Affordances and limitations of electronic storybooks for young children's emergent literacy

Comparing Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing Children's Oral Narratives Using Movies and Static Books

Clinicians utilize various methods for narrative sampling, including oral assessments like story generation and retelling, often aided by visual aids. Assessing language skills in deaf/hard of hearing (DHH) children requires careful narrative technique selection. This comparative observational study investigates the narrative outcomes of story generation and retelling tasks in 21 DHH children, using both book and movie contexts. Most microstructural elements (except for the mean length of utterance) were similar across the book and movie conditions. Differences in word choice, such as the use of action verbs, were evident. Macrostructural differences between book and movie conditions were insignificant regarding story grammar elements. However, movies, being visually engaging, potentially enhance the inclusion of characters, settings, plot, and actions. This research illuminates narrative assessment considerations, emphasizing technology's role in enhancing options for assessment for DHH children.

Self-regulation and comprehension in shared reading: The moderating effects of verbal interactions and E-book discussion prompts

The study examined how children's self-regulation skills measured by the strengths and weaknesses of ADHD symptoms and normal behavior rating are associated with story comprehension and how verbal engagement and e-book discussion prompts moderate this relation. Children aged 3-7 (N = 111, 50% female, Chinese as first language) read an interactive Chinese-English bilingual story e-book with or without discussion prompts twice with their parents (2020-2021). Results demonstrated that the lower children's self-regulation skills, the more they struggled with story comprehension. Critically, our data suggest that embedding e-book discussion prompts and more verbalization in English can mitigate this negative association for children with inattention/hyperactivity. These findings have critical implications for future e-book design, interventions, and home reading practice for children with inattention/hyperactivity and those at risk for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

The study on the effects of gamified interactive e-books on students' learning achievements and motivation in a Chinese character learning flipped classroom

Existing empirical research has demonstrated the positive effects of flipping the classroom to improve student motivation and achievement by flipping in-class learning content to pre-class. However, the flipped classroom approach requires that students be engaged and motivated in the pre-class stage to ensure that the in-class learning activities run smoothly. Previous studies have highlighted the difficulties that students often encounter when trying to learn Chinese characters in Chinese language classes, especially those who are in the early stages of learning the language. Therefore, in this study, a gamified interactive e-book was developed and used in a flipped classroom for Chinese character learning. To evaluate the effectiveness of this approach, a pre-test and post-test control group experimental design was used. The participants were 90 s-grade students from a public primary school in Zhengzhou, China, who were randomly assigned to two experimental groups and one control group: the students who used a gamified interactive e-book in a Chinese character learning flipped classroom (GIEFC group), the students who used a traditional flipped classroom (TFC group), and the students who used a traditional teaching classroom (TTC group). The experimental results indicated that students in the GIEFC group scored higher than those in the TFC and TTC groups in terms of learning achievements and motivation. In addition, the experimental results also demonstrated the positive effects of gamified interactive e-books in flipped classroom learning. Future research could explore a variety of different types of game elements as well as the extension of research to other subjects.

Exploring factors influencing young children's learning from storybooks: Interactive and multimedia features

Electronic storybooks are increasingly popular with preschoolers. The purpose of our research was to investigate the effects of interactive and multimedia features in electronic storybooks on preschoolers' learning. We assigned 4- to 6-year-old children to different reading conditions in two experiments. Children were required to complete tests for learning outcomes and answer questions about the reading experience. In Experiment 1, children in the interactive (self-paced) group needed to turn the pages by a button on the page, whereas the pages were turned automatically in the non-interactive (system-controlled) group. We found that children in the system-controlled condition performed better in inference making than children in the self-paced condition. In Experiment 2, we used a 2 (Animation: present or non-present) × 2 (Background Music: present or non-present) between-participants design. We found that children's scores of learning and interest in groups with animations were higher than those in groups without animations. This research suggests that electronic books with animations congruent with the learning content promote learning for both adults and young children. Thus, we offer suggestions for designers of electronic books. Moreover, the study provides implications for educators and parents, and we suggest that multi-featured electronic storybooks for preschoolers should be carefully selected.

Social Media Web 2.0 Tools Adoption in Language and Literacy Development in Early Years: A Scoping Review

Social media tools are increasingly used in child's language and literacy development in early years. However, few researchers shed light on effectiveness and the practice that the EC professionals and teachers have adopted in ECE settings and other related contexts. This scoping review synthesized and evaluated the literature on social media integration in language and literacy development in ECE in the last decade, to provide a clearer picture on what social media tools were used, how they were used, and whether they were effective. Results showed that a wide-range of social media tools were used in diverse learning activities; however, few studies designed the learning activities with the guidance of an evidence-based teaching method or pedagogical framework.

A review of using digital game-based learning for preschoolers

In recent years, the use of digital game-based learning (DGBL) in the early childhood learning process has been growing. Recent research shows that DGBL has the potential to create new forms of childhood learning, it is not yet clear how applications can affect young students' learning. There are also not sufficient studies to analyze the significant features of DGBL in this area in early childhood. Therefore, to better understand the impact on childhood DGBL education, this article reviews the systematic literature. This review analyzes 37 articles in this area. In this paper, PRISMA's principles analysis of studies on the characteristics of DGBL technology has been used. The classification focuses on four areas: the objectives of current studies, the impact of technology use on children's learning, learning theories, and assessment methods in DGBL applications. The results of this study show that the use of DGBL can have an active effect on strengthening thinking skills and learning in childhood. This article examines the evolution of this evolving technology, the challenges, and issues posed by DGBL, and discusses how it can be useful for younger students to learn and do more research. This study provides insight for researchers, game designers, and developers in the field of DGBL.

