Practical Course IIW - Web App "Little Voices"

As part of the IIW internship, a team of nine students developed a web app for the participation and involvement of 3-6-year-old children in everyday kindergarten life during the winter semester of 2025/26:

      https://dev.iiw.sts.tuhh.de/login 
      (Demo access is coming soon)

With the web app, educators can create questions that children can answer by tapping on pictures.
The project was led by Antje Rogalla and Prof. Dr. Sibylle Schupp and was carried out in collaboration with the nursery manager Natalya Yanitska.

Daycare centres in Hamburg-Harburg are diverse: children from a wide variety of countries and cultures spend their days here together, playing, learning and becoming friends.
Some children have grown up speaking German, but many are multilingual and only learn German at daycare. This is because over 50% of the population in Harburg has a migrant background.
Children are very different: some are brave, talkative and not shy about expressing themselves. Others are more reserved and less confident about expressing their opinions in large groups.
How can we encourage these children to raise their voices?
And what happens when children do not feel comfortable – for example, because they do not yet have a sufficient command of the German language and therefore have difficulties communicating with other children and educators?
How can we support these children in their everyday life at the nursery to get involved and communicate?
 

The web app "Little voices"

"Little Voices" creates a platform for participation and involvement, so that even kindergarten children understand: Your voice is important and counts!

The web application offers a low-threshold and playful way to perceive and visualise children's opinions, feelings and wishes.
The web app is specially designed for intuitive use by younger children. On the touchscreen (e.g. iPad), they can give their answers by simply tapping on pictures or icons – without having to enter any text. Teachers can easily create and customise the questions. After the vote, teachers can show the children the results.

For example, if we vote on which playground to go today and the majority of children choose the playground next to the Hamburg University of Technology then that‘s where they go. This gives them an initial understanding of democracy.

For more information, questions and feedback, the Little Voices team would be delighted to receive an email:  info(at)little-voices.de or antje.rogalla(at)tuhh.de