An evaluation of the effectiveness of a computer‐assisted reading intervention

Abstract

Background A cost‐effective method to address reading delays is to use computer‐assisted learning, but these techniques are not always effective. Methods We evaluated a commercially available computer system that uses visual mnemonics, in a randomised controlled trial with 78 English‐speaking children (mean age 7 years) who their schools identified as needing reading support. School‐based individual tutorials usually took place 2–3 times/week. Only the experimental group received the intervention in the first 10 months; thereafter, both the experimental and control groups received the intervention for 6 months. Results After 10 months, the experimental group had significantly higher standardised scores than the waiting list control group of decoding, phonological awareness, naming speed, phonological short‐term memory and executive loaded working memory. Conclusions The computer‐assisted intervention was effective, and this suggests that this medium can be used for reading interventions with English‐speaking children. What is already known about this topic There are comparatively few randomised controlled trial evaluations of computer‐based reading interventions. Meta‐analyses report small positive effect sizes for such interventions with English‐speaking children. The use of visual mnemonics to improve reading has rarely been investigated. What this paper adds The findings suggest that computer‐based interventions for English‐speaking, struggling readers can be effective. The effects extended beyond the targeted abilities, and a longer intervention was more effective than a shorter one. Apart from spelling, the mean reading and reading related standardised scores for children at the end of the intervention were above or just below 100. Implications for theory, policy or practice Computer‐based interventions can be used to support English‐speaking, struggling readers, and their effects can go beyond targeted abilities. The use of visual mnemonics and the development of the intervention programme over a number of years could have contributed to this success. The role of visual mnemonics as a help for struggling readers deserves further investigation.

Annotating digital text with phonemic cues to support decoding in struggling readers

“…We focused on vowels because, in English, the highly inconsistent graphemephoneme mapping is a major hurdle for struggling readers. In a landscape of digital tools that provide instant corrections at the whole word level, the phonemic cue annotation in this study is one of a only a few learning aids that provides an element of instruction (at the phoneme level) to support generalizable skill [31,33,43,50]. Instead of being given the answer at the first sign of struggle, the child can utilize the phonemic cue to learn part of the word, yet still needs to exercise the building blocks of literacy to get the answer.…”

“…One promising avenue for such technology has been the use of embedded support features such as visual images to facilitate learning sound-symbol correspondence. For example, Trainertext, a program in the United Kingdom which provides visual mnemonics above each phoneme in a given text, saw significant improvement after 10 months of exposure and at-home practice [31]. By providing a visual scaffold, the authors concluded that readers could leverage a phonics-based text adaptation to improve their decoding skill.…”

Closing the gap: supporting literacy through a computer‐assisted‐reading‐intervention

“…These studies address some of © 2020 NASEN the methodological weaknesses of earlier studies and would therefore have met the criteria for inclusion in reviews such as those conducted earlier by Slavin et al (2011) and Cheung and Slavin (2013). The CARI used by Messer and Nash (2018) in their London research provided opportunities for 78 children with reading delays to develop their phonological awareness and decoding skills. Their randomised controlled trial found the CARI to be effective in these areas and children also showed improvements in spelling.…”

“…() and Cheung and Slavin (). The CARI used by Messer and Nash () in their London research provided opportunities for 78 children with reading delays to develop their phonological awareness and decoding skills. Their randomised controlled trial found the CARI to be effective in these areas and children also showed improvements in spelling.…”

MindPlay Virtual Reading Coach: Does It Affect Reading Fluency in Elementary School?

“…While these students improved in reading fluency by approximately one grade level, this was equivalent to the improvement of children who logged in for an average of only 25 h. The 4th-graders in the highuse group might have hit a roadblock that hindered them from making progress, despite spending additional time on the program. Feeling stuck with a program might have led to student frustrations, which, in turn, could affect the teachers' view of the program (Messer and Nash, 2018;cf., Fan and Williams, 2018).…”