The Effect of Text-tracking Design on 4<sup>th</sup> Graders’ Reading of e-Books

Authors

  • Pei-Yu Wang
  • Hui-Wen Chang
  • Feng-Jung Yang

Abstract

This study examined the impact of e-book text-tracking design on 4thgraders’ (ten-year-old children’s) learning of six major classes of nutrients. The e-books used in this study were created with Adobe Flash CS 5.5 and Action Script 3.0. This study was guided by two main questions: 1) Is there any difference in learning achievement (recall and transfer) between groups with different e-book text-tracking designs? 2) Is there any difference in learning motivation (attention, confidence and relevance) between groups with different e-book text-tracking designs? This study was an experimental design where the independent variable was text-tracking design for e-books: one was word-based tracking and the other was line-based tracking. A sample of thirty 4thgraders participated in the study and participants were randomly assigned into these two groups. They were asked to do a pre-test first, and then they read their assigned e-books for twenty minutes. After they finished reading, they were given a post-test and motivation survey. The results showed that students in the line-based tracking design group performed better in recall scores and confidence. This study hoped to contribute to e-book design principles for young learners and serve as a reference for elementary school teachers and e-book publishers.

References

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O. Korat, “Reading electronic books as a support for vocabulary, story, comprehension and word reading in kindergarten and first grade,†Computers and Education, vol. 55, pp. 24-31, 2010.

M. T. de Jong, and A. G. Bus (2002), “Quality of book-reading matters for early readers: An experiment with the same book in a regular or electronic format,†Journal of Educational Psychology, vol. 94, pp.145-155, 2002.

B. Mann, P. Newhouse, J. Pagram, A. Campbell, and H. Schulz, “A comparison of temporal speech and text cueing in educational multimedia,†Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, vol. 18, pp. 296-308, 2002

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Published

2014-10-15

How to Cite

Wang, P.-Y., Chang, H.-W., & Yang, F.-J. (2014). The Effect of Text-tracking Design on 4<sup>th</sup> Graders’ Reading of e-Books. Asian Journal of Education and E-Learning, 2(5). Retrieved from https://ajouronline.com/index.php/AJEEL/article/view/1863