Bilingual children's visual attention while reading digital picture books and story retelling

This study examined Mandarin-English bilingual children's visual attention over repetitive readings of Mandarin enhanced digital books and static books as well as the effects visual attention has on story retelling. We assigned 89 4- and 5-year-old preschoolers in Singapore to one of three reading conditions: (a) digital books with visual and auditory enhancements, (b) digital books with only auditory enhancements, and (c) static digital books with neither visual nor auditory enhancements. We presented three stories to the children in four sessions over 2 weeks, traced their visual attention with an eye tracker, and examined their story retelling after the first and fourth readings. The results demonstrated that the digital books with visual and auditory enhancements maintained greater visual attention from children compared with that from children in the other two conditions across the four repetitive readings. Moreover, children's bilingual language proficiency significantly modulates the conditional effects of attention. Children with higher bilingual proficiency in the visual and auditory enhancements condition outperformed their peers in the other two conditions in terms of visual attention across most readings. However, for the children with lower bilingual proficiency, the digital books with auditory and visual enhancements only outperformed the static condition but not the auditory enhanced condition. Children with lower language proficiency maintained their attention at a relatively high level across the repetitive readings in the enhanced digital book conditions but demonstrated significantly decreased visual attention in the static digital book condition. Because children with better visual attention and higher bilingual proficiency retold the stories significantly better, the results indicate that influencing visual attention helps to improve story comprehension.

The negative effects of new screens on the cognitive functions of young children require new recommendations

Television studies have shown that some negative effects of screens could depend on exposure time, but more importantly on the characteristics of the child, the type of content viewed, and the context in which it is viewed. Studies on newer screens show that these factors are still valid but new ones now play a negative role: portable screens increase the duration of exposure and lowered the age at which exposure begins. More worryingly, new screen persuasive designs and dark patterns largely used incite more frequent use, attracting the attention of children and parents, resultantly interfering deeply in parent/child relationships. In this text we suggest that current academic recommendations have to be more broadly shared but also that new recommendations are needed: especially to advise parents not to let their screen interactions compete with real interactions with their child which are the core of learnings (especially language) and emotional regulations but also of their security.

Tablet PC use directly affects children's perception and attention

Children currently grow up with a marked increase in interactive digital mobile media. To what extent digital media directly modulate children’s perception and attention is largely unknown. We investigated the processing of task-irrelevant auditory information while 37 children aged 6;8–9;1-years played the identical card game on a tablet PC or with the experimenter in reality. The sound sequence included repeated standard sounds and occasionally novel sounds. Event-related potentials in the EEG, that reflect sound-related processes of perception and attention, were measured. Sounds evoked increased amplitudes of the ERP components P1, P2 and P3a during the interaction with the tablet PC compared to the human interaction. This indicates enhanced early processing of task-irrelevant information and increased allocation of attention to sounds throughout the interaction with a tablet PC compared to a human partner. Results suggest direct effects of typical situations, where children interact with a tablet PC, on neuronal mechanisms that drive perception and attention in the developing brain. More research into this phenomena is required to make specific suggestions for developing digital interactive learning programs.

Promoting Early Literacy Using Digital Devices: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

OBJECTIVE

To determine feasibility and explore effects of literacy promotion using e-books versus board books on the home reading environment, book reading, television use, and child development.

METHODS

Randomized controlled trial comparing digital literacy promotion (DLP) using e-books to standard literacy promotion (SLP) using board books among Medicaid-eligible infants. DLP participants received e-books on home digital devices, while SLP participants received board books at well visits between 6 and 12 months of age. Differences in StimQ Read Subscale (StimQ-Read) scores, parent-reported reading and television use, and Bayley Scales of Infant Development-3rd Edition (Bayley-3) scores between groups were assessed using intention-to-treat analysis.

RESULTS

A total of 104 Medicaid-eligible infants were enrolled and randomized from 3 pediatric practices. There were no differences in sociodemographic characteristics between groups at baseline. Children in the DLP group initially had lower StimQ-Read scores but showed similar increases in StimQ-Read scores over time as children in the SLP group. Parents in the DLP group reported greater use of digital devices to read or engage their child (65% vs 23%, P < .001) but similar board book reading and television viewing. There were no differences between groups in cognitive or motor scale scores, but DLP participants had marginally lower language scales scores (DLP 85.7 vs SLP 89.7; P = .10) at the 6-month follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS/DISCUSSION

Literacy promotion using e-books was feasible and associated with greater e-book usage but no difference in board book reading, television viewing, or home reading environment scores. A potential adverse impact of e-books on language development should be confirmed in future study.

Toddlers Using Tablets: They Engage, Play, and Learn

Although very young children have unprecedented access to touchscreen devices, there is limited research on how successfully they operate these devices for play and learning. For infants and toddlers, whose cognitive, fine motor, and executive functions are immature, several basic questions are significant: (1) Can they operate a tablet purposefully to achieve a goal? (2) Can they acquire operating skills and learn new information from commercially available apps? (3) Do individual differences in executive functioning predict success in using and learning from the apps? Accordingly, 31 2-year-olds (M = 30.82 month, SD = 2.70; 18 female) were compared with 29 3-year-olds (M = 40.92 month, SD = 4.82; 13 female) using two commercially available apps with different task and skill requirements: (1) a shape matching app performed across 3 days, and (2) a storybook app with performance compared to that on a matched paper storybook. Children also completed (3) the Minnesota Executive Functioning Scale. An adult provided minimal scaffolding throughout. The results showed: (1) toddlers could provide simple goal-directed touch gestures and the manual interactions needed to operate the tablet (2) after controlling for prior experience with shape matching, toddlers’ increased success and efficiency, made fewer errors, decreased completion times, and required less scaffolding across trials, (3) they recognized more story content from the e-book and were less distracted than from the paper book, (4) executive functioning contributed unique variance to the outcome measures on both apps, and (5) 3-year-olds outperformed 2-year-olds on all measures. The results are discussed in terms of the potential of interactive devices to support toddlers’ learning.

