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REFERENCES

WEEK 12

(n.d.). Audio Library. Retrieved September 24, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/music?nv=1

(n.d.). Digital Technologies in the National Curriculum. Retrieved August 11, 2019, from http://elearning.tki.org.nz/Teaching/Curriculum-areas/Digital-Technologies-in-the-curriculum

(n.d.). What are Game Mechanics? Retrieved August 11, 2019, from https://www.bunchball.com/gamification/game-mechanics

(n.d.). What is Gamification? Retrieved August 11, 2019, from https://www.bunchball.com/gamification

Bowles, C. & Head, V. (2016, February 23). Motion and Meaning Ep 10: Design problems animation can answer [Audio Podcast]. Retrieved from https://motionandmeaning.io/episode10.html

Bright Hub Education. (n.d.). Tips for Teaching Kinesthetic Learners: Strategies for Teachers and Parents. Retrieved July 24, 2019, from https://www.brighthubeducation.com/teaching-methods-tips/128403-teaching-kinesthetic-learners/

Bright Hub Education. (n.d.). Teaching Visual Learners: Tips and Strategies for Teachers and Parents. Retrieved July 24, 2019, from https://www.brighthubeducation.com/teaching-methods-tips/128401-an-overview-of-visual-learners/

Drabble, E. (2009). Meet the bloggers of Banbury. Retrieved May 11, 2019, from https://www.theguardian.com/education/2009/may/19/special-needs-online-connections-blogging

Education Interactive. (n.d.). School Incursions. Retrieved July 25, 2019, from https://educationinteractive.com.au/

Fanguy, W. (June 17, 2019). A quick guide to choosing a color palette. Retrieved August 11, 2019, from https://www.invisionapp.com/inside-design/quick-guide-color-palette/

Gross, R. (n.d.). Designing websites for kids: Trends and best practices. Retrieved August 11, 2019, from https://www.canva.com/learn/kids-websites/

Herbert, S. (May 7, 2018). The Power of Gamification in Education. Retrieved August 12, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOssYTimQwM

Iamurai, S. (2009). Positive Cartoon Animation to Change Children Behaviors in Primary Schools. In International Conference on Primary Education (pp. 1-6).

Kane, A. (2018). Human Rights Initiative Spotlight: Animation Helps to Understand Children's Opinions on Human Rights in Tanzania. Retrieved May 19, 2019, from https://cla.umn.edu/human-rights/news-events/story/human-rights-initiative-spotlight-animation-helps-understand-childrens-opinions-human-rights

Ko Awatea. (n.d.). Welcome to Ko Awatea. Retrieved July 28, 2019, from http://koawatea.co.nz/six-tips-co-design/

Lazaris,L. (November 27, 2009). Designing Websites For Kids: Trends And Best Practices. Retrieved August 11, 2019, from https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/11/designing-websites-for-kids-trends-and-best-practices/

Massey Primary School. (n.d.). 2019 - Interactive Websites. Retrieved July 24, 2019, from http://www.masseyprimary.school.nz/45/link_sets/63-interactive-websites-for-learning

Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment. (n.d.). School curriculum and qualifications. Retrieved July 23, 2019, from https://www.newzealandnow.govt.nz/living-in-nz/education/school-curriculum-and-qualifications

Ministry of Education. (n.d.). New Zealand Curriculum. Retrieved July 23, 2019, from https://parents.education.govt.nz/primary-school/learning-at-school/new-zealand-curriculum/

Ministry of Education. (n.d.). The New Zealand Curriculum. Retrieved July 23, 2019, from http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum

Modern Teaching Aids. (n.d.). I Can See Leaves Guided Audio Kit. Retrieved August 7, 2019, from https://www.teaching.co.nz/product/LM089

Modern Teaching Aids. (n.d.). Pai Ocean Pets AR Craft Kit Incl Base. Retrieved July 28, 2019, from https://www.teaching.co.nz/product/PAT014

Modern Teaching Aids. (n.d.). Pai TJs Maths - Interactive Maths Games & Base. Retrieved July 28, 2019, from https://www.teaching.co.nz/product/PAT003

National Geographic Kids. (n.d.). 10 facts About Space!. Retrieved August 5, 2019, from https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/discover/science/space/ten-facts-about-space/

NSW Council of Social Services. (n.d.). Principles of Co-design. Retrieved July 28, 2019, from https://www.ncoss.org.au/sites/default/files/public/resources/Codesign%20principles.pdf

