Computers in Human Behavior
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Computers in Human Behavior 81 (2018) 378e389
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Computers in Human Behavior
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Full length article
Learning through play: The impact of web-based games on early literacy development
Kelly L. Schmitt a, *, Lisa B. Hurwitz b, Laura Sheridan Duel a, Deborah L. Nichols Linebarger c, 1
a KL Media Research, 2457 N. Halsted St., Chicago, IL 60614, USA b Center on Media and Human Development, School of Communication, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA c Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history: Received 19 September 2017 Received in revised form 29 November 2017 Accepted 22 December 2017 Available online 26 December 2017
* Corresponding author. Current Address: Psychol versity Graduate School, Fort Lauderdale, FL and KL Me
E-mail addresses: lisa.hurwitz@u.northwest deborahnichols@purdue.edu (D.L. Nichols Linebarger)
1 Current Address: Deborah L. Nichols Linebarger is and Family Studies, Purdue University, West Lafayette
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.12.036 0747-5632/© 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
a b s t r a c t
Education practitioners and policy-makers are enthusiastic about web-based games’ potential to pro- mote reading and pre-reading skills, although it is unclear how effective these games are, especially for children in early childhood. The aim of this study was to determine if literacy games on an educational website could effectively promote early literacy. 136 preschoolers and kindergarteners were randomly assigned to play literacy-focused (intervention group), or puzzle- and arts-themed computer games (control) for 8 weeks at home. Children’s early literacy skills were evaluated pre- and post-intervention via 12 literacy assessments. Children in the intervention group outperformed control group peers on eight of these outcomes. Learning was most pronounced for alliteration and phonics, which are important early predictors of later reading abilities.
© 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
For the past three decades, experts have debated whether computers can support early literacy learning (McCarrick & Li, 2007; Plowman & Stephen, 2003). Seeing promise in educational game-based websites that potentially could widely disseminate lessons about literacy in engaging ways, scholars and content producers around the globe in countries such as Australia (e.g., Wolgemuth et al., 2013), Canada (e.g., Savage, Abrami, Hipps, & Deault, 2009; Savage et al., 2013), Finland (e.g., Saine, Lerkkanen, Ahonen, Tolvanen, & Lyytinen, 2011), France (e.g., Magnan & Ecalle, 2006), Israel (e.g., Mioduser, Tur-Kaspa, & Leitner, 2000), Italy (e.g., Giacomo Dina et al., 2016), and the Netherlands (e.g., Segers & Verhoeven, 2003, 2005) created educational, literacy- themed computer games and websites for young children. In the U.S. where the present data were collected, the federal government has funded numerous initiatives aiming to utilize websites and
ogy Department, Keiser Uni- dia Research, Chicago, IL USA ern.edu (L.B. Hurwitz), . now at Human Development , IN.
other technology for supporting academic development (e.g., U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Technology, 2010). For example, the U.S. Ready To Learn (RTL) initiative provides $25 million annually for commercial screen media, including computer games, websites, and other new media, intended to promote early literacy among both general and low-income populations (Hurwitz, in press).
Currently, the evidence is mixed as to whether educational computer games and websites can successfully promote early lit- eracy (Torgerson, 2007), especially if played by young children at home outside of a school setting (Garrity, Piotrowski, McMenamin, & Linebarger, 2010). The present study is unique in the focus on early childhood and the use of a controlled experimental design (Tobias, Fletcher, Dai, &Wind, 2011; Torgerson, 2007) to determine whether a website with a leveled series of literacy-themed games could promote early literacy when played at home.
1.1. Early literacy skills
Children who enter kindergarten without foundational early literacy skills remain at risk for reading difficulties throughout their schooling (Alexander, Entwisle, & Olson, 2007; Juel, 1988). Expert groups, including the National Reading Panel (2000) convened by the U.S. Congress have identified a number of foundational early
mailto:lisa.hurwitz@u.northwestern.edu
mailto:deborahnichols@purdue.edu
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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.12.036
K.L. Schmitt et al. / Computers in Human Behavior 81 (2018) 378e389 379
literacy skills crucial to later literacy development; these skills have been promoted heavily in U.S. educational policy.