Narrative Potential of Picture-Book Apps: A Media- and Interaction-Oriented Study

Digital literature is playing an increasingly important role in children's everyday lives and opening up new paths for family literacy and early childhood education. However, despite positive effects of electronic books and picture-book apps on vocabulary learning, early writing, or phonological awareness, research findings on early narrative skills are ambiguous. Particularly, there still is a research gap regarding how app materiality affects children's story understanding. Thus, based on the ViSAR model for picture-book app analysis and data stemming from 12 digital reading dyads containing German monolingual 2- to 3-year-olds and their caregivers this study assessed the narrative potential of a commercial picture-book app and how this is used in interaction. Results of the media analysis showed that the app provides a high number of narrative animations. These animations could be used interactively to engage the child in the story. However, results of the interaction analysis showed that adult readers do not exploit this potential due to their strong concentration on operative prompts and instructions. Furthermore, an explorative analysis of the relation between adults' utterances and children's story comprehension provided preliminary indicators regarding how the length of reading duration and the number of utterances might relate to children's understanding of the story. Findings and methodological limitations of the study are discussed and combined didactically with practical recommendations on how to use narrative animations in interaction effectively.

The Impact of the Digital Home Environment on Kindergartners' Language and Early Literacy

We examined whether a digital home literacy environment could be distinguished from a (traditional) analog home literacy environment, and whether both were related to kindergartners’ language and literacy levels, taking parental expectations into account. Caregivers of 71 kindergarteners filled out a questionnaire on the home environment (expectations, activities, and materials), and the children were assessed on language (vocabulary and grammar) and literacy (begin phoneme awareness, segmentation skill, and grapheme knowledge) skills. Results showed that a digital environment could be distinguished from an analog environment. However, only the analog environment was related to children’s language abilities. Parental expectations were related directly to both language and literacy abilities. The fact that there was no relation between the digital home environment and language and literacy outcomes might indicate large variation in the quality of the digital home environment. More attention is needed to this part of daily life when growing up in a digital society.

The Access to Literacy Assessment System for Phonological Awareness: An Adaptive Measure of Phonological Awareness Appropriate for Children With Speech and/or Language Impairment

Purpose The Access to Literacy Assessment System-Phonological Awareness (ATLAS-PA) was developed for use with children with speech and/or language impairment. The subtests (Rhyming, Blending, and Segmenting) are appropriate for children who are 3-7 years of age. ATLAS-PA is composed entirely of receptive items, incorporates individualized levels of instruction, and is adaptive in nature. Method To establish the construct validity of ATLAS-PA, we collected data from children with typical development (n = 938) and those who have speech and/or language impairment (n = 227). Results Rasch analyses indicated that items fit well together and formed a unidimensional construct of phonological awareness. Differential item functioning was minimal between the two groups of children, and scores on ATLAS-PA were moderately to strongly related to other measures of phonological awareness. Information about item functioning was used to create an adaptive version of ATLAS-PA. Conclusions Findings suggest that ATLAS-PA is a valid measure of phonological awareness that can be used with children with typical development and with speech and/or language impairment. Its adaptive format minimizes testing time and provides opportunities for monitoring progress in preschool and early elementary classrooms. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12931691.

Preschoolers Benefit Equally From Video Chat, Pseudo-Contingent Video, and Live Book Reading: Implications for Storytime During the Coronavirus Pandemic and Beyond

During the unprecedented coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis, virtual education activities have become more prevalent than ever. One activity that many families have incorporated into their routines while at home is virtual storytime, with teachers, grandparents, and other remote adults reading books to children over video chat. The current study asks how dialogic reading over video chat compares to more traditional forms of book reading in promoting story comprehension and vocabulary learning. Fifty-eight 4-year-olds (M age = 52.7, SD = 4.04, 31 girls) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions (Video chat, Live, and Prerecorded). Across conditions, children were read the same narrative storybook by a female experimenter who used the same 10 scripted dialogic reading prompts during book reading. In the Video chat (n = 21) and Live conditions (n = 18), the experimenter gave the scripted prompts and interacted naturally and contingently, responding in a timely, relevant manner to children's behaviors. In the Prerecorded condition (n = 19), children viewed a video of an experimenter reading the book. The Prerecorded condition was pseudo-contingent; the reader posed questions and paused for a set period of time as if to wait for a child's response. After reading, children completed measures of vocabulary and comprehension. Results revealed no differences between conditions across six different outcome measures, suggesting that children comprehended and learned from the story similarly across book formats. Further, children in the three experimental conditions scored significantly higher on measures than children in a fourth condition (control) who had never read the book, confirming that children learned from the three different book formats. However, children were more responsive to the prompts in the Live and Video chat conditions than the Prerecorded condition, suggesting that children recognized that these interactions were contingent with their responses, a feature that was lacking in the Prerecorded condition. Results indicate that children can comprehend books over video chat, suggesting that this technology is a viable option for reading to children, especially during the current pandemic.

