Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 12.1
Children creating and changing their stories
“The sun is shining, the cat drinks a bowl of milk at the meadow”. The prototype
was tested in two following days during class with small groups of three children
each, and each session lasted about one hour (Fig. 12.1).
The researchers explained to the children that each card had an audio identifi cation
and that they could create a story by placing the cards on the paper “platform”. The
children could create variations of the narrative, according to the sequence of cards that
they placed. The children were enthusiastic about the prototype and surprised about
the interaction and the audio feedback. They placed the cards on the “book”, dealing
with each other, while trying to create stories. Children personalised and extended the
narratives, adding their own ideas to the very simple stories they were hearing.
12.3.2.1
Refl ections on the First Design Iterations
The sessions with the children showed that the use of tangible picture cards gener-
ated ideas for the creation of narratives, promoting a very dynamic peer interaction.
Relative to using speech with the cards, it seemed that it constrained children's
imagination and consequently their narratives, and indeed, children seemed to pre-
fer to create their own spoken version of the stories. Following those observations,
the researchers decided to remove the speech in future versions of the prototype,
giving children more freedom in the creation of the stories.
Further, the observation of children's use of the prototype showed that the tan-
gible cards promoted peer collaboration, greatly increasing children's motivation.
Defi nitely part of children's involvement and enthusiasm was generated by hearing
each other contributions (Wood and O'Malley
1996
) and handling with each other
which cards they should use. One idea or a comment generated another one, moving
the story forward and involving the children in collaboratively creating different
variations of the narrative. Additionally, children exchanged opinions about which
cards would make sense to place, exchanging ideas about the cards they wanted to
use. For instance, in one of the groups, there was a conversation between the children
about when they ought to use the card picturing a moon, as one child stated that the
moon should be placed to fi nish the story. Such kind of argument illustrates how
children refl ected about the sequence and structure of stories, which they were able
to verbalise and discuss with their peers.
