NAEYC Annual Conference Atlanta, GA : November 2012Lilla Dale McManis, PhD Susan B. Gunnewig, MEd

Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.

Cooperation and Collaboration

Among Preschoolers Using an Interactive Multi-Touch

Table

Outline• Social development in preschoolers• Impact on school success• Teachers need support• Technology can promote social development• Multi-touch technology environment• Study results and discussion• Q & A

Social Development in PreschoolersSocial Competence- an overall descriptor of a child's social effectiveness

• Relationships– Develop and keep– High quality & satisfying to all/both

• Social skills and awareness influence• Critical these develop in early childhood

(Ladd, 2000)

Unsociability’s Impact on Schooling• Participate less often in classroom activities• Less positive feedback• Less accepted by peers and teachers• Don’t like school• Attend less

= Learn Less

(Ravner & Knitzer, 2002)

Getting Socially Competent• Regular opportunities for social competence skills

related to long term outcomes• In peer interactions– assume different roles – learn to take another person's perspective– develop understanding of social rules and

conventions

(Boyd et al., 2005)

Parten’s Stages of Play

Adapted from Child Development Guide.com

Teachers Need Support• Many K teachers report large numbers of children have

problems transitioning to school due to lack of SED competencies

• One result is child no longer welcome in the classroom

• Teachers need guidance and support in increasing positive social skills and behaviors while reducing behaviors that keep children from blossoming

(Rimm-Kaufman, Pianta, & Cox, 2000; Peth-Pierce, 2000; Gilliam, 2008; Boyd, Barnett, Bodrova, et al., 2005; Ravner & Knitzer, 2002)

Activities for Social RelationshipsProvide activities where:• Learning takes place within a group setting• Designed to be completed as a group• Opportunities and situations are presented in which

children practice thinking about the viewpoints of their peers

Capturing the Process

Essential in the social-emotional domain b/c:• Fluid• Dynamic• Formative• More susceptible to

inconsistency in skill achievement

Cooperation & CollaborationBe aware of designing and providing activities for:• Taking turns• Respecting others’ space• Being friendly, polite, respectful• Sharing • Cooperating • Compromising • Responding to suggestions and actions of others

positively • Expressing thoughts, feelings, and ideas through

appropriate language and gestures

NAEYC /Rogers Center Technology Position Statement Guiding Principle

Effective uses of technology and media are:• active• hands-on• engaging• empowering • give the child control• provide adaptive scaffolds to ease task accomplishment• one of many options to support children’s learning

Technology Can Support SED• Computer center in early childhood classrooms does

not disrupt ongoing play…• Rather has been found to facilitate:– extensive positive social interaction – new friendships– cooperation– peer teaching – helping behaviors – praise & encouragement of peers

(McCarrick & Xiaoming, 2007; Clements & Sarama, 2003; Heft & Swaminathan, 2002)

Cooperation & Collaboration

• With computers, preschoolers:– ask other children to join in– seek help from one other– look for approval and

acknowledgement from teacher• Cooperative play at computer equal to amount in

block center• Computers add a new participation dimension:– children offer assistance to one another – cooperate to solve problems and complete tasks

Language & Cognitive• Language and cognitive skills improvement regularly

seen when children use technology • Demonstrate increasing levels of spoken

communication and cooperation w/ IWBs• Computer activity more effective

in stimulating vocalization in preschoolers than many toys

Good Design

• Child development theory• Content • Child-friendliness• Interactivity

(McManis & Gunnewig, 2012; McManis & Parks, 2011)

Copyright 2011 by Hatch

Driving Theories

• Bronfenbrenner—Ecological Systems Theory: relationships at multiple environmental levels

• Bandura—Social Learning Theory: observation, imitation, and modeling

• Erikson—Psychosocial Theory: stages of personality development

Driving Theories

• Piaget—Cognitive Developmental Theory: construct knowledge, interactions with peers during play

• Vygotsky—Sociocultural Theory: Modeling and language, play with peers and guided interactions with adults

Content

• Aligned with standards• Scaffolded, correct teaching paths• Relevant• Interesting• Deep

Child-Friendliness• Successful, independent use with guidance• Simple, clear choices• Awareness of reading and language limitations• Not overly stimulating• Supported instruction/use• Constructive feedback• Free from bias

Interactivity• Enough activities with variety• Responsive to child’s actions• Activities match with attention span• Appropriate & balanced use of rewards

Cooperation & CollaborationUsing technology has been found to be one of the best ways to support cooperation and collaboration among young children…• Children like working with peers on computers • See it as playing together and fun• Opportunities for children to face and solve conflicts among themselves

Multi-Touch Tables• Multi-touch tables are a new technology that allow

several children to work and play together• Unlike other kinds of touch technology, many children

can touch the surface at the same time• These features make them ideal for the early childhood environment

Clip: Setting the Stage

Multi-touch Table Research• Research in its infancy• Especially true for formal studies on collaborative

capabilities in learning environments• Potential to positively impact

learning outcomes

(Higgins, et al., 2011)

Elementary Age Children

• More talk about task w/ multi-touch compared to single-touch where more turn-taking talk (Harris, Rick, Bonnett, et al. 2009)

• Tablet compared to paper showed faster mutual understanding and more elaboration and negotiation conversation (Higgins, Mercier, Burd, & Joyce-Gibbons, 2011)

