Impact of voice-based interaction on learning practices and behavior of children

Smart devices have become an integral part of the everyday lives of children. Today, children can even use voice-based interactions to interact with devices for a wide range of activities. Previous research has shown that voice-driven interfaces have a potential to offer a potent new mechanism for teaching, engaging, and supporting children in daily life. Our paper, therefore, argues that it is critical not only to investigate how children use voice-based interactions to communicate with devices (e.g., smart speakers) but also the nature of relationships that children form with these devices, the influence such use has on children’s learning and behavior, and the role that parents or guardians play in deciding the norms of use for children. We also propose to explicitly and intricately investigate complexities in use and its impact relative to entangled identities (conveyed through overlapping attributes of gender, ethnicity, race, class) and larger social systems. To this end, we propose to use Social Learning Theory to understand how children learn through observing and interacting with smart devices, specifically using voice-based commands. Methodologically, we will conduct participatory design sessions and follow-up interviews to get a nuanced understanding of how children mentally contextualize voice-enabled smart devices and how social influence (e.g., parental expectation/norms), social function of identification (e.g., children’s emotional connection with technology), and learning goals impact their usage patterns.