Design Challenge: Designing for family language learning

Put your mind to the challenge!

In Levinson's casebook and design guide, Diverse Families and Media (2015), it encompasses numerous case study and discussion questions on how to recognize and resolve common issues with technology and children. The Design Challenge I decided to tackle was the third case; 'Connecting and Learning Across Different Physical Settings' (Levinson et al., 2015, p.21) . This case study was interesting to me because I personally identified with Brandon's family when it came to learning a new language.

In addition, I support the way that new technology has strengthened the home-school relationship because it offers communication, consistency and more awareness to children's well-being and development. As a result, having the professional development and resources to bring learning into different mediums can benefit the child.

Here are my answers to Design Solution:

1. Brandon himself actively brings information and questions—such as those about famous people, he has studied—home from school. How else might his parents find out what his interested in at school?

Brandon’s parents can find more information by reaching out to his educators (either through e-mail or in person) and ask what Brandon enjoys doing, as well as what he is learning about. By building a stronger connection with his educator which can lead to more fluency for Brandon; bringing his interests and knowledge from school into his home (Mete, M., 2017).

2. What kinds of resources might let Brandon explore content that aligns with his interests but also with his own language and literacy levels, which will change over time?

Besides the popular resources Brandon’s family is already using (YouTube, Google Translate, documentaries, etc.), the family can also invest in read-along books. Read-Along audio books can support Brandon’s literacy skills, which can also modify to read at a slower pace for Brandon to keep up with and can adjust as his English improves. There is also a feature with Google Translate that can translate a whole website into any language. This feature can help Brandon by reading whatever subject he wants in Spanish to understand the context, and then can translate it to English to learn new vocabulary (Mete, M., 2017).

3. Google Translate is a translator tool designed to work in any number of contexts. What other kinds of tools, or what design changes, might provide more customized support for families like Brandon’s?

Audio-to-Type is a useful feature on smartphones to help with spelling out English words. Visual aids and animations in system tutorials now have minimal words that help support people who are learning English. As stated previously, read-along books are easy to find for online reading, as well as in bookstores (Mete, M., 2017).

For access to Diverse Families and Media, click here. Feel free to create a design challenge of your own and share your experience!