IDAC just received funding for the project “Artefactecologies among children and teenagers – a complex relation”. The project is a joint research cooperation with Center for Participatory IT in Aarhus, Denmark.
We are looking forward to new challenges!
Peter Larsson at the Department of Applied IT at Chalmers/GU has written a nice article about IDAC. See here (in Swedish):
IDAC will soon give a Master level course in Interaction design and children at the Interaction Design and Technologies Master program at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, more information here; http://ixdcth.se/courses/2013/ciu235/
The course offers training in working with user centered design, where the children, their parents, families, teachers and caregivers can participate as co-designers in the design process. The direct involvement of users as co-designers empowers the users to form their own tools and contexts, as well as give them increased confidence in that their meaning is important. This is the sustainable approach, where the designer and the user melt together, creating ownership.
The course will focus on interaction design and children with or without special needs, both in practice and theory. The theory of the course will consist of methods, tools, pedagogy and literature on physiological and psychological development. The practice will consist of exercises and a project out in the wild.
We are still in the planning phase, so any input is welcome!