ABSTRACT
For nearly two decades, elementary school-aged children have gathered in a lab at the University of Maryland every Tuesday and Thursday after school. The lab is brightly decorated and child-friendly-a place that encourages children to sit on the floor, design with art supplies, and freely share thoughts in a way that formal school may not often encourage. The children come together with undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, staff, and faculty from the university, and together this intergenerational team designs technology for children. Over the years the team has designed technologies that span content areas and platforms, such as a multilingual online library of children’s books, robots that emote through stories, and mobile applications designed to support learning of STEM topics. The team works together as design partners using a design method called Cooperative Inquiry.