As young children begin to learn to read, they first develop concepts of print or knowledge of print conventions (e.g., that text in English is read from left to right; Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), 2010), alphabetic knowledge or mastery of the names and printing of up- percase and then lowercase letters of the alphabet (Grant et al., 2012; Drouin, Horner, & Sondergeld, 2012; NICHD, 2010; Pence Turnbull, Bowles, Skibbe, Justice, & Wiggins, 2010), and phonemic awareness or an understanding of language sounds, which is demonstrated through sub-skills such as rhyming and alliteration (Grant et al., 2012; National Reading Panel, 2000; Wagner et al., 1997). Children’s ability to provide the sound(s) associated with each letter allows them to move on to more complex skills, such as phonics, or the ability to map letters and sounds, and spelling (Foulin, 2005; National Reading Panel, 2000). As children master these skills, they require fewer processing resources to name letters and sounds, which contributes to conventional reading success (Burgess & Lonigan, 1988; Foulin, 2005). Over time, children begin to develop fluency or the ability to read accurately, quickly, and expressively (National Reading Panel, 2000), and comprehension (National Reading Panel, 2000).
Unfortunately, these skills are often less developed among lower-SES children than their same-age higher-SES peers (Bradbury, Corak, Waldfogel, & Washbrook, 2015). All these early literacy skills are moderate to large predictors of conventional lit- eracy skills, including reading comprehension, spelling, and writing, and have been demonstrated to be improved via inter- vention (see NICHD, 2010; National Reading Panel, 2000).
Throughout childhood, the child also grows his/her vocabulary (National Reading Panel, 2000). Vocabulary knowledge is impor- tant not only to the development of reading comprehension (Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002; Stahl & Fairbanks, 1986) but also to general reading ability (Stanovich, Cunningham, & Feeman, 1984). It may be particularly important to identify interventions that support the vocabulary skills of children from low-income com- munities, given the findings from Hart & Risley’s (2003) seminal study indicating that low-income children hear one-half to one- third fewer spoken words on a daily basis than children in more affluent households.
1.2. Educational computer games supporting literacy development
1.2.1. Concerns about learning from media Critics have questioned whether it is the best use of children’s
time to be using computers and other screen media (for reviews, see McCarrick & Li, 2007; Plowman & Stephen, 2003). Concerns have centered around whether that time might displace the time children have available to focus on reading, learning or other developmentally enriching tasks (Neuman, 1995). Research with older children found that computer use facilitated independent reading time but inhibited study time and had mixed results on children’s academic achievement, partially substantiating time- related concerns (Hofferth, 2010). Even if children only spend a small amount of time on the computer, other concerned parties worry that they might inadvertently be exposed to inappropriate content, such as sexual or violent videos or advertisements (Plowman & Stephen, 2003). Aligned with these concerns, expert groups such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and National Institute for Care and Health Excellence in the U.K. have advocated placing strict limitations on young children’s screen time (Blum- Ross & Livingstone, 2016). Although educational software exists that is intended to ensure the time children spend on the computer is fruitful, critics further contend that preschool-age children lack
the abstract and symbolic reasoning capabilities to learn from in- formation presented on a computer screen (McCarrick & Li, 2007). However, in light of a nearly fifty-year history underscoring that children ages 3 and above can learn from well-designed, curricu- lum-based television (Fisch, 2004), it logically follows that pre- schoolers might benefit from thoughtfully designed, literacy- themed computer games.
1.2.2. Theoretical background supporting learning from media Contrasting the critics above, several theories, including
frameworks by Fisch and Vygotsky, suggest that educational com- puter games and websites should be able to promote learning in literacy and other areas.
Fisch’s (2000; 2004; 2016) Capacity Model, a theoretical model originally intended to explicate learning from television, also has been applied to interactive media. The Capacity Model suggests that children have a limited amount of working memory resources that they can dedicate to screen media. As such, all features in a computer game or other media stimulus should work in tandem to promote the same learning goals and should be designed in…
