Helping children find their voice
Texas A&M University is dedicated to transformational learning through innovative solutions, and that starts with the youngest among us. Making up stories during playtime comes naturally for most children, but writing these stories coherently can be challenging. That's why visualization researchers at Texas A&M are developing an enhanced play system to help develop young students' writing skills. Using motion-capture technology, the system tracks children as they act out their own stories. Their movement is animated, bringing these stories to life. The idea, says Sharon Chu, assistant professor of visualization, "is to split the learning so they focus first on the ideas, then on the technical aspects of language, ultimately improving their storytelling and writing abilities."
This works especially well for introverted children and non-native speakers, who often find it difficult to express ideas and feelings in large group settings. Though it's still in the preliminary testing phase, the project will soon be developed as a portable, low-cost system that can be used in a classroom setting—helping students to learn the joy of storytelling.
To find out more about this and other innovative solutions courtesy of Texas A&M, visit fearlessfront.com.
