a b s t r a c tThe increased acquisition of touch-screen technologies, such as tablet computers, in both homes and schools raises important questions about their role for very young children's learning and development. Their inherent touch-based interaction offers new opportunities for mark making practices, which are linked to literacy development, through the emergent process of using marks as symbolic representation. This paper reports a comparative study of touch-based interaction using a tablet computer versus traditional physical paint and paper. Children aged 2e3 years engaged in a free finger painting activity and colouring in activity in both paper and digital environments. Video data of their interactions was used to develop a coding scheme for analyzing touch-based interaction, providing insight into how the use of fingers and hands differed in each environment, the different types and qualities of touch that were engendered, and the composition of the final paintings produced. Findings show that while the tablet computer limited the number of fingers used for interaction, its material affordances supported speed and continuity, which led to more mark making, and different 'scales' of mark making extending the range of mark making practices. At the same time it limited the sensory experience of physical paint and resulted in more uniform final compositions. The findings are discussed in terms of shaping young children's mark making, the implications of the use of touch screen technologies in literacy development for educational practitioners and technology design, and key future research directions.

Touch-based interaction is increasingly a key feature of digital learning environments, yet we know little about the specific ways in which digitally mediated touch reshapes interaction for very young children. This paper examines how finger painting processes, a common activity in early years learning environments, might change in digital (iPad) versus physical (paper) learning environments. It draws on the observations of nursery school participants, from one and half to three years old, finger painting on paper and on the iPad, using similar digital painting/ drawing activities. The analytical approach draws on multimodal methods of description and builds on multimodal procedures for working with video. In particular, the analysis focuses on different forms of touch-based interaction, to explore whether digital environments engender different kinds of touch and re-shape the character of the physical painting process. Findings indicate both quantitative and qualitative differences in types of touch across these two environments; and suggest that individual children demonstrate different repertoires of interaction, which may be linked to family practices and familiarity with technologies, such as touch screen and handheld devices. Findings are discussed in terms of the implications for learning and children's mark making development, future research directions, and methodological implications for multimodal research approaches.

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