Reading electronic books as a support for vocabulary, story comprehension and word reading in kindergarten and first grade
TL;DR: Kindergarten children progressed in word reading more significantly than first graders across treatment groups, which could be explained by the ceiling effect of the first grader's word reading level which did not leave much room for progress in this skill.
Abstract: The effect of reading an electronic storybook (e-book) on Israeli children's language and literacy was examined in kindergarten children (N=40; age 5:2-6:3) compared to first graders (N=50; age 6:3-7:4). The children in each age group were randomly assigned to two groups: an intervention group which read the e-book five times and a control group which was afforded the regular school program. Pre- and post-tests included vocabulary and word reading measures. Post-tests included story comprehension and production. Children who read the e-book exhibited significant progress in word meaning and word reading compared to the control group. Kindergarten children progressed in word reading more significantly than first graders across treatment groups. This could be explained by the ceiling effect of the first graders' word reading level which did not leave much room for progress in this skill compared to the kindergarten children. No interaction was found between age and treatment groups. Kindergarten children exhibited a good level of story comprehension, similar to first graders, although their story production was lower. Implications for future research and education are discussed.
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TL;DR: This study concludes that such a tailor-made e-book learning system could achieve a better personalized learning experience for elementary school students.
Abstract: Today various types of tablet computers are used, including iPad and Android Tablets. These individual portable digital devices can be used as e-book readers to support mobile personalized learning. Though many studies have investigated e-books by targeting undergraduate students, yet less attention has been paid to children. Therefore, an Interactive E-book Learning System (IELS) was developed for elementary school students in this study. The interactive principles in multimedia learning were adopted to empower students’ personalized learning experiences with e-books. Meanwhile, in order to meet student’s learning needs, a group of in-service teachers were consulted for acquiring their domain expertise. Personalized learning functions, such as e-annotation and bookmarks, content searching, and learning process tracking, were designed to reinforce student learning. Two investigations were conducted for evaluation of the developed system. The first investigation was conducted with 166 elementary school students to evaluate the usability and functionality of the developed system and the feedback from the students. It was found that the usability and functionality of the developed system were well-suited for most of the students. The second investigation was to evaluate the learning effect of the developed system. The results showed that using an e-book or printed book made no significant difference to the students’ reading accuracy; however, the learning process tracking technique of IELS can provide detailed logs about the actual learning processes which can be used by the system to provide further assistance to individual learner. This study concludes that such a tailor-made e-book learning system could achieve a better personalized learning experience for elementary school students.
207 citations
TL;DR: A structural topic modeling analysis of 3963 articles published in Computers & Education between 1976 and 2018 bibliometrically provided useful insights and implications, and could be used as a guide for contributors to Computers and Education.
Abstract: Computers & Education has been leading the field of computers in education for over 40 years, during which time it has developed into a well-known journal with significant influences on the educational technology research community. Questions such as “in what research topics were the academic community of Computers & Education interested?” “how did such research topics evolve over time?” and “what were the main research concerns of its major contributors?” are important to both the editorial board and readership of Computers & Education. To address these issues, this paper conducted a structural topic modeling analysis of 3963 articles published in Computers & Education between 1976 and 2018 bibliometrically. A structural topic model was used to profile the research hotspots. By further exploring annual topic proportion trends and topic correlations, potential future research directions and inter-topic research areas were identified. The major research concerns of the publications in Computers & Education by prolific countries/regions were shown and compared. Thus, this work provided useful insights and implications, and it could be used as a guide for contributors to Computers & Education.
198 citations
TL;DR: The present paper presents an updated version of the holistic model of Eshet-Alkalai (2004), arguing that it covers most of the cognitive skills that users and scholars employ while working in digital environments and, therefore, providing researchers and designers of digital environments with a powerful framework and design guidelines.
