Ipads versus Books

Abstract

During the past few years, technology such as iPads has been a growing trend in classrooms. Students are slowly being drawn away from text books and introduced to digital books on iPads. This study seeks to gain insights into the effectiveness of the implementation of technology in early childhood classrooms. To examine the effectiveness of using iPads for reading, this study addresses the following question: Do children comprehend more when reading from iPads? Ten kindergarten students participated in this study. Their reading comprehension scores when reading from iPads and books were collected within a two-week interval and then compared. After reading stories from iPads and books, students were asked comprehension questions from the DRA and their scores were recorded for each section of comprehension skills which included: previewing, retelling of events, character details, retelling using vocabulary, retelling with teacher's support, reflections, and making connections. The data showed that nine out of ten students scored higher in reading comprehension when reading from iPads, and one student scored the same on both. This study suggests that more research on effective, appropriate, and intentional teaching with iPads and other technology in classrooms is needed to further examine the benefits and downfalls of using such devices in the field of education.