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Copyright of Informatics Control Measurement in Economy & Environment Protection / Informatyka, Automatyka, Pomiary w Gospodarce i Ochronie Środowiska is the property of Lublin University of Technology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Given curiosity's fundamental role in motivation and learning and considering the widespread use of digital stories as educational tools from the preschool age, we pursued measuring preschoolers' curiosity when interacting with digital stories. Using 129 toddlers and preschoolers as a sample, three groups (one for each class) were given different versions of the same digital story to listen to: interactive, non-interactive, and animated. Toddlers' verbal and nonverbal behaviors were utilized to quantify curiosity as a condition brought on by the app. The participants' verbal and nonverbal behaviors were recorded during the digital reading aloud. Every child's data was encoded at one-minute intervals to examine concurrent behavior, and the results were then compiled. The findings show that interactive presentation formats encourage more touching and language use but less noise production and that interaction and the creative use of hot spots in digital illustrations are key elements in piquing viewers' curiosity while contributing to the strengthening of the engagement to the activity and the cultivation of critical thinking, creativity, and imagination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to study the impact of different ways of presenting educational content found on websites on the ability to assimilate information among elementary school students. To conduct the study, three websites with interface layouts different in terms of levels of complexity were prepared: a simple, a moderate and a complex one. Each site contained the same educational materials. Seventy-two students from elementary school grades IV-VI participated in the study. All the students were divided into 3 groups, each of which worked with one version of the website. At the first stage, students were tasked with familiarizing themselves with the content of the web pages within a given website. This was followed by a knowledge quiz, checking how much information the subjects had memorized. At the last stage, participants of the experiment completed a questionnaire collecting their opinions on their preferences regarding the form of presentation of educational content made available online. The obtained results and the conducted analysis show the interface with the moderate level of complexity, i.e. with a relatively simple layout and without an excessive number of elements, allows for the assimilation of the most information. The interface was also rated the highest by the participants of the study.

Digital fabrication laboratories (Fab Labs) are accessible to the public, including children and families. However, a variety of technical skills, tools, and expertise are needed in these spaces, and Fab Lab staff—instructors working there—are in a key role in helping Fab Lab users. There is, however, a lack of research on how these instructors can inspire children's genuine participation in Fab Labs. We analyze the challenges faced by four instructors during two months of Fab Lab workshops with 7–12-year-old children. The children worked in child-only or child-parent groups on informal digital design and fabrication activities. Based on genuine participation principles derived from the literature, we designed our workshops, which included the creation of instructor guideline. At the end, we developed a post-workshop framework in which the instructors provided feedback about their performance and experiences. We provide recommendations to help instructors support children's genuine participation in digital design and fabrication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process by which user experiences (UX) for children are created is uncertain, especially for deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children. This paper seeks to (I) describe the origins of UX and child–computer interaction and to describe what is being taught to designers today; (II) use the example of digital assessment to extract insights from practitioners about UX design for DHH children; and (III) describe opportunities for amending today's UX design curricula to foster more equitably designed products for children. Interviewing 13 practitioners revealed the following findings. (1) Allowing non-designer participants to self-identify their profession makes them more likely to discuss design concepts. (2) The challenge of working with children is more about legal/risk assessment than any gaps in design education. (3) Practitioners who design products for children follow similar processes to designers who design for adults; age-specific language is the main difference child and adult UX. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The virtual Cross Array Task (CAT) is an educational platform designed to evaluate algorithmic thinking (AT) skills among students within Swiss compulsory education. This tool introduces an adaptable multi-interface system, enabling users to interact via intuitive gesture-based commands or through a visual programming interface that uses drag-and-drop blocks, facilitating a versatile approach to constructing and understanding algorithms. The platform encompasses a comprehensive training module for skill acquisition and a validation module for assessment. The system offers real-time feedback to users during activities, adjusting dynamically based on their actions, providing insights into progress and areas for improvement, thereby facilitating learning and performance enhancement. With multilingual capabilities extended to English, German, French, and Italian, the virtual CAT is intricately crafted to meet the diverse needs of educational contexts across various regions. Preliminary application and evaluation through a small-scale study indicate the virtual CAT’s potential to offer scalable assessment and a robust platform for integrating AT into broader educational and research methodologies, setting the stage for its integration into academic research and daily pedagogical practice.

