Finger-painting on the iPad

This study compares Tablet use with traditional finger-painting, examining the roles played by children between two and five years old. The spontaneous interactions of children under three years old using two applications on a Tablet were observed in a nursery school in London, the same activities also being observed in a traditional environment, i.e. on paper. Data on the interactions from video recordings were used to develop a coding system for analysis and comparison of the ways the children used their hands and fingers in each environment (digital or traditional), the different types of contact they made with the screen and the paper, and the overall composition of the finished work. The results indicate that the use of Tablets in early childhood could be beneficial in developing important abilities that are prerequisites for writing and drawing as an activity that complements traditional methods.The results revealed differences in the set of gestures and interactions observed. In digital learning environments a broader range of touch types was seen, including longer and more complex interactive sequences with the screen when compared to the activity on paper, also resulting in a more elaborate assortment of touch gestures. One challenge of the study was to find a solution to the ethical and methodological problems associated with studying emotions, behaviour and individual interactions with a group of children under five years old using digital applications on a Tablet. Mobile devices were used instead of traditional video cameras, and the images were projected on to a computer screen, along with the content of the screen the child was interacting with, thus generating a multi-screen image that was recorded. This minimized the presence of cameras and tripods, which interfere with the activity and may influence the subjects’ behaviour. This strategy made possible a multimodal analysis that was effective both for the quantity and quality of the audio-visual data it simultaneously provided, and because it left the children to interact freely in a familiar environment.

Publications

• Crescenzi, L. & Grané, M. (2019). Touch gesture performed by children under 3 years old when drawing and coloring on a tablet. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies. 124, pp.1-12.
• Price S.; Jewitt, C. & Crescenzi-Lanna, L. (2015). The role of iPads in pre-school children’s mark making development. Computers & Education. 87, pp.131-141.
• Crescenzi-Lanna, L.; Jewitt, C. & Price S. (2014). The role of touch in preschool children’s learning using iPad versus paper interaction. The Australian Journal of Language and Literacy. 37, pp. 86-95.
• Crescenzi-Lanna, L. (2013). Recepción, usos y hábitos mediáticos de los nativos digitales en edad preescolar. In Figueras, M. & Huertas, A. (Eds.), Audiencias Juveniles: recepción, usos y hábitos mediáticos. InCom-UAB. Barcelona.
• Crescenzi-Lanna, L. (2013). Como recoger datos audiovisuales en la investigación de campo con niños muy pequeños. Digital Education Review. 24, pp. 43-52.

2013

PI: L. Crescenzi-Lanna, S. Price & C. Jewitt.

Scientific Coordinator: L. Crescenzi-Lanna

ESRC funded research project