ABSTRACT
Children’s apps are software programs designed to facilitate a range of experiences, ranging from simple phonics activities to more complex open-ended creative art activities. The current iOS app market contains more than 80,000 apps offered in the educational category, with new apps added on an everyday basis. The big volume of apps makes it hard for parents and teachers to navigate the market and choose the right app for their child (Chiong and Shuler, 2010) and for app designers to identify and maintain their position in the market (Khaddage et al., 2014). In this chapter, I argue that trans-and intra-apps, which bring several app experiences together in a variety of combinations, could provide a new basis for conceptualising and innovating the children’s app market. As the prefix ‘trans’ indicates, transmedia refers to cross-or inter-media exper -
iences which extend a given story or narrative across various types of media. In their report ‘T is for Transmedia’, Herr-Stephenson et al. (2013) define transmedia as ‘any combination of relationships that might exist between the various texts
(analogue or digital) that constitute a contemporary entertainment media exper - ience’ (p. 2). A typical example would be the Harry Potter franchise, which includes a series of Harry Potter apps for fans to download in addition to reading the Harry Potter books (or listening to the audio-books), watching the films, playing with the toys, computer games, or Lego construction kits. An intra-app, on the other hand, is an app which aggregates various experiences within one software program, offering a seamless and integrated experience. A basic example of an intra-media app experience is an in-app purchase, which wraps an app with several layers of engage ment, gradually available to the user. In this chapter, I use the concept of transmedia and examples of intra-app
experi ences to examine the present and possible future app models and their potential for children’s learning. The trans-and intra-media models are useful concepts because they consider not only what is currently available, but also what lies behind many emerging practices of app engagement and the larger landscape of children’s software programs. I provide some guiding points for future research seeking to develop a better
understanding of apps’ potential to nurture cross-media and richer learning experiences and outline ways which may be used for identifying pedagogically sound use of intra-and inter-media apps in the classroom and at home. I argue that intra-and inter-media apps can endow children’s experiences with a new layer of meaning and offer children further entry points into the rich worlds that surround stories. Moreover, balanced trans-and intra-media app experiences can provide a useful spur to necessary innovation in the currently saturated app market. However, for transmedia apps to reach their potential, careful attention needs to be paid to their commercialisation purposes, data use, and personalisation policies. Young children are largely unaware of the commercial intent of the apps they engage with (see www.commercialfreechildhood.org/) and it is important that app designers, researchers, parents, and teachers (i.e. adults who influence children’s choices of apps) are fully aware of the potential benefits as well as pitfalls of trans-and intramedia apps. As such, the chapter might be a useful reference for several stakeholders who are looking for an innovative edge with children’s apps.
