J. Alison Bryant, Ph.D.

Kids & Tablets Today

Quick Facts

•  About 1/3 of kids in the USA have access to a tablet device (and that is growing daily)

•  In homes where an iPad is present, 90% of parents allow use

•  Kids use tablets at least weekly, if not daily

•  100 million tablets in circulation by year end, and this will be doubling in the next two years

Sources:  Futuresource  Consul/ng  (2012),  PlayScience  (2011)  

40%  

36%  

24%   1  to  3  Times/Week  

4  to  6  Times/Week  

Every  day  

How often kids use touch devices (That their parents know about!)

60% report use 4 or more times a week (This is only going to increase!)

Kids are downloading apps

Almost 30% of parents allowed kids to download apps on their own.

29%  

71%  

Yes  

No  

Kids & E-Reading

98%  

63%  76%   79%  

47%  

Play  games   Read  or  listen  to  stories  

Look  at  pictures   Watch  videos   Look  at  websites  

What kids do on touch devices

63% reported their 4-8 year-olds reads or listens to stories on touch deices.

eBook Adoption for Kids

How do parents define “educational” in apps?

Interactive educational content is important for

of parents 83%

Educational factors for parents

This is a non-traditional view of Education, focusing on 21st century skills.

81%  74%   73%  

66%  

Problem  solving  skills   Encourage  crea/vity   Teach  topics  in  a  subject  area  

Focused  on  specific  skills  

What features are least important to parents

Educational apps can have games (Parents OK’d) Test and endorsements are not necessary

29%   25%   22%   18%   18%  4%  

Mul/ple  choice  ques/ons  

Tests  or  assessments  

Accredited  by  teachers  

Relate  to  current  lesson  

plans  

Endorsed  by  schools  

No  games  /  entertainment  

What do parents want to know?

Even knowing & having access to kids reading level, 70% of parents think it is important for an app to measure it.

84%  

81%  

74%  

70%  

Know  their  child’s  reading  level  

Know  the  reading  fundamentals  children  should  be  mastering  at  their  age  

Equipped  to  assess  child’s  reading  progress  

Important  for  apps  to  measure  it  outside  of  the  classroom  

Kids’ E-Book Best Practices

Context is Key

Solo  Reading   Co-­‐Reading  

Bed/me    Reading  

What Parents are looking for in e-books for their kids

Interac/vity  

•  Integrated  into  story  

•  Educa/onal  is  ideal  

Customiza/on  

•  Based  on  child’s  age/development    

•  Creates  empowerment  and  ownership  

Re-­‐read/play-­‐ability  

•  Ac/vi/es  (games,  coloring  pages,  music,  etc.)  adds  value  

•  Extends  experience  (and  therefore  value)  

E-Book Design “Need-to-Knows”

Iconography  Use  universally  recognized  symbols  for  your  eBook  app  icons  and  consider  adding  text  to  make  it  easier  for  parents  to  iden/fy  them.    

Story  Narra/on  Producing  different  voices  for  the  characters  increases  their  child’s  engagement  and  interest  in  the  story  and  improves  their  story  comprehension.  When  there  is  only  one  voice  telling  the  story,  parents  thought  it  might  be  hard  for  their  child  to  tell  who  is  talking.  

“In-­‐Story”  Interac/vity    This  type  of  interac/vity  occurs  during  the  story  and  makes  the  story  come  to  life.  It  asks  the  child  to  par/cipate  in  the  story  narra/ve  or  gives  the  child  the  opportunity  to  watch  the  story  narra/ve  unfold  through  anima/ons.  

Visual  Appeal  Kids  are  drawn  to  app  experiences  with  strong  visual  appeal.  This  includes  rich,  bright  colors  and  detailed  anima/ons.  

E-Book Navigation “Need-to-Knows”

Text  Highligh/ng    eBooks  for  younger  kids  should  have  text  highligh/ng  to  help  their  child  follow  along  with  the  story.  The   -­‐by-­‐approach  to  highligh/ng  is  ideal.  

Menu  &  Ac/vity  Accessibility  E-­‐book  apps  should  be  designed  with  an  easily  accessible  menu  that  includes  the  index,  key  ac/vi/es,  and  main  seeng  op/ons.    Access  should  be  afained  through  a  one-­‐step  process  that  doesn’t  require  users  to  leave  the  current  screen.  Users  should  also  have  the  ability  to  jump  to  any  page  in  the  eBook.  

Interruptability  Kids  (and  parents)  want  to  be  in  control  of  the  naviga/on  experience,  which  means  that  they  have  to  be  able  to  move  forward  in  the  story  when  they  want  to.  Otherwise,  frustra/on  ensues….  

Moving  through  the  Story:  Tap  vs.  Swipe  Younger  children  and  children  with  less  experience  on  touch  devices  prefer  to  tap  to  turn  the  page,  and  benefit  from  the  extra  guidance  of  a  “next”  arrow.  Older  and  more  experienced  users,  however,  mature  into  “swipers.”      

Parents  want  a  seengs  op/on  that  permits  them  to  turn  the  tap/swipe  feature  on  and  off.  In  many  current  eBook  apps,  this  can  take  the  form  of  a  Young  Reader  (YR)  seeng,  with  the  YR  mode  providing  arrows  to  tap.  Addi/onally,  parents  want  the  ability  to  navigate  both  forward  and  backward  in  the  story.    

Plus,  thinking  about  kid-­‐specific:  •  Mechanics  •  GUI  •  Instruc/ons/Hints  •  “Leveling”  •  Curriculum  Integra/on  •  And  so  on….  

 

Thank You!

Let’s  Play!    

J.  Alison  Bryant  alison@playsciencelab.com  www.playsciencelab.com  

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