This article provides a comprehensive overview of recent research in the area of Child-Computer Interaction (CCI). The main contributions of the present article are two-fold. First, we present a novel longitudinal CCI database named ChildCIdbLong, which comprises over 600 children aged 18 months to 8 years old, acquired continuously over 4 academic years (2019-2023). As a result, ChildCIdbLong comprises over 12K test acquisitions over a tablet device. Different tests are considered in ChildCIdbLong, requiring different touch and stylus gestures, enabling the evaluation of praxical and cognitive skills such as attentional, visuo-spatial, and executive, among others. In addition to the ChildCIdbLong database, we propose a novel quantitative metric called Test Quality (Q), designed to measure the motor and cognitive development of children through their interaction with a tablet device. In order to provide a better comprehension of the proposed Q metric, popular percentile-based growth representations are introduced for each test, providing a two-dimensional space to compare children’s development with respect to the typical age skills of the population. The results achieved in the present article highlight the potential of the novel ChildCIdbLong database in conjunction with the proposed Q metric to measure the motor and cognitive development of children as they grow up. The proposed framework could be very useful as an automatic tool to support child experts (e.g., paediatricians, educators, or neurologists) for early detection of potential physical/cognitive impairments during children’s development.

IntroductionSignificant threats to our environment tremendously affect biodiversity and related gains. Particularly wild bees actively contribute by pollinating plants and trees. Their increasing extinction comes with devastating consequences for nutrition and stability of our ecosystem. However, most people lack awareness about those species and their living conditions, preventing them to take on responsibility.MethodsWe introduce an intervention consisting of a mobile app and related project workshops that foster responsibility already at an early stage in life. Drawing on principles from multimedia learning and child-centered design, six gamified levels and accompanying nature-based activities sensitize for the importance of wild bees and their role for a stable and diverse ecosystem. A pilot evaluation across three schools, involving 44 children aged between 9 and 12, included a pre-, post-, and delayed post-test to inspect app usability and learning gains.ResultsMost children perceived the app as intuitive, engaging, and visually appealing, and sustainably benefited from our intervention in terms of retention performance. Teacher interviews following the intervention support the fit with the envisioned target group and the classroom setting.DiscussionTaken together, the obtained evidence emphasizes the benefits of our intervention, even though our sample size was limited due to dropouts. Future extensions might include adaptive instructional design elements to increase observable learning gains.

Playing games can be one of the most important activities for children to improve their social problem-solving (SPS) skills. Studies that have examined the empirical evidence of playing games concerning children's SPS skills have tended to focus on the function of a single game. Therefore, an overview study is needed to generalize the data by the game content and production purpose. Twelve databases were systematically searched. Four basic criteria were sought for studies to be included. A total of 35 studies meeting all the inclusion criteria were reviewed. The results showed that (i) experimental designs were the most utilized, and (ii) more studies using active control groups are needed to compare the effectiveness of the game playing. In non-traditional games research, half of the videogames used in the studies reviewed and classified, were primarily produced for educational purposes, followed by serious games (30%) and entertainment games (20%). These three types of videogames were effective in promoting children's SPS skills. Moreover, simulation games were the most preferred videogame genre utilized by the researchers. In studies using videogames, children's SPS skills did not differ significantly by gender, whereas in a study using traditional games (non-video games), male participants' problem-solving ability progressed significantly more than that of females. Almost all the studies concluded that playing both videogames and traditional games positively influenced children's SPS skills. However, only three studies utilizing traditional games were conducted during the two-decade period (2000–2019) and more studies are needed for comparable and generalizable results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As voice-based Conversational Assistants (CAs), including Alexa, Siri, Google Home, have become commonly embedded in households, many children now routinely interact with Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems. It is important to research children's experiences with consumer devices which use AI techniques because these shape their understanding of AI and its capabilities. We conducted a mixed-methods study (questionnaires and interviews) with primary-school children aged 6–11 in Scotland to establish children's understanding of how voice-based CAs work, how they perceive their cognitive abilities, agency and other human-like qualities, their awareness and trust of privacy aspects when using CAs and what they perceive as appropriate verbal interactions with CAs. Most children overestimated the CAs' intelligence and were uncertain about the systems' feelings or agency. They also lacked accurate understanding of data privacy and security aspects, and believed it was wrong to be rude to conversational assistants. Exploring children's current understanding of AI-supported technology has educational implications; such findings will enable educators to develop appropriate materials to address the pressing need for AI literacy.

