Submission format

We invite researchers, designers, academics and practitioners to participate in this workshop by submitting materials with the following information:

• Participants' name, affiliation and background as related to design of children's media.
• Examples, real world case studies, as well as theoretical approaches used by researchers, designers, and academics to design technology for children that includes and fosters co-play and joint media engagement experiences. In your materials please include:
  • A description of your case studies, examples or methods
  • How it's used
  • Why you consider these to be good examples of co-engagement

We are looking for submissions in the following formats:

• A slide deck (PPS, PDF, or Google Slides preferred)
• A position paper, which must be formatted according to ACM Extended Abstract Template (link) and must not exceed 4 pages.

Please send your submission by email to idc-playing-together@google.com

Submission topic

Participants are encouraged, but not required, to keep the following guidelines and scenarios in mind when crafting their submissions:

• Think of experiences that parents and children can play or use together, or foster family teamwork
• Support co-play by providing suggestions for parents on how to play together.
• Consider multiple planes of engagement by creating content that appeals and challenges both kids and parents.
• Connect in-app learning to the real world (i.e. provide parents with conversation starters related to what their child has watched, played or read on their own).
• Extend play beyond the screen.
• Offer related real-world activities.
• Have content that revolves around children’s existing interests, not prescribed topics.
• Provide users with ways to assist and expand on the educational benefits of media
• Enable co-creation.
• Encourage communication with family members, caregivers or friends.
• Connect to real-life experiences.

Scenario 1:

Noah heard about the new Pokemon GO game from his friends at school and immediately downloaded it. As an 8-year-old, he uses his dad’s old phone to play games after school or during the weekends. His aunt is visiting, and he asked her to download the game on her own phone so he could teach her how to use it, and catch Pokemons together while they are out spending time together.

Scenario 2:

Tomas used to play long hours of Super Mario Bros games on the Nintendo 64 when he was a kid. It’s still his favorite game ever, and he was very excited to download the new mobile version as soon as it came out. This was also an opportunity to play with his 9-year-old son, and share an experience together. Tomas and his son each acquired the game on a separate device and spent afternoons sitting side by side completing each level and discussing strategies.

Scenario 3:

Ana’s 11-year-old daughter loves to play Candy Crush Saga and is constantly talking about it with her friends. Ana decided to download the game on her phone and start playing as an opportunity to bond and connect with her daughter. She sometimes asks her daughter for help, even if she doesn’t really need it.

Scenario 4:

Sara often lets her 6-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter play games and watch videos on her old tablet while she cooks dinner. Her kids have to share the tablet so they take turns and often fight over who gets to play first or what to watch. A family friend told Sara about the game Sago Mini Doodlecast. When Sara’s kids tried the app, they worked together on the drawings and enjoyed recording their voices. They were also excited to share what they made together with Sara.

Important Dates

• May 9: Deadline for submitting your materials! (Slide deck or position papers)
• May 14: Acceptance notification
• At least one of the paper authors has to register to the workshop by May 15th (IDC Early Bird Registration Deadline). Please register here.
• May 17: Final submissions of those accepted submitted to organizers
• June 27: Workshop at IDC 2017 (Stanford University, CA).

We look forward to seeing you at the workshop!

Catalina Naranjo-Bock catalinanb@google.com

Jennie Ito jenniei@google.com