EAGER: Talk of the Town App for Research

Harvard University, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

Classrooms are not the only places where children learn. Children engage in ‘informal learning’ every day just by spending time with their family and peers. However, while researchers know this learning occurs, less is known about the underlying science of this learning -- how this learning works. This is so because investigators lack access and the means to gather relevant data. The goal of this project is to develop a technical solution, a mobile-based research platform called “Talk of the Town” that will provide a window into children’s informal learning. The development of this tool is significant because it will make possible access to data that are important for developing and testing educational interventions at scale, and it will provide access to much more diverse samples than are typically studied in laboratories, homes, and science museums. The goal of this proof-of- concept project is to develop an open-source mobile-based platform called “Talk of the Town,” which consists of two components. The first component is a mobile app that will be used to obtain consent, administer onboarding demographic questionnaires. Critically, the app can prompt parents to record conversations with their children in different contexts and different locations. It does so by using conversational prompts about specific topics, including prompts which can be triggered by proximity to specific landmarks. The second component will be a server that will be used to store the recorded conversations, and administer tasks to different app users based on responses to the onboarding questionnaire and tasks the participating family has completed in the past. These newly developed technical capabilities will be able to support observational designs, as well as experimental manipulations and teaching interventions. Importantly, they will open a window into aspects of children’s learning and development that have been overlooked and/or understudied This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.