An integrative framework for studying, designing and conceptualising interactivity in children's digital books

Abstract

In the past five years, there have been significant changes concerning the material and design properties of digital books, with an impact on children's enjoyment and learning from reading on screen. Despite the rapid advances in technology, research on children's digital books is disjointed. This is because of no consistent approach to the study of interactivity, an under‐theorised relationship between print and digital books, and a binary design focused on either learning or playful engagement with digital books. Drawing on the discourse reminiscent of digital game designers, some developers, scholars and professionals celebrate interactivity in digital books as a possibility to motivate and engage children in reading, while a body of experimental research documents the negative impact of interactivity on children's story comprehension and vocabulary learning. This paper presents an integrative framework based on a comprehensive literature review and a content review of the hundred most popular children's digital interactive books. The framework offers: (1) methodological guidance and a definition of interactivity based on five key categories; (2) theoretical guidance based on the third‐space theory; and (3) innovative design and evaluation models based on a ‘method assemblage’. As such, the integrative framework provides new tools and perspectives to advance the field of children's digital books.

Efektivitas Penggunaan Media Sains Flipbook Berbasis Kontekstual untuk Meningkatkan Kemampuan Berfikir Kritis Siswa

“…Sependapat dengan Johnson, menyebutkan bahwa model pembelajaran yang berbasis masalah kontekstual yang ada disekitar lingkungan siswa dapat meningkatkan kemampuan berpikir kritis siswa (Asyari et al, 2016;Shofan, SA'dijah & Slamet, 2012). Selain itu diperkuat juga oleh teorinya yang menyatakan desain template dan pengaturan fitur seperti warna latar belakang dan gambar, tombol kontrol, navigasi bar, dan halaman buku untuk menampilkan flipbook menjadi lebih interaktif dan menarik perhatian siswa sehingga pembelajaran akan berjalan dengan efektif (Kucirkova, 2017;Sugianto, Abdullah, Elvyanti & Muladi, 2017).…”

“…Pendapat lain mengemukakan bahwa modul virtual berupa multimedia flipbook dasar teknik digital dapat membuat materi pembelajaran menjadi sangat mudah dipahami oleh peserta didik dan dapat meningkatkan motivasi, minat, dan aktivitas belajar, serta kecepatan membaca peserta didik ketika menggunakan buku digital (Hayati, Budi & Handoko, 2015;Huang & Liang, 2015;Kucirkova, 2017). Dengan demikian hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa media sains flipbook berbasis kontekstual efektif dalam meningkatkan kemampuan berpikir kritis siswa kelas V sekolah dasar.…”

How Could Children’s Storybooks Promote Empathy? A Conceptual Framework Based on Developmental Psychology and Literary Theory

“…Kucirkova (2017) identified five types of interactivity in contemporary children’s fiction: synaesthesia (Touch manipulation, Audio presentation, Visual presentation, Taste properties, and Odor properties), Scaffolding (Audio, video-recorded or visual prompts, Hyperlinks to other explanatory content), Datafication (GPS tagging and usage tracking, Experience tracking), User control (Attention-directing features, Problem-solving features), and Computer vision techniques (Virtual-reality features such as action stimulator or environment creations, Augmented-reality features such as 3D representations of story characters or story plots). All these features need to be further theorized by literary theorists and experimentally studied by psychologists in different fictional narratives in relation to cognitive empathy.…”

Exploring the Relationship Between Kindergarteners’ Buddy Reading and Individual Comprehension of Interactive App Books

“…In this episode, Benny and Gail listen to the iPad reading the text aloud (Line 1), activate hotspots (Lines 2, 3,7,[8][9][10][11][12], and discuss their actions (Lines 3,5,13). The multimodal information and interactive nature of the app book (Kucirkova, 2017) add complexity to the buddy reading dynamics (i.e., three-way transactions among the text, Benny, and Gail), which is not salient in buddy reading of traditional print texts. However, most existing studies examine children's buddy reading with traditional print books (e.g., Caserta-Henry, 1996;Flint, 2010;Mathes, Howard, Allen, & Fuchs, 1998;Sáenz, Fuchs, & Fuchs, 2005;Vaughn, Klingner, & Bryant, 2001).…”

“…In this episode, Benny and Gail listen to the iPad reading the text aloud (Line 1), activate hotspots (Lines 2, 3, 7, 8–12), and discuss their actions (Lines 3, 5, 13). The multimodal information and interactive nature of the app book (Kucirkova, 2017) add complexity to the buddy reading dynamics (i.e., three-way transactions among the text, Benny, and Gail), which is not salient in buddy reading of traditional print texts.…”