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Why Tangibility Matters: A Design Case Study of At-Risk Children Learning to Read and Spell

Published: 02 May 2017 Publication History

Abstract

Tangibles may be effective for reading applications. Letters can be represented as 3D physical objects. Words are spatially organized collections of letters. We explore how tangibility impacts reading and spelling acquisition for young Anglophone children who have dyslexia. We describe our theory-based design rationale and present a mixed-methods case study of eight children using our PhonoBlocks system. All children made significant gains in reading and spelling on trained and untrained (new) words, and could apply all spelling rules a month later. We discuss the design features of our system that contributed to effective learning processes, resulting in successful learning outcomes: dynamic colour cues embedded in 3D letters, which can draw attention to how letter(s) position changes their sounds; and the form of 3D tangible letters, which can enforce correct letter orientation and enable epistemic strategies in letter organization that simplify spelling tasks. We conclude with design guidelines for tangible reading systems.

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    cover image ACM Conferences
    CHI '17: Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
    May 2017
    7138 pages
    ISBN:9781450346559
    DOI:10.1145/3025453
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    Published: 02 May 2017

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    1. children
    2. dyslexia
    3. embedded interaction
    4. mixed-methods.
    5. reading acquisition
    6. tangible user interfaces

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    • (2024)Character Alive: Designing and Evaluating a Tangible System to Support Children’s Chinese Radical and Character LearningInternational Journal of Human–Computer Interaction10.1080/10447318.2024.231392241:2(1293-1308)Online publication date: 18-Feb-2024
    • (2024)A Study on Tangible Interaction Design for Children Cooperative LearningHuman-Computer Interaction10.1007/978-3-031-60412-6_21(295-311)Online publication date: 1-Jun-2024
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