This article presents a comprehensive analysis of the different tests proposed in the recent ChildCI framework, 1 1 https://github.com/BiDAlab/ChildCIdb%5fv1. proving its potential for generating a better understanding of children's neuromotor and cognitive development along time, as well as their possible application in other research areas such as e-Health and e-Learning. In particular, we propose a set of over 100 global features related to motor and cognitive aspects of the children interaction with mobile devices, some of them collected and adapted from the literature. Furthermore, we analyse the robustness and discriminative power of the proposed feature set including experimental results for the task of children age group detection based on their motor and cognitive behaviours. Two different scenarios are considered in this study: (i) single-test scenario, and (ii) multiple-test scenario. Results over 93% accuracy are achieved using the publicly available ChildCIdb_v1 database (over 400 children from 18 months to 8 years old), proving the high correlation of children's age with the way they interact with mobile devices. • Proposal of over 100 global features related to motor and cognitive aspects. • Usage of the largest and most diverse public dataset on the topic (ChildCIdb_v1). • Results of over 93% accuracy for the children age group detection task. • It seems to be a relationship between children's age and mobile device interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last decade, touchless gestural interfaces have been widely studied as one of the most promising interaction paradigms in the context of pervasive displays. In particular, avatars and silhouettes have proved to be effective in making the touchless capacity of displays self-evident. In this paper, we focus on a child–display interaction approach to avatar-based touchless gestural interfaces. We believe that large displays offer an opportunity to stimulate children's experiences and engagement; for instance, learning about art is very engaging for children but can bring a number of challenges. Our study aims to contribute to the literature on both pervasive displays and child–computer interaction by reporting the results of a study involving 107 children aged 2 to 10 years. The main purposes of this study were to discover: (1) whether an avatar (movable or immovable) provides interactions that are intuitive for children and therefore help to overcome so-called "affordance blindness"; (2) whether an avatar-based touchless interface makes children's experiences engaging and enjoyable therefore improving recall of content provided through the interaction (learning about art). The study unveiled relevant outcomes in terms of affordance blindness and two-handed interactions. We provide evidence indicating that chronological age influences the style of child–avatar interaction. Finally, it is suggested that avatars could facilitate the development of new effective educational technologies for young children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new people generation Z can be viewed in terms of software engineering as specific users who have high requirements regarding the functions and interface of the software applications, connectivity to social networks and instant communication via the Internet. In recent years, the number of electronic learning systems increased, but students are still not motivated to learn. This requires developing new conceptual models of training and learning software, tailored to the skills and preferences of the end-users. The young students: from kindergartens to preschools and primary schools are special users who have not been studied exhaustively. To present the problem related to the development of learning and training software thoroughly, the most commonly used standards and current trends, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of LMS platforms have been reviewed. The commonly used software design and development technologies have been discussed. We proposed a strategy for developing a web-based e-learning management system according to the possibilities of young pupils as a specific user. We described a software architecture, based on SCORM's specification, and we developed an LMS prototype. The basic methodology used in the design and creation of the system we propose is user-centered design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluates and compares the suitability for child–computer interaction (CCI, the branch within human–computer interaction focused on interactive computer systems for children) of two devices: a standard computer mouse and the ENLAZA interface, a head mouse that measures the user’s head posture using an inertial sensor. A multidirectional pointing task was used to assess the motor performance and the users’ ability to learn such a task. The evaluation was based on the interpretation of the metrics derived from Fitts’ law. Ten children aged between 6 and 8 participated in this study. Participants performed a series of pre- and post-training tests for both input devices. After the experiments, data were analyzed and statistically compared. The results show that Fitts’ law can be used to detect changes in the learning process and assess the level of psychomotor development (by comparing the performance of adults and children). In addition, meaningful differences between the fine motor control (hand) and the gross motor control (head) were found by comparing the results of the interaction using the two devices. These findings suggest that Fitts’ law metrics offer a reliable and objective way of measuring the progress of physical training or therapy.

One challenge of child–computer interaction research is surveying variation of children's attitudes towards novel educational technology, which often results in an opinion ceiling effect. In this article, the authors introduce BiCo – a bipolar continuous rating scale which builds on children's ability to draw relative comparisons. They elaborate on the development of BiCo and on how they designed it to better survey children's attitudes. Beyond addressing the opinion ceiling effect, BiCo is suitable for surveying a wide range of concepts and its invertible design enables simulation of inverted items. The authors provide data comparing BiCo with the widely used Smileyometer instrument when used by fourth-graders (around 10 years old), demonstrating that BiCo mitigates the opinion ceiling effect. They discuss BiCo as a new tool for children's technology evaluation and provide directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper presents the CoDeT (Collaborative design thinking) approach, developed for co-design settings characterized by a high child-to-adult ratio (ca. 1 adult for 15 to 20 children) such as schools, libraries and maker spaces. • Children often lack a basic understanding of the design process and skills to collaborate productively with peers; CoDeT addresses these challenges by scaffolding collaboration and design thinking. • To scaffold collaboration and design thinking, CoDeT relies on a framework that integrates social interdependence