Children learning a concept with a book and an e-book: a comparison with matched instruction

Abstract

Children are exposed to symbolic media, such as printed or electronic pictures. The purpose of this research was to compare children’s learning of a concept (camouflage) with two different picture-book formats. Forty-four-year-olds were assigned to two conditions: learning with a printed book or with an e-book. Instruction and book contents were paired. In a quasi-experimental pre-test post-test design, we analyzed children’s learning, transfer, and justifications. Results showed that correct responses increased significantly throughout the test phases with no differences between conditions. Also, children transferred the concept to both kinds of images. Concerning justifications, children provided more camouflage justifications after the reading than before. However, in the post-test, children in the book condition performed better than children in the e-book condition; also, they gave more camouflage justifications with printed than with electronic images. Given these results, we consider that the debate is not only about using new technologies in educational environments, but also about how to use them to diversify the learning experiences that traditional media already provide.