Inclusive Interactives
Roger Meintjes, Heidi Schelhowe · 2016
Computational construction kits for children have mostly been designed for individual connections. The focus has been on the individual user, the connections they form with the object under construction, and how these connections shape internal models. There has been comparatively little attention given to interpersonal connections, and how these might enable groups of users to connect through the emerging design object, share skills and knowledge, build on each other's contributions, and develop shared understanding. This bias towards the individual has limited potential gains from thinking and acting with others. In the following paper we present a new construction kit (fundakit) and design concept (inclusive interactives) incorporating interpersonal connections. The kit and concept were designed with a view to exploring how such connections might empower groups of youth enrolled in after-school centres situated in economically-disadvantaged communities, to invest in each other, their environment, and in the broader community. We describe the kit and concept, report on their use in a four-year longitudinal study in an after-school centre, and present our findings.