Promoting emergent literacy of children at risk for learning disabilities: Do e-books make a difference?

As computers increasingly become part of everyday items in the home and the kindergarten, young children are increasingly exposed to an emerging reading medium, the electronic book (“e-books,” “living book,” or “CD-ROM storybook”). Yet, studies on its effectiveness for students at risk remain limited in number and scope. In the current chapter, we review two recent studies, conducted by the authors, initiated to test the potential of e-books for enhancing emergent literacy among preschool children at risk for learning disabilities (ALD). The first study compared the effect of activity with an educational e-book developed specifically for the study with the effect of an adult reading a printed version of the same book. In the second study, we conducted a comparison of the same e-book’s effect on emergent literacy among ALD children as opposed to typically developing children. The findings show that despite the initial disadvantages exhibited by ALD children in vocabulary, phonological awareness, and CAP when compared to TD children, they are clearly capable of making strides in the emergent literacy skills tested after exposure to an educational e-book of the type employed.