Abstract
Touchscreen devices have become the mainstream terminals for human-information interaction and have great appeal to children. Scholars still have disputes on the effects of touchscreen learning in young children aged three to six. This study aims to investigate whether touchscreen devices can promote young children’s learning achievements, and to explore the mechanism triggering young children’s touchscreen learning. Fifteen articles involving 5075 participants were included into the meta-analysis, in which corresponding combination of effect size and sub-group analysis were conducted. The result indicates that touchscreen learning can promote young children’s learning achievements in general. Subject is a significant moderator for young children’s touchscreen learning. Touchscreen devices has the best positive effect on young children’s visuo-spatial ability, but little on literacy and arithmetic ability. The advantages of touchscreen learning for young children’s academic performance could be maintained compared with different traditional teaching methods, and lasted throughout the whole stage aged three to six. There is a contradiction between embodied cognition theory and cognitive load theory in explaining young children’s touchscreen learning. The Embodied Cognitive Load Theory and three types of learning (sensorimotor load superiority learning, processing load superiority learning, and double loads learning) were put forward as the theoretical assumption to explore the mechanism and convergence of young children’s touchscreen learning.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The datasets generated during and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
References
Ahearne, C., Dilworth, S., Rollings, R., Livingstone, V., & Murray, D. (2016). Touch-screen technology usage in toddlers. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 101(2), 181–183. https://doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2015-309278
Ale, M., Sturdee, M., & Rubegni, E. (2022). A systematic survey on embodied cognition: 11 years of research in child–computer interaction. International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction, 33, 100478. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcci.2022.100478
Alibali, M. W. (2005). Gesture in spatial cognition: Expressing, communicating, and thinking about spatial information. Spatial Cognition & Computation, 5(4), 307–331. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15427633scc0504_2
Anderson, M. L. (2003). Embodied cognition: A field guide. Artificial Intelligence, 149(1), 91–130. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0004-3702(03)00054-7
Baldwin, D., Andersson, A., Saffran, J., & Meyer, M. (2008). Segmenting dynamic human action via statistical structure. Cognition, 106, 1382–1407. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2007.07.005
Cavus, N., & Ibrahim, D. (2017). Learning English using children’s stories in mobile devices. British Journal of Educational Technology, 48(2), 625–641. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12427
Christakis, D. (2014). Interactive media use at younger than the age of 2 years: Time to rethink the American academy of pediatrics guideline? JAMA Pediatrics, 168https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2013.5081
Ciampa, K. (2014). Learning in a mobile age: An investigation of student motivation. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 30(1), 82–96. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcal.12036
Cohen, J. (1992). A power primer. Psychological Bulletin, 112(1), 155–159. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.112.1.155
Cook, H., & Ausubel, D. (1970). Educational psychology: A cognitive view. The American Journal of Psychology, 83, 303. https://doi.org/10.2307/1421346
Ehrlich, S., Levine, S., & Goldin-Meadow, S. (2006). The importance of gesture in children’s spatial reasoning. Developmental Psychology, 42, 1259–1268. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.42.6.1259
Fisch, S. M. (2017). Chapter 11 - Bridging Theory and Practice: Applying Cognitive and Educational Theory to the Design of Educational Media. In F. C. Blumberg & P. J. Brooks (Eds.), Cognitive Development in Digital Contexts (pp. 217–234). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-809481-5.00011-0
Gagne, R. (1985). The Conditions of Learning and Theory of Instruction. New York Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.
Grant, M. J., & Booth, A. (2009). A typology of reviews: An analysis of 14 review types and associated methodologies. Health Information & Libraries Journal, 26(2), 91–108. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-1842.2009.00848.x
Hatherly, A., & Chapman, B. (2013). Fostering motivation for literacy in early childhood education using iPads. Computers in New Zealand Schools: Learning, Teaching, Technology, 25(1–3), 138–151.
