E-Books for supporting the emergent literacy and emergent math of children at risk for learning disabilities: can metacognitive guidance make a difference?

The purpose of the study reported here was to examine the effect of activity with an educational electronic book (e-book), with/without metacognitive guidance, on the emergent literacy (rhyming) and emergent math (essence of addition, ordinal numbers) of kindergartners at risk for learning disability (LD). Seventy-seven children (M = 5.88, SD = .67) participated in the study. The children’s cognitive level (verbal and non-verbal), emergent literacy (rhyming) and emergent math (essence of addition and ordinal numbers) were examined pre- and post-intervention. The findings indicate a significant improvement in these variables among the two groups of subjects who worked with the e-book when compared to the control group. The experimental group that received metacognitive guidance as part of their e-book experience exhibited the greatest improvement in rhyming. The findings are discussed in light of the still meager research on the effectiveness of e-books for promoting learning of children at risk for LD.