Educational E-book Research Articles

Educational Electronic Books for Supporting Emergent Literacy of Kindergarteners At-Risk for Reading Difficulties—What Do We Know So Far?

This article reviews the authors' findings regarding the electronic book's (e-book's) support of emergent reading among kindergarten-aged children at-risk for reading difficulties. All the studies involved use of educational e-books specially designed by the authors to promote literacy among young children in the 5–6 age group. The review focuses on the e-book's contribution to vocabulary acquisition, phonological awareness, concept about print, as well as story comprehension among two groups of kindergartners exhibiting difficulties in language development and emergent literacy: (a) children at-risk for learning disabilities and (b) children from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Overall, both groups of children were found to improve vocabulary and phonological awareness following e-book activity in different contexts. These results indicate the e-book's efficacy as an educational tool in heterogeneous classrooms.

Ebooks in Education: Realising the Vision

The upbeat title promises much, and this is taken up by Madeleine Atkins of HEFCE in the Foreword, although more realistically she notes that "This publication by Jisc Collections describes very lucidly the current state of ... a transition".

The Effects of Technology Innovativeness and System Exposure on Student Acceptance of E-textbooks

The efforts of educators in the last three decades have, among other things, focused on the use of information technology (IT) in education. It has become commonplace to view information systems both as an effective carrier of course content as well as a cost-effective tool to improve student learning outcomes. One of such technologies is the e-book. Decision-makers in the education field need make sense of this technological transformation. However, despite the growing popularity of e-books in higher education, its adoption by students is yet to be crystalized. This study exploits the technology acceptance model (TAM) framework to examine student acceptance of e-textbooks as “internally” impacted by technology innovativeness and “externally” influenced by system exposure. The results showed that students’ technology innovativeness is associated with student acceptance of e-textbooks and that system exposure was a strong moderator of the TAM relationships. The findings suggest that students’ openness to new technology, in general, is likely to positively affect the adoption of a specific new instructional technology. Additionally, system exposure was found to be a significant moderator of the TAM relationships. It is concluded that students’ technology innovativeness and system exposure must therefore be factored into instructional technology usage decision-making models.

Use and Perceptions of E-books by Academic Staff in Further Education

This article reports on a study of the awareness, perceptions and use of e-books by academic staff in Further Education (FE) colleges throughout Northern Ireland (NI). It is the first comprehensive study of e-book use by FE faculty in NI and fills a significant gap in the research literature on e-books in education, which has tended to focus on Higher Education and the university setting. Data was collected through an online survey which was distributed to FE faculty across NI. The findings show that although FE academic staff are receptive to e-books and welcome them as a resource, poor reading experience and lack of awareness of relevant titles have had an impact. In particular, the research found that 40% of academic staff, in post less than five years, had not used e-books. Greater availability of titles, promotion, and better integration within teaching and learning emerge as key requisites for effective service delivery and enhancement of e-books within FE, as does the need for better targeted instruction and training aimed at academic staff. Understanding patrons' views, awareness, needs, habits and expectations in relation to e-books is crucial to help direct collection content while budgets remain tight and physical space limited.

What do Teachers and Pupils Say about Using e-Books in the Classrooms?

This paper aims to gauge the use of e-books in primary schools in the state of Terengganu, Malaysia. Surveys were conducted among 73 teachers from 14 schools and 101 pupils from five primary schools. The findings revealed that both teachers and pupils showed positive feedback, perception and reception towards the use of e-books as text books. Based on the findings, the paper proposes a framework that enables the effective use of e-books as textbooks in the classroom among pupils and teachers . Education is among the fastest expanding sector which is sensitive to changes in the economic and social structure of a nation. The employment of innovation and technology are considered fundamental and are driving elements in education. Learning institutions have progressively adopted e-books as a medium of teaching and learning. The proliferation of e-books has found its way into many classroom activities worldwide. In response to this development, educators, institutions, and organizations have been working on tactical plans to incorporate e-books in education.

Digital Books Taxonomy: From Text E-Books to Digitally Enriched E-Books in Folklore Education Using the iPad

From the first text electronic books (e-books) to the latest digitally enriched e-books a long distance has been covered. E-book market blossoms while technologies for enhanced e-book development advance rapidly, leading to a surge in the demand for enhanced e-books, especially in education. This paper refers to electronic books and the way simple text e-books can be transformed into enriched e-books. An attempt is also made to highlight the role of enriched e-books in folklore education. Within the above framework, taking into account the rapid growth of electronic books and the availability of several development tools the following approach was adopted: a) Definition of an e-book taxonomy referring to the types and attributes of e-books in order to provide a helpful guide for those who choose to introduce e-books in their teaching meaningfully, b) Specification of the development process of enriched e-books through several applications such as the iBook for iPad, the most prominent candidate for e-book enhancement, c) Identification of the specifications and the process to create learning objects that can be used as enriching digital resources in enriched e-books. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n11p316

E-books as a support for young children's language and literacy: the case of Hebrew-speaking children

In this paper, we present a series of studies performed in the last decade that examined the contribution of e-books reading to the language and literacy of young Hebrew-speaking children. Children worked with two e-books designed by the researchers to achieve this aim. We present the effect of reading these e-books on the language and literacy of young children: (a) in general, (b) in different socio-economic statues (SES) groups, (c) among children at risk for learning disabilities (ALD). Language progress was measured by phonological awareness, word meaning, story production and comprehension, and literacy progress was measured by letter naming, word reading and word writing. Results showed that the e-book reading supported all language and literacy skills, except letter naming. The progress of most skills appeared after three reading sessions. Children from middle- and low-SES families benefited from reading the e-books and in some cases, low-SES children were contributed more than those from a middle SES. ALD children improved their vocabulary, phonological awareness and concept about print when provided with an educational e-book. Further research and pedagogical implications for software developers and educators are discussed.

