Future work

Research collaboration was very fruitful both for software designers and for students. This partnership could be enhanced by designing new methodologies that enable researchers to guide the collaboration more effectively. The work of Druin et. al. [5] suggests a methodology for working with children from ages seven to 10. Middle school kids (ages 11-14) can also be effective design partners; however, existing methodologies should be adapted appropriately.

As the technology continues to be refined and stabilized, attention should be turned to developing ``better things to do and more powerful ways to think about what you are doing'' [10]. What kinds of things can and should teachers and students be building with this technology? Will teachers build instructional modules for their students? Will students build games to enable them to play with new concepts? Can students and teachers alike build authentic and cross-curricular problem-solving resources? What parts of the curriculum can and should these games and resources cover?

The technology itself has to be intuitive and supportive to use for the students without undermining its power and flexibility. In its current state, the technology is quite rudimentary and restricted. The programming language LOGO, which was developed for use by children provides a guiding framework for powerful yet intuitive interfaces. Similarly, the icon-based programming language for children ICOBotics(TM) emphasizes the importance of visual interfaces by allowing the user to write programs with pictures. The students themselves can play a crucial role in the refinement of PolyMath technology as it matures from an unstable professional tool to a stable child-friendly one. The creation of the software KidPAD from its parent PAD++ is an example of the important role carried out by children [6] in software development.