Poster #88 - The effectiveness of Ooka Island, a computer-assisted instruction program, for advancing Kindergarten students’ literacy skills

• In Event: 2-163 - Poster Session 08
  In Poster Session: PS 08 Section - Education, Schooling

Integrative Statement

Introduction: As many as one in three students fail to meet grade-level reading expectations in elementary schools across Canada and the US (e.g., NS DEECD, 2017; National Centre of Education Statistics, 2011). This study examined the potential benefits of Ooka Island on the reading skills of kindergarten students. Ooka Island was developed by the creators of the successful SpellReadTM intervention (2012; Rashotte et al., 2001), but for young learners, with the goal of preventing later reading difficulties (for details see, http://ookaisland.com).
Method: Kindergarten students (5-6 year-olds) from 4 classrooms within one school in Atlantic Canada participated in this study. Two classrooms added Ooka Island to the regular literacy curriculum (n=26) and students in the other two classes served as a “business as usual” comparison group (n=29). Students in the treatment group engaged with Ooka an average of 41 hours (range – 30 – 59 hrs). Ooka provided training that focussed on promoting lower-level skills like phonological awareness and word reading but also targeted comprehension and fluency through e-books that facilitated reading practise.
Results: Pre-test scores on reading measures did not differ between the groups. Post-test results showed significant and meaningful group differences on standardized reading tests. The group receiving the Ooka program performed better on phonological blending (d= .79), word reading (d= .48), reading comprehension (d=. 55) and book reading-level (d= .57).
Conclusions: Results extend prior studies targeting early reading skills with computer-based interventions. We highlight how these programs, when they target critical reading skills, can help to keep students on track and to prevent later reading difficulties.

Authors

• Sylvia Chanda Kalindi, Mount Saint Vincent University
  Presenting Author

• Jamie L Metsala, Mount Saint Vincent University
  Non-Presenting Author