NJIT Information Systems Professor Mike Lee: HUMAN-CENTERED COMPUTING

Michael Lee, an information systems specialist who focuses on human-computer interaction, has invented a clever application to bridge the digital divide: a multi-level game called Gidget (helpgidget.org) that teaches people of all ages and cultures how to program by solving debugging puzzles. To measure their progress, the program weaves testing into the story as the player helps Gidget solve problems. “We’ve spent several years identifying features that keep people engaged and eliminating those that don’t – if a game isn’t entertaining, the people who play it will think programming isn’t exciting,” Lee says, adding that it also isn’t judgmental. Gidget never blames the users for mistakes and responds to errors with a sad face and the acknowledgment, “I don’t understand.” Correct answers prompt: “You helped me succeed.” To date, thousands of people have played the game – from youngsters in rural parts of the U.S., to girls at summer camps, to adults and children all over the world. Lee received a National Science Foundation grant to work with international collaborators to examine the effectiveness of Gidget in different cultures. He notes, “Programming is an increasingly important 21st century skill throughout the world and researching new ways to effectively engage and measurably teach people online is an important field of work with many exciting opportunities that can affect educators, researchers, industry employers and policy makers.”