Thematic Network POSCON launches Final Report and further publications on “positive online content for kids”

The EC-funded Thematic Network has published the “POSCON – Final Report”, giving detailed information about the outcomes and results of the two-year project: Criteria and a checklist for positive online content and services for children, a comprehensive overview of the landscape of positive content for children in Europe, as well as methods for financing and promoting positive online content. Furthermore, the network offers a brochure with guidelines and a checklist for positive online content, as well as the rich and colourful book “Positive Digital Content for Kids – Experts reveal their secrets”. The publications can be downloaded via www.positivecontent.eu and are also available as print versions.

With more and younger children going online, be it via desktop PCs, laptops, tablets or smartphones, the question of how to provide and find positive online content and services for children is obviously becoming more and more important. But what is good online content for children, what are criteria that qualify online content as “positive”? Where can positive content be found, and what is available in Europe? And, how can positive online content for children be financed and promoted?

All these are questions the Thematic Network POSCON (Positive Online Content and Services for Children in Europe) has been dealing with for the last more than two years. Funded by the European Commission in the Safer Internet Programme, this group of experts from more than 15 European countries has worked together to bring forward the topic of positive online content for children.

One of the main findings of the work done over the past two years is that there are already very good examples of positive online content and services for kids in Europe, and many creative talents producing excellent content for children. The issue of positive content for kids is dealt with very differently in various countries and regions, though, leading to notable differences as regards the landscape of good content available, along with clear challenges for providers and producers of online content for children, as well as for those promoting positive content and, in the end, parents and children searching for quality online content.


The detailed results of the POSCON network have now been published in the Public Final Report that is available online at www.positivecontent.eu and as print version. It offers an overview of the landscape of positive online content for children in Europe with factsheets from 14 European countries, and results from a survey among providers of online content for children about their work, needs and challenges. A comprehensive table gives information about financing models for positive online content, with pros and cons these might comprise, including a list of “top tips” recommendations for providers and producers, for government and national level, as well as for European level. Also, models for promoting positive online content for children are presented in a breakdown, including information for different levels and different perspectives. 
Furthermore, the report offers an overview of the “Criteria for Positive Content for Children” that have been set up during the project, including accessibility guidelines. 

These guidelines have in parallel been published in a brochure, together with a short version (checklist) for providers. This guidelines brochure has been re-published in November 2014 to include the chapter “Guidelines: towards accessibility of online content and services for everyone”.

Outcomes of the two-year discussions within the network can also be found in the book “Positive Digital Content for Kids – Experts reveal their secrets”, a rich and colourful publication on how to make positive online content with various interviews and statements from experts as well as several best practice examples from all over Europe, produced by Mijn Kind Online in cooperation with POSCON.

All three publications are available for download via the POSCON website at www.positivecontent.eu, and can be ordered (while supplies last) at poscon@lmk-online.de.

About POSCON

POSCON is an interdisciplinary network of experts from various European countries and brings together expertise, perspectives and experience of its members in order to promote and advance the topic of positive content on European level. POSCON is funded by the EC within the Safer Internet Programme.

The Thematic Network POSCON – Positive Online Content and Services for Children in Europe – is coordinated by the Landeszentrale für Medien und Kommunikation (LMK) Rheinland-Pfalz (Media Authority Rhineland-Palatinate, www.lmk-online.de). It is implemented in cooperation with fragFINN e.V. (www.fragfinn.de), jugendschutz.net (www.jugendschutz.net) and My Child Online (www.mijnkindonline.nl).

POSCON consists of institutions and companies from over 15 European countries – content producers and providers, researchers, parents' associations, experts from the area of media for children.

Members of the network are:
Graz University of Technology, Austria; Business Solutions Europa, Belgium; COFACE, Belgium; Czech Radio, Czech Republic; NCBI (Národní Centrum Bezpečnějšího Internetu), Czech Republic; MovieStarPlanet, Denmark; University of Aalborg, Denmark; Tallinn University Pedagogical College, Estonia; National Center for Scientific Research “Demokritos”, Greece; Human Behavior Laboratory, University of Iceland; Paxel123.com, Iceland; La Nave Di Clo, Italy; Kidi.lv, Latvia; Fluency Smart Intervention Strategy Application, Malta; Het Klokhuis/NTR Youth, The Netherlands; FCT – Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, Portugal; National Federation of Romanian Parents’ Association, Romania; University of Navarra, Spain; University of Basel, Switzerland; Tomorrow’s Child, United Kingdom.