Penny. (May 17, 2011). Co-design: Some Principles, Theory and Practice. Retrieved July 28, 2019, from http://www.smallfire.co.nz/2011/05/17/co-design-some-principles-theory-and-practice/

Smith, J. (January 3, 2014). The Building Blocks of Designing UX for Kids. Retrieved August 11, 2019, from https://webdesign.tutsplus.com/articles/the-building-blocks-of-designing-ux-for-kids--webdesign-17303

Te Kete Ipurangi. (n.d.). Visual Culture and the New Zealand Curriculum. Retrieved July 23, 2019, from http://artsonline.tki.org.nz/Teaching-and-Learning/Primary-teaching-resources/Units-and-sequences/Visual-Culture-and-the-New-Zealand-Curriculum

White, B. (January 20, 2016). Designing For Kids Is Not Child's Play. Retrieved August 11, 2019, from https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2016/01/designing-apps-for-kids-is-not-childs-play/

Zhang, P. (2000). The effects of animation on information seeking performance on the World Wide Web: Securing attention or interfering with primary tasks?. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 1(1), 1.

REFLECTION

WEEK 12

The outcome, when compared to my initial aim, was a success. When I am creating something that is user experience and user interface based, I sometimes think the visual outcome isn’t as great as it could be. I believe this to be true this time, but I also know that a lot of the process is the research and the idea driving the project, and these two things come through strongly. Unfortunately for me I was unable to get kids to test this, and due to that I’m unsure of how successful this would really be other than considering the teachers response. This feels like a hurdle in assessing how successful the output was, but I am happy with my problem solving and critical thinking to get around the issue when it arose.

Throughout this project I was able to explore some new spaces in design that I hadn’t been before. Co-design was the biggest obstacle for me. I enjoy working on my own, and it was difficult at first for me to give up the decision making to someone else. However, I do think it challenged my creative process, and I had to get inventive when thinking of ways that I could facilitate exchanges of ideas while still keeping my design centered mind. This project was also my first attempt at gamification. I enjoyed the challenges it presented and the extra research that had to be done in order to get it right. I don’t think the game design of my project was as strong as it could be, but it did give me another avenue to use in future projects and has given me the ability to come at projects with a different approach.

The future of this particular project could be bright, as we move towards a more technology friendly learning environment in schools and we need to adapt to that accordingly. Given more time I would have loved to flesh out the app by adding different levels and difficulties, and defining the framework more clearly so I could give examples of imputing different themes and content for different classes. How ever, this would all be dependant of being able to test with the appropriate user group. This project has given me a specific interest in designing for children and illustrative design, which I hope to pursue onwards.

PITCH VIDEO

WEEK 12

FINAL PROTOTYPE

WEEK 12

PITCH VIDEO CREATION

WEEK 12

As always my favorite part was creating the pitch video. I firstly found the song I wanted to use as the backing track, as I like to time all my transitions and animations to this. I then followed my storyboard that I had drawn out to create each component. For the illustrations, I did some little digital drawings and exported them as pngs so I could animate them later on.

I’m fairly happy with how my pitch video turned out. I would have liked to have more levels of the game completed to show, but felt it was more important to do one level well given the limited time frame. My animation skills are quite basic, but I’m happy with the final outcome of the app within the video.

MUSIC/SOUND CHOICE

WEEK 11

This was one of my favorite parts of the project. I went to Youtube library and searched up space in the sound effects and music tab.

Music was the most difficult to choose as I didn’t quite know what direction I wanted to go in. At first, I felt as though the music should be a new age, dubstep feel as that’s what kids liked, but I also found an old school video game sounding track that would work well. I took both of these choices to Debbie and asked her what she thought, or if she wanted to choose a new one completely. She decided that the old school one was the best choice, as she couldn’t see a specific music choice between her students and the old school track felt more memorable.

For the sound effects I was able to enlist the help of my husband to create the sounds of the rocket and the button noises.

PUTTING TOGETHER THE FINAL PROTOTYPE

WEEK 11

After completing the elements for the final prototype, I was able to start putting it together. I did this in After effects, rather than a prototyping software as I felt that I could get a better looking animation result.

As I came towards the end of the video, I decided it would be better to do one level well and fully through than to show a few levels being played but not to a high standard. I may end up showing screenshots of other levels that I have drawn in the final pitch video but I’m unsure as of yet.

