An Exploratory Study of App Books' Affordances, Reader Processing, and Outcomes

• In Event: Millennium Hotel Roundtable Session 15
  In Roundtable Session: Literacy Research With Early Childhood Readers

Abstract

To better inform selection of app books for young children, we explored the relations amongst digital affordances of app books, reader processes, and outcomes. Fifty-three kindergarteners read app books in two contexts: twelve books across 24 buddy reading sessions and six books across six individual reading sessions. Multivariate, mixed response analysis yielded the following findings: When reading individually, (1) the number of user-activated hotspots in a book was inversely related to children’s strategic use of app book affordances, and (2) page turn only navigation (i.e., no menu) was inversely related inference/critical thinking outcomes. Implications include choosing app books with fewer hotspots to support their strategic use, and navigation menus when the goal is to support inference/critical thinking.

Authors

• Tanya M. Christ, Oakland University

• X. Christine Wang, University at Buffalo - SUNY

• Ming Ming Chiu, The Education University of Hong Kong