2 authors: Gina Biancarosa University of Oregon 49

Defining E-reading Technology In both popular media and research, terms such as e-book, e-reader, e-text, and tablet
are not always clearly and consistently differ- entiated and are often used interchangeably. The lack of clarity in part reflects the rapid advance of technology, with newly released options almost immediately being modified or merged together with other options. Such change contributes to confusion as distin- guishing features become vague or obsolete.

This slippery terminology can be perplexing for educators, parents, and policy makers who need to make well-informed decisions about these technologies. Although we focus on the digital text, we note, as Goldman indicates in her article in this volume, that it is often augmented by other digital media and so is increasingly difficult to isolate from other media.

In this article, we use e-reading technology to refer to the hardware and software used to display and interface with digital text.

Hardware includes devices, such as e-readers and tablets, as well as smartphones, laptops, and even desktop computers, that display digital text. Software includes a range of

Technology can be more than a tool for drilling students

on skills; it can be a tool for acquiring the vocabulary and background knowledge essential to becoming a skilled reader.
applications and programs that allow read- ers to interact with the text, either locally on the device or over a network; it may or may not include instructional features. Although many forms of e-reading technology may be used for more than reading, we focus on the technology’s role in literacy instruction. And although many other technologies, includ- ing audio players, video players, interactive whiteboards, and clickers, may be used for literacy instruction,they cannot store and display digital text.¹⁸ We confine the term
e-reading technology to those that can. Nascent research on these other technolo- gies, although promising, is thus beyond the scope of this article.¹⁹

Using such a broad term makes it hard to draw generalized conclusions from research, because each device and application has specific features and limitations. Thus, claims made about one form of e-reading technol- ogy with specific features may not apply to another form. For example, when researchers conduct an efficacy study using tablets with

a specific instructional application, it may not be possible to generalize their findings to smartphones or laptops, even with the same application, not least because of the vast dif- ferences in screen size.