Schemes of eStories for Children with Social Communication Difficulties

The current paper presents the development and the evaluation of an Arabic application (app) for electronic stories (eStories) that can be used as an assistive tool in the rehabilitation of children with social communication difficulties. The development process involved engineers and researchers and speech and language pathologists (SLPs) from a rehabilitation hospital, who formulated the design methodology of the Arabic app. This process is critical when designing tools for children with communication difficulties since they have a wide range of differences in their abilities. The evaluation of the app from the standpoint of the SLPs at a local school suggests that the app is easy to use, and the involvement of these SLPs helped in developing a better solution. The results of the usability study on twenty-five students showed positive evaluation with an average score that signifies that the app has above-average usability. This paper highlights the importance of the evaluation process in catering the app for successful user experience.

Pediatric Speech-Language Pathologists' Use of Mobile Health Technology: Qualitative Questionnaire Study

BACKGROUND

While technology use in pediatric therapies is increasing, there is so far no research available focusing on how pediatric speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in the United States use technology.

OBJECTIVE

This paper sought to determine if, and to what extent, pediatric SLPs are using mobile apps, to determine what purpose they are using them for, and to identify gaps in available technology to provide guidance for future technological development.

METHODS

Pediatric SLPs completed an online survey containing five sections: demographics, overall use, use in assessment, use in intervention, barriers, and future directions.

RESULTS

Mobile app use by 485 pediatric SLPs in the clinical setting was analyzed. Most (364/438; 83.1%) pediatric SLPs reported using technology ≤50% of the time in their clinical work, with no differences evident by age group (<35 years and ≥35 years; P=.97). Pediatric SLPs are currently using apps for intervention (399/1105; 36.1%), clinical information (241/1105; 21.8%), parent education (151/1105; 13.7%), assessment (132/1105; 12%), client education (108/1105; 9.8%), and other uses (55/1105; 5.0%). Cost (46/135; 34.1%) and lack of an evidence base (36/135; 26.7%) were the most frequently reported barriers. Most SLPs (268/380; 70.7%) desired more technology use, with no difference evident by age group (P=.81).

CONCLUSIONS

A majority of pediatric SLPs are using mobile apps less than 50% of the time in a pediatric setting and they use them more during intervention compared to assessment. While pediatric SLPs are hesitant to add to their client's screen time, they would like more apps to be developed that are supported by research and are less expensive. Implications for future research and app development are also discussed.

“The screen shows movement – movement is interesting!” exploring effects of multimedia stories on preschool children’s story comprehension and enjoyment

Purpose

Using multimedia and print storybooks, the purpose of this paper is to compare preschool children’s reading engagement with and without adult support.

Design/methodology/approach

A within-subject design is used to explore the effects of multimedia stories in supporting preschool children’s story comprehension and reading enjoyment. A total of 24 children aged five to six years old from a local preschool in Taiwan participated in the experiments.

Findings

A statistical analysis revealed the (non)differences in story comprehension between multimedia and print storybooks, with and without adult support. A content analysis revealed several important themes affecting children’s reading enjoyment. These included multimedia elements (particularly motion and sound effects), haptic perception and the pause function.

Research limitations/implications

Native Chinese speaking children participated in one-to-one sessions in Taiwan. To ascertain the generalizability of the findings presented in this study, further research is encouraged in other cultural contexts and settings.

Practical implications

The paper provides insights into how multimedia and interactive features affect and enhance children’s enjoyment. Recommendations are made to assist library professionals to incorporate digital media into children’s programs.

Originality/value

Children’s reading motivation and engagement are often linked with improved reading attainments. This study elicited a range of perspectives and themes relating to what the children themselves felt influenced their enjoyment when reading print or multimedia storybooks. Findings were analyzed in a theoretical framework of facets of engagement.

Contribution of reading an e-book with a dictionary to word learning: Comparison between kindergarteners with and without SLI

The purpose of the current study was to examine the efficacy of e-book reading to ‎promoting word learning among kindergarteners with specific language impairment ‎‎(SLI) compared to those with typical language development (TLD). We also tested ‎the contribution of three types of dictionary support provided in the e-book. All ‎dictionary words were given a pictorial and auditory support while a third of them ‎were given a short definition, a third were defined using the story content, and a third ‎were given a combined definition. Twenty kindergarteners with SLI and 20 with TLD ‎were read the e-book with dictionary support 5 times. Each child was exposed to the ‎three types of dictionary support in each e-book reading. Receptive knowledge, word ‎definitions and use of target words were measured pre and post intervention. A ‎significant improvement in new word learning following the e-book reading was ‎found in the children's receptive knowledge, word definitions and use of target ‎words. Nonetheless, children with TLD progressed in words use more than children ‎with SLI. The two groups progressed to a greater extent in explaining new words ‎following the provision of a dictionary definition and following story context ‎definition. Children with SLI progressed in words' use following the definition of a ‎dictionary. The combined definition was especially efficient for children in the two ‎groups with had a low initial level of using new words. Combined definition was also ‎efficient for explaining new words for TLD children with initially high language level. ‎We conclude that children with SLI like children with TLD can benefit from ebook ‎reading and can learn new words at different levels when the e-book is well designed in ‎assisting children with definitions of difficult words.‎.

Differences in Parent-Toddler Interactions With Electronic Versus Print Books

OBJECTIVES

Previous research has documented less dialogic interaction between parents and preschoolers during electronic-book reading versus print. Parent-toddler interactions around commercially available tablet-based books have not been described. We examined parent-toddler verbal and nonverbal interactions when reading electronic versus print books.

