Learning Through Play
At the end of my last assignment, I specified that in my evaluation stage I wanted to investigate how children can learn through exploration, experimentation, and problem-solving in playful and different ways. The leading words in that sentence being âplayâ and âlearnâ. How does a child learn from play, and how effective is it?Â
âPlayâ is said to be essential in the development of young adolescents social and skill development it builds confidence through exploration, problem-solving and being able to relate to others. These skills can only be learned through both guided and non-guided play (Macintyre, 2018). Relating this back to Dash and Dot (social robot) I find that the robot does, in fact, fill all the requirements for confidence building and learning through play. However, how effective is play for building these skills, compared to standard methods of teaching? And are there different characteristics of play that affect the effectiveness of this learning?
The umbrella term âplayâ or âplayful learningâ can be separated into three different sub-categories, this brings a kind of structure to the way that âplayâ can be used as a learning tool. âWhether adults are supporting or not, a critical requirement for learning through play is that children must experience agency and be supported rather than directed.â The effectiveness of learning through âplayâ can be measured through five characteristics. âwe say that optimal learning through play happens when the activity (1) is experienced as joyful, (2) helps children find meaning in what they are doing or learning, (3) involves active, engaged, minds-on thinking (4) involves iterative thinking (e.g., experimentation, hypothesis testing), and (5) involves social interaction (the most powerful resource available to humans - other people).â These characteristics should not be something a child is feeling at all times but, each one should be felt at least once throughout the process, as this supports deeper learning (Zosh, Hopkins, Jensen,  Neale,  Hirsh-Pasek, &  Whitebread, 2017).
From what I have researched on Dash and Dot, the product does, in fact, allow the user to experience most of the five characteristics of play. The product especially gravitates more towards the âhands-onâ and âexpiramentationâ approach of learning through play. I have yet to evaluate if the product is actually joyful to use, and at what level of social interaction can be achieved in âfree playâ scenarios. I would also like the evaluate if the product is more suitable towards a âfree playâ or âguided playâ learning environment.Â
Reference
Macintyre, C. (2016). Enhancing learning through play: A developmental perspective for early years settings. Routledge.
Zosh, J. N., Hopkins, E. J., Jensen, H., Liu, C., Neale, D., Hirsh-Pasek, K., ... & Whitebread, D. (2017). Learning through play: a review of the evidence. LEGO Fonden.













