A close look into the storytelling process: the procedural nature of interactive digital narratives as learning opportunity

Differently from traditional narratives, which focus on the output, i.e. the oral or written text, interactive digital narratives provide a more holistic view of the storytelling process, considering as integral part of it the system, the user, the process and the output. In this framework, the procedural nature of IDN as a reactive and generative system becomes prominent. Such an approach is particularly interesting when considering educational appli- cations of IDN and how they can support early literacy practices in pre-and primary school children. Here, we take a close look into the procedural nature of IDN, presenting observations and results from two pilot studies carried out with six to seven-years old children, arguing that interactive digital narratives can provide a window into (i) how the children plan their story, (ii) how, along the storytelling process, the children learn the rules and constraints provided by the IDN system, which they appropriate and incorporate in their storytelling to achieve a certain output, (iii) how the children empathize with the story characters, diving into the story world and (iv) how the system provides opportunities for mediating new knowledge in a meaningful way, which was visible e.g. in the way the children immediately appropriated and used the new conveyed vocabulary.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

Designing a tangible interface for collaborative storytelling to access 'embodiment' and meaning making

This work presents an ongoing study of the design and development of a physical interface that addresses storytelling. The current prototype is the result of several design iterations with four to five years old preschoolers and six preschool teachers. The interaction model was motivated by findings from research on tangible user interfaces as well as embodied cognition. Although research in these areas has revealed potential benefits of the use of physical interfaces, until now no extended in depth study of a prolonged use in the classroom of such interfaces has been carried. This work proposes to carry such an investigation, observing a group of preschoolers interacting with the interface for a period of six months.(undefined

Tag-IT: embedding audio in objects and surfaces

In this paper we present Tag-IT an interface that consists of a module and a set of tags in which children can record and then playback audio, the tags can be attached to objects and surfaces. Tag-IT allows users to create their own digital content without the need of a computer, which makes it flexible for various contexts. Tag-IT was used in a workshop in Iskandar– Malaysia in the scope of the ACE 2015 Children Creativity Labs. During the workshop children used Tag-IT to create their own activities, playfully engaging in collaborative work.We thank the Marlborough College, all the children participants and their teachers, the chairs of the Children Creativity Lab, Eva Cerezo, Jerry Fails and Yoram Chisik, without them this workshop would not have been possible. This work was partially supported by the Human Potential Operating Programme (HPOP) of the European Social Fund and the Portuguese Ministry for Science, Technology and Higher Education (MCTES) with the Postdoctoral Grant SFRH/BPD/111891/2015, and by the Portuguese Foundation for the Science and the Technology, within the projects UID/CED/00317/2013

GamAll: playing beyond boundaries - gamification and multimodal literacy

Interactive story apps are becoming popular, especially among children. Due to its multimodality, interactive story apps offer a good opportunity to promote the development of cognitive and language skills. Here, we present the theoretical framework and the initial design decisions that support the development of a pedagogical game, which aims at enhancing students’ reading competences related to multimodal texts. The game complements Mobeybou in Brazil, an interactive story application directed to pre and primary school children and a digital manipulative that aims at promoting young children’s literacy, especially focusing on the development of language and storytelling competences in the context of multiculturalism. The development of the game follows a design-based research methodology and a user-centered approach. The conceptualization and the development of the game, as well as of the Mobeybou story app, are informed by theories of embodiment, socio-constructivist and constructionist theories, as well as multiliteracies and multimodality theories.FCT -Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia(POCI/01/0145/FEDER/032580

A comparative evaluation of touch and pen gestures for adult and child users

In this paper, we present results of two user studies that compared the performance of touch-based and pen-based gesture input on capacitive touchscreens for both adult and 8-11 years old child users. Results showed that inputting gestures with pen was significantly faster and more accurate than touch for adult users. However, no significant effect of input method was observed on performance for child users. Similarly, user experience evaluation showed that a large number of adult users favoured one technique over the other and/or found a technique more comfortable to use than the other, while child users were mostly neutral. This trend, however, was not statistically significant.CIEC – Research Centre on Child Studies, IE, UMinho (FCT R&D unit 317), Portuga

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

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

Enfrentando os desafios do design de textos multimodais para promover a pedagogia das multiliteracias

