Open AccessEffects of a computer based beginning reading program on young children
Author(s) -
Tara Marie Watson,
Kerry Hempenstall
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
australasian journal of educational technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1449-5554
pISSN - 1449-3098
DOI - 10.14742/ajet.1208
Subject(s) - fluency , phonemic awareness , reading (process) , psychology , phonological awareness , memory span , word (group theory) , audiology , developmental psychology , mathematics education , linguistics , pedagogy , literacy , medicine , cognition , working memory , philosophy , neuroscience
This study was an evaluation of a parent delivered, computer based beginning reading program with a group of 15 Kindergarten and Grade 1 students. Completing the Funnix program at home through a CD copy was expected to produce educationally and statistically significant improvements in phonemic awareness, letter-sound fluency, non-word decoding skills, and oral reading fluency, when compared to the outcomes for a similar group of 16 students in a wait list comparison group. Data were analysed using univariate analyses of covariance incorporating effect sizes. Statistically significant treatment effects were found for Kindergarten students in the intervention group on letter-sound fluency, oral reading fluency, non-word decoding, and phonemic awareness skills. Grade 1 students in the intervention group demonstrated significant improvement over time on letter-sound fluency, letter-name knowledge, non-word decoding and oral reading fluency; however, these improvements were not significantly greater than those for the Grade 1 comparison group. It was concluded that Kindergarten students gained the most benefits, and that at risk students may represent a fruitful target audience.