Collaborative Technology For Young Children's Outdoor Education
Collaborative Technology For Young Children's Outdoor Education
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Date
2007-08-03
Authors
Chipman, Leslie Eugene
Advisor
Druin, Allison
Citation
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Abstract
Children participating in classroom field trips learn first hand in an authentic context.
However, activities during these trips are often limited to observation and data
collection. Children synthesize their knowledge later, in classroom discussions and in
the collaborative construction of a representational artifact. But the classroom is
removed from the authentic context in which the knowledge was gained. My
research investigated how mobile technology can bridge this gap by supporting and
encouraging young children (grades K-4) to collaboratively construct knowledge
artifacts, while simultaneously exploring open, educational environments. Three key
elements are addressed; creating a concrete connection between digital information
and the real world, supporting awareness of collaborative opportunities in an open
environment, and promoting face-to-face collaboration.
This dissertation details the conception, design, implementation, and evaluation of the
Tangible Flags technology; a tangible interface that is developmentally appropriate
for children (grades K-4) to embed and access digital information through their
physical environment and multi-user tools that support collaboration in open
environments. Tangible Flags are simple for children to attach to the environment
and promote an awareness of artifact creation and exploration activities because they
are visually apparent. An interface that provides an awareness of changes to digital
artifacts and enables concurrent and remote access to these artifacts further enhances
collaboration.
Two studies were conducted to evaluate the concepts of Tangible Flags. A case study
was conducted in an authentic outdoor learning environment, a National Park. A
second study compares children's use of the Tangible Flags technology to a roughly
equivalent paper system. Quantitative and qualitative analysis indicates that children
using Tangible Flags participated in more asynchronous collaborative activity and
were more engaged than those who did not. It also showed that awareness of peer
activity combined with remote and concurrent access to digital artifacts resulted in
increased face-to-face collaborative activity and examines the impact of artifact
awareness and access on children's focus on the environment. These contributions
will be useful to educators, designers of educational environments and researchers in
the field of children's educational technology.