This article aims to add to the understanding of the challenges involved in designing digital texts to promote multiliteracies pedagogy. A multiliteracies approach calls for multimodal meaning-making and cultural diversity to be integrated into new school curriculum content, and accordingly, we analyse an interactive children’s story app, named Mobeybou in Brazil. The re-search question addressed was: what can we learn about the design of multimodal texts aimed at promoting intercultural learning from the design of this story app? The app incorporates tangible and digital storytelling materials to promote intercultural skills among young children, focusing specifically on Brazil. Mobeybou in Brazil was studied to characterize the design of its multimodal representations of meaning, using categories from the grammar of storytelling and multimodal meaning-making, particularly those concerned with representing the experiential diversity and personal positioning of the app users. The findings provide evidence of the complexity involved in designing multimodal texts to meet the challenges of promoting multiliteracies pedagogy, highlighting the urgent need to narrow the interface between research undertaken in education, semiotics, and digital media design. The article concludes by identifying the study’s limitations and some future developments.Este artigo pretende contribuir para a compreensão dos desafios colocados pelo design de textos digitais especificamente destinados a promover a pedagogia das multiliteracias. Esta abordagem pedagógica defende que a compreensão e produção de significados multimodais e a diversidade cultural são conteúdos incontornáveis no novo currículo escolar. Apresentamos o estudo de uma story app multimodal interativa, intitulada Mobeybou no Brasil, desenvolvida para dar resposta à seguinte questão de investigação: o que se pode aprender sobre o design de textos multimodais destinados a promover a aprendizagem intercultural a partir do design desta story app? Na nossa análise, utilizamos categorias da gramática da narrativa e da representação multi-modal incidentes na representação da diversidade experiencial e do posicionamento pessoal dos utilizadores. Os resultados sugerem a complexidade envolvida no design de textos multimodais que respondem aos desafios da pedagogia das multiliteracias, salientando a necessidade urgen-te do estreitamento da colaboração entre a investigação realizada nas áreas da educação, da se-miótica e do design de média digitais. Por fim, identificamos as limitações do estudo, apontando alguns desenvolvimentos futuros.This research is funded by the FCT within the scope of the project PTDC/CEDEDG/ 0736/2021, 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, and by the LARSyS - FCT Plurianual funding 2020-202

Narrating by doing: a bridging concept for understanding and informing the design of tangible interfaces for storytelling

We present and discuss the concept ‘narrating by doing’ as the process of creating narratives by performing different embodied actions with tangible interfaces for storytelling. We characterize it as a ‘bridging concept’ that can facilitate exchange between theory and design, informing research and design of TUIs for storytelling targeting young children. The concept builds on theories of cognition, learning and narration, specifically drawing upon the following perspectives: Constructionism, Socio-Constructivism, Embodied Cognition, Narratology and The Narrative Practice Hypothesis. Building upon these theoretical foundations, we identify and discuss four ‘design articulations’ (i.e. important parameters that express the qualities of the concept), namely communicative situation, narrative function of the tangible objects, collaborative and embodied actions and the narrator’s position. Finally, we add evidence to the concept and discuss its productiveness by presenting a set of considerations to inform the design of tangible interfaces for storytelling.This work has been financed by national funds through the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and by the European Regional Development Fund through the Competitiveness and Internationalization Operational Program under the reference POCI/01/0145/FEDER/032580. This work is funded 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

Developing an integrated communication plan in the digital age

Marketers are constantly exploring the best communication channels to deliver the best possible message to their targets. Therefore, technological advances are continuously shaping communications, especially in digital environments. Bidirectional and interactive dimensions characterize digital media communications. This study explores relevant literature on integrated marketing communications and communication in digital environments, including child-oriented marketing communications. As a result, theoretical framework on digital communication is provided for academics and practitioners.Research : "MoBeyBOU: Moving Beyond Boundaries - Designing Narrative Learning in the Digital Era", referência: POCI-01-0145-FEDER-032580, financiado pela Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia—FCT, e o Fundos Europeus Estruturais e de Investimento FEDER através do Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização. The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support by national funds FCT/MCTES to UNIAG (UIDB/04752/2020)