Adults and children creating personalised stories together through information and communications technology in public libraries

Abstract

This paper draws upon findings from a research project, Involve Me, to discuss how the project has developed greater community engagement, using information and communications technology as a catalyst with children aged two to six years to support family learning and adult-child interaction. Five workshops were developed and delivered in three public libraries in Taiwan, with weekly visits made to one of the libraries over a five-month period in 2013. Technological resources used were handheld devices (i.e. smart phones and tablets). An accompanying app (i.e. Our Story™) was purposefully selected for use to encourage adult-child dialogue and generate enjoyment, allowing them to create their personalised stories. Qualitative research methods, including interviews, participant observation, recording and social networking, were used to capture workshop participants’ actual behaviours, involvement processes, and their perspectives. The analysis identified three main themes relating to the promotion of community engagement and family learning in public libraries. First, adults and children interacted in a co-constructive process creating their stories through Our Story™, which helped enhance children’s logic, understanding and creativity in learning. Second, children developed a sense of ownership through recording, creating and sharing their stories, which helped enhance their confidence, pride and sustained engagement with the activity. Third, observational learning occurred both in the workshops and on the Facebook page, where study participants observed and learned from each other’s experiences and practiced use of Our Story™ to create their own stories. Succinct recommendations for the public library sector were also provided.