Cinekid for Professionals
Expert Meeting: App
EXPERT MEETING:
APP
1
Cinekid for Professionals 2013
www.cinekid.com
Cinekid for Professionals
Expert Meeting: App
Friday 25th October
With the support of the Bernard van Leer Foundation,
Organized by Cinekid
Participants:
Warren Buckleitner
Founding Editor Children’s Technology Review
Founder Dust or Magic Institute
Ingeborg Bruinewoud|
Student UvA
Paulien Dresscher
Head of New Media, Cinekid
Christel Eijkholt
Director Kinderopvangfonds
Carla Fisher
Children’s Interactive Media Strategist and Product Visionary
Jan Willem Huisman
Creative Director IJsfontein Interactive Media
Jeanet van de Korput
Programme Officer Bernard van Leer Foundation
Jason Krogh
CEO Sago Sago
Sannette Naeyé
Director Cinekid
Jessica Poitrowski
Assistent Professor Amsterdam School of Communications Research, UvA
Remco Pijpers
Director My Child Online
Lidia de Reese
Search engine for children: fragFINN.de
Nicole Seymour, Independent Developer Disney, BBC
Juliet Tzabar, Managing Director Plug-in Media
2
Cinekid for Professionals 2013
www.cinekid.com
Cinekid for Professionals
Expert Meeting: App
The expert meeting organized by Cinekid has been based on the two reports What Makes a Good App and Mobile Apps for Children: Criteria and Categorization. Its purpose
was twofold: we first tried to find parameters for ‘good apps’, which were especially
related to the different stages of a child’s development: What can a good app realize
and what is the additional value of the app for children in the current media landscape?
We tried to set quality and categorical specifics during the meeting with a select group
of experts on the subject. Second we explored how Cinekid (for Professionals) could
potentially enhance this industry, especially for those apps that might not end up on
the major lists of big agency, but are quality driven and relevant for children.
Every month more then 20.000 new apps appear on the market. Children play with
them on a daily basis: out of every three families with children two own an iPad. 54%
of children between 0-3 use an iPad, and even 78% of children between 7-12. In the
future these numbers will only grow. At the same time hardly any research is done on
the effects app use has on children and their development. Given the heart and soul
children put into media and how emotionally open they are to them, Cinekid thinks it
is crucial to take this subject very serious, says Paulien Dresscher, Head of New Media
in the introduction.
Earlier Cinekid did the quick scan Leveraging Media for Early Learning (Emma O’Hare,
Jenny Booms, Vanessa Pattipeilohy, 2012, in commission by Bernard Van Leer Foundation). This resulted in the following recommendations to developers: adapt to your
audience; keep it simple; use settings, characters and situations familiar to children;
speak and interact directly to children; stimulate joint media engagement; put children
into action.
The next step was focussing on parents, who often lack time or resources to monitor
this tsunami of apps. This resulted in the AppLab, a tool and guide for parents with
which they can find good, creative, high-quality apps that are sound but, above all, fun
for their children. To find criteria to select these apps, Emma O’Hare started an intense
research for which she spoke a lot of experts that are also present at the expert meeting. Her research was the basic preparation for the content of the AppLab and also
gave the start for the categorization-model on which the app is based.
