From digital to physical and imitational – The changing roles of new mobile application in the workplace trainings

Authors

• Liisa Kääntä Vaasan yliopisto

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33352/prlg.121275

Keywords:

embodied interaction, mobile application, multimodal conversation analysis, technology deployment, trainers, workplace

Abstract

This study examines the actions of trainers based on multimodal conversation analysis when introducing a new mobile application in workplace training sessions. The training situations were recorded in a Finnish healthcare organization. The focus of the research is on trainers’ multimodal turn construction, specifically how they orient themselves to presenting the mobile application both as a physical device and a digital tool, and how they produce their turns while considering this duality. The presentation of the mobile application was analyzed as a collaboration between speech and bodily-digital actions. The results indicate that trainers attribute various roles to the mobile application: it is oriented to as a training tool, a trained object, and a co-participant, aligning with previous research findings. Additionally, trainers also orient to the mobile application as an imitable element, providing a novel perspective on the roles attributed to technology in workplace interaction and communication research. Based on the results, technologies can be seen to take on different material forms that become visible through interaction. Interaction allows us to discuss and digitally-embodily authenticate technology that may not be clearly perceptible or requires imaginative understanding to familiarize employees with its usefulness. Furthermore, the study emphasizes the importance of collaboration between humans and technologies, which is crucial for adapting to the digital transformation in the workplace.