How to Choose Interactive e-Books for your Child

Why use interactive e-books with young children?

1. They can be a highly engaging and enjoyable learning experience for both adult and child
2. They introduce children to technology and encourage early computer skills through exploration and experimentation
3. To learn new skills and literacies not present in printed books, such as interpreting audio and visual cues for comprehension and determining which hotspots are relevant to the story.
4. Research shows that well-designed interactive e-books CAN improve literacy skills if scaffolded by an adult

Not for the under two’s

In 2011 the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that digital media NOT be used with children under the age of 2. Many research studies have shown that the strongest development comes with adult-child interactions around real-life experiences, free play and print book reading. Their little brains just aren’t ready to engage with the abstract nature of digital media.

And when older than two tech time should be limited to brief periods, with adults as part of the process, interacting with the child rather than leaving them alone with the technology.

The research

This post is based on recent research articles focused on e-books and literacy development in young children. The most relevant are listed at the end of this post.

Please note: Not all interactive e-books contain the same elements so these generalisations will not apply to all.

What’s good about interactive e-books?

1. Convenient and accessible (in multiple languages)
2. Engaging and able to differentiate according to ability
3. Encourages multiple re-readings (highly important)
4. Learning through visual, auditory and kinesthetic formats
5. Interactive dictionaries strengthen word meaning, reading and pronunciation, particularly for low ability learners
6. Embedded questions encourage higher level thinking
7. Extension activities to strengthen understanding of the text or subject area

What’s not so good about interactive e-books?

1. It can be difficult to judge the quality, even with parent reviews
2. Some are more like games or videos so there is not much genuine engagement with text
3. Kids may stop thinking critically, relying on prompts instead
4. Kids may avoid attempting unfamiliar words – a form of learned helplessness
5. Many e-books have ‘inconsiderate’ hotspots (I love this term)
   • Annoying music? How inconsiderate!
   • Unnecessary blowing up of objects? How inconsiderate!
   • Irrelevant animations that distract from the text? How inconsiderate!

To be fair, research has shown that a small number of inconsiderate hotspots do not affect learning, but no one is sure just how many tip the scales.

Research Limitations

• Tech is constantly changing so there is not much time for research before the tech changes again
• The wide variety of e-books on the market means they cannot be judged as one entity
• Most research has focused on primary aged children who are using technology independently

Adults MUST still interact with children

Research shows it’s a DEFINING FACTOR for optimal learning with interactive e-books. Especially in younger children who have not yet learned to read, or are in the beginning stages of learning to read. Therefore parents and teachers need to be interacting with the child while they’re reading, not leaving them to play with the device alone

When reading is shared with adults, young children learn valuable literacy skills: increased vocabulary and oral language, alphabet knowledge and word reading, print concepts (how books work), phonological awareness (that words can be broken into sounds), listening comprehension and a love of reading.

It happens naturally when adults ask the child questions about the story and illustrations, the words on the page, what the characters might be feeling… the list goes on. The purpose is to help the child understand the story more completely while enjoying a side-benefit of improved literacy skills. The PURPOSE OF AN INTERACTIVE E-BOOK IS NOT TO REPLACE THE ADULT, but to find even more things to chat about that will deepen the child’s understanding of the text and build literacy skills.

What to do in the classroom

• Make sure there are rules for use – either individually or in a small group
• Manage how they’re used via teacher questions, prompts or scaffolds
• Professional development may be needed to ensure e-books are used to greatest effect in the classroom

When choosing e-books

• Teachers and parents need to use the same criteria as for choosing print books, and then decide on the value of the interactive features.

Checklist for finding quality picture books

Download your free checklist here

Checklist for finding quality interactive e-books

Download your free checklist here

Other sources to help with your decision-making

• Common Sense Media
• Digital Storytime

References

Hoffman, J.L. & Paciga, K.A. (2014). Click, swipe, and read: Sharing e-books with toddlers and preschoolers. Early Childhood Education Journal. Vol 42: 379-388. DOI: 1007/s10643-013-0622-5

Morgan, H. (2013). Multimodal children’s e-books help young learners in reading. Early Childhood Education Journal. Vol 41: 477-483. DOI: 10.1007/s10643-013-0575-8

Salmon, L.G. (2014). Factors that affect emergent literacy development when engaging with electronic books. Early Childhood Education Journal. Vol 42: 85-92. DOI: 10.1007/s10643-013-0589-2

Do you have an e-book your kids love and learn from? Let us know in the comments.