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meaningful play 2012 travel

Session Information

TitleResearching Playful Learning in Two-Way TV
Presenter(s)Alex Games and Meagan Rothschild
TimeThursday, October 18, 3:00p-4:00p
LocationBallroom
FormatSpeakers
DescriptionThe Playful Learning initiative out of Microsoft Studios is working to use the Xbox and the Kinect to transform the ways we think of play and learning, whether in a living room or a classroom. One platform coming out of this initiative is Two-Way Television, a means of combining entertainment with thoughtful learning experiences by engaging physical activity and embodied learning practices. The first two industry partners are Sesame Workshop and National Geographic TV. The products are scheduled to be released in fall of 2012.

An initial study has begun through Microsoft Research that investigates how ideas of embodied cognition and comprehension can be investigated across products in order to a) understand the experiences of participants, and b) explore the ways in which the products can facilitate new meaning-making (Alibali & Nathan, 2007; Barsalou, Niedenthal, Barbey, & Ruppert, 2003; Glenberg, Jaworski, Rischal, & Levin, 2007; Glenberg, Brown, & Leven, 2007). The first phase of research focused specifically on Sesame Street Kinect TV episodes, and targeted participants between three and five years of age. Research tools included comprehension measurements through interviews and performance-based activities, and observation protocols/video coding schemes (Crawley, Anderson, Santomero, Wilder, Williams, Evans, & Bryant, 2002). Early tests using these tools took place with Microsoft User Research at their user research labs in Redmond, WA.

This session will present early findings from the research, which will be used to inform future modification of the research tools, and to increase the rigor of studies on both Sesame Street and National Geographic TV products. Later research may include formal/informal education sites in order to collect data in context.

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