Hedges, L. V., & Vevea, J. L. (1998). Fixed- and Random-effects models in meta-analysis. Psychological Methods, 3(4), 486–504. https://doi.org/10.1037/1082-989X.3.4.486
Higgins, J. P. T., Altman, D. G., Gøtzsche, P. C., Jüni, P., Moher, D., Oxman, A. D., Savović, J., Schulz, K. F., Weeks, L., & Sterne, J. A. C. (2011). The Cochrane collaboration’s tool for assessing risk of bias in randomised trials. BMJ, 343, d5928. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.d5928
Hirsh-Pasek, K., Zosh, J., Golinkoff, R., Gray, J., Robb, M., & Kaufman, J. (2015). Putting education in “educational” apps: Lessons from the science of learning. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 16, 3–34. https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100615569721
Huber, B., Tarasuik, J., Antoniou, M. N., Garrett, C., Bowe, S. J., & Kaufman, J. (2016). Young children’s transfer of learning from a touchscreen device. Computers in Human Behavior, 56, 56–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.11.010
Jin, Y.-R., & Lin, L.-Y. (2022). Relationship between touchscreen tablet usage time and attention performance in young children. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 54(2), 317–326. https://doi.org/10.1080/15391523.2021.1891995
Lee, H. K., & Choi, A. (2020). Enhancing early numeracy skills with a tablet-based math game intervention: A study in Tanzania. Educational Technology Research and Development, 68(6), 3567–3585. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-020-09808-y
Lee, J., Ho, A., & Wood, E. (2018). Harnessing early spatial learning using technological and traditional tools at home. In V. Freiman & J. L. Tassell (Eds.), Creativity and Technology in Mathematics Education (pp. 279–302). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72381-5_11
Luo, Y., & Yang, Y. (2019). A review of educational APP. DEStech Transactions on Social Science, Education and Human Science. https://doi.org/10.12783/dtssehs/ermas2019/33368
Madeira, C.-A., & Slotta, J. D. (2008). The Cambridge handbook of the learning sciences (R. Keith Sawyer, ed., 2005). Curriculum Inquiry, 38(4), 473–476. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-873X.2008.00425.x
Mattoon, C., Bates, A., Shifflet, R., Latham, N., & Ennis, S. (2015). Examining computational skills in prekindergarteners: The effects of traditional and digital manipulatives in a prekindergarten classroom. Early Childhood Research & Practice, 17(1), 1–9.
Messer, D., Thomas, L., Holliman, A., & Kucirkova, N. (2018). Evaluating the effectiveness of an educational programming intervention on children’s mathematics skills, spatial awareness and working memory. Education and Information Technologies, 23(6), 2879–2888. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-018-9747-x
Neumann, M. M. (2018). Using tablets and apps to enhance emergent literacy skills in young children. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 42, 239–246. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2017.10.006
Pila, S., Aladé, F., Sheehan, K. J., Lauricella, A. R., & Wartella, E. A. (2019). Learning to code via tablet applications: An evaluation of Daisy the Dinosaur and Kodable as learning tools for young children. Computers & Education, 128, 52–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2018.09.006
Portugal, A. M., Bedford, R., Cheung, C. H. M., Mason, L., & Smith, T. J. (2021). Longitudinal touchscreen use across early development is associated with faster exogenous and reduced endogenous attention control. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 2205. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-81775-7
Post, L., Gog, T., Paas, F., & Zwaan, R. (2013). Effects of simultaneously observing and making gestures while studying grammar animations on cognitive load and learning. Computers in Human Behavior, 29, 1450–1455. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2013.01.005
Radesky, J., Schumacher, J., & Zuckerman, B. (2015). Mobile and interactive media use by young children: The good, the bad, and the unknown. Pediatrics, 135, 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2014-2251
Rideout, V., & Robb, M. B. (2020). The common sense census: media use by kids age zero to eight, 2020. Common Sense Media.
Schroeder, E., & Kirkorian, H. (2016). When seeing is better than doing: Preschoolers’ transfer of STEM skills using touchscreen games. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1377. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01377
Skulmowski, A., Pradel, S., Kühnert, T., Brunnett, G., & Rey, G. D. (2016). Embodied learning using a tangible user interface: The effects of haptic perception and selective pointing on a spatial learning task. Computers & Education, 92–93, 64–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2015.10.011
Song, H. S., Pusic, M., Nick, M. W., Sarpel, U., Plass, J. L., & Kalet, A. L. (2014). The cognitive impact of interactive design features for learning complex materials in medical education. Computers & Education, 71, 198–205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2013.09.017
Stull, A. T., & Mayer, R. E. (2007). Learning by doing versus learning by viewing: Three experimental comparisons of learner-generated versus author-provided graphic organizers. Journal of Educational Psychology, 99(4), 808–820. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.99.4.808
Sweller, J. (1988). Cognitive load during problem solving: Effects on learning. Cognitive Science, 12(2), 257–285. https://doi.org/10.1016/0364-0213(88)90023-7
Sweller, J. (2010). Element interactivity and intrinsic, extraneous, and germane cognitive load. Educational Psychology Review, 22(2), 123–138. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-010-9128-5
Sweller, J. (2020). Cognitive load theory and educational technology. Educational Technology Research and Development, 68(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-019-09701-3
Tarasuik, J., Demaria, A., & Kaufman, J. (2017). Transfer of problem solving skills from touchscreen to 3D model by 3- to 6-year-olds. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 1586. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.0158
Acknowledgements
This study is funded by Chongqing Social Science Planning Project (No. 2019YBJJ102), and Chongqing University Outstanding Talents Support Program. We thank Ms. Fang Xie at Chongqing Normal University for her warm help and constructive suggestions.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interests
We declare no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Additional information
Publisher's note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Li, Q., Wei, Y., Peng, Y. et al. Divergence and convergence of young children's touchscreen learning: a meta-analysis review. Educ Inf Technol 28, 7703–7724 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-022-11501-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-022-11501-x