Contact details:

Thematic Network POSCON

c/o LMK Rheinland-Pfalz

poscon@lmk-online.de

www.positivecontent.eu

Towards Accessibility of Online Content and Services for Everyone

The internet offers huge opportunities for all people, of course also people with disabilities. But a lot of barriers complicate their use of online content and services and make it difficult or even impossible to access (some of) them. Consequently, people with disabilities and especially children are often excluded from online media, content and services altogether and are not offered the opportunity to use them freely and self-determined for information, education, entertainment, communication as well as participation within society.

Therefore, the network of POSCON aims at raising awareness for accessibility for all users, especially children with disabilities, to enable them to fully use and participate through online content and services. Most importantly we will work towards concrete tips and guidelines to developers and providers of online content and services for children on how to make their products as accessible as possible. These recommendations will be included into our Checklist & Concrete Criteria for Positive Content publication (http://www.positivecontent.eu/positive-content-criteria/) as an additional chapter.

Furthermore we want to encourage everyone involved in producing and promoting positive online content for children to learn more about accessibility through the work of relevant initiatives and organizations as well as already existing international standards and guidelines!

We have started a collection of link tips and online tools on the topic of accessibility and special needs of people with disabilities, which is meant to promote existing initiatives, standards and recommendations all over the world.
This so-called "knowledge database" based on input by experts and research still has very much potential to be expanded. As we strive to include more information and resources, we want to invite the public send us more ideas and examples to be included as well as to share and spread this document to colleagues and experts! Everyone is very welcome to send in additions and ideas via poscon@lmk-online.de.

Toca Boca, wonderful and successful apps for children

Remco Pijpers, POSCON-member and working for Kennisnet and Mijn Kind Online, visited head quarts of Toca Boca in Stockholm to interview the makers of the wonderful and very popular children’s apps. What is their secret? 

Toca Boca was only founded in 2010, yet has since grown into a prominent player in the children’s app market. With a total of 68 million apps downloaded in 169 different countries, the company is clearly on to something. Their secret? Game designer Chris Lindgren has been with Toca Boca since the start and sums up the core philosophy: “We make toys, not games,” she says. It’s an important distinction. She goes on to explain that toys, as opposed to games, are more open-ended in their approach. They are materials to play with and fantasies around. “The best toys have a strong replay value; kids can keep finding new ways of playing with them,” Chris adds. That is what Toca Boca strives for in its apps. Also, where other apps may focus on learning cognitive skills in a more traditional sense, the focus here is on fun. Why? Because at Toca Boca, playing and having fun are considered “the best way to learn about the world”. Their aim is to stimulate young children’s imagination and support their creativity in a non-competitive digital environment, coupled with a child-friendly usability.

A lack of spoken language or written instructions is a further feature defining Toca Boca apps. This was a conscious decision made early on and has two benefits. Firstly, it makes the products more international and therefore, more financially viable. You can reach a global market without having to translate so much as a single word. Secondly, as Chris points out, it can help to make kids feel empowered: they don’t need their parents’ help to play the apps. At the same time, Toca Boca purpose-builds many of its apps as shared experiences, incorporating multi-touch features so children can play with others if they want to, be it with siblings, friends or parents. It’s a way to practice valuable social skills such as turn taking.

The complete story about Toca Boca will be published in a book in English made by Mijn Kind Online and POSCON. It will be available in November 2014. 

POSCON at the FOSI 2014 European Forum – Creating a Better Internet

Remco Pijpers from My Child Online and POSCON Network Member represented the Thematic Network POSCON at the FOSI conference about safer internet for children in Paris, on May 22. 

The Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) is an international, non-profit organization which works to make the online world safer for kids and their families. FOSI convenes leaders in industry, government and the non-profit sectors to collaborate and innovate new solutions and policies in the field of online safety.

