The role of the medium for verbal engagement: shared reading in groups with books and apps in Norwegian ECEC-institutions.

The study investigates the medium’s importance for engagement in reading groups during shared, dialogue-based reading (SDBR) with books and apps in Norwegian kindergartens. The research questions are: 1. What are the differences between SDBR with printed picture books and picture book apps regarding the length, topic of and participation in dialogue? 2. How does the length, topic of and participation in dialogue differ between high- and low-interactive picture book apps?

The results show that the average dialogue length does not vary based on the medium chosen. However, there are significantly more utterances about the medium itself in app readings than in book readings. Apps that have high interactivity lead to more conversation about the medium than low-interactive apps.

The data material consists of video recordings of kindergarten teachers reading two stories to a group of kindergarten children - once in printed book format and once via a picture book app. The children's and kindergarten teachers' verbal engagement was encoded for dialogue length (duration) and topic (frequency, utterance about medium or narrative/content). A total of 12 kindergarten teachers and 72 children from six Norwegian kindergartens participated in the study.

Schulz-Heidorf, K., Jernes, M., Hoel, T., & Mangen, A. (2021). “The role of the medium for verbal engagement: shared reading in groups with books and apps in Norwegian ECEC-institutions”. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 29(5):683-695.