46

According to Bruner (1996), storytelling plays a crucial role for child development, and it should be used widely in schools, where it can be supported by digital environments. This study aims to better understand the role of the digital environment among the various instruments used by students during the narrative activity, and how it influences the construction of the narrative. In this case study, an analysis of students’ activity using an instrumental approach (Rabardel 1995) is carried out. It highlights the role of interactions during the co-creation of a manga comic strip, showing that the digital environment motivates the teacher to propose a narrative activity and orients the students’ choices during the construction of the story, even if it is only used to edit and format the comic strip. The digital environment is part of a larger instrument system in which language and gestures provide crucial mediating functions. This study is part of the “Ergonomie pour l’enfant” [ergonomics for children] research program, which mobilizes theories and methods specific to ergonomics to study children’s use of digital tools.