theory and design Thinking; this framework was validated in a case study with 49 children between 9 and 10 years old in two schools. This paper presents the Collaborative Design Thinking (CoDeT) co-design approach, its theoretical framework, and its application in a case study with 49 children aged 9 to 10 in two schools. CoDeT aims to scaffold children's collaboration and design thinking in co-design settings characterised by a high child-to-adult ratio (ca. 1 adult for 15 to 20 children), such as schools, museums and maker spaces. In these settings, children have to work relatively independent from adults who become guides on the side. This can be challenging due to children's limited understanding of the design process and their lack of skills to collaborate productively towards a shared design goal. CoDeT addresses these challenges by integrating principles of Social Interdependence Theory (SIT) and Design Thinking (DT), which together form the theoretical backbone of the approach. CoDeT was first applied in a case study and yielded promising results in terms of children's collaboration and design thinking skills, yet possible improvements were found. The insights of this case study informed the revised version of CoDeT presented at the end of this article, in a what-why-how structure, allowing researchers and practitioners to apply the co-design approach in a wide variety of contexts characterised by high child-to-adult ratios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Five years of study examining children's touchscreen interactions compared to adults'. • Data has been collected from over 180 people (60 adults, 120 children). • Results focus on findings that are robust to screen size and touchscreen platform. • The set of cumulative design recommendations captures in one place an easy reference for future design. • Open questions in the design of touch-based interactions for children on future platforms. Touchscreen interaction is nearly ubiquitous in today's computing environments. Children have always been a special population of users for new interaction technology: significantly different from adults in their needs, expectations, and abilities, but rarely tailored to in new contexts and on new platforms. Studies of children's touchscreen interaction have been conducted that focus on individual variables that may affect the interaction, but as yet no synthesis of studies replicating similar methodologies in different contexts has been presented. This paper reports the results across five years of focused study in one project aiming to characterize the differences between children's and adults' physical touchscreen interaction behaviors. Six studies were conducted with over 180 people (116 children) to understand how children touch targets and make onscreen gestures. A set of design recommendations that summarizes the findings across the six studies is presented for reference. This paper makes the entire set available for reference in one place and highlights where the findings are generalizable across platforms. These recommendations can inform the design of future touchscreen interfaces for children based on their physical capabilities. Also, this paper outlines the future challenges and open questions that remain for understanding child-computer interaction on touchscreens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluation methods emphasizing children's natural interaction help in getting feedback from children for product development. This paper presents a case study with 9- to 10-year-old children in a school context. The evaluated system was an artificial intelligence–based poetry writing system, and the methods used were peer tutoring with paired interviews and group testing with a new Feedback Game. The evaluation criteria included the number of usability problems, usefulness, and fun. The applicability of the methods is discussed along with the resources required. Peer tutoring revealed numerous problems, whereas group testing and the Feedback Game were quick to conduct and analyze. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collaboration with artificial intelligence (AI) is a growing trend even in the field of creativity. This paper examines which quantitative metrics can be used to comparatively analyse human-computer co-creativity with children. To study this question, 24 schoolchildren of age 10-11 wrote a poem with three co-creative poetry writing processes: a human-computer, a human-human, and a human-human-computer process. The computational participant in the processes was an AI-based application called the Poetry Machine. The children were asked to evaluate their user experience with a 5-point Likert-type questionnaire after each writing process and a comparative questionnaire after finishing all processes. The metrics used in the evaluation were immediate fun, long-term enjoyment, creativity, self-expression, outcome satisfaction, ease of starting and finishing writing, quality of ideas and support from others, and ownership. Significant differences were found in fun, long-term enjoyment, quality of ideas, support, and ownership. The high number of statistically relevant results was enabled by exposing all participants to all writing processes, and the comparative questionnaire. The human-human-computer process was evaluated the best in long-term enjoyment and the human-computer process the weakest in support and idea quality. Creativity and ease of finishing writing turned out to be outlining metrics for the co-creative processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In human--computer co-creativity, humans and creative computational algorithms create together. Too often, only the creative algorithms and their outcomes are evaluated when studying these co-creative processes, leaving the human participants to little attention. This paper presents a case study emphasising the human experiences when evaluating the use of a co-creative poetry writing system called the Poetry Machine. The co-creative process was evaluated using seven metrics: Fun, Enjoyment, Expressiveness, Outcome satisfaction, Collaboration, Ease of writing, and Ownership. The metrics were studied in a comparative setting using three co-creation processes: a human--computer, a human--human, and a human--human--computer co-creation process. Twelve pupils of age 10-11 attended the studies in six pairs trying out all the alternative writing processes. The study methods included observation in paired-user testing, questionnaires, and interview. The observations were complemented with analyses of the video recordings of the evaluation sessions. According to statistical analyses, Collaboration was the strongest in human--human--computer co-creation, and weakest in human--computer co-creation. Ownership was just the opposite: weakest in human--human--computer co-creation, and strongest in human--computer co-creation. Other metrics did not produce statistically significant results. In addition to the results, this paper presents the lessons learned in the evaluations with children using the selected methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]