Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
100%
100%
Communication
Social Skills
80%
80%
60%
60%
40%
40%
20%
20%
0%
0%
Requesting Help
Labeling Objects
Cooperation
Regulated Behavior
General Comms
Turn Taking Comms
Waiting for a Turn
Listening Skills
Fig. 3.
Children's engagement in social activity
7
Discussion and Conclusion
Results indicate that Anim-action was effective in promoting physical and cognitive
engagement for young children with developmental disabilities. Of particular note
was the evidence of independent problem solving and motor planning that occurs
during the Anim-action experience. The staged approach to introducing complexity in
both physical and cognitive activity through a carefully considered design may
explain this result. Children were introduced to simple, structured gross motor activity
(i.e. line following), before being required to move from one part of the play space to
another in order to achieve their goals. The experience implicitly enforced simple
interaction rules and while there was no negative feedback, a lack of responsiveness
for incorrect activity may have encouraged children to focus on moving their bodies
to achieve the desired outcome. Similarly, problem solving was introduced gradually
and visual cues (e.g. the outline of a body part) provided scaffolding for the problem
solving process. Immediate visual feedback allowed children to assess the
effectiveness of their actions. Children are immersed in planning and problem solving
activity.
These results suggest that children were less engaged in social interaction. The
system was designed so that children could work effectively autonomously and
independently. There was no explicit requirement for social interaction, with G4
explicitly aimed at ensuring that interactions did not rely on collaboration. In light of
the findings it may be necessary to rethink criterion G4 and how such a requirement is
implemented. For example, while cooperation might not be necessary, more
encouragement of, and reward for, engagement in shared experiences could be
included. These findings also demonstrate that design decisions related to criteria G2
and G3 need to be reconsidered. It is perhaps necessary to consider an implementation
that includes more systematic and overt mechanisms for teacher-student and student-
student interactions.
