What are the characteristics of “good” apps for young children? Perceptions of industry stakeholders

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15847/obsOBS16120221691

Keywords:

Young children, digital media, mobile media, apps, practices, perceptions, development

Abstract

Young children have become keen users of mobile digital devices. The “hAPPy kids” project mapped the views of different stakeholders - parents, children and industry - on the characteristics of “good” apps - that is, safe and beneficial for the development of children - and on the criteria for selecting and developing them. This article presents the perceptions of industry stakeholders such as digital content developers and broadcasters, policy-makers, and experts from the fields of Education and Psychology, gathered from 17 interviews with a purposive sample. They are aware of the demands of parents - learning and safety - and of children - fun and entertainment. They try to address both, and also value technical aspects of user experience.

Downloads

Published

2022-03-28

How to Cite

Dias, P. (2022). What are the characteristics of “good” apps for young children? Perceptions of industry stakeholders. Observatorio (OBS*), 16(1). https://doi.org/10.15847/obsOBS16120221691

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 1 (2022)

Section

Articles

License

Observatorio (OBS*) has an academic journal profile. As such, it is dedicated to the open exchange of its contents, and freely available to individuals and institutions without charge or formal permission. Copies of this journal or articles in this journal may be distributed for research or educational purposes free of charge and without permission. Authors will not be charged for publication or submission to this journal. Authors who publish in Observatorio (OBS*) will release their contributions under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-2.0 generic. This licence allows anyone to copy and distribute the article for non-commercial purposes provided that appropriate attribution is given - being the author the copyright holder. This journal utilizes the LOCKSS system to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries and permits those libraries to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration. The publisher perpetually authorizes participants in the LOCKSS system to archive and restore our publication through the LOCKSS System for the benefit of all LOCKSS System participants. Specifically participating libraries may: • Collect and preserve currently accessible materials; • Use material consistent with original license terms; • Provide copies to other LOCKSS appliances for purposes of audit and repair. Fair use of a copyrighted work, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include: 1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; 2. the nature of the copyrighted work; 3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; & 4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors. In accord with these provisions, the OBS journal believes in the vigorous assertion and defense of Fair Use by scholars engaged in academic research, teaching and non-commercial publishing. Thus, we view the inclusion of “quotations” from existing print, visual, audio and audio-visual texts to be appropriate examples of Fair Use, as are reproductions of visual images for the purpose of scholarly analysis. We encourage authors to obtain appropriate permissions to use materials originally produced by others, but do not require such permissions as long as the usage of such materials falls within the boundaries of Fair Use.