Findings AppLab Research
Aim of the research: find criteria and set up a categorisation for apps by:
•
gathering the research that was already out there (almost nothing)
•
linking this research to the existing research on developmental stages in early and middle childhood
•
consulting experts in the field
Findings:
1. General criteria for children’s apps
•
•
•
•
Play first, learning second
Interactive (media specificity: use the possibilities of the medium)
Intuitive design
open-endedness (give way to the autonomy of child to DIY)
3
Cinekid for Professionals 2013
www.cinekid.com
Cinekid for Professionals
Expert Meeting: App
2. Practical criteria
•
Limit textual explanation, use mostly visual instruction (for younger children)
•
Remain in safe surroundings of the app (no outlinks, commercials, pay-options)
•
Interactive elements large enough (fine motor skills are still developing)
•
Not too much interactive elements at the borders so they wont’ touch them by accident
•
Use different shapes and colors for the interactive elements to clearly mark the difference
•
Start immediately (no flashy intro’s)
•
App should be able to handle a lot of touching without lagging
•
Offer feedback and guidance when child is struggling
•
Avoid time limits in game
3. Content criteria
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Use familiar themes and objects (makes them feel safe and learn more)
Try to keep a narrative or game open-ended
Offer repetition in a playful manner (in different settings for instance)
Content should not contradict what is being learnt in school
Try to develop to the level of the child (if the child is learning and growing, the app should grow with it)
Little fun surprises keep the child engaged
Slow-paced media up to 6 years
The apps in the AppLab are divided into eight categories, related to de different developmental stages. These categories can be open to discussion when use and research
proves that they are not functioning properly: they can be adapted at any time, an agile
approach is made possible through the technical backdrop of the app.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
arts and crafts
knowledge and learning
thinking and reasoning
collaborate
communicate
get moving
growing up and feelings
language and maths
The AppLab is in English and Dutch and has three axes. The x-axis shows the categories, the y-axis the ages and the z-axis, the endless one, shows the tags. Cinekid’s educational department reviews every app and monthly four new apps are added. Each
app can be downloaded right at the spot.
4
Cinekid for Professionals 2013
www.cinekid.com
Cinekid for Professionals
Expert Meeting: App
Findings MiniAppLab Research
Conducted by Emma o’Hare and Ingeborg Bruinewoud, supervisor Jessica Piotrowski
(UvA)
During Cinekid the physical MiniAppLab in the MediaLab enabled children and parents
to try out a selection of the apps on offer, as well as check out AppLab itself. Emma
O’Hare and Ingeborg Bruinewoud interviewed parents, educators and kids that visited
the MiniAppLab and found out parents love to talk about apps.
Ingeborg Bruinewoud presents the first findings of their research, called The likes, preferences and choices for apps according to kids in middle childhood, their parents and
teachers. They chose for explorative research and a mixed method approach. The interviews consisted of yes/no questions but there was also room for discussion.
The interviewees were 33 parents, 20 teachers and 57 children (18 of 2-4 years, 18 of
5-7 years, 21 of 8-12 years)
* How do the children play?
iPad (69%) and iPhone (48%) are used the most. Children play mostly alone (81%). Only
11% plays with siblings/friends and only 3,5% plays with their parents.
Already at the age of 2-4 years 40% choose their own apps by looking in the Appstore
and checking out which icons look like fun.
At the 5-7 years 78% download their own apps and at the age 8-12 95%.
41% of the parents said their children choose the apps.
According to children parents think it is fine whatever they download as long at it is
free. Parents say though they are willing to pay for an app.
* What do they like?
Experts, parents and children say: play comes first
Children love to create: DIY, draw, animate
Parents hope that kids learn school subjects, development is important for them.
Important words for children above 5: caring, action, adventure
Important words for children above 8: sharing, peers (social aspects)
Top favorites: Minecraft, Angry Birds, Subway Surfers
Best app in the MiniAppLab?
Children: ColAR (DIY, surprise factor), Sago Mini Bug Builder (DIY, repetition)
Parents: ColAR (coloring is familiar, effect surprising), Kenny HD (learning app, designed to help children develop their cognitive skills and fine motorics).
5
Cinekid for Professionals 2013
www.cinekid.com
Cinekid for Professionals
Expert Meeting: App
* Play-learn debate
Parents: learning is important.
Children: playing is important. 30% thinks they can learn from apps, only 10% use them
in class.
Teachers: 88% apps can be of worth in class, but only 25% uses them.
This was only an explorative research, more focussed research is needed. For example
in the fields of neuroscience, eye and attention tracking and face readers.
Criteria for App Developers
Moderated by Carla Fisher
The rest of this expert meeting is used to formulate a set of criteria that can be useful
for app developers targeting at children of 2-12 years. The general, practical and content criteria that came out of the earlier mentioned quick scan are used as a starting
point. Every one present is welcome to comment or adjust.
