Welcome to Dust Or Magic 2014

Wi-Fi = Riverside Conference, Password = Station11 ThisWelcome packet contains your agenda,to Dusta participant listor and Magic handouts for applying 2014 the theories of child development to interactive media design. Online resources include: • Twitter http://twitter.com/dustormagic (maintained by CTR) Hashtag: #dustormagic • Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/dustormagic/ (maintained by old timers) • YouTube http://www.youtube.com/dustormagic (maintained by CTR) • Wiki http://dustormagic.wikispaces.com (maintained by alumni) • Virtual Demo Board http://dustormagic.wikispaces.com/Demos (maintained by alumni) • Web: http://dustormagic.com (maintained by CTR) • LinkedIn: http://linkd.in/WJ4ZjD (maintained by old timers) • Read CTR reviews: http://childrenstech.com You should all have login credentials. Note the evaluation form at the end of this binder. Give our staff the same type of feedback we give your products, by filling it out and dropping it in the evaluation box at any time over the course of the Institute. Objectives: • To familiarize you with key products and point out strengths and weaknesses. • To contribute to your personal definition of “dust” and “magic.” • To review of the fundamental theories of child development in the context of emerging technologies. • To give you hands on access to current products. • To provide critical, honest, fair and open demonstrations of current products, with room for discussion. • To provide an overview of the elements of CTR’s definition of successful design. • To introduce you to others who are passionate about creating children’s interactive media This book belongs to: • To provide a comfortable, structured, relaxing experi- ence. Let’s begin... Printed on 100% non-interactive paper, with retinal display toner Wi-Fi = Riverside Conference, Password = Station11 How do I share my iOS screen? STEP 1: Setup your Wi-Fi. Get onto the wi-fi network “Dust or Magic.” This is in your settings (look for the gears). STEP 2: Double tap the HOME key; you’ll see the recent apps appear. Swipe right until you see your music controls. Look for the AirPlay icon STEP 3: Touch Apple TV and make sure mirroring is on. Presto -- youre screen is on the big screen, audio and all. Suggestions: • Communicate with the group -- don’t inturrupt a session in progress. • Use your camera to display a drawing or brainstorm list. • Have the apps you want to demo in your bottom tray, so you know where they are. Dust or Magic 2014 2 Tips for finding magic Illustration: Peter Reynolds In order to get the most out of this institute, we ask that each participant consider the following during the small and large In demonstration settings — group discussions. WHEN GIVING CRITICISM: Ground feedback in real examples and provide opportunities for differing opinions. 1. Represent: take a lot of notes and make sketches. Remember “modifiable” vs. “unmodifiable” issues, from the Learn from others, listen, and leave the institute as better perspective of the person getting the feedback. reviewers, critics, researchers, teachers, designers, and pub- lishers. Remember that it’s OK to sit quietly and reflect. WHEN GETTING CRITICISM: Make sure you are comfortable There is no pressure to participate. with the process. If not, ask for more feedback in a confidential setting. To this end -- 2. Keep a child’s-eye view. This is the key to understanding • Grouping and seating is flexible. If you end up in a group the magic. Try to look at each product through the eyes of a and you are not comfortable with the membership, it is per- child who will have little regard for public relations budgets, fectly OK to get up and change. cost, packaging, political context or size of publisher. • Participation in discussions is optional. You should not feel Remember .... a child can’t spell the word “hypocrite,” but obligated to express opinions at any time. they know what one is. • If you record any information or take pictures (other than note form), make sure that all people know that a recording 3. Manage your bias. It is natural to have cultural, commer- or photographic device is active. Not all participants want to cial and theoretical bias. This bias can help you, but it can be “on the record” all the time. also blind you. You can’t get rid of it, but you can understand and manage it. It helps to honestly disclose this bias when evaluating products or talking to others about a particular General Definitions product. Children— children from birth to 15 years. We must think broadly about this, however, as children use and benefit from 4. Keep an open mind. Interactive media is changing rapid- products designed for adults. ly, due to