Value-Driven Parenting: Understanding Screen Media Use in Pakistan
This project explores how Pakistani mothers navigate the use and non-use of screen media-based devices (SMDs) in parenting young children. As digital media becomes central to family life, we examine the gratifications mothers seek, such as educational support, religious instruction, cultural reinforcement, and family connectivity. We also define the strategies they adopt when these needs aren’t met. Findings reveal how mothers balance cultural values, developmental goals, and everyday demands. They use SMDs to support religious learning, Urdu language development, and video calls with relatives, but also express concerns about health, behavior, and cultural influence. To manage this tension, they rely on content controls, consistent rules, role modeling, and screen-free alternatives. We introduce Value-Driven SMD Use (VDSU) to describe this intentional, values-aligned use of digital tools, where technology supports parenting goals rather than undermines them. This work contributes to HCI and Parent-Child Computer Interaction (PCCI) by offering culturally grounded insights and design implications for digital tools that better support families in the Global South.
DYSIGN: Handwriting-Based Screening for Dyslexia and Dysgraphia
Specific Learning Difficulties such as Dyslexia and Dysgraphia are characterized by struggles in reading and writing. Their diagnosis and intervention are critical as if left unattended, they can cause hindrance in academic activity, self-esteem, and long-term quality of life. Owing to the complex traditional processes for diagnosis, social stigma, and the general lack of availability of remedial therapists and clinical psychologists in Pakistan, this study explores the potential of handwriting quality features to be used in computationally screening for SLDs to make screening more accessible. This project consists of exploratory data analysis of handwriting scans of 25 children thus far, in the age group of 5 to 15, generating various handwriting quality features and using classification models to assess their potential. Our preliminary results are promising, with approximately 80% accuracy, thus showing potential for increased accuracy when paired with larger data samples and further feature generation.
Technology for Neurodivergence Communication and Access in HEIs
Awareness of neurodiversity in higher education institutions (HEIs) is at the rise but institutions struggle to set up comprehensive frameworks that can effectively accommodate neurodivergent students. This deficiency undercuts attempts to establish inclusive learning settings, leaving students to deal with issues like academic stress, social isolation, and a lack of resources. This study peruse creative ways to bridge this gap by using technology to promote inclusivity, facilitate communication, and improve the accommodation process. We created an app prototype using a human-centered design methodology with the goals of raising awareness, easing accommodations, and boosting faculty-student communication. The findings provide beneficial data for educators, policymakers, and developers intending to use technology to build supportive and equitable learning environments.
Mother-Child dyad’s use of screen-based technologies at home
The struggle to thrive as a productive student researcher, an attentive parent, and a caring partner can be difficult, particularly for international student parents who are far from home and also possibly burdened with complex cultural expectations, interpersonal dynamics, and institutional biases. Using uses and gratifications theory as a framing mechanism, this study focused on international student mothers in the United States who are primary caregivers of children between six months to five years old, focusing on the context of their use of screen media content and devices, the gratifications they seek from their children’s use of screen media devices, and the differences in their perceptions about the use of screen media as an educated, non-US parent. This study gave an initial account of the role of screen based technology in international student mothers’ domestic life with young children, and the limitations of their technological experience. Findings from the research put forth four opportunities for designing for this population including technologies for positive distraction, interactive language aids, playful acquaintance tools, and anonymous peer networks for parent support.
Designing Mobile Applications to Support Children’s learning in informal learning environments
The popularity of mobile devices for learning outside conventional classrooms necessitates the exploration of the many challenges which can impede the learning process for children using them. Key among these is the possibility of disorientation, occurring when children are faced with stimuli external to their learning task which can redirect their attention elsewhere. This study explored the several factors which can contribute towards disorienting children from their learning task in an informal learning environment (ILE) using science festivals as a context. Participating children used the app to watch an educational video about leaves, and were asked to identify the leaves around the exhibit correctly by taking a picture using the app. From the observations, we derive the key factors which can disorient young learners in an ILE and the ones which help them reorient towards the learning task. We conclude by providing considerations for designing mobile applications for children to be used in ILEs which can promote informal learning while minimizing disorientation.
