Section: Draggingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some possible reasons for the differences may be due to young children, especially five to six-year olds, having more experience in this decade than in the previous one with using input devices and therefore having less problems with drag-and-drop tasks. It could also be that the mice used by Donker and Reitsma [67] had better designed buttons that enabled children to keep the button down more easily. Whatever the reason, it is unclear what interaction technique designers should select.…”

Section: Draggingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interaction Design and Children

Hourcade

2007

FNT in Human-Computer Interaction

230

121

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Children are increasingly using computer technologies as reflected in reports of computer use in schools in the United States. Given the greater exposure of children to these technologies, it is imperative that they be designed taking into account children's abilities, interests, and developmental needs. This survey aims to contribute toward this goal through a review of research on children's cognitive and motor development, safety issues related to technologies and design methodologies and principles. It also provides and overview of current research trends in the field of interaction design and children and identifies challenges for future research.To understand children's developmental needs it is important to be aware of the factors that affect children's intellectual development. This survey analyzes the relevance of constructivist, socio-cultural, and other modern theories with respect to the design of technologies for children. It also examines the significance of research on children's cognitive development in terms of perception, memory, symbolic representation, problem solving, and language. Since interacting with technologies most often involves children's hands this survey also reviews literature on children's fine motor development including manipulation and reaching movements. Just as it is important to know how to aid children's development it is also crucial to avoid harming development. This survey summarizes research on how technologies can negatively affect children's physical, intellectual, social, emotional, and moral development. Following is a review of design methodologies for children's technologies organized based on the roles children may play during the design process including a description of cooperative inquiry and informant design methods. This is followed by a review of design principles obtained through experiences in developing technologies for children as well as research studies. It includes design principles related to visual design (e.g., icons, visual complexity), interaction styles (e.g., direct manipulation, menus), and the use of input devices (e.g., pointing, dragging, using mouse buttons). The latter half of this survey summarizes research trends in the field of interaction design and children, grouping research efforts in the following areas: supporting creativity and problem solving, supporting collaboration and communication, accessing, gathering and exploring content, learning from simulations, supporting children with special needs, interacting with intelligent characters, supporting healthy lifestyles, learning skills, mobile, tangible, and ubiquitous computing, and designing and evaluating technologies. This survey concludes by formulating research challenges for the future and identifying three information age "plagues" children are in danger of facing in the near future.

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Young children’s ability to use a computer mouse

Cited by 77 publications

References 21 publications

Experimental Development of Competitive Digital Educational Games on Multi-touch Screen for Young Children

Experimental Development of Competitive Digital Educational Games on Multi-touch Screen for Young Children

A Review on User Interface Design Principles to Increase Software Usability for Users With Less Computer Literacy

Interaction Design and Children

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