A influência da plataforma digital Amigos do Futuro na construção da cidadania infantil

Abstract

The exercise of citizenship is a right of all guaranteed by law, including children, although there are few examples that this guarantee is effective. One solution is to renew the forms of participation of these individuals. Thus, the growing presence of digital applications in childhood may be an ally for this. Thus, the objective of this work is to develop a digital platform for children, called Friends of the Future, that address issues related to the construction of citizenship, combining entertainment and learning. But before starting the process it is necessary to understand how the construction of childhood took place through Ariès (1986), Sarmento (2003, 2007, 2005, 2013, 2016, 1997), Simiano (2014) and Buckinham (2000), because it It was not always accompanied by rights. The discussion follows the term citizenship by Marshall (1967) and about child citizenship by Trevisan (2012), mainly. Only then does the discussion begin about some existing digital child platforms that promote child citizenship and why greater care is needed when developing child applications through Liu (2018) and Gelman (2018). Having understood these issues, the methodology of development of the Friends of the Future platform began in three stages. The first describes how the development of the first prototype of the platform took place in an academic context. In the second, the project becomes marketable and the prototype was rethought and improved. In the third stage, usability and experience tests with children from public and private elementary school I and II were described. The result of these tests is commented from the efficiency, effectiveness and satisfaction regarding usability and from the three objectives of the platform (1. Encourage the feeling of belonging; 2. Encourage the feeling of ability to build the future and 3. Give space for discussion of state problems and solutions) for experience. It was realized that there are many aspects to consider when developing applications for children, after all their impacts can go beyond entertainment. The children got involved with the platform and commented voluntarily on the topics covered. Public and private school contexts also had different results, and even child-to-child responses were different, although all responses were relevant to the discussion of future building. Finally, it is understood that the Friends of the Future platform itself does not build this citizenship, it is important to mediate to instigate critical thinking, participation in the decisions of occupied spaces and the belonging of these places. Children are able to express their interests and contribute to a better world by encouraging them and opening up more space to make this exercise of citizenship a reality. Studies on the development of children's applications are scarce, as well as on the promotion of children's citizenship. As future work, we hope to collaborate with other related work to further encourage a new look at child citizenship and ICTs.