This paper introduces an Ecological Inquiry as a methodological approach for designing technology with children. The inquiry is based on the "ecological turn" in HCI, Ubiquitous Computing and Participatory Design that shift the emphasis of design from technological artifacts to entire use ecologies into which technologies are integrated. Our Ecological Inquiry extends Cooperative Inquiry in three directions: from understanding to emergence of social practices and meanings, from design of artifacts to hybrid environments, and from a focus on technology to appropriations through design and use. We exemplify our approach in a case study through which we designed social technologies for hybrid learning environments with children in two schools, and discuss how an Ecological Inquiry can inform existing approaches in CCI.

Abstract. The ReflecTable is a digital learning environment that explores how design games and video-led reflection might be combined to bridge the gap between the theoretical and practical components of design education. The concept seeks to leverage the qualities of exploratory design games and video to inspire design students to critically reflect upon the relationship between their evolving design practices and the theories and techniques they are taught in lectures, by allowing them to capture, review and reflect upon short videos of a design game. In this paper, we present the ReflecTable design and nine studies conducted during the course of its development. The studies suggest that the ReflecTable has the potential to support design students in understanding how theoretical concepts and methods relate to different design situations and their own evolving design practices.