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2-053 - Connecting Development to Mobile Preschool App Design and Use

Fri, March 22, 8:00 to 9:30am, Hilton Baltimore, Floor: Level 1, Ruth

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Ample research has shown that early childhood is a crucial time for foundational learning (Campbell et al, 2002). Moreover, studies show that preschool-age children are still developing their cognitive processing and physical fine-motor skills, making them a challenging age group to teach (Hirsh-Pasek et al, 2015). Yet, apps for preschoolers, (e.g., educational games, eBooks), are continuously produced and sold. However, little is known about how preschool app design and use are connected to developmental processes and contexts.

This symposium involves four experimental studies focused on mobile app design features for preschoolers’ learning, and whether certain contexts (i.e., adult guidance) are more conducive for learning. Furthermore, since low-income families are high users of mobile devices (Pew Research Center, 2017), special attention is placed on socioeconomic differences. Each study focuses on different aspects of preschool app design and use.

The first study examines how app feedback and leveling designs are effective for teaching preschoolers novel words. The second study tests word learning from a narrative based digital app with preschoolers from varying SES backgrounds and in varying contexts. The third study identifies physical challenges that preschoolers may encounter when interacting with electronic books, as compared to print books. The fourth study examines whether skills preschoolers build from digital spatial training can be transferred to 2D and 3D spatial assembly tasks - digital and concrete. Together, these studies shape our understanding of how mobile preschool apps should be designed, where they should be utilized, and who benefits most under certain design conditions.

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