Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
2.5
Conclusions
The aim of the kids workshops was to extend the reach of the conference beyond the
halls of the conference centre and into the classrooms and playground frequented
by the youngest echelons of the digital media public in the hope that the culture and
idea clash would yield new insights and fresh developments. In this we were partially
successful. On one hand we succeeded in bringing fun and enjoyment to a group of
children and exposed them to technologies they do not see on an everyday basis.
On the other hand, the short duration of the workshops and the language difficulties
experienced in one school limited the type of activities that could be carried out in
the workshops and thus limited the extent of the creative explorations that could be
pursued either by the researchers and the children themselves. However, this made
us think.
Another downside was that the workshop ended up being a one-time affair with no
continuation of activities or a continued engagement with the participating schools.
On the positive side, the workshops lead to a number of follow up studies in other
countries and to continued work on some of the projects which will provide new
entertainment and education possibilities and hopefully will trickle in some way
back to Nepal and the participating schools.
Plans are already under way for the next kids workshops in the upcoming ACE
conference in which the organizers intend to push the boundaries even further by
distributing technology kits via the conference web site and enabling numerous
schools around the world to take part as a way of providing a more meaningful
and longer lasting connection between the schools, the conference and the attending
researchers and practitioners.
Acknowledgments
First and foremost we would like to express our outmost thanks and extreme
gratitude to all the children and teachers who participated in the study for playing our games and
sharing their insights and thoughts with us. Last but by no means least we would also like to thank
Ishwor Hamal of Edupro Nepal and Veronika Halupka and Yongsoon Choi of Keio University in
Japan for the logistical help and support they provided before, during and after the workshops.
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