E-reading comprehension versus conventional reading comprehension

Abstract

Technology is an increasing part in the lives of junior high students, but little is known about how this technology affects their reading. Reading comprehension from e-books is compared to reading comprehension from conventional print books with junior high students. The problem is that students may be reading from a medium that is less than the most effective medium, which has a negative effect on their achievement in school and beyond. The purpose of this quantitative study was to use a posttest-only experimental design to compare the reading comprehension of three groups of junior high students: (a) a control group using conventional text, (b) an experimental group using plain e-text, and (c) an experimental group using e-text with supports. According to a power analysis, at least 269 students would be necessary to detect a medium effect size. A suburban public junior high school provided 284 participants from Pittsburgh,. . .