For my analogous immersion, I used data obtained from my weekly volunteer assignment at Walt Disney Elementary school in Mishawaka, IN. Through the Student Welfare and Development Program of Notre Dame Athletics, I lead a small reading group of 3rd grade students at a local elementary school for one hour every week with the goal of fostering strong interest and development in learning.
A few key insights I picked up are as follows. I’ve discovered that 6-8 year olds, despite the wide gap in knowledge and experience, behave similarly to the elderly. Both demographics tend to be in constant need of attention and assistance, and taking care of/tracking them can essentially feel like a full-time job. At times, they both listen only to what they want to listen to, and require convincing to try new things.
One characteristic that separates young children from the elderly is the degree of technological familiarity and capabilities. Several of the children I spoke to/observed own an iPad and know how to do just about anything with apps/computers/etc. It’s important to keep in mind that our prototype will need to be highly functional AND easy to use in order to be picked up by the demographic we are targeting.
