Master's Defense Presentation in the field of child computer interaction.

1. LAILA HUSSEIN SHOUKRY
03.01.2013
Child-Centered Design
of Mobile Educational Games for
Arab Preschoolers

2. Child Computer Interaction

3. Mobile Touch Technology

4. What are the design requirements and
evaluation strategies for a mobile educational
game for preschoolers - with application on
teaching them the Arabic Alphabet - for it to fit
the needs and abilities of, be usable by and of
benefit to Arab (Egyptian) preschoolers?
Primary Research Question

5. Developing Our
Project
Thesis Overview
Interviews
Survey
Evaluation
Study
Evaluating Our Project
Pre-MEGa
Framework
Interaction Design 4
Preschoolers
Design Requirements &
Evaluation Strategies 4 Arabic
Mobile Educational Game 4
Egyptian Preschoolers
IMM Project Steps &
Challenges 4 Presch.
Preschoolers IMM
Use: Here vs. Abroad
Arabic vs. English Early
Literacy Software
Arabic Alphabet
Learning
Evaluation
Strategies
Preschoolers’
IMM Use Abroad

6. Interviews
Interviews

7. Interviews
Interviews

8.  Some Results: Preschoolers (age 3-5):
 prefer IM to traditional toys
 68% use IM >1 h a day
 35% own their own device
 Most used : websites & mobile apps
 Favorite device: tablet devices
 Favorite activity: games
 Easiest use: touch screens
Survey: Arab Preschoolers & Interactive Media
SurveyInterviews

9.  Some Results: Preschoolers (age 3-5):
 Order of features which attracts them:
 Cartoon characters
 Audio and Songs
 Colors and Design
 Containing more activities
 Simplicity and Ease of Use
Survey: Arab Preschoolers & Interactive Media
SurveyInterviews

10.  Some Results: Parents:
 87% let their preschoolers use their devices
 64% prefer content in English over Arabic
 78% download pirated software
Survey: Arab Preschoolers & Interactive Media
SurveyInterviews

11.  How Egyptian Parents rate English Software teaching Alphabet
 How they rate Arabic Software teaching Alphabet
SurveyInterviews
Survey: Arab Preschoolers & Interactive Media

12.  Some Results: Early Literacy:
 64% prefer content in English over Arabic
 50% don’t learn Arabic Alphabet at nursery
 65% can’t sing the whole Arabic Alphabet song
 25% can’t associate any Arabic letter with its sound
Survey: Arab Preschoolers & Interactive Media
SurveyInterviews

13.  Limitation: Represents only a certain social class
Survey: Arab Preschoolers & Interactive Media
SurveyInterviews

14. Study: Qulity of Available Early Literacy Software
SurveyInterviews Evaluation Study

15. Study: Qulity of Available Early Literacy Software
SurveyInterviews Evaluation Study

16. Study: Quality of Available Early Literacy Software
SurveyInterviews Evaluation Study

17.  Status of most Arabic software even worse than that of their English
counterparts back in 1993
Study: Quality of Available Early Literacy Software
SurveyInterviews Evaluation Study

18.  Solutions:
 Creation of Higher Quality Authentic Content
 More research
 Fund
 Public-private partnerships
 Addressing piracy
 Localization of Foreign Content
 Involving local educators and experts
 Narrations by native speakers
 Adapting multimedia elements
 Testing in local context
Problem: Threat to Cultural Identity

19. Designing Mobile Educational Games for
Preschoolers
Fun
Usability
Learning
Mobility
Preschooler
s’ age
Design
Requirements/
Heuristics
Premega

20. SEEM
Premega

21.  The HECE Framework of Usability Heuristics for Child E-Learning Applications
 The Enali Framework for Pedagogical Agents
 J.P.Hourcade’s chapter on Interaction design and children
 “Playability Heuristics for Mobile Games “
 “Heuristic evaluation for games: usability principles for video game design. “
 “Designing and testing mobile interfaces for children. “
 “Design Principles of Educational Virtual Worlds for Preschool Children”
 “A comparison of the mouse and touch screen for children's use of computers. “
 “The role of usability research in designing children's computer products”
 “Conducting game user experience research with preschoolers.”
 “Games, motivation, and learning: A research and practice model.”
 “Gender differences in children's creative game play.”
 childrennow.org: The effects of interactive media on preschoolers' learning.
 Smashingmagazine.com: A Dad’s Plea To Developers Of iPad Apps For Children
Premega