METHODS

We conducted a videotaped, laboratory-based, counterbalanced study of 37 parent-toddler dyads reading on 3 book formats (enhanced electronic [sound effects and/or animation], basic electronic, and print). We coded verbalizations in 10-second intervals for parents (dialogic, nondialogic, text reading, format related, negative format-related directives, and off task) and children (book related, negative, and off task). Shared positive affect and collaborative book reading were coded on a scale of 1 to 5 (5 = high). Proc Genmod and Proc Mixed analyzed within-subjects variance by book format.

RESULTS

Parents showed significantly more dialogic (print 11.9; enhanced 6.2 [P < .001]; basic 8.3 [P < .001]), text-reading (print 14.3; enhanced 10.6 [P = .003]; basic 14.4 [P < .001]), off-task (print 2.3; enhanced 1.3 [P = .007]), and total (29.5; enhanced 28.1 [P = .003]; basic 29.3 [P = .005]) verbalizations with print books and fewer format-related verbalizations (print 1.9; enhanced 10.0 [P < .001]; basic 8.3 [P < .001]). Toddlers showed more book-related verbalizations (print 15.0; enhanced 11.5 [P < .001]; basic 12.5 [P = .005]), total verbalizations (print 18.8; enhanced 13.8 [P < .001]; basic 15.3 [P < .001]), and higher collaboration scores (print 3.1; enhanced 2.7 [P = .004]; basic 2.8 [P = .02]) with print-book reading.

CONCLUSIONS

Parents and toddlers verbalized less with electronic books, and collaboration was lower. Future studies should examine specific aspects of tablet-book design that support parent-child interaction. Pediatricians may wish to continue promoting shared reading of print books, particularly for toddlers and younger children.

E-Books for Promoting Vocabulary Among Students With Intellectual Disability as Opposed to Children With Learning Disability: Can Repeated Reading Make a Difference?

Despite young children's increasing access to electronic books (e-books) and the evidence indicating their effectiveness for promoting language and literacy, no study has yet explored the e-book's effect in this area among students with intellectual disability (ID). Motivated by this challenge, the current study sought to investigate the effect of an educational e-book on vocabulary acquisition among students with ID. The effect on vocabulary of five repeated readings of an e-book among students with ID was measured and compared with that of children with learning disability (LD). The findings indicate that whereas two independent rereadings with the e-book were enough to promote vocabulary acquisition among the students with LD, at least five rereadings were required to make a difference in the group with ID. Explanations and implications of the findings are discussed.

How Could Children's Storybooks Promote Empathy? A Conceptual Framework Based on Developmental Psychology and Literary Theory

This conceptual paper proposes a framework for understanding the developmental mechanisms and literary characteristics that bind children's storybooks with empathy. The article begins with a taxonomy of empathy composed of three key continuous dimensions: cognitive/emotional empathy, empathy for in-group and out-group members and empathy with positive and negative consequences. Insights from developmental psychology and literary theory form the basis for an interdisciplinary framework based on three premises: (1) book-reading can support empathy if it fosters in-group/out-group identification and minimizes in-group/out-group bias; (2) identification with characters who are dissimilar from the readers is the most valuable contribution of children's storybooks to cognitive empathy; and (3) the quality of language positions children's storybooks as an exceptional, but not exclusive, empathy-building form of fictional narratives. Implications for future intervention and empirical work are provided.

Children's Learning From Interactive eBooks: Simple Irrelevant Features Are Not Necessarily Worse Than Relevant Ones

The purpose of this study was to investigate experimentally the extent to which children's novel word learning and story comprehension differs for non-interactive eBooks and interactive eBooks with simple relevant or irrelevant interactive features that advance the narrative. An original story with novel word-object pairs was read to preschoolers (3-5 years old, N = 103) using one of the three eBook formats: non-interactive control, interactive-relevant, interactive-irrelevant. The book formats differed only in the manner in which the story advanced from one page to the next: children observed the experimenter turn the page (non-interactive), children touched a relevant image on the screen (relevant-interactive), or children touched an irrelevant image on the screen (irrelevant-interactive). Novel word learning and story comprehension were assessed with post-tests in which children picked target objects from an array and sorted story events into their original sequence, respectively. Findings indicate that word learning and story comprehension were similar across all three books, suggesting that simple interactive features - whether relevant or irrelevant to the story - had little impact on preschoolers' learning in this controlled experiment. Thus, simple interactivity that does not disrupt the story also does not hinder ongoing story comprehension.

Advertising in Young Children's Apps: A Content Analysis

OBJECTIVE

Young children use mobile devices on average 1 hour/day, but no studies have examined the prevalence of advertising in children's apps. The objective of this study was to describe the advertising content of popular children's apps.

METHODS

To create a coding scheme, we downloaded and played 39 apps played by children aged 12 months to 5 years in a pilot study of a mobile sensing app; 2 researchers played each app, took detailed notes on the design of advertisements, and iteratively refined the codebook (interrater reliability 0.96). Codes were then applied to the 96 most downloaded free and paid apps in the 5 And Under category on the Google Play app store.

