Project Introduction
As a continuation project of my undergraduate graduation project "Phantasisland", through the academic exchanges in Guangzhou Waldorf School and Chongqing International Children's Art Festival, I summarized and thought about children's creativity education, and finally used AR technology to combine games with education. I conducted workshops with local art organizations to complete the project testing and proposed the possibility of integrating art and technology in education in the future.
Why do this project
- In the past few years I have gained many exchange opportunities through this IP, from the Waldorf School in Guangzhou, to attending the International Children's Art Festival in Chongqing, and I have come to realize the development of children's education in China, where many educational organizations are iterating their educational concepts away from advance duck-filling education analogous to the college entrance exams, and towards a more well-rounded ability to tap into potentials.
- In the past few years, STEM education introduced into China, and even now also joined the concept of STEAM, A is art, art, many children's art education is still stuck in the traditional painting, of course, this is also a way to cultivate, but the rapid development of the times a change, children's education also need to be oriented to the future of the times, many children's organizations have opened up the children's programming, children's robotics design courses, also see the STEAM education. Programming for children, robotics design for children and other courses have been offered by many children's institutions, and STEAM education is also seen to be increasingly emphasized.
- During the graduation exhibition a few years ago, I received some invitations from educational institutions to exchange ideas. At that time, my knowledge of children's education was still not perfect, but after more study and exchanges in the past few years, I have been inspired to rethink the pain points of traditional art education and future opportunities, and so I have joined hands with the institutions to carry out this workshop, exploring how science, technology and art can empower children's education.
Basic Background Research
According to Jacquemain, a professor at Virginia Tech, the initial STEM education focused only on the project itself (what to do and how to do it), while ignoring the focus on the people themselves and the context (who to do it and why). The breadth and depth of knowledge remained somewhat limited, and the teaching process lacked interest, context, and artistry. Therefore, she organically integrated Arts and STEM and put forward the concept of STEAM education in 2006.Around 2014, the concept of STEAM education was introduced into our country, which set off a boom of STEAM education in China.
- In January 2014, the "Beijing Municipal Commission of Education on compulsory education in January 2014, the stage of the implementation of extracurricular activities for primary and secondary school students plan notice" was issued, explicitly requiring the introduction of sports, art, science and technology projects in after-school services scientific literacy products into the school service came into being
- In June 2015, the State Council on vigorously promoting mass entrepreneurship 7 innovation a number of policies and measures of the opinions released, creator models have, 3D printing hot, followed by artificial intelligence, Python chips and become a hot name .
- Since 2015, online education began to develop fast also, software bias program then rose, entrepreneurs pouring in, capital support.
- Around 2019, artificial intelligence, Python heat continues.
- The rise of domestic hardware programming organizations, such as Light Bizarre, Makeblock, and so on.
The latest development of STEAM education and the integration of art is no longer limited to painting, music and other fields. The diversified development of children's education, combined with the favorable conditions brought by new technologies, has attracted great attention from society.
My graduation project "Phantasisland" explored the issue of children's creativity development, so I would like to go deeper in this direction, so how old is suitable for creativity education?
Suitable Age
Jean Piaget (August 9, 1896 - September 16, 1980) was a Swiss native and the most famous child psychologist of modern times. His theory of cognitive development became a model for the discipline, and in his lifetime he left his descendants more than 60 monographs and 500 papers; he lectured in many countries and received dozens of honorary doctorates, honorary professorships, and honorary scientific fellowships.
The second of the four stages proposed by Jean Piaget to describe the cognitive development of infants, children and adolescents .
Preoperative children between the ages of 4 and 7 enter the sub-stage of intuitive thinking. Primitive reasoning begins when the child's thought process shifts from symbolic to intuitive thinking. Substages can organize objects into sets of primitives, but not in a consistent way. Because they can focus or center on only one property of an object at a time, they may be organized by shape at one time and by color at another. This is called centering, and once children are able to move beyond this limited thinking, they can move into the ability to categorize and conserve, which becomes apparent in the concrete manipulative stage.
Piaget describes more of the limitations of the preoperational stage and the brain tasks they are unable to perform. They include the inability to distract, conserve, understand that objects can be organized into logical sequences, and perform containment tasks. He conducted many experiments on quantity, length, mass, weight, volume and conservation of quantity. Conservation is the understanding that the quantity of something remains the same even when its appearance changes. Pre-operational children are so focused on the way the object is displayed now that they are unable to follow the transformation. They are also unable to understand that reversing the transformation restores the material to its original state. These abilities are developed in subsequent stages of concrete manipulation.
In conjunction with Jean Piaget's research, 4-7 years old also corresponds to the age of preschoolers in China, so I have also aligned the age group to children who are in this stage.
Reference source: PREOPERATIONAL STAGE
Case for SWOT Analysis
During my graduation exhibition, the director of the organization was interested in my work and we got to know each other, and after some understanding we reached a consensus that we would like to do a workshop experiment to empower children's education.
The organization prioritizes a traditional art curriculum but also emphasizes the early development of creativity and abstract thinking in children. They provide a strong foundation in the arts and are constantly introducing new special programs to stimulate children's interest in the arts.
