Scratch Nodes

Designing for Digital Playing Out

“…Our RtD approach of offering highly configurable resources connects with craft-led approaches to IoT and what Buechley and Perner-Wilson coin a "kit-of-no-parts" [56] so children can define their own play. As with [19], we find Scratch-styled graphical programming languages for IoT devices introduced programming to children in a relatable context, empowering them to them be creative with others [28]. This encourages participation in research; we found in our work that both the idea and experience of outdoor play could entice young people to explore IoT who would not normally be interested in programming.…”

“…Varied and original instances of play warranted markedly different configurations of technology in response. We find it valuable to recognize and provide devices that are configurable across a spectrum of complexity, where at one end, programs on devices can scaffold the 'performance frame' of entire games such as Wink Murder in W3, and, at the other end, devices in W4 were programmed by children to count a particular physical action (as in [19]). Our sensitizing concepts of Cocreation and Clear function / Open purpose guided our design of prototypes that were intelligible to children with minimal facilitation or prompt.…”

“…The form factor of the BBC micro:bit is small enough to be held (or hidden) in children's pocket (ideal for leaping over walls), c.f. armsout interactions [19]. The sensitizing concept of porosity additionally guided us in thinking about how IoT devices can afford outdoor play.…”

“…Social commentators in the UK have observed the significant decline of outdoor play [18,34,36,39,49,50], a phenomenon also recorded in many post-industrial societies e.g. [19,42]. More young people than ever are spending time indoors and "playing out" less.…”

“…Practice-based design research on pervasive play with IoT has appropriated off-the-shelf products to build and innovate with unique and bespoke technology configurations. For example, Hilton and colleagues speak to the Heads-up Games (HUG) paradigm by creating a 'real-time coding environment' that enables children to change gameplay rules in real-time [19]. These researchers offer valuable considerations for balancing societal concerns for increasing outdoor play with technological innovation in game design [19].…”