Simone de Droog appointed associate professor Child Technology
16-09-2024
From 1 September 2024, Simone de Droog has been appointed associate professor Child Technology in the Digital Life lectorate at the Hogeschool van Amsterdam (HvA). With a strong focus on the interaction between children and technology, she focuses on researching how technology, and in particular social robots and digital characters, can positively influence children's well-being and development.
Simone will focus more strategically on generating and collecting “transcendent” knowledge that is sustainable for current and future child technology interventions. Simone: 'By transcendent, I mean knowledge that is not exclusive to a specific technological solution for a specific age group in a specific situation. Firstly, because technological developments are moving so fast that knowledge quickly becomes obsolete if we don't look at the common aspects between technologies.
In addition, many challenges in society require sustainable solutions, so interventions need to be able to grow with children's interests, preferences and needs, which, as they grow older, change due to cognitive and socio-emotional developments, among other things. So what we need are design principles for developing more adaptive (and thus sustainable) interventions. This line of research aims to make a major contribution to that.'
Supportive role of technology
In the fields of education and healthcare, in which many of her projects are involved, there are many challenges due to labour shortages. 'We are looking at how technology can play a supportive role in this, for example by helping children with maths or guiding them during an anxious medical journey. When it comes to non-human entities, such as robots, I am specifically interested in how you design the interaction for different age groups for relationship building; an aspect that determines the sustainability of the interventions and their (eventual) impact on children.'
I am specifically interested in how you design the interaction for different age groups for relationship building; an aspect that determines the sustainability of the interventions and their (eventual) impact on children.
Technology for children
The increasing role of technology in children's lives raises questions about children's social and mental development, health, safety and privacy. 'We see children developing differently socially, having shorter attention spans, playing less outdoors, being exposed to content they are not yet ready for, and unintentionally sharing data with far-reaching consequences. Much technology is developed for adults and does not take into account the sensitivities involved in children. We need to be keenly aware of this when designing technologies for children.'
Building a strong network
'My appointment allows me to set up a strategic line of research in line with societal trends and needs. In addition, it offers me opportunities to build a strong network to exchange the right questions, insights and expertise. My ambition is to develop a framework for sustainable interventions in the field of child interaction technology, and to set up an infrastructure that systematically adds new insights to that framework. I want to build a team of passionate researchers who will apply for relevant grants, develop successful innovations and share (as well as develop) knowledge and experience with students, teachers, external researchers and practice partners.
Practical research requires expertise from inside and outside. I therefore collaborate with different disciplines, depending on the issue I am working on at the time. Sometimes I need expertise from practice on a particular treatment method, sometimes I need academic expertise on a particular research area, and sometimes I need the help and expertise of our teachers and students. At the moment, I work a lot with the Social AI group at the Vrije Universiteit and the Smart Systems for Healthy Living lectorate at Utrecht University of Applied Sciences, as well as with various robot companies, schools and hospitals,' Simone said.