Adina Shamir

Electronic books versus adult readers : effects on children's emergent literacy as a function of social class

We compared the effects of children’s reading of an educational electronic storybook on their emergent literacy with those of being read the same story in its printed version by an adult. We investigated 128 5- to 6-year-old kindergarteners; 64 children from each of two socio-economic status (SES) groups: low (LSES) and middle (MSES). In each group, children were randomly assigned to one of three subgroups. The two intervention groups included three book reading sessions each; children in one group individually read the electronic book; in the second group, the children were read the same printed book by an adult; children in the third group, which served as a control, received the regular kindergarten programme. Pre- and post-intervention emergent literacy measures included vocabulary, word recognition and phonological awareness. Compared with the control group, the children’s vocabulary scores in both intervention groups improved following reading activity. Children from both interventions groups and both SES groups showed a similarly good level of story comprehension. In both SES groups, compared with the control group, children’s phonological awareness and word recognition did not improve following both reading interventions. Implications for future research and for education are discussed.

How to Select CD-ROM Storybooks for Young Children: The Teacher's Role

This article addresses some key criteria for educators as they choose CD-ROM storybooks for young childrens literacy development. The article includes A review of the pertinent literature on the quality and appropriateness of CD-ROM storybooks for literacy development An evaluation questionnaire to guide teachers in selecting CD-ROM storybooks A sample assessment of a CD-ROM storybook, according to the evaluation questionnaire Recent reports point to the inconsistent potential of CD-ROM storybooks to support childrens literacy development. Given the motivation to incorporate such computer-aided learning in the school, teachers need to become more skilled in evaluating and selecting appropriate e-books for supporting literacy development and educational goals. Much thought is needed in choosing e-books that use specialty electronic and interactive media while supporting childrens understanding of the story and exploration of the text.

Do Hebrew electronic books differ from Dutch electronic books? A replication of a Dutch content analysis

This replication study of Hebrew versus Dutch electronic books for young children was based on De Jong & Buss content analysis, which explored whether e-books are appropriate supports for young childrens literacy development. Our criteria for analysing 43 Hebrew e-books for young children included book processing, multimedia in pictures, multimedia connected to printed or spoken text, interactivity of pictures, interactive legibility, printed text quality, and congruence to story content. Like Dutch e-books, currently available, Hebrew e-books have no uniform components design and are unsatisfactory supports for childrens literacy. Although most Hebrew e-books did not include hidden hot-spots that could be activated, when included, their congruence with the storyline was good. Recommendations for CD e-storybook designers and practical implications for educators 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 childs increasing access to electronic books and the evidence indicating its 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.

The Effects of Mediation in Computer Assisted Dynamic Assessment.

This study examined the effects of the computer-assisted dynamic assessment (DA) on cognitive performance as compared to DA with an examiner. The DA approach is based on Feuersteins mediated learning experience theory and Tzuriels DA approach with young children. A sample of kindergarden children (n = 60) were assigned to either a Computer Assisted (CA, n = 30) or Examiner Only (EO, n = 30) groups. The sample was randomly chosen from three kindergardens in a middle-SES area. Initial intelligence level of both groups was controlled by matching their frequency distribution on the Ravens Colored Progressive Matrices score. The CA group was administered the Think-in-Order program, which is a multimedia program designed specifically for this study and is based on the Childrens Seriational Thinking Modifiability (CSTM) test. The EO group was administered the CSTM test by an examiner. The findings revealed that intervention involving mediation processes in a CA dynamic assessment procedure was more effective in bringing about significant cognitive changes than mediation with only an examiner.

Direct and Indirect Teaching: Using e-Books for Supporting Vocabulary, Word Reading, and Story Comprehension for Young Children:

We examine the effect of direct and indirect teaching of vocabulary and word reading on pre-kindergarten and kindergarten children following use of an electronic storybook (e-book). The children in each age group were randomly assigned to an intervention group which read the e-book or to a control group which was afforded the regular school program. The e-book included words with meaning support and words with no support. Children who read the e-book exhibited progress in the meaning and reading of the words supported directly by the computer compared to the control group. No such progress was observed for words without direct support. No differences appeared in the progress between the two age groups and no interaction was found between age and type of word support.

The effects of Peer Mediation with Young Children (PMYC) on children's cognitive modifiability.

