Once upon a time: a kit of tools for reading and telling stories

This paper discusses the contribution of Design in the development of a kit of tangible and multimedia tools for children to collaboratively read and create stories about the world. Here, we detail the design process, including the investigation of visual concepts, the prototyping and the user studies carried out during the development of the tools. We discuss the contribution of Design in the development of each step both through the adoption of theoretical concepts from the field, and by following a participatory Design and a User Centered Design approach. In the context of an investigation that combines a range of different fields, we argue that the Design has acted as the element that materializes and unifies the multidisciplinary contributions, leading to the creation of compelling engaging materials, which have the potential to involve users in the creation of multicultural narratives.This work has been financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), through the Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalization (POCI) - COMPETE 2020, under Portugal 2020, and by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT)- under the reference POCI/01/0145/FEDER/032580

Untangling the complexity of designing tools to support tangible and digital intercultural story telling in troubled times: a case in point

In this paper, we present a descriptive case study of the Mobeybou materials, a kit of tangible and digital tools aimed at offering young children opportunities to read, create and share intercultural stories. The tools comprise a set of story apps that present interactive, multimodal and intercultural stories for children to make meanings with, a digital manipulative (DM) and a storyMaker (a digital replication of the DM) that offer the possibility for embodied, collaborative and creative construction of stories by the children them- selves. After presenting the materials, we describe how they evolved as an interface of convergence of several complementary theories. By doing this, our major intention is to contribute to the understanding that the design of tools and technologies aimed at creating meaningful and inclusive opportunities for digital story telling in troubled times is a complex, de- manding endeavour, but can also be a powerful tool to address the complexities of the troubled times we are living in.This work has been financed by national funds through the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) - and by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Competitiveness and Internationalization Operational Program under the reference POCI/01/0145/FEDER/032580. As well as by CIEd – Research Centre on Education, Institute of Education, University of Minho, projects UIDB/01661/2020 and UIDP/01661/2020, through national funds of FCT/MCTES-PT

How design and technology can contribute to learning: the Mobeybou in Brazil educational game case study

Currently, there is a generation of children that tend to be exposed from a very early age to digital media, especially in the most economically and culturally developed societies. Thus, it is necessary to think about ways in which technology can contribute to learning, namely by seeking to converge the recreational component with the educational while preventing or suppressing potential dangers. This study aimed at extending the Mobeybou pedagogical materials, i.e., a Digital Manipulative for storytelling, and a set of interactive story applications, thus integrating the easy access that children have to technologies and the positive characteristics of games. In this context, here we present a descriptive case study of the design process of the interface for a game to be integrated into the Mobeybou in Brazil story app. The game interface is intended to reinforce the knowledge conveyed through the reading of the story app, therefore contributing to the development of language skills, creativity, and digital literacy. The game interface should be easy and intuitive to use, its development followed a design thinking methodology. A pilot test carried out with a group of five children aged between 8 and 9 years-old revealed very encouraging results, showing that the game interface was easy to use and engaged children with the story content.This work has been financed by national funds through the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT)—and by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Competitiveness and Internationalization Operational Program under the reference POCI/01/0145/FEDER/032580

“The girl who wants to fly”:Exploring the role of digital technology in enhancing dialogic reading

Research suggests that dialogic reading and wordless picture books may improve narrative production and comprehension leading to better school readiness. We aim to understand children's experiences using a wordless picture book scaffolded by audio prompts. We designed, implemented and assessed the Spring-a-story web app with 35 children aged 3 to 6 in a socio-economically-disadvantaged area in the UK. We sought to comprehend to what extent the application supports children in creating a narrative, and which type of prompts (basic dialogic reading and theory of mind prompts) better support their meaningful responses. Initial findings suggest how children were able to respond meaningfully to prompts and reported high levels of enjoyment of the activity. Furthermore, theory of mind prompts resulted in a marginally higher percentage of meaningful responses and theory of mind language compared to basic dialogic reading prompts. Study outcomes helped to delineate the design space that we shaped into six design challenges that aim to inform the community and guide the future design of tools to support children in independent dialogic reading of wordless picture e-books

Of the new dominant: a preliminary exploration of the dominance of ‘IT literacy’ in organizational processes

This paper takes a preliminary look at an emerging dominant literacy, IT literacy, and its potential impact on some members of the communities within which it is becoming dominant. Drawing on the perception of literacy as social practice, the paper locates organisational processes within institutions as belonging to a specific social practice and explores the pattern of dominance of IT literacy that is beginning to emerge within this practice. From analysis of interview and survey data, the study conducted a preliminary exploration of the views of staff within one organisation on the impact of this new dominant literacy. Some of the emergent views elicit the notions of exclusion, inadequacies, and imposition. I draw on this study in this talk to challenge us to think about how we respond to this imminent situation

Reoriented Illustration: Towards the Networked Image

In recent years there has emerged an increasing theoretical and contextual impetus from within the discipline of illustration that would seek to define the practice by authorial approaches to the production and distribution of illustrated content. The priority of this investigation is the attempt to imagine a theoretical landscape or environment in which an ‘authorial turn’ within the discipline might emerge and anchor itself to strategies outside of persisting colloquial or industrial notions of illustration practice. Specifically, this paper aims to tie such thinking to existing practices and concepts relevant to the contemporary construction, distribution and exchange of networked images

Digital media and storytelling in higher education

Anita Lanszki's book is about storytelling in the digital media environment. The enterprise is both classical in that it explores the nature of storytelling, which is found in all historical periods and human communities, and modern in that it undertakes a broad overview of contemporary digital culture from the perspective of storytelling. The book is also a methodological guide, illustrated with numerous examples, which has emerged organically from the author's many years of teaching experience. Although the title reflects a focus on the use of digital storytelling in various fields of higher education and research, this excellent work can also be used by professionals working in other spheres of education. Whatever our views on the digital space and age may be, we can probably all agree that we are witnessing a democratization of storytelling in our time. The insights in this book are therefore extremely useful for anyone who is interested in how the timeless practice of storytelling is adapting to the new media environment