Abstract: Introduction The proliferation of technologies during the digital era confronts individuals with situations that require the utilization of an ever-growing assortment of technical, cognitive, and sociological skills that are necessary in order to perform effectively in digital environments. These skills are termed in literature 'digital literacy' (Buckingham, 2003; Gilster, 1997; Hargittai, 2008; Lankshear & Knobel, 2008). As pointed out by Bawden (2001), digital literacy is more than just the technical ability to operate digital devices properly; it comprises a variety of skills that are utilized in executing tasks in digital environments, such as constructing knowledge during surfing the web, deciphering user interfaces, playing digital games, searching in databases, creating and sharing content on the web, chatting in chat rooms and communicating in social networks (Hargittai, 2008; Jones-Kavalier & Flannigan, 2006). In the modern era, digital literacy has become a "survival skill"--a key that helps users to work intuitively in executing complex digital tasks. In recent years, extensive efforts are made to describe and conceptualize the cognitive skills that users employ in digital environments (e.g., Hargittai, 2008; Marsh, 2005). Unfortunately, these efforts are usually local, focusing on a selected and limited variety of skills, mainly information-seeking skills (e.g., Bawden, 2008; Lankshear & Knobel, 2008; Zins, 2000), and, therefore, they do not cover the full scope of the term digital literacy. Eshet-Alkalai (2004) has established a holistic conceptual model for digital literacy, arguing that it covers most of the cognitive skills that users and scholars employ while working in digital environments and, therefore, providing researchers and designers of digital environments with a powerful framework and design guidelines. This framework was derived from the analysis of large volumes of empirical and qualitative data regarding the behavior of users in digital environments and was studied empirically by Eshet and Amichai-Hamburger (2004), who tested the performance of different groups of computer users with tasks that require the utilization of different digital skills. The publication of Eshet-Alkalai's model of digital literacy has led to an extensive debate within the community of instructional technology designers, researchers and educators, as to its validity and completeness. This debate (Aviram & Eshet, 2006) confirmed the validity and value of the model, but indicated that it lacked a sixth thinking skill: the Real-time thinking skill, which relates to the ability of users to perform effectively in advanced digital environments, mainly high-tech machines, multimedia games and multimedia training environments, that require the user to process simultaneously large volumes of stimuli which appear in real-time and at high-speed. The present paper presents an updated version of the holistic model of Eshet-Alkalai (2004). The real-time thinking skill is added to the model and its value in refining our understanding of how people interact with digital environments and communicate with others in the cyberspace, is discussed in light of the recent, knowledge on digital literacy. The digital thinking skills that are discussed in the paper are the photo-visual, reproduction, branching, information, socio-emotional and real-time thinking skills. It is argued that these six digital thinking skills exist in every learner, but their "volume" or "magnitude" depends on the situation and differ from person to person. In the following paragraphs, the revised holistic model for of digital literacy and its six thinking skills, are discussed in detail. Photo-visual Digital Skills The evolution of digital environments, from text-based, syntactic to graphic-based semantic environments (Nielsen, 1993; Shneiderman, 1998; Soffer & Eshet-Alkalai, 2009), requires users of modern digital environments to employ cognitive skills of "Using Vision to Think" (Mullet & Sano, 1995) in order to create an effective photo-visual communication with the environment. …
173 citations
Cites background from "Reading electronic books as a suppo..."
...Labbo, Reinking and McKenna (1998) and Korat (2010) described problems that learners face in the digital reproduction of text in a variety of work situations....
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TL;DR: For example, this paper found that children gained most in vocabulary after reading interactive animated e-books, followed by (non-interactive) animated ebooks and then static e-Books.
Abstract: Electronic picture storybooks often include motion pictures, sounds, and background music instead of static pictures, and hotspots that label/define words when clicked on. The current study was designed to examine whether these additional elements aid word learning and story comprehension and whether effects accumulate making the animated e-book that also includes hotspots the most promising device. A sample group of 136 4- and 5-year-old kindergarten children were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: static e-books, animated e-books, interactive animated e-books, and a control group. In experimental conditions, four on-screen stories were each presented four times during a 4-week intervention period. Children in the control condition played nonliteracy related computer games during the same time. In all conditions, children worked independently with the computer programs. Strong treatment effects were found on target vocabulary originating from the story. Pupils gained most in vocabulary after reading interactive animated e-books, followed by (noninteractive) animated e-books and then static e-books. E-books including animations and interactivity were neither beneficial nor detrimental for story comprehension. Findings suggest that electronic storybooks are valuable additions in support of the classroom curriculum with interactive animated e-books being the best alternative.
