A Tangible E-Learning Solution for Early Childhood Development

Abstract

Exploration and manipulation of physical objects are essential for early childhood learning. TangiGuru is an e-Learning platform that allows children to engage with real-world physical objects to provide that essential experience within an e-Learning application. TangiGuru consists of 12 tangible, manipulative objects known as TangiCubes, which are used as a tangible user interface between children and the e-Learning application. It can carry out cognitive learning activities related to colors, languages, shapes and basic math by dynamically varying assigned values by changing the external appearance of TangiCubes. This dynamic nature of the TangiCubes makes it possible to use the same tangibles with endless possibilities compared to traditional tangible learning solutions with static value for each tangible. With the initial observations of how children interact with computers, laptops, and mobile devices, the goal is to provide a playful interface for children by taking the approach to embedding and integrating technology into the children’s daily activities. After the prototyping phase, children were evaluated with the traditional tangible learning solutions compared to TangiGuru. They concluded that the more interactive tangible interfaces could make the children perform activities more engagingly.