Madness to the methods : speculating approaches to study and nurture children’s designer and Maker identities

Abstract

<div lang="en" class="abs"><p class="abs_header">Abstract</p><p>As our relationship with digital technology radically changes during this pandemic, it becomes imperative to reimagine new ways of interactions and collaborations. It is also important for children grow from passive consumers of digital technology to active designers and Makers. Typical research approaches for inquiring or probing children’s digital technology identities include interview-, reflection-, and hands-on creative-types of methods. But how will these methods fare in a future that is online or hybrid? In this paper, we present the outcomes of a workshop that employed critical design fiction with Child-Computer Interaction experts to speculate on how such methods can be applied in the future, in online or limited access scenarios, to study children’s designer and Maker identities. We focused on approaches that are empowering, albeit provocative. We call for researchers working with children to reconsider and expand their methods repertoire to keep in tune with the changing times.</p></div>