22.  Screen Design
 Navigation & Control
 Ease of Use
 Responsiveness
 Game Design
 Learning Potential
 Instructions
 Feedback
 Difficulty Level
 Content Delivery &
Presentation
 Pedagogical Agent
 Customization
 Security
 Accessibility
 Value
Proposed Framework: Pre-MEGa
• Guidelines/Heuristics for design and evaluation
of Preschoolers’ Mobile Educational Games
•15 categories with sub-categories:
Premega

23. Proposed Framework: Pre-MEGa
Premega

24. Hamza Arabic Alphabet Game
Main objectives:
•Preschoolers will actually play with it!
•Preschoolers will prefer it over available English games.
•Preschoolers will love the Arabic Alphabet.
•Not complete, but a minimal working example.
Main constraints:
Time and cost.
Story of the game:
•Hamza has lost his beloved letters and wants to collect them.
•The player should help Hamza pick all his letters again.
•This is done using several games and then they play together with the letters.
•All this repetition is meant to teach them the Alphabet in an indirect way.
Developing Our
Project

25. Hamza Arabic Alphabet Game
Actual Project Timeline
Developing Our
Project

26. Hamza Arabic Alphabet Game
Storyboard
Developing Our
Project

27. Game Design
 Combine simple exploratory non-goal-oriented
games with more sophisticated goal-oriented games
 Support different playing styles
 Include collaboration options
Game Type and Scope
 Supports game play and is encouraging.
 Offers a social experience
 Fosters imagination
 Provides positive role models and
messages
Game Story
Developing Our
Project

28. Game Design
 Clear, fun goal which quick sub-goals
 Clear, fun and physically age-appropriate actions to
reach the goals
 Balancing challenge, strategy and pace
 No repetitive or boring tasks
 Reminder of progress
 Convenient, flexible, game controls
 No loss of any hard-owned possessions
Challenge Elements
Developing Our
Project
 Activities resembling adults' which look "difficult“
 Include suspense and "danger" without leading to fear or frustration
Difficulty Level

29. Pedagogical Agent
 Context-appropriate visual representation
 Attractive
 Free of gender or ethnic bias
 Establishes credibility and trustworthiness
 Establishes a role and relationship to child
and the game
 Polite and positive
Characteristics
 Using a song with simple Egyptian Arabic
Language
 Clearly owned by agent
 Complete and specific
 Describes feelings by figure of speech
Message
Developing Our
Project

30. Screen Design
 Clear picture menus without text
 Consistent design
 Layout efficient and visually
pleasing
 Similar learning objects are
organized in a similar style
Developing Our
Project
 Visually meaningful
 Large, easy to select
 No phantom icons
Icons
Menus

31. Mobile & Touch Screen Specifics
 Cautious Response with tilt
functionality
 No buttons near screen edges
 Simplified screens, adaptable to
different sizes
 Using device interface and game
interface for their own purposes
 Consistent control keys following
standard conventions
 Interruptions are handled reasonably
Developing Our
Project

32. Learning
 Dividing letters into ranges
 Using verbal rehearsal to foster memorization
 Varying activities during learning sessions to avoid boredom
 Introducing concepts through many entry points
 Including Self-Assessments
Developing Our
Project

33. Content Delivery & Presentation
 Theme meaningful to children, Egyptian scenery
 Embedded in fantasy contexts
 Based on real-life experience
 Personifying the letters
 High quality graphics, audio and visual effects
 Using music and songs
 Multimedia elements assist and are consistent with the learning process
 No graphics detracting from educational intention
 Using "Surprises" and employing random generation techniques
 Giving kids unusual powers
Developing Our
Project

34. Navigation & Control
 Simple one layer menus with direct access
 Consistent, logical and minimalist controls
 Help Kids know where they are
 Remember things already discussed
 Choices to select strategies (even if instructionally
irrelevant)
 Control over rate and order of display
 Clear exits from all sub-games
 Main menu accessible everywhere
 No irreversible errors
Developing Our
Project
 Short, interruptible routines and
animations
 Let kids accidentally•succeed in
the first 30 seconds
 Quick, clear response to touch
and no stagnation
Responsiveness

