Text input and young children A study of current practice 27/05/2019 J C Read - UCLAN 2000

Introduction The purpose is to ascertain how schools use the PC as a tool for young children writing – identifying problems and suggesting strategies for overcoming these. In particular, to establish if any alternative input devices are being used. 27/05/2019 J C Read - UCLAN 2000

Motivation Lecturer in Computing at UCLAN – working towards a PhD – input devices and writing Mother – ‘Where’s the ‘m’ on the keyboard mummy?’ Interest in language impaired children and their interaction with the computer 27/05/2019 J C Read - UCLAN 2000

Topics of Discussion Three main areas Evidence from earlier research Evidence from local survey Investigation into possible future ideas 27/05/2019 J C Read - UCLAN 2000

Research Evidence References Government and Dfee info 27/05/2019 J C Read - UCLAN 2000

References King, John. Alloway, Nola.Young Children's Use of Microcomputer Input Devices. Computers in the Schools. v9 n4 p39-53 1993. Bangert-Drowns, Robert. 1989. Promise in Impermanence: Children Writing with Unlimited Access to Word Processors 27/05/2019 J C Read - UCLAN 2000

Government Statistics Primary schools have £24 per child to spend on computers 13 children per computer 52% schools use computers ‘substantially’ for English 36% machines over 5 years old source www.dfee.gov.uk 27/05/2019 J C Read - UCLAN 2000

Local survey findings Supporting information and examples Availability and usage Problems encountered Typical applications used 27/05/2019 J C Read - UCLAN 2000

Details of the Survey Random selection of schools sent two questionnaires each IT survey Writing survey Findings Children typically have 30 mins. Per week on a machine Between 1.5 and 2.5 machines per class 27/05/2019 J C Read - UCLAN 2000

Input devices available 27/05/2019 J C Read - UCLAN 2000

Input devices used 27/05/2019 J C Read - UCLAN 2000

Problems encountered 27/05/2019 J C Read - UCLAN 2000

Typical applications 27/05/2019 J C Read - UCLAN 2000

Comments by teachers School tries to ensure equal access Children get frustrated if the work looks different from their written piece – ‘a’ and ‘t’ typically Infant children not familiar with the keyboard – getting capital letters Some children are slow typists 27/05/2019 J C Read - UCLAN 2000

Possible New Developments Natural language technologies ‘Disobedient’ interfaces Voice recognition Handwriting recognition 27/05/2019 J C Read - UCLAN 2000

Early results Keyboard usage Voice input Handwritten input 55 Characters in 12 minutes Voice input Low accuracy rates with young children Difficult to train Handwritten input Little training needed 80%+ accuracy 27/05/2019 J C Read - UCLAN 2000

What findings suggest further study? Keyboard mastery may be especially hard for some children- which ones? Voice and Pen input are the way forward for adult interfaces – is this the same for children? How will children react to ‘disobedient’ interfaces? 27/05/2019 J C Read - UCLAN 2000

Where to next? Building a test environment to enable comparisons to be made between the performance of interfaces Devising a method of measuring the satisfaction of children using devices Making modifications to ‘intelligent’ and ‘disobedient’ features as required 27/05/2019 J C Read - UCLAN 2000

Thank you! Any questions? 27/05/2019 J C Read - UCLAN 2000