Developing New Technologies for Young Children

Describing recent work on developing new educational tools for four to eight year olds, this text is funded by the European Commission. Children of this age learn quickly, as they have few pre-conceptions and are curious and open to new ideas and experiences. But young children have their own forms of communication and expression and the developers and designers of these learning technologies have to create more intuitive and accessible products than if they were for older children and adults. The research and development indicates what can be done and the book points a way forward. The research, carried out over three years was multi-disciplinary and involved ten collaborative research and development projects along with two supporting "working groups". This book describes the lessons learnt in the process of developing each distinctive product and considers the cognitive and effective development of young children pertinent to the development of appropriate technology. This book should be of interest to specialists and more general readers concerned with young children and technology. It provides a resource for all involved in researching the use of existing early childhood technology or embarking upon the development of new products.