Sensitizing young children on internet addiction and online safety risks through storytelling in a mobile application

This study presents a novel application which through storytelling attempts to improve the understanding of students with respect to online risks. Each short story presents a situation that children face while surfing the Internet. Through the emotions of the virtual characters and the existence of specific visual clues the tool seeks to make students to deliberate on the online activities and alter their attitudes. The design goals of the application and specific visual stories are first presented in the paper and then the paper is evaluated with the participation of teachers and students who provided us with positive feedback and some ideas for future improvements. The main findings of our research are discussed and potential extensions are presented.