RESULTS

Of the 135 apps reviewed, 129 (95%) contained at least 1 type of advertising. These included use of commercial characters (42%); full-app teasers (46%); advertising videos interrupting play (e.g., pop-ups [35%] or to unlock play items [16%]); in-app purchases (30%); prompts to rate the app (28%) or share on social media (14%); distracting ads such as banners across the screen (17%) or hidden ads with misleading symbols such as "$" or camouflaged as gameplay items (7%). Advertising was significantly more prevalent in free apps (100% vs 88% of paid apps), but occurred at similar rates in apps labeled as "educational" versus other categories.

CONCLUSION

In this exploratory study, we found high rates of mobile advertising through manipulative and disruptive methods. These results have implications for advertising regulation, parent media choices, and apps' educational value.

A randomized controlled trial to test efficacy of digital enhancements of storybooks in support of narrative comprehension and word learning

Experiments with film-like story presentations have been found to be beneficial in supporting children's story comprehension and word learning. The main goal of the current study was to disentangle the effects of visual and auditory enhancements in digital books. Participants were 99 typically developing children (41 boys and 58 girls) aged 4-6 years from two public kindergartens in Bursa, Turkey. A randomized controlled trial was conducted with a control group and four experimental conditions that included all possible combinations: static illustrations with and without music/sounds and animated illustrations with and without music/sounds. In each experimental condition, children read two different storybooks twice, each time in small group sessions of 2 or 3 children. The posttest included, apart from story comprehension, expressive and receptive vocabulary tests of book-based words. Story comprehension, not word learning, benefited from visual enhancements in digital books. Music and background sounds did not stimulate story comprehension and even had a negative effect on receptive vocabulary. To explain the findings, we refer to multimedia learning principles such as temporal contiguity. Consequences for a digital storybook format are discussed.

Television Is Still "Easy" and Print Is Still "Tough"? More Than 30 Years of Research on the Amount of Invested Mental Effort

We provide a literature overview of 30 years of research on the amount of invested mental effort (AIME, Salomon, 1984), illuminating relevant literature in this field. Since the introduction of AIME, this concept appears to have vanished. To obtain a clearer picture of where the theory of AIME has diffused, we conducted a literature search focusing on the period 1985-2015. We examined scientific articles (N = 244) that cite Salomon (1984) and content-analyzed their keywords. Based on these keywords, we identified seven content clusters: affect and motivation, application fields, cognition and learning, education and teaching, media technology, learning with media technology, and methods. We present selected works of each content cluster and describe in which research field the articles had been published. Results indicate that AIME was most commonly (but not exclusively) referred to in the area of educational psychology indicating its importance regarding learning and education, thereby investigating print and TV, as well as new media. From a methodological perspective, research applied various research methods (e.g., longitudinal studies, experimental designs, theoretical analysis) and samples (e.g., children, college students, low income families). From these findings, the importance of AIME for further research is discussed.

How pictures in picture storybooks support young children's story comprehension: An eye-tracking experiment

In a within-participant design, 41 children (mean age = 64 months, range = 50-81) listened to brief stories in four conditions. Written text was present on the screen in all conditions (similar to the typical storybook experience) but combined with other sources of information: (a) only oral narration, (b) oral narration and a picture that was congruent with the narration, (c) oral narration and an incongruent picture, and (d) only a picture but no oral narration. Children's eye movements while looking at the screen were recorded with an eye-tracker. An important finding was that a congruent picture contributed substantially to children's story retellings, more so than a picture that was incongruent with the narration. The eye-tracking data showed that children explored pictures in a way that they could maximally integrate the narration and the picture. Consequences for interactive reading and picture storybook format are discussed.

Is Reading Instruction Evidence-Based? Analyzing Teaching Practices Using T-Patterns

The main goal of this study was to analyze whether primary teachers use evidence-based reading instruction for primary-grade readers. The study sample consisted of six teachers whose teaching was recorded. The observation instrument used was developed ad hoc for this study. The recording instrument used was Match Vision Studio. The data analysis was performed using SAS, GT version 2.0 E, and THEME. The results indicated that the teaching practices used most frequently and for the longest duration were: feedback (i.e., correcting the student when reading); fluency (i.e., individual and group reading, both out loud and silently, with and without intonation); literal or inference comprehension exercises (i.e., summarizing, asking questions); and use of educational resources (i.e., stories, songs, poems). Later, we conducted analyses of T-Patterns that showed the sequence of instruction in detail. We can conclude that <50% of the teaching practices used by the majority of teachers were based on the recommendations of the National Reading Panel (NRP). Only one teacher followed best practices. The same was the case for instructional time spent on the five essential components of reading, with the exception of teacher E., who dedicated 70.31% of class time implementing best practices. Teaching practices (i.e., learners' activities) designed and implemented to exercise and master alphabetic knowledge and phonological awareness skills were used less frequently in the classroom.

Adult mediation of preschool children’s use of mobile technologies in public libraries in Taiwan: A socio-cultural perspective

This study explores characteristics of caregivers’ mediating behaviours for supporting preschool children’s emergent literacy development mediated by mobile technologies (i.e. laptops, tablets and smart phones). Design-based research in the action research framing was used to examine the process of adult-child interaction and communication in nine Involve Me workshops at five public libraries between 2013 and 2014 in Taiwan. A deductive-inductive thematic analysis identified examples to illustrate main forms of caregivers’ mediating behaviours: ‘focusing’, ‘affecting’, ‘expanding’, ‘encouraging’ and ‘regulating behaviour’. This study embraces the role of media mentorship in libraries, but acknowledges such a role demands training for library practitioners in order to effectively support children’s and families’ literary needs in the digital age.

