主播大秀

Anyone with children knows how difficult it is to part them from their tablet or mobile. Particularly mid-game. A recent survey suggested that eight out of ten parents now use restricting access to tablets and mobiles as their preferred form of . I confess I鈥檓 one of them.

So imagine turning these devices into tools to create rather than just consume.

As part of the 主播大秀鈥檚 2015 we鈥檙e exploring ways of doing precisely that. Today we鈥檙e launching an early version of a tool that enables children to make their own games. It鈥檚 a type of digital maker kit we鈥檝e called as it鈥檚 linked to the popular C主播大秀 show.

Technobabble is the ideal launch partner for such an innovative project. It鈥檚 a high-octane programme about the future. Each episode explores how technology is changing the lives of children and inspires them to acquire the skills to shape it for themselves.听And the maker kit itself includes a range of familiar Technobabble assets for children to use, such as the presenters, vloggers and animations featured in the show.

It鈥檚 a starter kit. It requires no technical knowledge, no download and works just as well on mobiles and tablets as desktop. The only requirements are access to the web, a willingness to experiment and an idea. In minutes a child can create a game.

It鈥檚 designed to help children take their first creative steps into the digital world, engage with the characters of a 主播大秀 show they love, build their confidence and then inspire them to want to learn more.

You can find out more or, even better, let 10 year old Lola walk you through how she bent a wide range of game design principles - such as the type of game, characters, rules and physics of the game - to her will.

Engaging with our audiences

Throughout its development we鈥檝e put children at the heart of the process. We鈥檝e taken early prototypes out to events including 鈥樷�� in Gateshead and the Birmingham Skills Show to see what children liked and, of course, what didn鈥檛 go down well.

We鈥檝e learned a lot. And been surprised by just how quickly they were able to use the maker kit and just how creative they were with it. Young children were producing games even the developers hadn鈥檛 considered.

It鈥檚 wonderful to see how children were willing to have a go, try again if it didn鈥檛 work, share their creations with friends and collaborate to make better games. Precisely the skills and attitudes digital entrepreneurs value above all others.

Learning by doing

All this confirmed insights from recent studies emerging particularly from the United States, into how best to inspire digital creativity. They emphasise the power of informal learning, of play, experimentation, sharing, peer support and feedback. They also emphasise the need to focus on hobbies and interests so that the activities were relevant. And to create an environment in which there is genuine challenge, unpredictable outcomes and real audiences. This is what we鈥檝e tried to bottle with Make It: Technobabble.

Google Chairman Eric Schmidt said: 鈥淭he Internet is the first thing that humanity has built that humanity doesn't understand, the largest experiment in anarchy that we have ever had.鈥�

Encouraging digital creativity in children through products like our maker kit can help children build the fundamental skills 鈥� collaboration, experimentation, computational thinking, confidence - to shape the fast moving, anarchic world of digital. And, importantly, start them on the road to learning higher order skills including coding itself.

Experimentation at the 主播大秀

It鈥檚 with this spirit of experimentation and openness that we鈥檙e launching Make It: Technobabble as a 鈥榖eta鈥�. It鈥檚 at a stage earlier than we鈥檇 normally launch a product. It鈥檚 still work in progress in other words. It鈥檚 because we want children to tell us what they make of it and help shape it ahead of a full release in 2015. As much as possible, designed for young people by young people.

Technobabble provides the ideal audience to test and improve our maker kit, but our research and user testing clearly showed the potential for all children 鈥� not just those with an interest in technology 鈥� to create something digitally.

As a result, the underlying technology enables us quickly to make changes and add new features, allowing us to easily explore ways we might expand this component-based system into to other areas in future, and potentially with other 主播大秀 brands.

We鈥檒l be publishing some of the games children make on the C主播大秀 site. We鈥檙e very excited about the capabilities of the tool and even more by the capabilities of the children themselves. We can鈥檛 wait to see what happens when the two get together. We鈥檒l be looking for ideas for new features to include. And, of course, existing features to drop or change.

Martin Wilson is Head of Digital Creativity, Future Media.

• The is available on the C主播大秀 website.
• Read Jessica Cecil's blog introducing the initiative.

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