Sample Work
I have served as the curriculum expert and learning experience designer on many top interactive pieces, such as Ruff, Ruff, Repairs. Advancing the development of content by identifying learning objectives, developing creative proposals, reviewing creative pitches, wireframes, script, and content builds.
Featured: Ruff, Ruff, Repairs lets little builders play with literacy activities while interacting with Rubble and his family to repair buildings in Builder cove.
High Quality Learning Experiences
Caregivers can more directly influence learning when they choose to engage with their child. To that end, I have created caregiver resources to complement digital interactive content which supports caregivers in making the most out of shared experiences with their child.
Designing Experiences for Families
Featured: My accompanying blog for Noggin Knows Books provides techniques to make the most out of shared reading with both digital and print books.
Featured: As the learning lead on Noggin Knows Books, I leveraged best practices identified by academic researchers to develop the next generation of interactive stories.
Our unique books leveraged dialogic questions for caregivers to facilitate deeper conversation during shared book reading and support their child’s oral language skills.
As a lead researcher, I have carried out formative learning impact evaluations for linear and interactive content and provided ongoing recommendations to quickly improve content at various phases of development on an iterative basis, like our award-winning Blue's Clues and you game.
I designed testing protocols, conducting 1-on-1 zoom sessions with children & caregivers, and presenting findings with design recommendations.
Featured: Noggin's award-winning Blue’s Clues game brings players to Blue’s world and teaches them about caring for animals!
Impactful Formative Research
My lived experience navigating bilingualism and multicultural contexts plays a key role in ensuring content I work on supports children in feeling they belong while being culturally, linguistically, and developmentally appropriate.
I have led the development of resources, trainings, and workshops designed to enhance client capabilities for creating content that reflects the diversity of the world that children play in.
Creating for Belonging
As a learning experience designer, I have also worked closely with cross-functional teams to create linear and interactive content that helps children feel they belong, such as Family Picture Maker.
Featured: Family Picture Maker empowers children to create their family portrait while the roulette style game-play encourages thinking about physical similarities and differences.
As an expert in child development and learning, I've created many play-based activities, like El Juego de las Estatuas (the statue game, that provide families with fun way to experience culture and learn about the world around them.
Featured: Juego de las Estatuas helps children will learn to distinguish between different sounds of music from various cultures while moving their bodies.
I am dedicated to understanding how children make sense of technology and digital media, how digital tools affect cognitive development & learning outcomes, and to developing approaches that support young learners in today’s digital landscape.
My areas of expertise include children’s symbolic development, best practices in educational media, and interactions between culture, language, and technology.
Select Publications:
Hwang, J. K., Mancilla-Martinez, J., Flores, I., & McClain, J. B. (2022). The relationship among home language use, parental beliefs, and Spanish-speaking children's vocabulary. International journal of bilingual education and bilingualism, 25(4), 1175-1193.
Troseth, G. L., Strouse, G. A., Flores, I., Stuckelman, Z. D., & Johnson, C. R. (2020). An enhanced eBook facilitates parent–child talk during shared reading by families of low socioeconomic status. Early childhood research quarterly, 50, 45-58.
Troseth, G. L., Flores, I., & Stuckelman, Z. D. (2019). When representation becomes reality: Interactive digital media and symbolic development. Advances in child development and behavior, 56, 65-108.
Flores, I. (2017). Language brokering during shared ebook reading (Doctoral dissertation).