PROTOTYPE FINAL ITERATION

WEEK 11

After doing the rest of my user testing sessions I was able to make a list of a few things I needed to change, and finalise my flow.

Back button on scoreboard page

Spelling mistake on create classroom page

Quit button during the game

USER TESTING ITERATION #2: DEBBIE

WEEK 11

Looks great!

Nice and simple for the kids

Make sure the colours are nice and bright for them

Spelling mistake on the create classroom page

USER TESTING ITERATION #2: TRENT

WEEK 11

Flow is great

Back Button in the same place as the rest on menu page

Spelling mistake - you instead of your

What if you want to quit the game halfway through? Put the quit button in the same place as the back button

STORYBOARD PLANNING

WEEK 11

At this point I thought it would be a good time to start storyboarding for my pitch video. My method of story boarding for videos is to take the script and section it into information regarding the same topics, and visualise what that might look like. This helps me to start thinking about the animations/how I want it to feel. I also think that this helps to cut down my work load, as animating is such a time consuming part of this project, I only want to animate the things I need. This means there will be no working prototype, but I feel that in the short duration of this project it is an acceptable compromise.

‘Do your students dread maths?

The kids in room 11 feel the same way.’

[4+7=:( ]

“Maths can be a tricky subject to get kids excited about.”

[three maths symbols come up on the screen, pop off of the screen and the toys pop on]

“67% of the teachers I surveyed said that their students most enjoyed the element of play,”

[three illustrations of ‘play’, a ball, building blocks, crayons. Three things pop onto the screen one at a time, and then flip over and turn into the iPad]

“with 100% of those classrooms having access to their own supply of iPads for teaching purposes.”

[one iPad, fans out into three, then back in]

‘In room 11, the kids already used maths apps and games, but because these games were made for the masses, they didn’t engage and excite them.’

[footage of kids playing on iPads]

‘So how can we help kids enjoy their least favorite subject?’

[this is written on the screen]

‘The answer is 3.. 2.. 1.. Blast Off!’

[image of title page on screen]

‘3.. 2.. 1.. Blast Off! turns maths time into a journey into outer space, combining drawing and creative game play with arithmetic in a new and exciting way.’

[prototype preview of gameplay]

‘3.. 2.. 1.. Blast Off! was created for the kids in room 11 at a small primary school, who were behind in their math levels compared to other kids their age. Co-designed with their teacher, this app takes a theme the class is interested in, knowledge of the games they enjoy playing and content they are currently learning to create something that works for them.’

[prototype loading screen - main menu - create a new user]

‘The app lets you create a digital classroom, where your students can play against their friends and their own scores, and you as a teacher can keep a track of how your students are doing.’

[prototype of creating a digital classroom - scoreboard]

‘As desktop computers become outdated in New Zealand Primary schools, this app keeps up to date by harnessing the technology kids love, and incorporates interactivity to get even the kids who don’t like maths interested! Play through the levels to complete the journey’

[prototype of game play, first level drawn out - show it being played through two more levels slowly]

‘The best part is, by using this co-design approach, the framework for this app can be applied to any classroom, no matter their skill level or interests. Simply swap out the theme and the type of questions and you’re away!’

[prototype of gameplay cont]

‘Are you ready to blast off?’

[image of title page on iPad]

FLOW UPDATES

WEEK 10

After doing some user testing for the flow of the app I felt there were some things that came up recently. I decided to make a list of these things I need to change.

Back button on the create digital classroom page

Create a login option page

Add email and password to create account option

Move log out button to home screen

New title of ‘3 2 1 Blast Off’

Skip button on storyline part

PITCH SCRIPT

WEEK 10

Have a great opening (could be a question)

What’s the problem?

Show rather than tell why this is a problem (use concrete examples, facts etc)

Here is what is currently out there

Here is my solution!

This is why it’s better than the rest (can include some of the functionality in here, but don’t explain how it works, try to show how it works on the screen and talk about the benefits of that.

End with a clear call to action

“Do your students dread maths?

The kids in room 11 feel the same way.

Maths can be a tricky subject to get kids excited about. 67% of the teachers I surveyed said that their students most enjoyed the element of play, with 100% of those classrooms having access to their own supply of iPads for teaching purposes. In room 11, the kids already used maths apps and games, but because these games were made for the masses, it didn’t engage and excite them.