Remco participated in the panel discussion ‘Doing Good Online, Making a Better Internet’. This panel covered best practices for creating more positive content for children. Remco talked about the work of the Thematic Network POSCON and stressed the need for more positive content, making that a priority for companies and the need for more research into the positive use of the Internet. 

The panel expressed the need to get more children competing and learning to code as well as opening up the education system to allow creativity. Remco provided an example of the King of the Netherlands inviting children to produce content and handing out prizes as a way to encourage more content for kids. The panel agreed that high-profile individuals can help incentivize content creation. 

One of the POSCON Network Members also joined the panel: Filip Rožánek from Czech Radio as winner of the European Award for Best Content For Kids with the website "Webík Rádia Junior" . He explained how he divides content for age groups including pre-schoolers and older kids and said the key to making the Internet better is more education and less regulation.  

Read more about the conference:http://www.fosi.org/european-forum-2014-event-summary.html

Paxel123.com - Icelandic website for children

Paxel123.com http://paxel123.com/ is an Icelandic website with educational games for children, about 4-8 years old. The owner and author of all the games is Anna Margrét Ólafsdóttir, POSCON Network Member and headteacher at the preschool Nóaborg in Reykjavík, Iceland.    

The games on paxel123.com are based on Anna Margrét's work with the children in her preschool. Most of the games focus on math and language but one game is about safty on the internet. The games can be played in 9 languages. Access is free, there are no ads, no registration and no personal information is gathered about the users. All you need to play the games is to have Flash and Java installed. Paxel123.com has been online for about two and a half years. Anna´s aim is to translate the games into more languages in the near future. 

Paxel123.com is created through funding provided by grants from the following: Nordplus, The ministry of Education in Iceland, The board of Human rights in Reykjavik, The Developing Fund of the Union of Preschool Teachers in Iceland, an Icelandic government developing fund for teaching material and a stipend from "Barnavinafélagið Sumargjöf", a charity that founded the first preschools in Iceland and operated all  preschools in the city of Reykjavik until 1973.

 
Best content for kids in Europe

Paxel123.com was awarded 1st price for the best content for kids in the non-professionals category in an European competition held in connection with the international Safer Internet Day on February 11th 2014.  More than 1.100 projects were entered into this competition. The award ceremony was held in Brussels at a high-level event hosted by the European Commission.

 

Games from paxel123.com for iPads

Two games from Paxel123.com have been developed for iPads and more are on the way. The first of these was released in the Appstore at the end of 2013 and is called Pattern Puzzle Game. It is the iPad version of one of the most popular games from the Paxel123.com website. Another game, just released in the Appstore, is called Magic Shape Pictures, also developed from a popular Paxel123.com game. The third game for iPad is called Get Shapes, and will be available in Appstore shortly. Get Shapes has been developed in cooperation with a group of six five year old pre-schoolers from Anna Margrét's preschool. The kids drew figures and planned the rules for that games. Hopefully more games from the Paxel123.com website will be available for iPads in the near future.

Pattern Puzzle Game

https://itunes.apple.com/app/pattern-puzzle-game/id741471947?ls=1&mt=8 
The game is designed to be fun and educational for kids, from age four. It is designed by kindergarten teachers and tested by kids! There are four levels of difficulty and the pictures you have to make, using geometrical shapes, get more complicated as you progress through the levels. When each level is done an congratulatory star will appear. As in all games associated with Paxel123.com you will find no advertisments, no social links, no pop-ups or  distractions/links that can divert children. This app has been very well received and has got great reviews e.g  from the specialist website a4cwsn.com (apps for children with special needs) where they tested the app and made a video about it which you can watch if you click onto this link here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdKFKHvEnxM


Paxel Magic Shape Pictures

The second game was released two weeks ago and is called Paxel Magic Shape Pictures. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/paxel-magic-shape-pictures/id858006396?mt=8   

It is fun and educational for kids as young as three years old. The goal is to arrange a number of shapes correctly to match a given image. When all the shapes are in place, a beautiful picture with the same theme appears. Three levels are free but parents can buy ten extra levels for 99c. A "parent gate" is installed to ensure that children cannot make a purchase by accident.