Tutorials for children by children: Design and evaluation of a child-centric tutorial authoring tool for digital art

Abstract

Digital art tools allow children to express themselves and to connect with other child art enthusiasts online. While the learnability of these powerful tools is an age-old problem, most existing research and available learning resources are geared towards adult users. In this thesis, we investigate a child-centric approach, through a tutorial authoring design concept that helps children author digital art tutorials to support peer-based learning. Through participatory design sessions, prototyping, and evaluations, we explore children’s and parents’ attitudes towards the creation and sharing of digital art tutorials online, children’s perceived incentives to author such tutorials, and their reactions towards our specific design decisions. Our findings suggest important considerations for designing tools to motivate and support children’s creation of digital art tutorials.