Student Teachers’ Implementation and Understanding of Repeated Picture-Book Reading in Preschools

Research conducted among student teachers during three academic years (2010-2011; 2011-2012 ; 2012-2013) at Israel’s Levinsky College of Education sought to ascertain (a) the extent of implementation of repeated picture-book reading (RPBR) with preschool groups each academic year ; (b) how does the implementation of RPBR progress throughout the years of the study ? (c) students’ understanding of the value of RPBR; and (d) the perceived benefits and difficulties of RPBR by student-teachers. Of approximately 250 students who completed questionnaires each semester, most report that they regularly perform RPBR – implementation in 2013 was 96% for students in the four-year academic program and 100% for those in the two-year, teacher certification program. Inclusion of children experiencing language, social, behavioral or other difficulties in these groups was high (around 77%) from the second year of studies. Content analysis of responses to the open questions led to defining reflective categories that reveal the students’ conceptual understanding of RPBR. Overall, 40% of the responses in 2013 were defined as showing either a “narrow” or “extended” understanding compared with 37% in 2012 and 20% in 2011

Preschoolers’ views on integration of digital technologies

The aim of the present study was to explore preschool children’s views on the integration of digital technologies in their school. The study included 171 Israeli children aged 3 to 6 who participated in in-depth interviews regarding their views on digital technologies in their preschool. The interviews were analyzed using content analysis. Three major views regarding digital technologies in the preschool were found: The degree to which digital technologies are necessary; the goals of the use of these technologies; the setting for using the digital technologies. Fifty percent of the children, especially the younger ones, claimed that use of these technologies is not necessary in preschool. However, most of them understood the importance of using these technologies and their contribution to many fields. In relation to the setting use, they referred to time and social aspects. The findings indicate that preschool teachers need to mediate these aspects more wisely and adapt them to the children's understanding and view toward digital technologies than actually takes place when they use them with the children

Repeated E-book Reading and Its Contribution to Learning New Words among Kindergartners

The contribution of repeated e-book reading with and without word explanation support and its effect on receptive and expressive word learning among preschoolers was examined. Seventy-eight kindergartners were randomly divided into an experimental and a control group. The experimental group received two individual reading sessions of an e-book with a dictionary that provided word explanations. The children clicked on hotspots which provided the explanation two more times. The children thus heard the meaning of the word three times in each session, with a total of six times. Not all difficult words received a dictionary explanation. The control group received the regular kindergarten program. The children's receptive word learning, word explanation and production of focal words were tested pre and post intervention. An improvement in all dependent measures was found post-intervention, compared to the control group. The dictionary in the e-book supported not only receptive word learning, but also word explanation. Words that received a dictionary explanation supported word learning better than words which were not included in the dictionary. Furthermore, receiving support six times was more effective than three times. Educational implications are discussed

Engineering stories? A narratological approach to children's book apps

With the rise of smartphones and tablet pcs, children's book apps have emerged as a new type of children's media. While some of them are based on popular children's books such as Mo Willems’ Pigeon books or Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit, others were specifically designed as apps. This paper focuses on examining book apps under the aspects of implied user strategies and narrative structure. Using a narratological framework that also takes into account the unique characteristics of the medium, a terminology for the analysis of book apps will be sketched out. Furthermore, an exemplary analysis of iOS books apps for pre- and grade school children comes to the conclusion that, far from offering the child users room for individual creativity, a large number of apps rather train their users in following prescribed paths of reading

Two sides to every story: children learn words better from one storybook page at a time

Two experiments tested how the number of illustrations in storybooks influences 3.5-year-old children's word learning from shared reading. In Experiment 1, children encountered stories with two regular-sized A4 illustrations, one regular-sized A4 illustration, or one large-sized A3 illustration (in the control group) per spread. Children learned significantly fewer words when they had to find the referent within two illustrations presented at the same time. In Experiment 2, a gesture was added to guide children's attention to the correct page in the 2-illustration condition. Children who saw two illustrations with a guiding gesture learned words as well as children who had seen only one illustration per spread. Results are discussed in terms of the cognitive load of word learning from storybooks

Reading touch screen storybooks with mothers negatively affects seven-year-old readers’ comprehension but enriches emotional engagement