So how can we help kids enjoy their least favorite subject?

The answer is Space Maths!

Space Maths was created for the kids in room 11 at a small primary school, who were behind in their maths levels compared to other kids their age. Co-designed with their teacher, this app takes a theme the class is interested in, knowledge of the games they enjoy playing and content they are currently learning to create something that works for them.

Space Maths turns maths time into a journey into outer space, combining drawing and creative game play with arithmetic in a new and exciting way.

Space Maths lets you create a digital classroom, where your students can play against their friends and their own scores, and you can keep a track of how your students are doing.

As desktop computers become outdated in New Zealand Primary schools, this app keeps up to date by harnessing the technology kids love, and incorporates interactivity to get even the kids who don’t enjoy maths interested!

The best part is, by using this co-design approach, the framework for this app can be applied to any classroom, no matter their skill level or interests. Simply swap out the theme and the type of questions and you’re away!

Download Space Maths in the app store today and start the adventure!”

USER TESTING FLOW: ANN

WEEK 10

Will the digital classroom names already tell you which usernames are taken?

Shouldn’t I have to put a password in? Otherwise anyone can log into my class one

Is this first part for the kids or teachers? It seems too difficult for kids to follow

Maybe there should be a limit on how many people can be in a class so there aren’t too many names

You could get the kids to take a picture of themselves that comes up next to their name so that they know for sure which one they are.

The graphics would be cute if they’re colourful, and bold for kids

Nice clear instructions

What would the notifications be?

I can imagine a 70s space age techno sounding song in the background

You could include a voice over for the story part so kids can hear what’s happening

USER TESTING FLOW: ALEXANDER

WEEK 10

Might need back buttons on more of the pages, for easier access because kids might click on the wrong thing

You could name it ‘3 2 1 Blast Off!’. Space themed and it has numbers in it.

What would happen if I clicked on log into digital classroom? Like will I need a username and password?

Maybe you could put in an email and password? Then the teacher can check up on how the kids are doing while using their log in names.

I like that you can customise your rocket.

Maybe have a skip button on the storyline part. Kids will probably want to skip that if it’s not their first time playing.

Does the iPads keyboard come up? I like that more than having a specific keyboard, cause kids will know how to use than one already. Although one that comes with the app might look better and the screen wouldn’t do that funny moving thing that covers up some of the game too.

WHO AM I SELLING TO?

WEEK 10

As I begin doing the pitch script, I have to consider who exactly I’m selling to. On one hand, it will be used for the kids, but it will be the teachers that are looking/purchasing such products for the children.

It’s also important to remember that this specific version of it is made for this one class.

After speaking with James, I have decided that I will target it towards teachers/educators, as most of the products currently on the market are targeted towards them. However, in my case I think it is important that I include in the video that this was a co-design process, created for and with a specific class in mind, as it is a huge part of the process. In regards to this, I will still mention that this same case could transfer to different classes.

SPACE FACTS

WEEK 10

In looking for facts for the loading page, I came across a page of facts from National Geographics Kids. I felt that this was a really good source for the facts, as they are a large reputable company that knows what they’re talking about. It also means that the copy has been written specifically for kids, so I won’t have to reword any of the facts.

https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/discover/science/space/ten-facts-about-space/

One million Earths could fit inside the sun – and the sun is considered an average-size star.

For years it was believed that Earth was the only planet in our solar system with liquid water. More recently, NASA revealed its strongest evidence yet that there is intermittent running water on Mars, too!

Comets are leftovers from the creation of our solar system about 4.5 billion years ago – they consist of sand, ice and carbon dioxide.

You wouldn’t be able to walk on Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus or Neptune because they have no solid surface!

If you could fly a plane to Pluto, the trip would take more than 800 years!

Space junk is any human-made object orbiting Earth that no longer serves a useful purpose. Scientists estimate there are about 500,000 pieces of space junk today, including fragments from rockets and satellites, and everyday items like spanners dropped during construction of the International Space Station!

An asteroid about the size of a car enters Earth’s atmosphere roughly once a year – but it burns up before it reaches us. Phew!

The highest mountain known to man is on an asteroid called Vesta. Measuring a whopping 22km in height, it is three times as tall as Mount Everest!

There are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on all the beaches on Earth. That’s at least a billion trillion!

The sunset on Mars appears blue.

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