Literacy, Equity, and the Employment of iPads in the Classroom: A Comparison of Secure and Developing Readers

This study explored 6th grade students reading of science text on the iPad to better understand how students with varying strengths of comprehending text and current academic abilities interpret text on their iPads. Our study sample compared three students with strong reading scores based on informal reading inventories, standardized tests, and other literacy measures with students who have not yet demonstrated strong reading scores on the same assessments. Verbal protocols allowed us to look at individual student's cognitive processes while reading assigned science text on the iPad. We analyzed data based on the theory of Constructively Responsive reading (Pressley & Afflerbach, 1995). Our data shows that while secure readers fit Pressley and Afflerbach's description of a 'massively active' reader, verbal protocols for developing readers revealed students' difficulty constructing meaning with the text. In addition, self-efficacy and navigational skills on the iPad differed between secure and developing readers. The differences in processing between students in our secure and developing groups points to the need for increased support for developing readers as they navigate reading of science texts on the iPad.