Stanford University, Summer 2002

1
A Young Childs Chinese-English Bilingual Friend

• A review of a learning design project
• Chika Ando
• Brian Tobin

2
Little Panda

• Brief Summary
• Little Panda is a portable learning device for
  young children ages 4 to 6 who will be raised in
  a predominantly English-speaking environment. It
  is designed to teach second-generation children
  Chinese language proficiency and Chinese culture
  appreciation.

3
Learning problem

• Children of Chinese immigrants are not motivated
  enough to learn their parents language and
  culture.
• Learning Goals
• Encourage bilingualism fluency
• Encourage development of Chinese identity

4
User Description

• Second-generation Chinese children ages 4 to 6
  who are growing up in a predominantly
  English-speaking environment

5
Little PandaUser Experience
Storytelling - Chinese horoscope story read aloud
as pages automatically turn. Tells ancient
Chinese calculate their years with twelve
animals.
6
Conceptual Framework

• Designers tried to create a learning environment
  that maximizes the advantages of the behaviorist,
  cognitive and situative approaches.
• Behaviorist Principles
• drill-and-practice in the learning modules
• Character buttons
• Symbols in the piano system
• Level-based curriculum
• Linear cartridges require prerequisite knowledge
• Cognitive Principles
• Distinct characters are shown separately and then
  related to each other
• Lessons build on one another
• Once learner understands Chinese characters,
  he/she is shown sentences with matching picture
  representations, and later stories.
• Situative Principles
• Self-regulated progress
• Learner picks which activities to take part in
• These skills allow the child to become an
  individual who can practice Chinese language in
  social contexts.

7
Conceptual Framework (2)

• Motivational principles (Lepper and Malone)
• (1) Challenge
• different user levels, e.g. in the games as shown
  in our prototype, and in the learning modules
  (not shown in the prototype)
• (2) Curiosity
• provoking questions in the lesson modules and
  exposing them to a new culture by including
  interesting elements in the games
• (3) Control
• a highly interactive product where children can
  touch and play at their own pace flexible
  navigation
• (4) Fantasy.
• in the stories and in the games learner never
  knows what to expect and are not bored
• more apt to exercise their imaginations a
  surprising rich environment where they can
  practice safely and play away without
  embarrassment

8
Design Process

• Extensive literature review
• Assessed existing alternatives
• Interviewed parents and experts
• Observed children
• Computer- based prototyping
• User testing
• PowerPoint
• Software
• Reiterative design

9
Features/Functionality English mode

• Learning module
• Introduce characters and their pronunciations by
  relating to common knowledge (the character for
  horse looks like a horse)
• Story-telling culture, vocabulary, listening
  comprehension
• Chinese horoscope story with animal sounds
• Songs repeat and memorize
• Exercise
• Karaoke (more practice)
• Games tone and symbol recognition analysis
• Visit the Zoo
• Simple Quiz
• Advanced Quiz

10
Design Studies

• Informant design involves various participants in
  the design process. At the beginning, they help
  identify the learning problems. During the
  prototyping phase, informants provide useful
  input, working with the design team. Toward the
  end, they evaluate the prototypes in real-world
  contexts. (Scaife et al, 1997)
• Informant design teachers, parents, and children
  gave information during design process
• Learner-centered designs focus on developing a
  learner's understanding, rather than on improving
  usability issues. (Soloway et al, 1994)
• How well are children learning on Little Panda?
• Short learner testing to assess acquisition of
  tones and motivation
• Other user testing
• More repetition is necessary
• Cognitive overload
• What parts of Little Panda encourage learning?
• Enjoyed interacting with Chinese character
  components
• Increased task understanding pictures, replay
  questions
• Designers believed more interaction increased
  ownership and motivation

11
Strengths of Educational Design

• It does provide a safe place where children can
  explore Chinese
• Many interactive aspects
• Piano keyboard and Games keep learner engaged
• Intrinsic motivation
• Make Chinese culture less foreign to learners
• Cute character design kids like to see
• Self-guided so learner takes ownership
• Active learning promotes higher motivation
• Games are fun and give self-assessment
  opportunities
• Panda character represents China to children
  too young to understand idea of culture

12
Shortcomings of Educational Design

• Far transfer to apply this knowledge to
  conversation
• Many games, activities but no communication
• No modeling of proper interactions and
  conversation
• Failed to promote children to find new knowledge
  outside Little Panda
• No opportunity for learner to just practice or
  encouragement to practice outside of software
• Little Panda alone is not likely to help children
  relate to China
• No scoring or rewards for kids
• No activity logs to track progress or assessment
  to report to parents

13
Next Steps in the Design Process

• Activity log
• Expand target audience
• Build on Panda as communication tool
• Inter-connectivity with other Panda users
• Voice recognition for auditory assesment
• Build more motivation
• Increase empathy with more Chinese info
• More interactive Panda character
• Panda reflects learners progress
• Communicate with and teach Panda
• Customizeable Panda
• More curriculum
• Externally valid reading, listening, and speaking
  practice with Panda character
• Content like story books which learners can go
  back and forth on their own pace, including more
  Chinese characters

14
Little Panda

• Goals
• bilingualism
• Cultural identity
• Approach
• Self-guided learning games and activities
• Effectiveness
• Interactive but lacks modeling and practice of
  real conversation
• Not much insight into Chinese culture

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