TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home

Can the TeleRead site aid e-book research?

By Prof. Richard Bellaver

During the past year my Ball State University students have been researching the literature (that’s academic talk for “trying to find out”) on e-book devices.

They have tried to see if there is evidence that the use of the devices is of value to grade school students.

They have not found a great deal of evidence, but what they have found is discouraging to us who think that e-book devices can be useful.

Most of the studies have been short term with few students participating.

There are also many caveats that imply that if we knew more about usability of the devices we might get better (not necessarily positive) results.

New studies would help

It appears that in order to get to the bottom of questions in the literature, research is necessary into whether there is any learning value to using electronic devices and how the devices can be fit into the classroom environment. New studies need to look at small components of both learning and usability over time with larger and more demographically representative subjects.

Provided we get some grant funding, we, Susan Tancock from Teacher’s College, Rolf Holtz from the Department of Psychology Sciences and faculty of the Center for Information and Communication Sciences at Ball State University are designing such research.

But we need help! It seems that if more experts could review our research agenda and make comments as we proceed, our activity would be more robust and more meaningful. Read that “experts” as anyone with experience in teaching with computers or measuring learning or with ideas on the subject. How do we get exposure to such a vast audience? One way is to use this very web site. My friend David Rothman has given some ideas on how the site could be used.

How TeleRead will help

We will:

(1) Establish and maintain the infrastructure for a Ball State University blog on the TeleRead site, with Prof. Bellaver and others from BSU supplying the content. The blog can be as scholarly and detailed as BSU would like. Please note that we may evolve from a blog site to a more magazine-style approach. However, it still will be possible for BSU to have a blog or the equivalent.

(2) Point to the BSU blog from the main TeleRead blog or equivalent and summarize items there when news justifies it. This way, BSU will enjoy exposure to the world at large as well as input from knowledgeable e-book users outside academia. The more people know about BSU, the more feedback researchers there can enjoy. When BSU has an e-book-related usability question, people in the main TeleBlog can respond from experience—which should nicely complement BSU’s research and academic theories.

(3) Provide BSU students and faculty with an opportunity to interact with e-book users, via items that the BSU people can contribute directly to the main blog in its customary style. TeleRead encourages and prominently features reader comments. We are also planning forums and will welcome BSU’s input.

What are we trying to do?

Following is the gist of our research. I have included the basics on what we are trying to do and how we are to measure the results. More details on the plan are available to any one who contacts me.

Proposal Summery

This project is a continuation of the six-year Ball State University research on digital reading. Its aim is to discover if the use of Wireless Handheld Devices (WHDs) can increase learning and if they can be introduced effectively into the classroom. If it can be shown that there is value in using WHDs, this project will lay the groundwork for determining how such devices should be used as well as the defining the necessary training for students and teachers. Initially the devices will contain reading, spelling, and dictionary materials. Assessment of how WHD usage influences student performance will involve experimenter observations and participant-centered criteria of reactions, learning, application (behavioral), and classroom results. To examine learning, reading comprehension and motivation will be tested and observed. To examine usability, previous studies will be expanded in a slow progressive manner.

Funded by previous grants, faculty from the Psychology Department and Teacher’s College of Ball State are currently working on refining the means to determine the learning measurements mentioned above. In the next six months, a team of additional faculty, grade school teachers, graduate students, content providers, and hardware/software providers will continue to test usability methods using currently available WHDs. The results of those activities will be incorporated into the planning for this project. Our subject base will include elementary schools in rural Indiana, in metropolitan areas, and internationally. If this project is successful, a measurement base can be established to use as additional curricula and feature usage are added in the future.

Assessment/Evaluation Plan

There is little research related to how reading from digital texts affects comprehension. We just use them in the classroom for literacy instruction. This study will use a variety of instruments to measure reading comprehension. Content available from Reading A to Z, including quizzes for each book will be used to measure basic understanding of the texts. The materials are leveled, which makes it efficient to easily see how comprehension progresses from level to level with authentic, highly-engaging digital texts.

A second method of measuring overall achievement in comprehension is to gather standardized test data from the subjects in the study. In Indiana, the Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress (ISTEP) gives norm-referenced data for reading comprehension. These data will show if student comprehension gains are shown on a standardized measure after children have had experiences reading digital texts.

The Reading Survey portion of the Motivation to Read Profile (Gambrell, Palmer, Codling, & Mazzoni, 1996) will be administered to see how reading motivation is affected by reading mostly digital texts in the elementary school literacy program. Motivation greatly affects reading comprehension, so these data will be especially important in determining the effectiveness of the WHDs.

System usability will be examined using the User Centered approach. There will be a comprehensive usability plan. Representative participants will be randomly selected. Participant feedback will take place throughout entire design lifecycle. The factors of efficiency, effectiveness, ease of learning, error tolerance and user satisfaction will be examined.

It’s up to you.

We have almost a year to refine our project. Here is our first test of using this web site. Any input we get can be pre-tested in the time frame. What do you think? Please give us experience and ideas or tell us that we are crazy, or tell us a better way to get researchers and experts involved.

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