1. General criteria
•
play first, learning second
In the eyes of the Bernard van Leer Foundation playing is learning, Jeanet van de Korput emphasizes. Most agree that especially for younger children everything is educational. Children often don’t even realise they are playing educational games. Clear is
what doesn’t work: play as a reward for learning, games with strict formative learning
objectives (children get bored really quick) and learning objects as the driving force
during developing the app. On the other hand: parents love to see letters and numbers
on the screen. Juliet Tzabar (Plug-in Media) thinks there is a lot of “moral panic” about
screen time and kids playing with media devices and hopes Cinekid could play a role
in reducing this: “It is almost dirty to just make a pure play experience.” She hopes According to Dr. Jessica Piotrowski (University of Amsterdam), who studies the effects of
media on children, it is clear that children use the media they enjoy the most the longest. Play comes indeed first. But there is no consensus on this criterion. Decided is to
discuss the Practical and Content Criteria first and then return to the General Criteria.
2. Practical Criteria
•
remain in safe surrounding of the apps (no outlinks, commercials, pay-options)
This might be a problem: developers need this to earn money. A solution might be to
say: if you do have to, do it behind a parent gate and do it in a responsible way. Paulien
Dresscher, Cinekid’s Head of New Media, thinks it is very important that people trust
the AppLab. If children are the ones that download apps, it is important for parents to
know they can let their children use AppLab without risks. It can be wise to have a section with basic skills on how to protect oneself against unwanted purchases.
•
avoid time limits
Most agree that time limits can be valuable in certain circumstances. Also younger
children have more troubles with time limits then older children. Age differentiation
might be a good idea. The child should decide if it wants a time limit or not: put the
6
Cinekid for Professionals 2013
www.cinekid.com
Cinekid for Professionals
Expert Meeting: App
child in control, as Warren Buckleitner (founding editor Children’s Technology Review,
founder Dust or Magic Institute) stated.
A discussion follows about the age group 0 to 3, although the criteria discussed here
are aimed at 2-12. The American Association of Pediatrics said: no screens for kids under 2. The national organisation for education of young children stated that the reality
is that parents use technology with these kids and formulated some guidelines. Jessica
Piotrowski points out that misinterpretation of a research has led to some very melodramatic policies. They have taken statements such as: “children learn better from an
adult than they do from a television screen or a screen” into “screens are bad”. But no
one is saying that an iPad should replace a parent. Juliet Tzabar agrees: a screen is no
babysitter, but a playing device. She tries to create shared experiences for young children and their caretakers. You might sit down with your two-year-old and create a tower
with bricks, but equally you can make a digital tower with bricks. Fact is that even babies play with smart phones and tablets. Research has to shed light on the question if
they can do that in a meaningful way.
•
Start immediately (no flashy intro’s)
Developers present, Jan Willem Huisman among others, think sometimes flashy intro’s
give a nice introduction to a game. It is a way to give a little background on the character and help children to get into the game and become excited. For younger children
the repetition and recognition is useful. But it should be skippable.
Decided is on: Keep intro’s relevant, short and skippable.
3. Content Criteria
•
Use familiar themes and objects (makes them feel safe and learn more)
This would never been said to a documentary filmmaker, is remarked. A useful adaptation might be: link something new to something familiar. For example: you live in this
country, but other people live in that country.
•
narrative / game open-ended
This description says in a way open-ended and exploratory play is preferred. Most
people present disagree. Children like it when a narrative has an end, it can be nice to
just play all the levels of a game until the end. Ingeborg Bruinewoud noticed during the
research in the MiniAppLab that often parents said they would like children to create
their own knowledge instead of receiving it, like they would from a teacher. Maybe this
is how open-ended can be interpreted.
Concluded is that the idea of a child helping to create knowledge does not necessarily
mean an open design. Ergo: this criterion needs more thought and wordsmithing.
•
offer repetition in a playful manner
Jan Willem Huisman (IJsfontein) has a general remark about the criteria. “They need
another tone of voice. The main idea is that you want to empower the child. You can tell
a designer how they can help to empower the children while they are playing the game.
These criteria should be about opening doors, not about closing doors.”
•
Content should not contradict what is being learnt in school
7
Cinekid for Professionals 2013
www.cinekid.com
Cinekid for Professionals
Expert Meeting: App
Most people have a problem with this criterion, until Paulien Dresscher explains its origin: they observed that children that learn to write letters in the wrong way often have
great difficulties to unlearn that again. It might be good to ad this example.
