Beth Foss HCIL Symposium, 2014 Children’s Adaptable Internet Searching in a Changing Search Landscape
Mobile Devices Social Influence Interfaces in Flux The Changing Search Landscape
Children’s Internet Searching Studies
Time Age Ages 7, 9, 11 Ages /11 Year olds
Children’s Current Search Experience
Spelling 1 Unfamiliar Vocabulary 2 Difficulty Formulating Queries 3 “coin-ee-fer” = crint vis prasadent = “I don’t know what to type.” 1. (e.g. Gossen et al., 2011) 2. (Kafai & Bates, 1997; van der Sluis & van Dijk, 2010) 3. (Duarte Torres, Hiemstra, & Serduykov, 2010) scedwal = “cash-ay” = current vice president schedule conifer cache
Text Box Expandable Grid Search Button Things This Changes ] Result ] Page Title URL [ ] Snippet Query Completion Filters
Does this: Look more like this… Or this?
“Something to the right.” “Here, but I’ve never seen this thing before.” Don’t Use Wikipedia!!! Not Useful for Homework Good Stuff Starts! Wait, Huh?
Interfaces in Flux
What three features are most important for them to know? Children are aware of very few features of the search interface
(26% ) (20%) (18% )
(34% ) (28% ) (24% )
Striking visual contrast, interactive graphics, and quickly accessible tools attract children’s attention Guide children towards using helpful interface features using visual cues
Social Influence
Device Co-Use Social Media Text, Voice, & Video Chat Online Gaming Co-Located Asynchronous Remote Synchronou s
Children are more technologically social now than in the past, and socially engage in a variety of ways
Friends are more accessible via technology, and have become a major source of search knowledge
Mobile Devices
Lower skill level Very social users
Future research into whether devices limit search skill development and encourage social use
Children are responsive to the changing search landscape Visual interface design impacts young searchers Social computer use engages children Friends provide search knowledge Area of future research
Thank You! *Research funded by Google Faculty Research Awards