Peer mediation with young children is a relatively novel approach aimed at teaching young children how to mediate to their peers. The main benefits of peer mediation are in developing childrens mediation teaching style and cognitive modifiability. The peer mediation developed recently is based on Vygotskys sociocultural and Feuersteins mediated learning experience theories. The main objectives of the study were to investigate the effects of the Peer Mediation with Young Children (PMYC) programme on childrens cognitive modifiability of mediators and learners and to study the effects of cognitive level of the learner and mediator on their cognitive modifiability following the programme. A sample of 178 pupils (89 mediators in Grade 3 and 89 learners in Grade 1) was randomly assigned to experimental (N=43 dyads) and control (N=46 dyads) groups. The mediators in the experimental group participated in the PMYC programme, whereas the mediators in the control group received a substitute intervention aimed at emphasizing general conditions of peer interaction. Following the intervention, mediators of both groups received a demonstration of a multimedia programme as a preparation for the peer mediation interaction and later taught it to their young counterparts. Following the teaching session (e.g. teaching of seriation problems), mediators in both groups were given a dynamic assessment measure of analogies. The learners however were given a test of seriation before and after the intervention. The findings showed that following the intervention the experimental mediators showed higher level of analogies scores, as well as higher improvement on the dynamic analogies measure as compared with control mediators. The experimental learners showed higher pre- to post-intervention achievements on the seriation problems as compared with control learners. The findings showed also that when there was a match between the mediator and learners cognitive level (i.e. low-low or high-high) the differences between the experimental and control groups were minor and negligible. However, when the mediator-learner cognitive levels did not match, the experimental learners received higher scores than the control learners. Mediators in the experimental group had to cope with the incongruent cognitive level by facilitating their mediational approach and consequently enhancing the learners performance. The findings are discussed in regard to Piaget, Vygotsky and Feuersteins theories and recent research on peer assisted learning.

Children‘s Mediational Teaching Style as a Function of Intervention for Cross-Age Peer-Mediation

The main objective of this study was to investigate the effects of a programme providing cross-age peer-mediation on mediation teaching style of mediators and learners in a learning situation. A second objective was to investigate the effects of the mediators‘ and learners‘ cognitive level on different criteria of mediation. The sample was composed of 89 third graders (mediators) and 89 .rst graders (learners) coming from three third grade classes and three .rst grade classes in a primary school. The third graders were assigned to experimental (n= 43) and control (n= 46) groups. Each pair of mediator and learner was matched in a counterbalanced design (2 × 2) according to their cognitive level (high versus low), based on their score on the Raven‘s Matrices. The experimental third graders received the Peer-Mediation for Young Children (PMYC), which is a training programme based on the theoretical approaches of Vygotsky and Feuerstein. The control children received a general preparation for peer assisted learning. Following the PMYC, all children participated in a peer-mediation condition, which was videotaped for 25 minutes and subsequently analysed by the Observation of Mediation Instrument. The findings showed that the experimental children received signi.cantly higher mediation scores than the control children. Mediators‘ cognitive level was not related to the level of mediation. However, the learners‘ cognitive level was found to effect mediation for meaning of the mediator: requestfor meaning from learners and givingof meaning from mediator were higher in interactions of mediators with learners of low cognitive level. The .ndings are discussed with reference to Feuerstein‘s and Vygotsky‘s theories.

The effect of activity with e-book on vocabulary and story comprehension: a comparison between kindergarteners at risk of learning disabilities and typically developing kindergarteners

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the effectiveness of e-book activity for vocabulary acquisition and story comprehension among kindergarteners at risk for learning disabilities (LD) as opposed to typically developing (TD) children. Participants included 136 children aged between five and seven (M = 71.2; SD = 5.64, in months), 75 LD and 60 typically developing children. The children in each group were then randomly assigned to either the e-book intervention or the control group, which experienced the regular kindergarten program – a total of four groups. The findings indicated significant improvement in vocabulary among both groups exposed to the e-book intervention. Conversely, typically developing children received higher scores for story comprehension than did children at risk for LD following the intervention. These findings and their implications are discussed.

Peer Mediation: The Effects of Program Intervention, Maths Level, and Verbal Ability on Mediation Style and Improvement in Maths Problem Solving

The objectives of the current study were to examine: (a) the effects of the Peer Mediation with Young Children (PMYC) program on mediators’ and learners’ mediation style in the context of maths teaching; and (b) the interaction effects of the intervention program, childrens verbal ability, and maths level on pre- to postintervention improvement in maths and mediation style. The sample was composed of 108 pupils (54 mediator—learner dyads), equally divided between an experimental and a control group. In each dyad, the mediator was from Grade 3 and the learner from Grade 2. Mediators and learners in each pair were matched in a counterbalanced design (2 × 2) according to their level of maths skills (high versus low). The experimental children received the PMYC program whereas the control children received general preparation for peer-assisted learning only. Following the PMYC intervention, all children participated in a peer-mediation condition where the mediators taught their younger peers how to solve maths problems. The interaction was videotaped for 25 minutes and analysed by the Observation of Mediation Instrument. The main findings showed that the experimental children obtained significantly higher scores on all mediation criteria and improved their pre- to post-intervention scores in maths to a greater degree than did the control children. These findings are explained in relation to Vygotskys and Feuersteins theories in addition to previous findings on peer mediation.