Exploring Play and Creativity in Pre-Schoolers' use of Apps

该项目由谢菲尔德大学和爱丁堡大学、英国广播公司（CBeebies）、儿童媒体行业合作伙伴、育婴鸟和Dubit公司以及谢菲尔德的Monteney小学合作完成。该项目由这些合作伙伴共同构建，以解决学龄前儿童（从出生到五岁）使用平板电脑应用程序方面的知识差距。该项目的目的是了解学龄前儿童使用平板电脑应用程序的情况，确定应用程序的使用可能促进游戏和创造力的方式，并利用这些信息为未来的应用程序开发提供信息，并为父母/照顾者和早期环境/学校将来购买应用程序提供信息。该项目有四个不同但相互关联的阶段。在该项目的第一阶段，Dubit将对2000名从出生到5岁儿童的父母进行调查。我们对英国儿童最常使用的平板电脑应用程序知之甚少，该调查将提供有关儿童使用平板电脑应用程序的程度、使用的应用程序类型以及父母购买特定应用程序的动机的信息。在研究的第二阶段，将对有从出生到5岁的孩子使用平板电脑应用程序的家庭进行6个案例研究。这些案例研究将有助于了解家长购买特定应用程序的动机，以及儿童对一系列应用程序在促进游戏和创造力方面的反应。研究人员将对每个家庭进行四次访问，对父母进行采访，了解他们孩子使用平板电脑应用程序的情况，并观察孩子们使用他们最喜欢的应用程序。在项目的第三阶段，将在基础阶段1班和基础阶段2班开展研讨会，涉及3至5岁的儿童，在这些课程中，孩子们将使用一系列应用程序进行观察。这些应用程序在多大程度上促进了游戏和创造力将得到审查。根据第一阶段调查的记录，第三阶段研究的重点应用程序将被确定为儿童最喜欢的前六个应用程序。此外，研究小组还将使用四个增强现实应用程序来观察儿童。在第四阶段，我们将分析第三阶段使用的应用程序，以确定哪些功能成功地促进了游戏和创造力。该项目将产生一系列影响。有关这一系列应用程序的信息将对参与该项目的儿童媒体行业合作伙伴有价值。该项目将为儿童媒体行业应用程序的未来发展提供信息。此外，该项目将通过制定一套选择应用程序的标准和实践指南，为早期应用程序的教育提供信息。最后，该项目将为家长和照顾者提供指导，帮助他们选择适合幼儿使用的应用程序，并利用这些应用程序来支持游戏和创造力。

The proposed project is a collaboration between the Universities of Sheffield and Edinburgh, the BBC (CBeebies), children's media industry partners, the companies Foundling Bird and Dubit, and Monteney Primary School in Sheffield. The project has been co-constructed amongst these partners in order to address a gap in knowledge with regard to preschool children's (aged from birth to five) use of tablet apps. The aim of the project is to develop understanding about preschool children's use of tablet apps and identify the ways in which the use of apps may promote play and creativity, and to use this information to inform future app development and future purchases of apps by parents/ caregivers and early years settings/ schools. The project has four distinct but interrelated phases. In the first phase of the project, a survey of 2000 parents of children from birth to 5 will be undertaken by Dubit. Little is known about the most frequently used tablet apps by young children in the UK and the survey will provide information about the extent of children's use of tablet apps, the type of apps used and parents' motivation for buying specific apps. In Phase 2 of the study, six case studies will be undertaken of families with children aged from birth to 5 who use tablet apps. The case studies will develop understanding about parents' motivation for purchasing specific apps and children's responses to a range of apps in terms of their promotion of play and creativity. Four visits will be made to each family in which parents will be interviewed about their children's use of tablet apps and children will be observed using their favourite apps. In the third phase of the project, workshop sessions will be undertaken in a Foundation Stage 1 class and a Foundation Stage 2 class involving children aged three to five, in which children will be observed using a range of apps. The extent to which the apps promote play and creativity will be reviewed. The apps that will be the focus for Phase 3 of the study will be identified as the top six named favourites of children, as recorded in the Phase 1 survey. In addition, children will also be observed using four augmented reality apps identified as being of interest by the research team. In Phase 4, we will analyse the apps used in Phase 3 in order to identify which features were successful in promoting play and creativityThe project will have a range of impacts. The information developed regarding this range of apps will be of value for the children's media industry partners involved in the project. The project will inform future development of apps by the children's media industry. In addition, the project will inform educational provision for apps in the early years through the development of a set of criteria for choosing apps and guidelines for practice. Finally, the project will provide guidance for parents and caregivers in terms of selecting apps to be used with young children and in using them to support play and creativity.