WGIDPO: Imagination Place

EDC的儿童与技术中心与商业网络开发商MaMaMedia Inc.和未来图书馆合作，提出了一项为期三年的密集项目，以开发“想象之地！”-一个互动的在线设计空间，邀请8-14岁的女孩作为技术设计师而不仅仅是用户来思考和行动。过去的研究表明，通过让女孩参与合作设计，她们可以以新的方式“观察”和思考科技在她们生活中的作用和重要性。想象力的地方!将使女孩成为技术的塑造者和制造者，并促进技术的流畅性。其目的是建立一个在线设计空间，为女孩们进入工程世界提供有力的途径。想象力的地方!将是一个高度互动的基于互联网的环境，女孩们对未来技术的想法和愿景可以实现和发展。具体来说，想象之家！将使女孩能够(1)参与以发现为基础的活动，激发对熟悉技术的好奇心和批判性意识；（二）有个人意义的发明创造；(3)与同行导师分享设计理念和关注点；(4)围绕短期设计项目与现实世界的设计师和工程师进行互动；(5)为家长和非正式教育者提供资源和设计相关活动。EDC的儿童与技术中心建立在性别与技术研究的坚实基础上，为该项目带来了广泛的关于基于设计的学习活动的知识，这些活动对女孩很有吸引力。CCT之前的工作已经促成了支持年轻女性和工程师之间在线协作和互动的成功战略的发展。想象空间内所有活动和空间的概念设计！将以这项工作为基础。在设计时考虑到女孩的兴趣，想象力的地方！也将涉及家庭、学校和非正式环境中8-14岁儿童的不同人群。

EDC's Center for Children and Technology, in collaboration with commercial web developer MaMaMedia Inc., and Libraries for the Future, has proposed an intensive three-year project to develop Imagination Place! - an interactive on-line design space that will invite girls ages 8-14 to think and act as designers of technology, not just users. Past research has shown that by engaging girls in collaborative design, new ways of "seeing" and thinking about technology's role and importance in their lives become possible. Imagination Place! will be crafted to involve girls as shapers and makers of technologies and to promote technological fluency. The intent is to construct an on- line design space that will provide powerful pathways for girls into the world of engineering. Imagination Place! will be a highly interactive Internet- based environment where girls' ideas and visions for the future of technology can be realized and grown. Specifically, Imagination Place! will enable girls to (1) engage in discovery-based activities that pique curiosity and critical awareness about familiar technologies; (2) create inventions that have personal meaning; (3) share design ideas and concerns with peer mentors; (4) interact with real-world designers and engineers around short-term design-based projects; and (5) offer resources and design- related activities for parents and informal educators. Building on a strong foundation of research around gender and technology, EDC's Center for Children and Technology brings to the project extensive knowledge about design-based learning activities that are engaging for girls. CCT's prior work has led to the development of successful strategies for supporting human collaboration and interaction on-line among young women and engineers. The conceptual design of all activities and spaces within Imagination Place! will build upon this work. While designed with girls' interests in mind, Imagination Place! will also be relevant to diverse populations of 8-14 year- old children in home, school, and informal settings.