E-books and Kids

Technology has become a dominant part of modern society. We use it to communicate and to advance in the world we live in. I came across this article about technology and how it affects children's abilities in reading. I found it very interesting because it made me realize how technology affects most parts of our lives. Right now i am typing on my iPod which i will then upload onto the internet. I see my grades online, i type assignments using a computer, I communicate with my parents and friends through my cellphone, and i even spend my free time on the internet. Modern day society is saturated with technology. 

As useful as technology could be, can it really take the role of books in a child's development in their ability to read? "But a handful of new studies suggest that reading to a child from an electronic device undercuts the dynamic that drives language development." The question i come to ask is now that we are coming up with all of this new technology how quickly should we integrate it into our lives and how we learn?  If it's resulting badly should we continue? The article also states, "And there isn’t any data, really, on e-books." Without really knowing the effects of e-books should we really teach our kids with them? I personally am a fan of pen to paper and reading physical books, but I also see that technology and electronics have helped us advance greatly in this world. "There’s a lot of interaction when you’re reading a book with your child,' Dr. High said. 'You’re turning pages, pointing at pictures, talking about the story. Those things are lost somewhat when you’re using an e-book.' In a 2013 study, researchers found that children ages 3 to 5 whose parents read to them from an electronic book had lower reading comprehension than children whose parents used traditional books. Part of the reason, they said, was that parents and children using an electronic device spent more time focusing on the device itself than on the story (a conclusion shared by at least two other studies)." The article talks about how kids need the interaction and the physical turning of the page to grasp the concept of reading and understanding of what they're doing. "A study by the University of Wisconsin in 2013 found that 2-year-olds learned words faster with an interactive app as opposed to one that required no action." This also confirms that toddlers need the interaction to learn the words and how to read better. Physical books cannot compare to tapping a screen and listening to sound in a sense that the book has one purpose, to be read, versus the e-book that provides a lot of extra things in addition to the actual reading part; we are still figuring out whether or not that is detrimental for a toddler who is learning how to read. 

We don't want our kids to have the lower hand in education, we want them to excel and fulfill their full potential. So much of our lives are already on devices, should we add reading and learning onto the list; especially at such a young age where the kids are more concerned with the device than the actual reading? With these studies coming out and turning the red light on for e-books and reading for toddlers, should we continue to integrate it into our kids learning process?

Article: http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/10/12/us/is-e-reading-to-your-toddler-story-time-or-simply-screen-time.html