Intimate Narratives: An Assets-Based Approach To Develop Holistic Perspectives of Student Mothers’ Lives and Their Use of Technology in Parenting
This study employs a participatory approach to capture a holistic understanding of parental technology use using an asset-based framework. A collaborative process was initiated to engage a group of parents as research participants and co-authors in order to gain an in-depth account of their lived experiences with technology. Leveraging their unique strength, i.e., writing and composing prose for publication, this research aimed to elicit intimate narratives about meaningful events of their lives, bringing social and cultural aspects of their lived experience to the forefront, and thus providing broader context of their use of technology. The collaborators highlighted the expansive ways in which technology facilitates their parenting, and ways in which it serves as a temporary band-aid solution prompting consideration of larger social issues. Contributions from this work include researcher’s experience of fostering a safe space, the facilitator’s personal investment in the research and its effects on participants’ involvement, and their efforts to engage participants based on what they value in research.
Tailored Probes for Investigating Technology Use In Domestic Environment By Engaging User As Active Member Of Research
Researching the domestic environment poses challenges such as inaccessibility to participants everyday life and routines, lack of trust between designers and users, and inadequate methods of inquiry due to designers’ unfamiliarity with the context of use. By exploring the role of technology in student mother’s life with young children inside home as a case study, this research demonstrates the process of involving user as an active member during several phases of the research. The initial probe design was guided by goals derived from the uses and gratifications approach to a) understand the gratifications sought by mothers from their child’s screen media usage b) parenting apprehensions about using technology as a parenting tool, and c) encourage healthy discussions between partners around the of child’s presumed screen time routine. Contributions from this study include takeaways about design and use of probes for researching technology use in domestic setting.
The Interactive Show: A Conversational Companion for Young Children and Childcare Assistant for Parents
Advances in the fields of natural language processing, machine learning and speech recognition have led to the increasing adoption of conversational agents in a variety of domains. However, the use of conversational agents as a childcare assistant for parents of young children has not been realized. This research proposes the use of conversational agents into children’s programs to produce an interactive show, which can be employed as conversational companion for children, and a childcare assistant for parents of young children who have limited access to childcare options. Key features of the interactive show include understanding, responsiveness and maintaining an uninterrupted conversation flow. It argues that having a truly interactive show can engage children for a longer period of time without being distracted, which can give parents some time to attend to their needs in the absence of help.
Usability testing of commercial screen-based devices for children
This research was supported by a $3000 grant from Virginia Tech’s Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology. It investigates the potential of Amazon’s “Glow,” a commercial screen-based device designed for children, to facilitate remote family connection. As parents increasingly turn to digital technologies for parenting support—including engagement, education, and distraction—devices like Glow offer a compelling opportunity to study how interactive technologies are received in the home.
Families used the device for one week and participated in follow-up interviews to share their experiences, challenges, and suggestions. The study evaluates Glow’s effectiveness in creating a sense of connection, identifies usability issues, and explores broader implications for designing child-focused technologies that support remote interaction. The work involved personal testing, in-home evaluations, and collaboration with undergraduate students to reflect on both technical and experiential aspects of the device.
Revealing And Resolving Disorientation in E-Learning
While web-based learning is becoming a notable medium for learners opting for distance and open education, it poses its own challenges in terms of usability and navigation. One of these challenges is disorientation in hypermedia settings, resulting in deviation from learning goals. We provide a novel interpretation of the term disorientation by combining the effects seen in virtual relocation in hyperspace (navigational disorientation) with mental relocation seen in mind wandering or external distractions (mental disorientation) based on their similar characteristics and consequences on learning outcomes. This research uses this distinction to measure and resolve disorientation in web based learning environments. We implement a system with disorientation module which reveals and resolves disorientation, enabling the study of the impact of different kinds of disorientation on learning of students in an online programming course. Study results reveal that learner performance in a web-based learning environment is negatively affected by disorientation, and that learners have to reorient themselves to their learning goals in situations of both navigational and mental disorientation.