Changing the children's experience of multimedia and media literacies with Kahootz

In our conversation with Peter Maggs (Head Strategist of Kahootz and New Media at the ATCF) he speculated that Kahootz was reshaping the media literacies of children in response to a,

"'need for kid's to have a fairly generic set of tools that would let them make their own animations, their own 3D stories, create their own movies, do bluescreen techniques.'"

Interview with Peter Maggs: Head Strategist of Kahootz

The 'Kahootz,' world has a cinematic quality to it, it enables children to produce media that has reasonably high production values.

To reshape the media literacies of children in this way, the technology of Kahootz had to be radically simplified and made almost intuitively to the existing media literacies and capabilities of primary and secondary school children. By renegotiating the boundaries of media literacies for children it reshapes their experience of digital and multimedia. Through Kahootz, children become the creators of their own media. Their experience of the media has been reshaped because they have been equipped with the basic skills and are in control of the development of the 'Kahootz world.'

The role of the community in creating media is also another way that the experience of the multimedia is being reshaped by programs like Kahootz. Similar to our investigation into the community-built narratives of children's programs at ACMI (see Case Study 2: ACMI), Kahootz reshapes the child's experience of multimedia by getting them to contribute and create the Kahootz world as a community.

Maggs explains,

"'The idea of Kahootz came out of that desire to create something simple, intuitive, but would let kid's create media and then have a community based around that, an online community where they cans hare and exchange the content they created.'"

(see Interview with Peter Maggs: Head Strategist of Kahootz)

Here we see this combination of usability and community in changing both the media literacies of young children and their experience of the media. Not only are children engaging with the Kahootz program interacting with kids in their own classrooms, but they are also talking to and creating media with children in classrooms all over the country. In a way this is building a foundation (in terms of media literacies and use) for the use of social and networked media. Content on social media sites, youtube, flickr, secondlife, facebook, myspace and blipTV is primarily shaped and contributed to by the user. The multimedia in these programs has also been simplified by the creators to enable the public to use and create media with it. Kahootz equips children with skills and literacies which mirror the type of skills needed to engage with social and networked media.

Maggs explains, "'Kahootz is starting to introduce kids to those concepts so we see that potentially it is providing a more interesting and engaging way the skills and concepts that might led kid's onto a whole range of creative applications down the track that could lead down the graphics art area, or animation- so we think that we are giving them, hopefully, sort of training wheels that would lead onto more higher-end programs.'"

(see Interview with Peter Maggs: Head Strategist of Kahootz)

In summary as the landscape of digital and new media literacies change both for children and adults the experience of the media is being reshaped to make the user more central to the narrative and the creation of the media. As Amelia King explained in our interview with her (see Transcript of Interview with Amelia King), the increasingly cinematic nature of digital media (like next generation video games and Kahootz) is creating a space that can be developed easily and with high-production values by the common media user. Kahootz reshapes the experience of the multimedia for young children by renegotiating their media literacies. Simplifying the media that enables them to use and understand it and enhancing their experience of creating media in a communal and shared environment.

LINKS

 * (see Interview with Peter Maggs: Head Strategist of Kahootz)
 * (see Transcript of Interview with Amelia King)
 * (see Case Study 2: ACMI)
 * (see Investigating 'multi-literacies')
 * (backCase Study 1: Kahootz)