I-Corps: Developing technology for social-emotional learning for young children

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力使社交和情感学习(SEL)对世界各地的儿童来说变得容易和有趣。社交和情感学习从家里开始，照顾者在SEL中扮演着重要的角色。学龄前和幼儿园年龄的社交和情绪发展尤其重要，因为即使社交和情绪技能是进步的，在这些早期发展这些技能有助于孩子为上学做好准备，并在学业和社交方面表现更好。虽然一些孩子在家里和学前班有各种各样的游戏和合作机会，但有些孩子没有。该项目不仅将帮助儿童发展SEL技能，还将帮助家长和教师了解更多关于社交和情感发展的知识。这个i-Corps项目包括一种新的学习技术，用于社交-情感学习。它将使孩子们能够将抽象的情感转化为他们可以学习和分享的有形对象。这项技术使用人工智能来识别儿童创造的对象，然后创造出增强社交情绪智力的数字内容。这项技术可以用来加强儿童对现有学习工具的参与度。由此产生的数据将有助于社交-情绪学习研究，并将帮助儿童发展对他们当前和未来的幸福至关重要的技能。这项技术通过建构主义的方法接近社交和情感学习的世界，学习者将能够与抽象思维和情感互动。这一领域的大多数现有技术不需要用户参与，而是使用被动学习技术。有了这项技术，孩子们被授权和兴奋地积极参与和参与，而父母可以发现他们孩子的日常经历和情感表达习惯的洞察力和趋势。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is making social and emotional learning (SEL) accessible and fun for children worldwide. Social and emotional learning starts at home and caregivers play a significant role in SEL. Social and emotional development at preschool and kindergarten ages is particularly important because even though social and emotional skills are progressive, developing these skills at these early ages helps children get ready for school, and perform better academically and socially. While some children have various play and collaboration opportunities at their home and preschools, some do not. The project will not only help children develop SEL skills, but also help parents and teachers learn more about social and emotional development.This I-Corps project includes a new learning technology for social-emotional learning. It will enable children to transform abstract emotions into tangible objects they can learn from and share. The technology uses artificial intelligence to recognize the objects created by the children and then creates digital content that strengthens social-emotional intelligence. This technology can be used to strengthen child engagement with existing learning tools. The resulting data will benefit social-emotional learning research and will help children develop skills that are crucial for their current and future wellbeing. The technology approaches the world of social and emotional learning through a constructionist approach where learners will be able to interact with abstract thoughts and emotions. Most existing technologies in this space do not require user engagement and use passive learning techniques. With this technology, children are empowered and excited to actively participate and engage, while parents can discover insights and trends into their children's day to day experiences and emotional expression habits.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.