All Tapped Out: Touchscreen Interactivity and Young Children's Word Learning

Touchscreen devices differ from passive screen media in promoting physical interaction with events on the screen. Two studies examined how young children's screen-directed actions related to self-regulation (Study 1) and word learning (Study 2). In Study 1, 30 2-year-old children's tapping behaviors during game play were related to their self-regulation, measured using Carlson's snack task: girls and children with high self-regulation tapped significantly less during instruction portions of an app (including object labeling events) than did boys and children with low self-regulation. Older preschoolers (N = 47, aged 4-6 years) tapped significantly less during instruction than 2-year-olds did. Study 2 explored whether the particular way in which 170 children (2-4 years of age) interacted with a touchscreen app affected their learning of novel object labels. Conditions in which children tapped or dragged a named object to move it across the screen required different amounts of effort and focus, compared to a non-interactive (watching) condition. Age by sex interactions revealed a particular benefit of dragging (a motorically challenging behavior) for preschool girls' learning compared to that of boys, especially for girls older than age 2. Boys benefited more from watching than dragging. Children from low socioeconomic status families learned more object names when dragging objects versus tapping them, possibly because tapping is a prepotent response that does not require thoughtful attention. Parents and industry experts should consider age, sex, self-regulation, and the physical requirements of children's engagement with touchscreens when designing and using educational content.

Toddlers' word learning and transfer from electronic and print books

Transfer from symbolic media to the real world can be difficult for young children. A sample of 73 toddlers aged 17 to 23months were read either an electronic book displayed on a touchscreen device or a traditional print book in which a novel object was paired with a novel label. Toddlers in both conditions learned the label within the context of the book. However, only those who read the traditional format book generalized and transferred the label to other contexts. An older group of 28 toddlers aged 24 to 30months did generalize and transfer from the electronic book. Across ages, those children who primarily used screens to watch prerecorded video at home transferred less from the electronic book than those with more diverse home media experiences.

Curling Up With a Good E-Book: Mother-Child Shared Story Reading on Screen or Paper Affects Embodied Interaction and Warmth

This study compared changes in cognitive, affective, and postural aspects of interaction during shared mother and child book reading on screen and on paper. Readers commonly express strong preferences for reading on paper, but several studies have shown marginal, if any, effects of text medium on cognitive outcomes such as recall. Shared reading with a parent is an engaging, affective and embodied experience across time, as well as a cognitive task, so it is important to understand how paper vs. screen affects broader aspects of these shared experiences. Mid-childhood sees a steep rise in screen use alongside a shift from shared to independent reading. We assessed how the medium of paper or screen might alter children’s shared reading experiences at this transitional age. Twenty-four 7- to 9-year-old children and their mothers were videotaped sharing a story book for 8 min in each of four conditions: mother or child as reader, paper, or tablet screen as medium. We rated videotapes for interaction warmth and child engagement by minute and analyzed dyadic postural synchrony, mothers’ commentaries and quality of children’s recall, also interviewing participants about their experiences of reading and technology. We found no differences in recall quality but interaction warmth was lower for screen than for paper, and dropped over time, notably when children read on screen. Interactions also differed between mother-led and child-led reading. We propose that mother - child posture for paper reading supported more shared activity and argue that cultural affordances of screens, together with physical differences between devices, support different behaviors that affect shared engagement, with implications for the design and use of digital technology at home and at school. We advocate studying embodied and affective aspects of shared reading to understand the overall implications of screens in children’s transition to independent reading.

Reading Touch Screen Storybooks with Mothers Negatively Affects 7-Year-Old Readers' Comprehension but Enriches Emotional Engagement

Touch screen storybooks turn reading into an interactive multimedia experience, with hotspot-activated animations, sound effects, and games. Positive and negative effects of reading multimedia stories have been reported, but the underlying mechanisms which explain how children's learning is affected remain uncertain. The present study examined the effect of storybook format (touch screen and print) on story comprehension, and considered how level of touch screen interactivity (high and low) and shared reading behaviors (cognitive and emotional scaffolding, emotional engagement) might contribute to comprehension. Seven-year-olds (n = 22) were observed reading one touch screen storybook and one print storybook with their mothers. Story comprehension was inferior for the touch screen storybooks compared to the print formats. Touch screen interactivity level had no significant effect on comprehension but did affect shared reading behaviors. The mother-child dyads spent less time talking about the story in the highly interactive touch screen condition, despite longer shared reading sessions because of touch screen interactions. Positive emotional engagement was greater for children and mothers in the highly interactive touch screen condition, due to additional positive emotions expressed during touch screen interactions. Negative emotional engagement was greater for children when reading and talking about the story in the highly interactive condition, and some mothers demonstrated negative emotional engagement with the touch screen activities. The less interactive touch screen storybook had little effect on shared reading behaviors, but mothers controlling behaviors were more frequent. Storybook format had no effect on the frequency of mothers' cognitive scaffolding behaviors (comprehension questions, word help). Relationships between comprehension and shared reading behaviors were examined for each storybook, and although length of the shared reading session and controlling behaviors had significant effects on comprehension, the mechanisms driving comprehension were not fully explained by the data. The potential for touch screen storybooks to contribute to cognitive overload in 7-year-old developing readers is discussed, as is the complex relationship between cognitive and emotional scaffolding behaviors, emotional engagement, and comprehension. Sample characteristics and methodological limitations are also discussed to help inform future research.

