Digital Narratives and Young Children

Abstract

The chapter examines children’s digital narrative meaning making as a co-constructional process. According to a sociocultural perspective (Vygotsky LS, Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1978), communication is seen as the mechanism of learning, and taking such an approach necessitates an analytical approach that is responsive to unfolding interaction and communication when researching children. The chapter begins with an outline of narratives perspective on children’s digital narratives before examining a case study from an Australian kindergarten where iPads were introduced to create a digital narrative. The research found that digital narrative allowed a process of collaborative meaning making. The digital narrative created opportunities to communicate experience, organise plotlines temporarily and spatially as well as provide opportunities for episodic meaning. In particular, bodily forms of communication were represented.