{"id":7757,"date":"2024-06-18T14:07:33","date_gmt":"2024-06-18T17:07:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/solvefortomorrowlatam.com\/?post_type=pratica&p=7757"},"modified":"2024-07-16T15:23:12","modified_gmt":"2024-07-16T18:23:12","slug":"software-developed-by-students-helps-control-childrens-cell-phone-exposure","status":"publish","type":"pratica","link":"https:\/\/solvefortomorrowlatam.com\/en\/case\/software-developed-by-students-helps-control-childrens-cell-phone-exposure\/","title":{"rendered":"Software developed by students helps control children\u2019s cell phone exposure"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Anyone who lives with children has probably worried at some point about their excessive exposure to screens. The presence of televisions, mobile phones and computers, among other devices, is constant and, especially since the pandemic, there has been a lot of debate about the effect that \u201cbeing connected\u201d all the time can have on mental and physical health. Students of a school in Carmelo (Uruguay) also worried about this observing their younger siblings and relatives, so they decided to create a way to control the screen time of children between 1 and 7 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project was called ni\u00f1OS and the last two letters in capital letters refer to the acronym for Operating System, which is the base program that manages all the device\u2019s resources. The solution was one of the finalists at the Solve for Tomorrow Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay in 2022. The software developed is capable of regulating the quality and quantity of time that children spend with the devices. This way, adults can control the use and settings of the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At that time, the four students involved had spent two years experiencing the pandemic, between distance education and the hybrid model. That is to say, they themselves had experienced a unique moment of screen excess , although they were already a generation that had grown up with this type of technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2022, when they were in the sixth year of high school (the last year of compulsory schooling) and had to choose a topic to work in class, they decided to follow this path. In Uruguay, final year includes a subject called Economic and Social Studies, which is characterized by project-based learning<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe statistics they looked at globally from 2020 to 2022 showed that, in just a two-year period, the number of hours that children ages 0 to 7 spent in front of a screen increased by almost 40 percent. \u201csaid mediator teacher<\/a> Victoria Calcaterra. According to her, the consequences of this excessive exposure range from cognitive and physical development to even problems with vision, posture and poor socialization with other children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While carrying out the bibliographic research, the students conducted interviews with two experts: a neuropediatrician and a psychologist, to better understand the context. \u201cThey got an interview with the \u2018number one\u2019 in neuropediatrics in Uruguay. That was great. I participated with them and I am proud because the kids already knew a lot, they had read to be prepared. It was an important moment because they felt that what they were doing had real value,\u201d the teacher recalls happily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Union of theory with hands-on work<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the research and conversations with professionals, the teens also did a case study with five children. One was the teacher\u2019s daughter and the others were relatives of the students. \u201cThey gave them cell phones on the one hand, then several games. And they saw what they preferred in the situations, what they were most entertained with, what language they used while playing and when they watched a YouTube video,\u201d described the educator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They repeated the tests three times and filmed them for later analysis. \u201cObviously it was very subjective because we didn\u2019t have a professional telling us how to follow the steps, but it was a smaller attempt at a case study,\u201d Calcaterra warns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The teacher believes that the best thing about doing projects like this at school is that students can understand how scientific methodology works<\/a>, although on a simpler scale, and discover in practice what their soft<\/a> and technical skills are. \u201cWe can see that one student excels in computing, while another is more communicative<\/a>; each one finds his or her place on the team,\u201d she points out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Transforming knowledge into a tool<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The initial idea was based purely on research. The creation of an app arose when they decided to enroll in Solve for Tomorrow, because the program encourages the creation of a technological solution. One of the students, M\u00e1ximo Cardozo, who already had his own experience with applications, had the idea and began designing the software, with the help of a design teacher. \u201cThe goal was not for children not to use the screen, but to use them in a way that was more appropriate to their development,\u201d the teacher stressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And how to do it? The group planned a way for adults to control how much time a child uses the smartphone and only access educational games and other applications deemed appropriate. \u201cWe have cell phones and we know that some of those devices already have parental control. That was one of our inspirations,\u201d reports Calcaterra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

However, the team would like to go beyond replicating a parental control mode, creating educational games themselves as options for children. Thus, every time one was created, M\u00e1ximo showed it to his nephews to verify the user experience. Later, in the testing stage, they tested with the group of five children and again at a school exhibition, which is an event where students present their projects at a stand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n Eureka moment! <\/h5>\n

First, the team planned to focus on younger children (such as 0 to 3 years old), but after several research processes, they defined the age range of 0 to 7 years old. They studied the evolutionary stages of children and the different concepts and in the end the reformulation arose when the head of neuropediatrics at a hospital in Uruguay told them that it was best to consider 0 to 7 years, since in Uruguay there is an educational plan that grants a tablet to children from the first year of school, so it was important to consider this audience. \u201cThis showed them the importance of consulting various sources of information and considering the local context in an investigation,\u201d explains the teacher.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In the end, the result was an operating system created independently, but with the potential to later be transformed into an app that anyone can use on their own phones. Now, the four students are already in college. M\u00e1ximo is studying Design and the other three are studying different engineering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Victoria Calcaterra, the lesson that remaining looking back, is to reinforce the extent to which the student is capable of transforming the world:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

The imagination that a teenager has is formidable. As a teacher we have to see that they are great, have many ideas and care much more than it seems, she concludes.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n