Media and Young Minds

Infants, toddlers, and preschoolers are now growing up in environments saturated with a variety of traditional and new technologies, which they are adopting at increasing rates. Although there has been much hope for the educational potential of interactive media for young children, accompanied by fears about their overuse during this crucial period of rapid brain development, research in this area still remains limited. This policy statement reviews the existing literature on television, videos, and mobile/interactive technologies; their potential for educational benefit; and related health concerns for young children (0 to 5 years of age). The statement also highlights areas in which pediatric providers can offer specific guidance to families in managing their young children's media use, not only in terms of content or time limits, but also emphasizing the importance of parent-child shared media use and allowing the child time to take part in other developmentally healthy activities.

Children and Adolescents and Digital Media

Today's children and adolescents are immersed in both traditional and new forms of digital media. Research on traditional media, such as television, has identified health concerns and negative outcomes that correlate with the duration and content of viewing. Over the past decade, the use of digital media, including interactive and social media, has grown, and research evidence suggests that these newer media offer both benefits and risks to the health of children and teenagers. Evidence-based benefits identified from the use of digital and social media include early learning, exposure to new ideas and knowledge, increased opportunities for social contact and support, and new opportunities to access health promotion messages and information. Risks of such media include negative health effects on sleep, attention, and learning; a higher incidence of obesity and depression; exposure to inaccurate, inappropriate, or unsafe content and contacts; and compromised privacy and confidentiality. This technical report reviews the literature regarding these opportunities and risks, framed around clinical questions, for children from birth to adulthood. To promote health and wellness in children and adolescents, it is important to maintain adequate physical activity, healthy nutrition, good sleep hygiene, and a nurturing social environment. A healthy Family Media Use Plan (www.healthychildren.org/MediaUsePlan) that is individualized for a specific child, teenager, or family can identify an appropriate balance between screen time/online time and other activities, set boundaries for accessing content, guide displays of personal information, encourage age-appropriate critical thinking and digital literacy, and support open family communication and implementation of consistent rules about media use.

Benefits of Motion in Animated Storybooks for Children's Visual Attention and Story Comprehension. An Eye-Tracking Study

The present study provides experimental evidence regarding 4-6-year-old children's visual processing of animated versus static illustrations in storybooks. Thirty nine participants listened to an animated and a static book, both three times, while eye movements were registered with an eye-tracker. Outcomes corroborate the hypothesis that specifically motion is what attracts children's attention while looking at illustrations. It is proposed that animated illustrations that are well matched to the text of the story guide children to those parts of the illustration that are important for understanding the story. This may explain why animated books resulted in better comprehension than static books.

Increased Screen Time: Implications for Early Childhood Development and Behavior

The authors review trends in adoption of new digital technologies (eg, mobile and interactive media) by families with young children (ages 0-8 years), continued use of television and video games, and the evidence for learning from digital versus hands-on play. The authors also discuss continued concerns about health and developmental/behavioral risks of excessive media use for child cognitive, language, literacy, and social-emotional development. This evidence is then applied to clinical care in terms of the screening questions providers can use, tools available to providers and parents, and changes in anticipatory guidance.

When Seeing Is Better than Doing: Preschoolers' Transfer of STEM Skills Using Touchscreen Games

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which character familiarity and game interactivity moderate preschoolers’ learning and transfer from digital games. The games were based on a popular television show and designed to test skills related to STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics): numerical cognition (quantity of different sets) and knowledge of a biological concept (growth). Preschoolers (3.0–5.5 years, N = 44) were assigned to play one game and watch a recording of an experimenter playing the other game. Learning was assessed during pre-test and post-test using screenshots from the game. Transfer was assessed using modified screenshots (near) and real-life objects (far). Familiarity was assessed by asking children to identify the television characters and program. Findings indicate that the effectiveness of the games varied by age and condition: younger children learned from the quantity game, but only when they watched (rather than played) the game. They did not transfer this information in either condition. Conversely, older children learned from the growth game regardless of whether they played or watched. However, older children only demonstrated far transfer if they watched (rather than played) the growth game. Thus, preschoolers may benefit more by watching a video than by playing a game if the game is cognitively demanding, perhaps because making decisions while playing the game increases cognitive load. Character familiarity did not predict learning, perhaps because there was little overlap between the lessons presented in the television program and game. Findings from the current study highlight the need for more research into educational games and applications designed for preschoolers in order to establish whether, how, and for whom screen media can be educationally valuable.

Tablet-Based eBooks for Young Children: What Does the Research Say?

OBJECTIVE

Young children's use of electronic books (eBooks) is increasing as handheld touch screen devices, such as tablets, become increasingly available. Although older children's reading on tablets has been more broadly investigated, less is known about the impacts of digital reading for infant, toddlers, and preschoolers. This review compares the educational affordances of reading on tablets versus print books for young children's learning.

METHOD

A qualitative synthesis of research on tablet-based eReading and young children's learning from screens was conducted.

RESULTS

When eBooks are designed well, preschool-aged children learn equally well and sometimes more than from print books. However, enhanced eBooks with sounds, animations, and games can distract children and reduce learning. When book-sharing with an adult, conversations during eBook reading are often about the platform while print book conversations are more often about the book content. For young children (0-2 yr), there is a paucity of research, but broader studies on learning from screens suggest limited educational benefits of tablet use for this age group.

DISCUSSION

The authors recommend that (1) the selection of eBooks (especially enhanced eBooks) be thoughtful as games or animations that are not related to the story content can be distracting for young children, (2) adults share in the reading experience as discussions of the story, text, and characters have been found to enhance comprehension, language development, and print awareness, and (3) tablet eBook use be restricted for infants and toddlers, as they benefit more from face-to-face interaction with caregivers than from interactive screens alone.