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This study addressed whether an application adapted to working with multiple documents implemented in an iPad Pro tablet would promote students’ multiple document comprehension and acceptance of tablets as a multiple document learning tool relative to controls who used a traditional application adapted to sequential reading of single documents. Results indicated that students using the multiple document reading application outperformed the control students in terms of comprehension and also worked more efficiently on the assigned multiple document task, but only if given explicit guidance in selecting, organizing, and integrating information by utilizing the functions of the application. Still, after task completion, the more effective and efficient students guided in using the functions of the multiple document reading application displayed much less acceptance of tablets as a multiple document learning tool than did the control students. We discuss possible explanations for this intriguing performance-acceptance paradox and suggest some avenues for future research in this area.

In this experimental study, 66 undergraduate students in psychology used an iPad pro to study several documents dealing with the same topic. The study aimed to compare the effects of using two different applications on comprehension in a multiple document reading task: Adobe Reader, which is an application oriented towards linear reading, and LiquidText, which is an application designed for non-linear reading. Further, because studying multiple texts is a complex learning task that requires effective and efficient processing strategies, the study tested the effect of strategic guidance that was expected to promote both performance and acceptance of tablets. The results indicated the existence of a performance-preference paradox: while the participants guided in the use of LiquidText achieved better comprehension, they expressed less acceptance of tablets as a tool for studying multiple documents than did the participants who used Adobe Reader.

Les outils pour l'apprentissage mobile que sont les tablettes tactiles sont de plus en plus mobilisés dans les situations d'éducation et de formation. Ces outils présentent certains atouts et semblent dans l'ensemble plutôt bien perçus par les apprenants. Néanmoins, les études internationales sur l'acceptabilité nous apprennent que ces perceptions sont hétérogènes chez les apprenants et les enseignants, et qu'elles dépendent de différents facteurs liés à la tâche réalisée avec l'outil, aux caractéristiques de l'outil, aux utilisateurs et au contexte d'usage.

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