Moore’s Law. So think broadly and with an open mind. Try to avoid negative thinking at the start of a thought Interactive Media — the broadly defined category of "new" or stream. Phrases to avoid include “I can’t work with that plat- interactive media, or software that runs on hardware in any form” or “we don’t use that hardware in our office.” This is a form, such as a tablet, computer, game console (Nintendo Wii time to think outside the box. U, DS, Xbox, PlayStation, Wii, iPhone/iPod Touch), Internet site, a smart toy with embedded software. The key word is 5. Support the group process. Give and take, don’t domi- "interactive media" rather than “linear media.” nate the discussion, and don’t be afraid of healthy controver- sy or disagreement. Materials in the Room 6. Don’t sell (or if you do, at least do it honestly). Please avoid Please take care of all items as if they belonged to you. If you PR fluff, hype or promoting your own materials. Participants notice a toy with low batteries, find the battery box and change are free to put materials on the handout table for anyone to them. If you use one of the game consoles, return the software take. This event is about evaluating, designing and creating, and controllers for the next person. and not about marketing and selling. If you take some software or a book from one of the collections, 7. You may end up on YouTube. Many of the discussions please make sure you put it back when you’re finished, with all and presentations are being recorded; please keep this in the internal materials intact. We cannot be responsible for any mind. Participation in any conversation or staged photo- lost items, but we’ll try our best to keep your items safe. graph is optional. We can’t control informal photographs being taken by other participants, however. If you plan on recording the sessions, please let us, and the speak- er, know. 3 Dust or Magic 2014 The Story of Dust or Magic nce upon a time (1996), the world’s oldest and largest children’s book fair wanted to start a prize initiative for “new media.” They asked Children’s Software Revue if we’d create it for them. We accepted on the condition that they would host a juried competition that included a face-to-face meeting of editors, in a setting where each juror could demonstrate a variety of products. Early in the spring of 1997, a group of reviewers were flown from around parts of Europe, Asia and the USA to participate in three days of debate and product demonstrations. Participants included some of the top minds in the interactive space -- people like Judy Salpeter from The first Dust or Magic Institute. Speakers include Aleen Technology & Learning, Dr’s. Ann Orr and Ellen Stein, Mark Schlichting and Bernadette Gonzalez. You’ll see a young Daren Carstens and Kelli Winters, too. Wolock from CSR, James Oppenheim, Peter Scisco (former editor of Compute!), Dr. Kyung Woo Lee from Korea, Thomas Feibel from Germany and Caterina Cangià and Gigi Tagliapietra from Italy. From France, repeat jurors were Georgia Leguem and Claude Combet; and from the UK came Pam Turnbull and Jon Smith (Editor of CD-ROM Today, and today a producer for Travelers Tales, aka LEGO Star Wars). In 2001, when the market for the software slowed, the Bologna New Media Prize ended. In an effort to keep the spirited conversation growing, we decided to start an annual meeting to be financed by participant tuition. We also wanted to consider the expanding range of children’s technology products, and to personally get to know others who where working in this space. Rather than coming up with a prize, we decided to review the year. The title “Dust or Magic” came with the blessing of Bob Hughes, author of the book Dust or Magic: Secrets of Successful Multimedia Design. In the forward of his book, Bob referenced the poem “An idea can turn from dust to magic, depending on the talent that rubs against it.” (Matsuo Basho, 1644-1694). The first Dust or Magic was planned for September 23, 2001, and the event sold out. Unfortunately, the disaster of September 11 forced us to change our plans. So the first Dust or Magic event actually was held in January of ‘02. Right away, it was clear that we had not only captured the essence of those early juror’s meetings, but we’d improved upon it. We, the media, could learn much more about the thinking behind each product without feeling bribed or manipulated. The spirited debates have continued and the quest for the magic has become a celebration. We are thankful to everyone who has helped make these events possible, and hope it continues to influence the quality of children’s interactive media products for many more years to come.

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