e-Books will likely be a part of future early childhood classrooms, and in light of the thin evidence base on their role in curriculum and instruction, we undertook a formative study to investigate what e-book pedagogy for early literacy might look like in the early childhood classroom [1]. We approached our research from a design perspective—much like an engineer—creating a prototype model for implementation in the classroom and testing it to begin a winnowing process that informs the educational design (e-books in preschool for purposes of early literacy instruction) and identifies design features that are feasible and preferable in an instructional model [2, 3].
At this early stage of prototype creation, we conceptualized an e-book instructional model that was purposefully under-specified to allow a wide-angle view of what it takes and what happens when e-book technology is inserted into the preschool classroom. The model consists of four components grounded in e-book studies [4] and the knowledge base on early literacy instruction for young children [5]:
The e-book as a technology-mediated environment
The physical place of e-book reading in the classroom
Engagement in e-book reading for small groups and individuals
Explicit instruction using e-books
Our research objectives were to observe, define the salient attributes and rate the functioning of each component in situ toward the goal of framing a model for replication and further testing. To this purpose we employed a qualitative approach that focused on sorting, clustering and aggregating observational data to derive quality indicators and design features.
The following is a brief overview of some of the data collected during Phase 2 of our 2010-2011 study.
Towards an e-Book Quality Rating Tool for Early Elementary Literacy Instruction Jeremy Brueck (@brueckj23) I was thrilled to find out that Jeremy Brueck is from Ohio. His research is critical to the things I have been thinking about lately. I haven’t found many people who are really looking at ebooks for young children and learned so much from this session. Jeremy Brueck is focused on not only rating ebooks but also to understanding what this means for young children and literacy. Although he stated early that he did not come at this from a literacy background at first, he has a strong sense of young children and their literacy development. We spent time in this session examining ebooks on several iPads and iPods that Jeremy brought. We discussed the things that made them worthwhile, etc. He shared several resources and much of the work he was doing with local Head Start programs there. His presentation and resources are on his blog. Resources included an e-book Quality Rating Tool, a List of Early Elementary ebooks iOS Apps and more. I hope to spend a great deal of time exploring these resources over the next several weeks.
Here’s a look a some of the questions I hope to facilitate my EduCon conversation around. If you have additional thoughts, comments or questions, please leave attach them to this post or send them to me on Twitter so that I can include them before Session 2 begins on Saturday. Thanks!
As part of the Akron Ready Steps program, I am currently engaged in a study of an e-book instructional model that integrates the e-book into the preschool classroom. This is a four phase study that will last the entire school year. We recently wrapped up Phase 1 of the study and debriefed our teachers on a number of aspects of the instructional model. After an initial read through, I am particularly intrigued by their comments on what they liked about the eBook shared reading experience. A short excerpt:
Mrs. Brodie
I like the computer. The monitor is large and I like the touch screen. The children like the e-book experience and it is a chance to share a book with a small group of children. I think it is good for the children to hear different voices read the books. I sometimes am able to get a hard copy of an e-book. The children really like looking at the e-book and then the hard copy or vice versa.
Mrs. Campbell
The children love hearing the books read. The readers’ voices really make the book. The children like being at the computer and turning the pages. The children also like the animation in some of the books.
Ms. Sowers
I like working with the small groups in the e-book experience. I like being able to choose between automatic and manual. I liked many of the narrators and realized that the quality of the narration and graphics is what keeps the children’s attention. I like being able to push the pause button on the book so that I can talk with the children before moving on. The pacing of most of the books keep even the three year olds engaged. Some of the graphics are really colorful. I like the words highlighted as they are being read. It helps keep the children’s attention on the words.
Mrs. Taylor
I like the interaction of the children with the book and with me. I like doing the e-book with a small group of children and being able to stop the book and review vocabulary words or talk about a subject. I like the animated voices. It keeps the children interested. I am trying to work on being more animated when I am reading a book to children. The children like the animated voices. I like that the children can push the page turner button when it is flashing. I like the highlighting of words during the reading.
I’ve been working with Dr. Lisa Lenhart for about 6 years at the University of Akron. She gave me a start as a graduate assistant back in the 2004-2005 school year, as I was working on my principal’s license, and I’ve hung around ever since. Lisa has opened up a lot of doors for me, and I have the utmost respect for her as an educator, a professional and a person. She’s currently working on revising one of her textbooks, Reading and Learning to Read, and I received the following email from her about a week ago.
Would any of you be willing to ask your kids these questions and give me their quotes back? I’m working on my book revision and we’re going to put student voices in……..I won’t use their names. Any responses at all would help. Thank you so much,
Lisa
How does (or did) your teacher teach you to read?
List three things you know about good readers.
What do you dislike about reading in school?
Tell me about a time someone had to read out loud and they weren’t very good…..
If you could be in charge, what would you use to teach kids to read?
A student’s knowledge of word meanings, or oral vocabulary, plays a key role in reading comprehension. The iTouchiLearn Words app for iPhone and iPod Touch provides young learners with an opportunity to engage in vocabulary building practice. Developed by Staytoooned, the cover screen indicates that the app is designed to “learn words through entertaining animations.”
As a TumbleBooks subscriber, I recently received an email announcing the launch of a BETA TumblePad 2.0 downloadable ebook reader for PC and Mac. This presents an interesting opportunity for teachers who have computers or laptops in their classrooms, but not internet access. This is actually the case in some of the Head Start classrooms that are part of the Akron Ready Steps program that I work closely with. I spent some time this morning the downloadable e-Book reader for Mac and thought I’d share some highlights and thoughts about this product with my Raised Digital readers. You’ll need to click on the images to view them at full-size.
First eBook on iPad video I’ve run across. I’m wondering if these devices will be big in early elementary education. All of the criticism of the iPad for being media consuming devices rather than media creation devices might be warranted, but this type of eBook application certainly seems to hold some promise in the area of early reading instruction.
For the past year, Dr. Kathleen Roskos from John Carroll University, Dr. Karen Burstein, Director of the Southwest Institute for Families and Children and I have been researching use of eBooks with early literacy learners. Most recently, our team has started a study that will look at instructional interactions with eBooks that promote early literacy development and vocabulary. After viewing the David Merrill TED video and blogging about it in this post, I began to consider how our research team might incorporate these devices as part of our work. I was so excited about this possibility that I decided to email the Sifteo team to see if they might be open to collaborating with us on research in the future.
