Multimedia and Literacy Development

Representing the state of the art in multimedia applications and their promise for enhancing early literacy development, this volume broadens the field of reading research by looking beyond print-only experiences to young readers' encounters with multimedia stories on the Internet and DVD. Multimedia storybooks include, in addition to static pictures and written text, features such as oral text, animations, sounds, zooms, and scaffolds designed to help convey meaning. These features are changing how young children read text, and also provide technology-based scaffolds for helping struggling readers.
Multimedia and Literacy Development reports experimental research and practices with multimedia stories indicating that new dimensions of media contribute to young children's ability to understand stories and to read texts independently. This is the first synthesis of evidence-based research in this field. Four key themes are highlighted:
Understanding the multimedia environment for learning
Designing multimedia applications for learning
New approaches to storybook reading
Multimedia applications in classroom instruction.
Written in jargon-free language for an international audience of students in university courses on literacy and information technology, researchers, policymakers, program developers, and media specialists, this volume is essential reading for all professionals interested in early literacy and early interventions.

Adriana G. Bus is Professor at Leiden University, the Netherlands. Currently she is working with computer experts, instructional designers, and content specialists on building an Internet environment to promote rich literacy experiences for young children. Susan B. Neuman is Professor in Educational Studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor USA, specializing in early literacy development. Previously, she directed the Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement (CIERA) and served as the U.S. Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education.

@contents: Selected Contents Table of Contents 1. Introduction - Adriana Bus and Susan B. Neuman Part I. Understanding the Multimedia Environment for Learning 2. Children and the Media-Ellen Wartella 3. Digital Beginnings: Young children's Use of Popular Culture, Media and New Technologies-Jackie Marsh 4. A Theory of Synergy- Susan B. Neuman Part II. Designing Multimedia Applications for Learning 5. eBooks as Learning Objects in an Online World - Kathleen Roskos 6. A New Look at an Old Format: Eye Tracking Studies of Shared Book Reading and the Implications for E-Books and E-book Research-Evans 7. Learning from Interactive Vocabulary books in Kindergarten: Looking back, Looking Forward-Segers 8. Progress in Understanding the Uses of Multimedia for Struggling Readers-Van Daal 9. Old and new media in the lives of young bilingual children at risk: effects on first and second language learning--Paul P.M. Leseman & Aziza Y. Mayo Part III. New Approaches to Storybook Reading 10. How multimedia representations contribute to a literate mind for second language learners - Adriana Bus Maria de Jong & Marian Verhallen (Leiden University, Netherlands) 11. The Educational Electronic Book as a Tool for Supporting Children's Emergent Literacy - Adina Shamir & Ofra Korat (Bar Ilan University, Israel) 12. Effects of multimedia stories on literacy development for early English language learners - Yuuko Uchikoshi (University of California, US) 13."Let's do the computer story again, Nana": A Case Study of how a two-year-old and his grandmother shared thinking spaces during Multiple Shared Readings of an Electronic Story, Linda Laboo Part IV: Multimedia Applications in Classroom Instruction 14. Development and evaluation of a multimedia Success for All reading program - Chambers, Slavin, & Madden (John Hopkins University, U15. US) 15. Use of Electronic Storybooks in Reading Instruction: From Theory to Practice - Michael McKenna (Georgia Southern University, US) 16. Computer-Assisted Tutoring: Two Studies of Reading Outcomes in First Grade Classrooms-Chambers et al. 17. Using multimedia to promoting early literacy - Schleifer, Levin, Shilton, Freund, & Levin (University of Tel Aviv, Israel) Part V: Summary and Conclusions 18. Summary and Conclusions: Where do we go from here? - Adriana Bus & Susan B. Neuman