• Multi-touch tables for storytelling found children inspired by stories and process ideas of peers (Helmes et al., 2009; Russell 2010)

Some Studies Find Competition Increases

• Marshall et al., 2009 found evidence of children (7-8 year old males) being somewhat more likely to show overt bodily control behaviors when on an interactive table surface than paper

• Higgins et al.’s lit review (2011) notes this is the case in some instances as well and may be related to not enough “assets”– Icons– Too many children at a time

Preschool Age Children• Studies with preschool children virtually non-existent• One study found, w/ children 2½ -5 (Mansor, De Angeli

& Bruijn, 2008) • Mainly about usability-researchers noted main issue

children having difficulty capturing and moving objects • Major constraint use of a style of table• Children had to stand on a mat with feet

in a specific position for touches to register - could not move off that small mat

• Opportunity for much cooperation and collaboration therefore very limited

Current Study• To determine whether small groups of preschoolers

could and would exhibit – cooperation and collaboration – when using an all-in-one multi-touch table – allowing free movement – with interactive games – designed specifically to elicit

these behaviors

Background for Current Study • Collaboration higher order skill

builds on cooperation• Not seen nor expected to be at the

same level as cooperation for preschoolers• However, appropriate and important for children to

have opportunities to learn and practice both • Additionally, because usability of multi-touch tables

not well understood with this age group, data collected

Multi-Touch Table: WePlaySmart• A multi-touch table with pre-loaded interactive child-

directed games designed to elicit and teach social-emotional skills

• Up to four children can play at a time• Table can process over 100 touches simultaneously

Focus• Full set of games is extensive (several hundred)• Four areas are represented: social competence,

behavioral, emotional, executive function• Six game types: Uncover, Sort, Find, Turns, and

Connect, and Vote• Current study to better

understand social competence– Cooperation– Collaboration

Sample• Study took place in the children’s child care center• Children who had parental permission eligible to

participate• 10 games• 8 children – 5 Boys, 3 Girls– 3 African American, 5 Caucasian

• Average age 4.6 years– Range 4.0-5.2 years

Procedures• Introduction to the system• Playing games and working together• Log in• Moving objects• Tutorial

• Teacher facilitator• Videotaped children at play

Definitions…• Cooperative occurrences indicate

child is playing alongside others, as opposed to working for a common goal

• Collaborative occurrences can have same elements of cooperative but child is working with another or others toward a common goal, as opposed to working more individually or alongside

• Competitive occurrences are those opposite of cooperative and collaborative and indicate child is dominating the space and/or highlighting their accomplishments in relation to peers

Coding Categories• VCoop=verbal cooperative: I found one; I know what to do

• VColl=verbal collaborative: We found one; We have to do it like this

• VComp=verbal competitive: I found that one and that and that; You’re doing it all wrong- do it this way

• BCoop=body cooperative: Moving objects that are close by their space or if reaching into another’s doing so without asserting strongly; jumping up and down when an object they moved snaps in

• BColl=body collaborative: Moving an object closer to a peer so they can reach; giving a high five after the whole activity has finished

• BComp=body competitive: Reaching in -pushing Go button for another child; folding arms together -pouting

Findings

Clip: Collaboration

WPS Study, 2012

WPS Study, 2012

WPS Study, 2012

WPS Study, 2012

Clip: Competition

V-Coop V-Coll V-Comp B-Coop B-Coll B-Comp0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

All Behaviors WPS Study, 2012

Clip: Cooperation & Collaboration

Usability• All children understood basic nature touchscreen • Evidenced by using fingers to move

objects and touching ‘hot-spots’• Variability in initial success at capturing an

object sufficiently– slightly steeper learning curve for younger children– Improvement for all seen within just a few attempts

• All children could reach the majority of the objects– Younger and/or shorter children could not reach as

far and needed to move around the table

Conclusions• Children excited at their first interaction-jumping,

clapping, saying “Wow!” • High level of cooperation, moderate level of

collaboration, some competition• Tolerant of each other reaching around and across the

table:– overlapping arms– coming very close to ‘personal space’– moving toward the same object but physically

following an implicit ‘first there it’s yours’ rule

Discussion• Majority of play cooperative in line

with Parten’s Stages of Play• Collaborative play, which is advanced, is present

represents good support system promoting these behaviors

• Competition present but not excessively– New/highly valued– Individual differences

• Teacher’s role important, especially at beginning

Integration and Progress Monitoring

• Represents all 4 areas of SED • Uses audio clips• Teachers listen and rate as often as they like• Snapshot 3 x year• Multiple report levels• Beyond the Table

Q & A

Connections!

• www.hatchearlychildhood/blog and Expert Webinars• dmcmanis@hatchearlychildhood.com• LinkedIn: Lilla Dale McManis, Hatch Early Childhood, Early

Childhood Technology Network • Twitter: LillaDaleMcManis@DrLDMcManis &

HatchEarlyLearning@hatchearlychild#ecetechchat Weds. nights 9 EST,

• Facebook & YouTube HatchEarlyChildhood • Join us for a Meet & Greet w/ Dr. Sue Bredekamp today 12:30-1:00

@ Hatch Internet Lounge• Stop by the Poster Session if you are interested in learning about

our efficacy study on math & literacy w/computer-assisted instruction