Involve kids in free software development through play
http://syn.theti.ca/2009/01/25/involve-kids-in-free-software-development-through-play
Giving up on a position within a free software project when you know
you're no longer managing to do an effective job is a wonderfully
liberating experience. Now that I have started to talk with Miriam Ruiz
about handing over the [1]Debian Jr. project, I can stop worrying about
the leadership task and just have fun with it.
I can always count on Miriam for recommendations for games in Debian my
kids may enjoy, as she has a passion for finding good games to package
for Debian, and in particular, games for children. Over the past few
weeks we've had some fun with her picks. At the same time, I always
have Debian Jr. in mind. How can we ensure kids can have the most fun
with this? How do we equip their guides to help them?
What we've done with each new piece of software is to find a quiet time
when one or more of the children can start playing with it on their own
while we watch, offering such guidance as they need, but for the most
part just letting them loose with it. Each wrinkle of the brow, each
impetuous thump of the mouse, every illuminated grin and exclamation of
delight is noted. We try to see what frustrates or pleases our kids and
discuss it both with them and the Debian maintainers and upstream
developers. This is an excercise we've managed to pull off without
being overly intrusive and the results have been well worth the effort.
Using a few of Miriam's picks we tried this week, we were able to draw
their play into the free software development process. Here's a brief
summary of those sessions:
[2]Platinum Arts Sandbox puts into children's hands the ability to role
play in a 3D world and edit that world using simplified controls. The
expressions on the faces of our kids as they played were priceless:
both the ups and the downs. I wanted to capture this on video and share
it. After having established a rapport with upstream, we took a 20
minute clip of one of our play sessions and gave a copy to them to use
to help further their work. Here is the [3]edited result. They were
very pleased to have that kind of feedback and found the video valuable
for determining where the software still needed improvement and to
notice which aspects particularly pleased the children.
I happen to know that [4]Hex-a-hop is one of Miriam's personal
favourites. We have a household full of puzzle-lovers so this puzzle
game was an instant hit. While on irc on #debian-jr with Miriam we
relayed in real-time some of the reactions as they played this and a
handful of her other picks. This gave her some confirmation of areas
she knew needed work as well as inspiration for upcoming releases of
these packages.
During this play session, which also included [5]StegaVorto,
[6]kartofel, [7]Anagramarama, [8]Funny Boat and [9]Vodovod, my
youngest girl, age 7, plunked down on the couch next to me as her
10-year-old sister played. Then she started to notice I was typing what
people in the livingroom were saying and doing on irc. She took a mild
affront to me copying her own words and actions, so I decided it would
be better to let her participate so she would feel included. At this
point, I started playing secretary for her, typing what she dictated to
me while she read the responses from the display. Later, I just handed
her the keyboard so she could type and read the responses on her own.
She was still at it long past bedtime and it was with some reluctance
that she finally gave up the keyboard. We all had a lot of fun and look
forward to doing this again.
We are particularly careful with privacy, taking care to share
pictures, videos, and other personal details only so far as we
believe it does not put our children at risk. Also, we need to ensure we
observe in a way that is welcome and doesn't interfere with their
enjoyment. But with a little bit of prudence and a practiced eye and
ear for what increases or diminishes enjoyment of the software, we
can involve our children directly in the free software development
process. I commend to anyone who has the privilege to share free
software with children to use this method to communicate with
maintainers and developers, increasing your own enjoyment of the
software in the process and that of children and their guides
everywhere.
1. http://wiki.debian.org/DebianJr
2. http://kids.platinumarts.net/
3. http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=hvy3h3z8cvw
4. http://www.happypenguin.org/show?Hex-a-hop
5. http://james.hamsterrepublic.com/?p=130
6. http://kartofel.jfedor.org/
7. http://www.happypenguin.org/show?Anagramarama
8. http://funnyboat.sourceforge.net/
9. http://home.gna.org/vodovod/
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