35. Instructions & Feedback
 Age-appropriate, easy to understand and remember
 Supportive rather than distracting
 Using clear-speech
 Integrated in the context of the problem
Instructions
Feedback
 Frequent, variable, age-appropriate,
context-related
 Employs meaningful graphics and/or sound
 Descriptive, non-evaluative
Positive:
 Motivational
 Attractive, fun, humorful
Negative:
 Let children know if they made a mistake
 Offer helpful hints to correct actions
Developing Our
Project

36. Customization
 Experience adaptable to gender
 Customized, individualized
instructions and feedback (Arabic
language addressing different
genders)
 Offers choice of scope, themes and
playing styles.
Ease of Use
 Require age-appropriate skills only
 Bigger areas for selecting, dragging
and tracing
 Enable independent use after first use
 Consistent responses to user actions
Developing Our
Project

37.  Ensures privacy of personal information
 Free from ethnic bias, violence, scariness, inappropriate language or behavior
 Free from inappropriate ads, ads which detract from content, or that lead to
accidental purchases
Accessibility
Security
 Can be used on a variety of devices, also a windows version is available
 Working on versions with different languages
Value
 It’s FREE!
Developing Our
Project

38.  Creating a 3D effect in the racing game using 2D
 Making the car game more efficient in terms of memory
consumption
 Keeping choices of gender and alphabet range throughout
transitions
 Enhancing navigation experience
 Graphics Scalability
 Handling interruptions of mobile devices like calls and defining
actions for control buttons
 Adjusting volume ratios so that music and sound effects don't
interfere with the learning experience or distract from the learning
content.
Design Challenges
Developing Our
Project

39. Hamza on Google Play
Developing Our
Project

40. Field Study
 At a nursery
 Participants: 12 preschoolers, several sessions each
Evaluating Our
Project
Developing Our
Project

41. User Reviews
Evaluating Our
Project
Developing Our
Project

42. More than 100 responses!
Online Evaluation Form
Evaluating Our
Project
Developing Our
Project

43. Some Results
Evaluating Our
Project
Developing Our
Project
Best Ratings for Idea,
Design, Usability and Fun!

44. Some Results
Evaluating Our
Project
Developing Our
Project

45. Game Updates: Navigation

46. Other Game Updates
 Adding a letters test game
 More repetition of the letters sounds in racing
 Enlarging buttons which were difficult to hit
 Increasing the area for dragging and for dropping the alphabets
into the bag
 Reducing the speed of the racing game and the tilt reaction.
 Enhancing audio quality
 Adding more instruction for bag game and animating the bag
saying the instructions
 Making the letter names be pronounced in formal Arabic instead
of Egyptian Arabic

47. Hamza2

48.  Validating, extending, using Pre-MEGa framework
 More research on Egyptian children’s interaction with new technologies
 More research on game preferences of Egyptian children and how to design
and test applications for and with them.
 Using more smart technologies in mobile literacy applications.
 Enhancing our application
 Applying similar research on school children and integrating technology to
accompany the Egyptian curriculum.
 Encouraging companies and individuals to invest in quality research-based
interactive products for young children
 Establishing a research community for Digital Games-Based Learning, with a
focus group targeting young children.
 Use of new technologies in eradicating illiteracy among Egyptian children
Recommendations

49.  For more information, read our papers:
 Shoukry, L.H., Sturm, Ch., Galal-Edeen, G.H., " Arab Preschoolers,
Interactive Media and Early Literacy Development", The proceedings of
The International Conference on E-Learning and E-Technologies in
Education (ICEEE), Technical University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland Sept. 24-
26, 2012, http://www.sdiwc.net/iccaee2012, Pages: 43-48.
 Shoukry, L.H., Sturm, Ch., Galal-Edeen, G.H., “Pre-MEGa: A Proposed
Framework for the Design and Evaluation of Preschoolers' Mobile
Educational Games”, The proceedings of the CISSE virtual conference,
Dec. 2012, http://conference.cisseconference.org/2012
Publications

50.  About Me:
Laila Hussein Shoukry
Master's Student
Digital Media Engineering & Technology
German University in Cairo
Egypt
lailame@gmail.com
http://guc.academia.edu/LailaHussein
Thank you