In 2021, I had the pleasure of attending the O'Kids International Children's Art Festival in Chongqing and had an interview with the organizer, Mr. Ni Kun (artist and founder of O'Kids International Children's Art Festival). Ms. Ni Kun said that innovation "means adopting diverse approaches, focusing on creativity, collaboration, and the use of emerging technologies, such as digitalization, in culture and the arts. Innovative education faces a wide range of challenges as it touches on fundamental aspects of society. The relationship between the arts and cities is growing, influenced by the global experience of the creative industries. The smart cities of the future rely on the internet, technology and big data, emphasizing creativity. These innovative worlds will shape our future. O'Kids International Children's Art Festival 2021
I was also inspired by the interviews and research, and I went down the road to gather information related to children's creativity education and the impact of technology products on children.
Theory Analysis
Impact of shapes on cognitive development: Learning about shapes can help children develop spatial cognition and thinking skills. By recognizing and distinguishing between different shapes, children can enhance their spatial perception, spatial relationships and spatial imagination, thereby improving their problem-solving and reasoning skills.
Practical applications of shapes in children's lives: Understanding different shapes can help children better understand objects and environments in their daily lives. Children can use shapes to identify and describe objects, such as distinguishing between round cookies and square chocolates, and assessing the stability and fitness of objects. In addition, shapes are closely related to many other disciplines and skills, such as geometry, architectural design, and drawing.
Potential dangers of VR technology: "Is VR safe for children? This question has been propagated by headset manufacturers posting warnings on their products: Samsung Gear VR: The Gear VR should not be used by children under the age of 13. Google Daydream View: The Daydream View should not be used by children under the age of 13. Sony PlayStation VR: The VR headset is not suitable for children under the age of 12. HTC Vive: HTC does not specify an age, but recommends that young children not use the product. oculus Quest: Quest is not suitable for children under 14.
Escapism and distraction: There are concerns that virtual experiences like those in Ready Player One may be so engaging that users prefer the virtual world to the real world. The advent of television, movies and comic books raises similar concerns. Many parents (61%) are concerned that VR will cause social isolation. To address this concern, parents must actively manage their children's exposure to VR and screen time.The immersive nature of VR adds a new challenge for parents who are already struggling to limit their children's screen time (Rich, Bickham, & Shrier, 2015).
Sensory and Visual Effects: In virtual reality (VR), computer-generated images are displayed on a screen that requires the user to focus their eyes on a fixed point. However, when presenting a three-dimensional image, the eyes need to adjust as if viewing an object at different distances. This can lead to eye strain and headaches, especially in children, whose developing brains may be more susceptible to these effects.
AR Technology Exploration: Research has shown that children perceive AR applications as magical due to the quality of the 3D objects, viewing them as unique toys (Billinghurst, Kato, & Poupyrev, 2001; Bujak et al., 2013).
Creating an augmented toy environment is not just about adding some technology to a traditional toy. Rather, it is about designing and implementing an interactive system for children that takes into account both the technology-free nature of traditional toys and the novel interactivity of newly accessed virtual environments, combining the two to design a demanding mixed reality toy for entertainment and education. --Steve Hinske, Mark Langheinrich, Matthias Lampe
The fusion of the real world with the virtual world and the combination of traditional games with interactive computer games creates a fascinating symbiotic relationship. According to Stapleton et al. the best experiences in mixed reality gaming environments result from the fusion of physical activity, virtual content, storytelling and user imagination.
To summarize
Research on virtual reality and children is limited, especially in non-clinical settings. More research is needed to identify potential risks. Existing research suggests that an open environment should be created where augmented reality content can enhance children's learning and creativity, rather than fully immersing them in the content.
So based on this, I propose a basic program for fostering children's creativity using the concepts of abstract and figurative, flat and three-dimensional interconversions, the applicability of fine arts to traditional children's education, and the more controllable AR technology.
Service system
Based on the initial thinking, I propose a framework for a service strategy involving stakeholders mainly the platform, the school or other educational institutions, the students, and the people in the school. The platform is the party responsible for providing the educational game tools to guide the children in the educational space, and the mechanism is both guided and not too restrictive in terms of rules.
Design Concept
The educational game explores the variety of roles and interactions between children and play guides through a conceptual map. It emphasizes multiple role-playing identities, allowing children to create and explore in different roles. Augmented Reality (AR) technology enhances their experience as they become protagonists in creating new stories.
Technology touchpoints and testing
Workshop Site
Feedback Reflection
Staff on site: Children become very happy and amazed when they see the AR models and hear the sound effects. They often reach out to touch the real-world environment.
Kids: I want to download the app. I prefer to look at the fun shapes rather than play games on my tablet. Will they turn into the shapes I want?
Test Results Highlights
The most notable observation throughout the program was that the kids were more excited about the augmented reality content than I expected. Their unique imaginations were on display in the previous handmade collages. The next consideration is how augmented reality can add to the fun and complement educational play with future products.
Sections for Improvement
Children in this age group are very difficult to control, after a certain period of time they become bored, and the rules of the game are easily broken, so when making AR-related children's products in the later stage, we need to simplify the part of the game even more, and we can focus on improving the expressive power of AR technology, such as from the visual and auditory aspects to improve.
Future Reflections
According to the reflection, children are difficult to manage in certain game steps because of the limitations of the existing technology and prototype testing. In the future, if it is possible to incorporate AR glasses into this project, this will make the AR educational games more experiential and allow each child involved in the project to experience the AR world more intuitively and participate more actively in the educational games!
I wanted to be able to match the AR glasses with the app to increase the content of the children's interactions with the computer and to make the educational system of AR and creative development a more complete game. To this end, I have designed a framework for the main scenarios to build the updated concept.
The framework is still very much in its infancy, and with the current concept of spatial computing, I also hope to build more product possibilities to empower the field of children's education, and I welcome you to come to me to exchange ideas and discuss in the future.