The UMSIC Project (pdf) UMSIC is a project that is being funded by the EU (European Commission) andbeing worked on collaboratively in four different European countries (Finland,Greece, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom). The aim is to foster social inclusion among children in a form of musical play and games and to provide easy access to creative music-making tools and a musical (online) community.We have created a portable music device JamMo (jamming mobile) for children,and using this to explore:   • how children learn about music; • how children share music; • how the device can create opportunities for children to work together and share ideas. We are particularly interested to see how children who are newly immigrant or children with moderate learning disabilities manage the technology and how it changes play and sociality. Much of the work is being carried out by technologists and computer scientists, but at several points in the project we intend to engage with children from all over Europe to: • Discover how to create a music product that is usable; • Gather children’s ideas for the device and the underlying technology; • Evaluate the device and the underlying technology for its ease of use and appeal; • Learn how children use the device to find out about music; • Discover the impact of the device on groups of children who might,for all sorts of reasons,  find playing and working together difficult. The project will involve children aged between 3 and 12 and, in most cases, the engagement with children will take place in schools or music labs of the university. Your children will be helping in this project by providing us a great opportunity to test a new learning environment in the classroom. Their teachers who are trained to manage the JamMo device will assist and guide the children during their activities in using the product in their games, learning games and creative social collaboration in workshops and an online community. This may result in activities being logged and some personal data being gathered to make assumptions about product use and learning; there may also be some pre and post tests taken. We will not involve any children without their consent and the consent of an appropriate adult (the parent/carer or teacher (or both)). Children taking part in the UMSIC project will always do so as volunteers – they will be able to withdraw their participation and consent before during or after joining the project. All adults working with children will be vetted for criminal behaviour and parents and teachers can enquire at the host institution to check this.