•
Slow-paced media up to 6 years
Should children really be spoon-fed, Warren Buckleitner wonders. But there is research
that younger kids do prefer slower paced, more gentle approaches to things. They really do not respond well to flashy neons.
Jessica Piotrowski found that around 4 and 5 children tend to be more independent
and are ready for a higher tempo. Familiarity with the medium plays a big role in this.
Buckleitner suggests that the child should control the pace, but decided is that this
criterion needs more thought.
•
little fun surprises keep child engaged
This is problematic, the risk is that this encourages developers to “sprinkle some sugar”
on the game which has no clear extra value, or even distracts.
•
Missing Criteria
Warren Buckleiter misses that reversibility is key. Whatever happens, a child must always be able to find their way back to the beginning. Jan Willem Huisman thinks the
first rule should be: turn your player into a hero. When you keep that in mind, everything follows naturally. A hero doesn’t get bored and is always in control. It is all about
empowerment of the child. Jessica Piotrowski misses the role of peers, especially older
kids enjoy games that connect them to their peers.
Issues that might need further thinking are: progress tracking, control over sound, ability to tangle between languages, gender bias, ethnic messaging.
Niches in the eight categories might be music and animation.
•
Interaction between parents and children
The MiniAppLab turned out to be very successful; parents were hungry for information, interaction and guidance. They loved to talk to the experts. Interesting was the
interaction between parents and children. For example Sago Mini Bug Builder showed
how intuitive apps can work and how parents can be amazed by their children, who
can hardly talk but understand how to use this app. Both ColAR en Foldify, that have a
physical component, brought parents on their knees, next to their children. They were
very much involved and wanted to be part of the experience.
But what should developers keep in mind about parents-children interaction? Jan Willem Huisman thinks the parent should always be apart of the designing process; regardless in what way. Jason Krogh (developer of Sago Mini Bug Builder) shares that at his
company Sago Sago designers and developers always write a letter to the parents that
is part of the app and elaborates on why they made the app, what they had in mind
and what interested them.
Most people think this might be a good recommendation. Sago Sago also makes video
trailers where parents can see in 30 seconds what the whole experience is and what
kids can do.
8
Cinekid for Professionals 2013
www.cinekid.com
Cinekid for Professionals
Expert Meeting: App
Warren Buckleiter pleads for authorship. Anonymity takes away the responsibility. Cinekid might play a role in changing that.
1. General criteria
•
Empower children
This is a new criterion. If Maria Montessori would walk into the MediaLab she would be
ecstatic, says Warren Buckleitner. According to him every field needs different voices
and opinions. Cinekid has a voice that is on display in this MediaLab. It says: we empower children. He thinks of this slogan: Cinekid MediaLab, where children control screens,
not the other way around.
•
Play first, learning second
No definite description is found.
•
Research
Developers often don’t devote their time to tests or research. Sago Sago always rents
café’s or other venues, invites a lot of families and tests all the apps. It costs them five
hours and a few hundred dollars and it is very helpful. Also Jessica Piotrowski says
short kitchen table research in a week is possible and helps to make the content better.
Nicole Seymour (independent developer who works for Disney as well as BBC) goes to
her old school with a few iPads and tests the apps there.
How disseminate the criteria to developers?
• Go where developers are, where production labs and thought leaders are and make
sure they take notice of this information
• Try to reach future developers through their teachers (f.e. at universities)
• An online course
• An ‘is approved by’ stamp for the Dutch language area, by Cinekid, possibly in collaboration with other organisations. According to Jason Krogh developers would like
that if it is wide spread. Cinekid’s Best or Cinekid’s Choice are suggested
• A competition for apps
• Start at the beginning and give a course where developers learn to make their product better and meet known and successful developers and possibly scientists too
• Prove your recommendations really improve apps and make them sell better with
research results
The key is that the MediaLab and AppLab are places of discovery, where every year
there are surprises and really great, innovative small publishers that don’t have big marketing budgets. Quite a lot of children and professionals get introduced to the apps,
which is interesting for developers. Just like parents struggling to find their way in the
enormous amount of apps, it is equally problematic for developers to find an audience.
Courses are great networking opportunities. It would be helpful if independent developers could receive financial help to enter such courses.
9
Cinekid for Professionals 2013
www.cinekid.com