Fall 2019
INF 385T Special Topics in Information Science: Designing User Interfaces for Children
DESCRIPTION
The course provides students with an overview of topics related to child development and user interface design for children, with an emphasis on early and middle childhood. Through this course students will learn about technology’s potential impact on cognitive and social development and how child development relates to media design. Students will interact and evaluate digital media technologies on children’s learning, including social learning. Topics include, but are not limited to, brain development, social cognition, symbolic processing, media usage, and self-representation.
COURSE NOTES
Interactive digital technology infiltrates homes, schools, and entertainment venues, changing how people think, and socialize. What is the impact of growing up with substantially greater access to information? How might a user's age influence such technologies' use? Each week will consist of lecture and/ or class discussion, digital media labs, or presentations. Labs will consist of interacting with and evaluating a digital technology and/or creating content based on cognitive and social development research. Weekly readings are to be completed before class, and students are expected to participate in discussions as well as submit relevant examples that incorporate that week's readings and/or labs. Finally, students will complete a design project to create an age-appropriate digital technology based on the course material and additional outside sources. The design project will include a paper write up and in-class presentation. COURSE OBJECTIVES AND LEARNING OUTCOMES The course provides students with an overview of topics related to child development and user interface design for children, with an emphasis on early and middle childhood. Through this course, students will learn about technology's potential impact on cognitive and social development and how child development relates to media design. Students will interact and evaluate digital media technologies on children's learning, including social learning. Topics include, but are not limited to, brain development, social cognition, symbolic processing, media usage, and self-representation. Students will be able to: - Understand and employ developmental research and theory to design digital interfaces for children - Effectively identify and evaluate features of media- technology through a cognitive and social developmental lens - Discuss the pros and cons of it and when to introduce technology into children's lives - Develop interpersonal communication skills and collaborative work skills
PREREQUISITES
Graduate standing.