Educational e-books: a support for vocabulary and early math for children at risk for learning disabilities

Mathematical learning difficulties can originate at an early age. However, research on young children’s math development, especially those who are at risk, is in its early stages. The current study is the first to examine the effects of an activity with an educational e-book on emergent math with 52 preschoolers at risk for learning disability (ALD). The effects on their emergent vocabulary of the e-book intervention was also tested. The findings revealed that following the intervention, children in the experimental e-book group improved both their vocabulary and early math skills as compared to the control group who engaged in their regular preschool activities. The implications of these results are discussed.

E-books effectiveness in promoting phonological awareness and concept about print: A comparison between children at risk for learning disabilities and typically developing kindergarteners

Despite the young child’s increasing access to electronic books and the evidence indicating it’s effectiveness for promoting emergent literacy, research among young children at risk for learning disabilities is only just beginning. Motivated by this challenge, the study reported here compared the effect of an educational e-book on improvements in Phonological Awareness (PA) and Concept About Print (CAP) among 136 pre-school-aged children at risk for learning disabilities (ALD) and typically developing children (TD). The findings indicated improved performance by both experimental groups, but especially ALD children in the area of CAP. These results are explained by the effectiveness of the multimedia e-book especially for ALD. Implications are discussed.

How New Technology Influences Parent—child Interaction: The Case of e-book Reading

This article reports on a study focusing on mother—child interactions during e-book reading compared to print book reading. Two different types of e-books were used, commercial and educational. Forty-eight kindergarten children and their mothers were assigned randomly to one of four groups, reading: (1) the printed book Just grandma and me; (2) the electronic commercial book Just grandma and me; (3) the printed book The tractor in the sandbox; and (4) the electronic-educational book The tractor in the sandbox. Compared to the printed book reading, e-book reading yielded more discourse initiated by the child and more responsiveness to maternal initiations. Printed book reading yielded more initiations and responses of mothers. Discourse during printed book reading compared to the digital context showed more expanding talk. Educational e-book reading showed more word meaning than reading the commercial e-book. The study concludes that different reading contexts influence adult—child interactions, and this may in return have different effects on children’s early literacy development.

Developing an Educational E-Book for Fostering Kindergarten Children's Emergent Literacy

This preliminary study investigated the effects of a novel educational electronic book (e-book) developed by the authors to further kindergarteners' emergent literacy skills within a “paired-learning” versus “individual learning” context. Of the 72 children randomly chosen from three kindergartens in a low SES township in the country where the research was conducted, 24 were randomly assigned to work individually and 48 (24 pairs) to work in pairs during the three e-book activity sessions. Pre-and post-intervention emergent literacy measures included word meaning, word recognition, emergent writing, phonological awareness, and letter naming. The findings show that overall emergent literacy levels of children in both learning groups improved from pre-to post-intervention. Implications for educators and e-book designers are discussed.

The educational electronic book as a tool for supporting children’s emergent literacy in low versus middle SES groups

The effects of an educational electronic book (e-book) on 149 five- to six-year-old kindergarteners’ emergent literacy levels were researched in two SES groups: low (LSES) (79 children) vs. middle (MSES) (70 children). In each SES group, children were randomly assigned to four groups. Three groups were assigned to work individually in one of three e-book activity modes: “Read story only”, “Read with dictionary”, or “Read and play” during three similar activity sessions and the fourth group served as a control which received the regular program of the kindergarten. Pre- and post-intervention emergent literacy measures included word meaning, word recognition, and phonological awareness. Results show that word meaning of children from both middle and low SES improved following the educational e-book activity, regardless of mode. Second, LSES children’s emergent literacy levels showed relatively greater improvement rates than did those of the MSES children. Third, children in the “Read with dictionary” and “Read and play” activity modes showed more improvement in their emergent literacy levels than did those in the “Read story only” mode. Implications for future research and for education are discussed.

E-Books in Higher Education

This article describes an ongoing project on the use of electronic books (e-books) in a higher institution and starts with a discussion on the diversity of e-book definitions to address misconception of its concept. Then, the advantages and associated technology such as hardware, software, formats, and standards are detailed. Comparisons between formats, a discussion on where e-books can be acquired and purchased, the electronic publishing process, e-book compilers, and personalized e-books are also explained. The final part of this article highlights the idea of marketing e-books electronically to improve accessibility and also assist lecturers to market their publications. In addition, the results of investigating buyers’ views are discussed briefly where a formula for pricing e-books based on student attitudes is also proposed.

Usability of Hypermedia Educational e-Books

To arrive at relevant and reliable conclusions concerning the usability of a hypermedia educational e-book, developers have to apply a well-defined evaluation procedure as well as a set of clear, concrete and measurable quality criteria. Evaluating an educational tool involves not only testing the user interface but also the didactic method, the instructional materials and the interaction mechanisms to prove whether or not they help users reach their goals for learning. This article presents a number of evaluation criteria for hypermedia educational e-books and describes how they are embedded into an evaluation procedure. This work is chiefly aimed at helping education developers evaluate their systems, as well as to provide them with guidance for addressing educational requirements during the design process.