127 citations
Cites background from "Reading electronic books as a suppo..."
...…of word meanings, for example by adding vocabulary games (e.g., asking a child to click on a target object in the picture; Segers & Verhoeven, 2002, 2003) or a dictionary option that defines words (e.g., Korat, 2010; Korat & Shamir, 2008; Shamir & Korat, 2009; Shamir, Korat, & Shlafer, 2011)....
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TL;DR: Results revealed that questions were more beneficial than just providing a definition or synonym of the target word and implications for designing new e-book apps are discussed.
125 citations
Cites background from "Reading electronic books as a suppo..."
...Analogous to traditional shared book reading, electronic storybook exposure has been demonstrated to support kindergartners’ vocabulary (e.g., Korat, 2010; Shamir, Korat, & Barbi, 2007; Smeets & Bus, 2012a; Verhallen & Bus, 2010; Verhallen, Bus, & de Jong, 2006; see also Zucker, Moody, & McKenna,…...
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References
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Book•
01 Jan 1998
TL;DR: This chapter discusses strategies for helping children with Reading Difficulties in Grades 1 to 3, as well as recommendations for practice and research.
Abstract: 1 Front Matter 2 Executive Summary 3 Part I: Introduction to Reading 4 1. Introduction 5 2. The Process of Learning to Read 6 Part II: Who Are We Talking About? 7 3. Who Has Reading Difficulties? 8 4. Predictors of Success and Failure in Reading 9 Part III: Prevention and Intervention 10 5. Preventing Reading Difficulties Before Kindergarten 11 6. Instructional Strategies for Kindergarten and the Primary Grades 12 7. Organizational Strategies for Kindergarten and the Primary Grades 13 8. Helping Children with Reading Difficulties in Grades 1 to 3 14 Part IV: Knowledge into Action 15 9. The Agents of Change 16 10. Recommendations for Practice and Research 17 References 18 Biographical Sketches 19 Index
5,743 citations
"Reading electronic books as a suppo..." refers background in this paper
...We assume that e-books that incorporate these features have the capacity to increase children’s early literacy at a stage whose importance is not doubted (Snow et al., 1998; Whitehurst & Lonigan, 2001)....
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...…i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Article history: Received 3 December 2008 Received in revised form 24 November 2009 Accepted 26 November 2009 Keywords: CD-ROM storybook Vocabulary Word reading Story comprehension Kindergarten children First graders 0360-1315/$ - see front matter 2009 Elsevier Ltd....
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01 Jan 2000
TL;DR: An Evidence-Based Assessment of the Scientific Research Literature on Reading and its Implications for Reading Instruction Table of Table 1.1 as discussed by the authors, and Table 2.1...
Abstract: TEACHING CHILDREN TO READ: An Evidence-Based Assessment of the Scientific Research Literature on Reading and Its Implications for Reading Instruction Table of
5,111 citations
TL;DR: Hart and Risley the authors, 1995, the authors ) discuss the effects of gender stereotypes on women's reproductive health and sexual health, and propose a method to improve women's health.
Abstract: by Betty Hart, Todd R. Risley, Baltimore: Brookes, 1995 268 pages
4,568 citations
Book•
01 Aug 1990
TL;DR: The authors, The Sense of Being Literate: Historical and Cross-Cultural Features, is a collection of essays about the development of reading in the industrialized world with particular reference to the non-western world.
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4,226 citations
TL;DR: In this article, an analysis of the underlying structure of simple stories is presented and it is claimed that this type of representation of stories is used to form schemata which guide encoding and retrieval.
2,049 citations
"Reading electronic books as a suppo..." refers background in this paper
...The story’s structure and simple narrative elements – setting, characters, goal/initiating event, problem and solution/ending (Mandler & Johnson, 1977) – appear eminently suitable for the participants’ age....
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