Abstract​
Storybook reading with an adult is important for developing comprehension, vocabulary and literacy in general. Although printed stories continue to account for the majority of children's reading activities, touch screen story reading is steadily increasingly in popularity, but its impact on children's reading engagement and learning is unclear. Studies using basic electronic stories on computers, laptops or e-readers have reported that reading engagement is positively affected compared to printed stories, and literacy can be enhanced, though this depends on the context. For touch screen story reading, parents report that young children enjoy reading in this format less than printed stories, and tend to engage with a touch screen story for a shorter time than a printed story, perhaps related to the fact that reading on a touch screen is more often without an adult than with an adult. This study looked at the parent-child interaction when reading in two formats: book or iPad, as well as the child's understanding of the story. Additional measures of the child's general reading ability, as well as home environment and reading experience were measured. I will discuss the results of the study, and describe the next steps for our research in this area.

Biography Dr Rachel Pye is Lecturer in Psychology at the School of Psychology & Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, and Director of Teaching & Learning for Psychology. Her research concerns the relationship between orthography (the way a word looks) and phonology (the way a word sounds), specifically in dyslexia and in skilled reading in different languages.