Sharing personalised stories on iPads: a close look at one parent–child interaction

Little is known about how specific iPad applications affect parent–child story‐sharing interactions. This study utilises a case‐study approach to provide an insight into the patterns of interaction, which emerge when a mother and her 33‐month‐old daughter share a self‐created, audio‐visual ‘iPad story’. Multimodal analysis allowed us to gain insights into the complex interaction patterns orchestrated in this new, personalised story‐sharing medium. We found that the app‐mediated story‐sharing context produced a harmonious and smooth interaction, achieving a coherence that is typical of ‘happy’ oral stories. We suggest that the observed interaction resembles that of experiencing a piece of art, and we highlight the need for a holistic approach to understanding the implications for research and practice of children's interactions during multimedia story sharing.