The work of children: Seeking patterns in the design of educational technology

Abstract

The vast majority of research in educational technology focuses, justifiably, on what might be described as "short-term" (or perhaps "medium-term") questions: how to improve an existing software system, how to assess a particular classroom innovation, how to teach some current subject matter in a more effective fashion. From time to time, however, it is worth stepping back from such questions and taking a longer view of children's technology: what are the larger patterns by which certain technologies become associated with children's work? In this paper, we examine a broad thematic pattern through which "adult" (or "professional") technologies become progressively associated with children's activities. As an example of how this analysis can be put to use for future design, we describe early steps in an effort to adapt a particularly powerful manufacturing technology ("pick-and-place") for children's crafts.