2 authors: Gina Biancarosa University of Oregon 49

Research on E-reading Technology as a Tool

Today educators are in the precarious posi- tion of having to respond to the many new e-reading options for curriculum and teach-
ing practices with virtually no empirical guid- ance on how to do so in a way that supports learning. Most research as yet is small-scale in nature, focusing on feasibility and efficacy in tightly controlled contexts rather than on wide-scale use. We review a variety of small- scale research studies on e-reading technol- ogy as a tool for improving literacy outcomes, and then look at two large-scale studies and offer a final cautionary note about the overall lack of a consistent or large-scale body of evidence on e-reading technology.

Tools for Compensation and Instruction in Basic Skills

E-reading technology has shown promise in developing early reading skills and in giving readers with visual impairments or language- based disabilities access to texts. One of its most widely used features is text-to-speech, in which either a human or computer- generated voice reads digital text aloud for users. Sometimes synchronized highlighting of the text draws readers’ attention to the word or words being read aloud.

The research is relatively robust on the benefits of text-to-speech for readers with impairments that might otherwise preclude equal access to text and for young readers still acquiring basic skills like phonological awareness or decoding.²⁰ Also promising are recent innovations in text-to-speech involv- ing the translation of visual information other than text, such as pictures or tables.²¹

Ofra Korat has been conducting experimental studies with e-reading tools that can build both procedural skills (such as phonological

awareness and word reading) and conceptual skills and knowledge (such as vocabulary) that foster learning to read. She has found that presenting children’s books as digital text with dictionaries or activities can lead to improve- ments in phonological awareness, word- reading skills, and vocabulary knowledge for kindergarten and first-grade readers.²² Other studies with younger children indicate that presenting high-quality children’s books on computers with multimedia supports, such as the text being read aloud expressively with simultaneous highlighting of the words being read, helps to improve children’s focus on and