John Wagner
jwagner@lclark.edu
970-749-7291

Positive Impacts	Negative Impacts	More Research is Needed
Helps to maintain social/interpersonal relationships	Can heighten feelings of loneliness and isolation	We don't fully understand the impact that games can have, particularly multiuser games.
Buddy lists increase the likelihood that individuals will communicate with others they already know.	Exposure to content which may be too mature for different age groups	We don't fully understand the way that the transfer of some social activities to computers has affected children's ability to function in non-computer-assisted social relationships.
Encourage users to explore new areas on interest.	Blurring of fantasy/reality, due to the ability to portray oneself as something else.	Don't fully understand relationship between violent games and children's aggression.
"Lonely and socially anxious people find more rewarding relationships online... and are able to better integrate those relationship into their everyday life."	Confusion in young children about what is, and what is not alive.	How do 'simulated realities' affect children's developing sense of identity?
Computer use, (and particularly computer game-play), may increase select spatial abilities and spacial perception.	Relationships created online can last a smaller amount of time, and require less effort than relationships found in the real world.	What are the effects of simulated/virtual pets?
		Do not yet have enough data to determine if computer use reduces, (displaces) TV viewing.
		Although there may be a mild positive effect on academic performance, more research is needed to justify this finding.

Links concerning children, the elderly, and how they factor into human/computer interaction. Assignment for 2/20/2008.

• Eldy is a reduced GUI for Microsoft Windows XP, and a select number of companion programs, designed to simplify the computing experience for those new to computers, and to meet the physical, (larger text, larger buttons, etc.) needs of seniors.
• The psychosocial impact of interactive computer use within a vulnerable elderly population is a study by Susan Billipp at the School of Public Health in Huston, TX, which attempts to examine the effect that installing a telecommunications terminal in the homes of elderly people has on their lives. Thge study examines how effective the terminal is alone, as well as the effects of training, and the home visits that training entails.
• Home Monitoring of Elderly People With 3D Camera Technology is a study aimed at how technology can improve the lives of seniors, without the need for them to be direcly interacting with it. Unlike the previous study, which attempts to create a benifit for seniors around their use of a computer, this study proposes a technology that improves, yet is not paticularly present in, the lives of seniors.
• SeniorNet is an organization who's mission is to provide older adults education for and access to computers. They aim to enhance the lives of many seniors, both by providing direct access to computers, and by providing forums, chat rooms, and other resources where older adults can connect online.
• High Tech for Elderly is a New York Times editiorial from 1998, which discusses the challenges and rewards for seniors adopting technology. It also discusses groups and organizations which are helping to facilitate the process.
• New Computer Technologies Help Elderly People Stay Independent is a brief internet editioral from 2005, which discusses technologies which are aiding elderly people as they grow older. Like the 3D camera monitoring study above, this is not a discussion of how older adults are interacting with modern consumer technology, but rather an investigation of technologies being developed specifically to meet the needs of seniors.
• Imbee is a social network designed around the same principals as facebook, myspace, or any other of the large social-networking megasites, but is targeted at a younger age group. Advertising both to children and to public school teachers, Imbee allows children to upload pictures, post blogs, and the like.
• The One Laptop Per Child project is the large, combined effort of several hundred philanthropists, entrepreneurs, developers, engineers and corportations across the globe. Charachterized as "an education project, not a laptop project", OLPC hopes to break the cycle of poverty many communities are trapped in by providing computers to children as an educational resource. The OLPC project has designed hardwqare and software both to meet the needs of it's users, (young to adolescent children and teenagers), and to break the cost barriers typically associated with high technology.
• LeapFrog has been making educational computing toys for kids for at least as long as I can remember. Targeted at children in several different age groups, and marketed as educational, leapfrog's interfaces are designed quite exclusively with children in mind.
• Guided Interaction in the Pre-School Setting is a study that was conducted at the University of Stirling, which analyzes effective methods for introducing young children to computers and communication technology. It attempts to uncover the proper pedagogy for allowing children to pick up new information technology skills as best possible in the preschool setting.
• Graphical interfaces for young children in a software-based math curriculum is a study which attempts to compare the efficacy of several different interface mechanisms within various instructional context. The study specifically targets interfaces for manipiulating mathematical objects, and how effective they are in assisting school-aged children.
• Enhancing children's learning in museums: a design-based research approach examines the how well computer-based, interactive solutions are able to augment, and improve children's educational experience at museums. Created in collaboration with the Hunt Museum in Ireland, the study examines how children interpret information in museums, and attempts to supplement that information with technology.

I'm not totally clear on what's to go here. When I find out, I'll put it here, that's for sure.

A few miscelaneous links I thought I'd just throw in.

• Squarepeg is the site I am currently building, and the business I have started with my good friend Isaac. Generously funded by a grant from Ashoka.
• Illustrated Primer is my own personal site, which is down at the moment, because I'm busy. Maybe It'll be up soon?
• A List Apart makes for some incredible reading.
• UrbanHonking, of Portland, OR is where I start my day.