Interaction, Embodiment, and Technologies in Early Years Learning

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This grant gives me the opportunity to become a future research leader into new technologies for young children's learning, with expertise in how children's actions relate to their gestures and thinking. New technologies play an ever- increasing role in the lives of young children, and raise important questions such as: why is physical action important in the way children learn? How will new technologies change children's learning? This grant will help address such questions through a carefully designed programme of research and training at the internationally recognised London Knowledge Lab, which builds upon my prior experiences as an Infant Teacher and Research Fellow. The research will contribute knowledge and new digital learning materials to both: academics in the fields of Education, Psychology and Computer Science; and non-academics, including teachers, parents, businesses and others involved in children's learning.Background We commonly give children materials, such as wooden blocks, to help them learn. Yet it remains unclear how these objects help children. Understanding how children's interactions affect their learning is increasingly important as new devices such as the iPad, change interaction. There are also important theoretical implications. Recent work has shown that the way we think may be 'embodied', that is to say, inseparably linked to our physical experiences. Evidence comes from the way that people gesture when describing ideas, such as moving their hands together to explain addition. It is possible therefore that children's actions with materials also help them explain ideas, and may even develop ideas we later see in gestures.Research I will develop new methods of examining how children's actions with materials affect the language and gestures they use to explain ideas. I will focus on mathematics, and examine how children manipulate physical blocks to explain number relationships such as why 2+7=3+6. I will then compare children's actions with other materials including digital squares manipulated using a mouse, iPad or gesture recognition device (e.g. 'wii'). This research will contribute knowledge about the role of physical actions in children's thinking and the likely impact of new devices. It will also generate digital materials to be shared widely.Training I will broaden my methodological expertise through innovative video analysis of the relationship between children's actions, gestures and speech ('multimodal analysis'). The London Knowledge Lab, now a national node for multimodal research methods, provides the expertise to develop the necessary skills and my mentors both have internationally high profiles in multimodal research and novel technologies. I will further my expertise through training visits to labs in Chicago and California, who specialise in gesture and interactive technologies for learning. To share the research more widely, I have also agreed training periods with two other organisations: to develop workshop packages for early years professionals and generate multimedia resources for online access.Sharing knowledge Work will be presented using traditional and innovative means. I will publish findings through journals, conferences, workshops, seminars, reports and online articles. I will build my existing academic networks to collaborate both nationally and internationally, including a special issue on Early Years and Technology.I will realise the value of this proposal to non-academic audiences, extending my current networks with teachers and businesses through a range of activities including workshops, teacher training, reports, press releases and magazine articles. Importantly, I will develop my knowledge and skills to take advantage of new media: producing professional video materials, a website offering materials from papers to video clips, downloadable apps, and a public interactive event to engage a wider audience.