Touch screen storybooks turn reading into an interactive multimedia experience, with hotspot-activated animations, sound effects, and games. Positive and negative effects of reading multimedia stories have been reported, but the underlying mechanisms which explain how children’s learning is affected remain uncertain. The present study examined the effect of storybook format (touch screen and print) on story comprehension, and considered how level of touch screen interactivity (high and low) and shared reading behaviors (cognitive and emotional scaffolding, emotional engagement) might contribute to comprehension. Seven-year-olds (n = 22) were observed reading one touch screen storybook and one print storybook with their mothers. Story comprehension was inferior for the touch screen storybooks compared to the print versions. Touch screen interactivity had no significant effect on comprehension but did affect shared reading behaviors. The mother-child dyads spent less time talking about the story in the highly interactive touch screen condition, despite longer shared reading sessions because of touch screen interactions. Positive emotional engagement was greater for children and mothers in the highly interactive touch screen condition, due to additional positive emotions expressed during touch screen interactions. Negative emotional engagement was greater for children when reading and talking about the story in the highly interactive condition, and some mothers demonstrated negative emotional engagement with the touch screen activities. The less interactive touch screen storybook had little effect on shared reading behaviors, but mothers controlling behaviors were more frequent. Storybook format had no effect on the frequency of mothers’ cognitive scaffolding behaviors (comprehension questions, word help). Relationships between comprehension and shared reading behaviors were examined for each storybook, and length of the shared reading session and controlling behaviors had significant effects on comprehension, but the mechanisms driving comprehension were not fully explained by the data. The potential for touch screen storybooks to contribute to cognitive overload in seven-year-old developing readers is discussed, as is the complex relationship between cognitive and emotional scaffolding behaviors, emotional engagement, and comprehension. Sample characteristics and methodological limitations are also discussed to help inform future research

Can the computer replace the adult for storybook reading? A meta-analysis on the effects of multimedia stories as compared to sharing print stories with an adult

The present meta-analysis challenges the notion that young children necessarily need adult scaffolding in order to understand a narrative story and learn words as long as they encounter optimally designed multimedia stories. Including 29 studies and 1272 children, multimedia stories were found more beneficial than encounters with traditional story materials that did not include the help of an adult for story comprehension (g+ = 0.40, k = 18) as well as vocabulary (g+ = 0.30, k = 11). However, no significant differences were found between the learning outcomes of multimedia stories and sharing traditional print-like stories with an adult. It is concluded that multimedia features like animated illustrations, background music and sound effects provide similar scaffolding of story comprehension and word learning as an adult

Vedenalainen tukimuuri : Halkoniemen satama

Tampereen Infran rakentamispalvelut rakensi Halkoniemen sataman rakennusurakassa uuden veneiden talvisäilytysalueen, joka rajattiin satama-altaasta osittain vedenalaisella tukimuurilla. Opinnäytetyön tavoitteena oli dokumentoida talvisäilytysalueen massanvaihdon ja tukimuurin rakentamisen työvaiheet, sekä kertoa vedenalaisen rakentamisen erityispiirteistä. Opinnäytetyössä esiteltiin hankkeen lähtötiedot, sekä massanvaihdon ja tukimuurin asentamisen suunnitelmat ja työselostukset, sekä edellä mainittujen työvaiheiden käytännön toteutuksesta työmaalla. Massanvaihto tehtiin vaiheittain rannasta järvelle edeten, jossa pitkäpuomisella kaivinkoneella kaivettiin pehmeä maa-aines pois, ja tilalle pengerrettiin sekarakeista louhetta. Rakenne tiivistettiin esikuormituspenkereellä, joka poistettiin kaivamalla kuukauden painumisen jälkeen. Kaivettuun uraan tehtiin elementeille pohjat, johon asennettiin tukimuurielementit yksi kerrallaan, ja lopuksi tehtiin taustatäytöt. Työssä esitettiin myös sopivat työryhmät eri työvaiheisiin, työvaiheiden paikalleen mittaus, sekä tekemisen turvallisuusvaatimukset. Opinnäytetyössä pohdittiin veden alaisten ja veden äärellä tehtävien töiden erityispiirteitä, vastaavanlaisen tukimuurin rakentamista kuivana, ja rakentamista matalammista elementeistä, joiden päälle valettaisiin reunapalkki. Työssä pohdittiin myös onnistumisen kannalta kriittisimpiä työvaiheita, eli oikeanlaisen louheen saatavuutta massanvaihdon alkaessa, sekä tukimuurin kohdalle tulevan louhetäytön tekemistä oikeaan korkeusasemaan.Tampereen Infra rakentamispalvelut built in case port of Halkoniemi a new area for boat’s winter storing where they used underwater retaining wall. The target of thesis was to document different operations during the work and tell the special features considering underwater construction. In the thesis was presented to output data of project, the planning of mass replacement and installation plan of retaining wall. The thesis deal also how to execute these operations at site. There was also an overview what kind of personnel is needed to carry out this kind of work safely. In the thesis was discussing special features considering about underwater construction and other workduties next to water. There was discussing what are the most critical work operations to success in project