Can electronic textbooks help children to learn?

Purpose – This paper investigates the potential electronic textbooks (e‐textbooks) have to augment the learning and education of children.Design/methodology/approach – The study consisted of a total of 60 pupils, split into five groups of 12 participants (six boys and six girls). Each of the five groups were in turn split into two sub‐groups of six (three boys and three girls): one sub‐group used the printed textbook, while the other used a CD‐ROM on a laptop computer. The pupils completed a group test and an individual multiple choice test on information found in the textbooks.Findings – The study showed that the e‐textbook was widely accepted by the participants, and motivated group participation. Those using the e‐textbook achieved significantly higher test results on average in the group test. Higher (but not significant) average results were achieved by e‐textbook users in the individual test.Research limitations/implications – An acknowledged limitation of the study is that the textbooks used for th...

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