The key to improving reading education is to continually assess the best methods and forms of reading. Paper based text has been the primary method of reading instruction for the last hundred years. Thus it is important to evaluate the effectiveness of electronic text in terms of reading comprehension. Given this issue, this study was developed to answer the following driving question: Does reading electronic text on an iPad impact third grade students’ silent reading comprehension? Data was collected and compared from two comprehension assessments given to students after they read from two chapters on the same paper-based text and the electronic text.
Another exploratory question examined was: Which features of the iPad did the students take advantage of? Data was collected through a short survey and observational field
notes to answer this question. The study took place over the course of two days during an hour of in-class instructional time. On the first day, half of the class read from an iPad, and the other half read from the same
paperback book. Then all students took a short six-question comprehension assessment. The next day students switched groups and the students reading the iPad read the book and vice versa. The same procedures as day one were implemented on day two of the study. However at the end of day two, once all students were finished, they answered a post suvey with four questions about their experiences with the iPad. Data were collected and compared.
After analyzing the data across both groups of students using the iPad and paper-based text, results showed that the difference in comprehension was not statistically significant. These findings should be taken into consideration when planning and implementing future research
comparing the iPad and paper-based text. The exploratory observational field notes and survey data provided insightful information to take into account when considering future use of the iPad in the reading classroom.