Digital tablets and applications in preschool – Preschoolers’ creative transformation of didactic design

Abstract

Little is known about preschoolers and their engagement with digital tablets. This article addresses this gap by drawing on findings from two research projects. The aim is to illustrate how children make meaning, transform and play while engaging with various applications comprised by the materiality of the digital tablets. Empirical video material has been multimodally transcribed and empirical examples are framed by a design theoretical perspective. Findings capture diverse experiences illustrating how preschoolers creatively manipulate and playfully transform didactic designs. The results illustrate how children´s self-initiated play with application’s design shifts the balance of authority that typically exists between adults and children, and the article concludes in a suggestion of how the notion of play can be understood with a design theoretical perspective.