In a context of increasing use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) during childhood, recent research has opened a discussion regarding the potential harmful impact of unmediated overexposure to these tools on the development of reading competence. Given this situation and considering the relevance of the family as a literacy context, a quantitative ex post facto research was conducted with students from the second and third cycles of Primary Education (N= 410). The aim was to explore the level of parental mediation in the use of ICTs by students and analyse the potential link of this variable with their reading comprehension level. The results reveal a predominant use of ICT for recreational purposes and deficiencies in parental mediation, with a higher number of risky situations as the age increases. Additionally, an association is found between the level of parental mediation in the use of ICTs and the level of reading comprehension among sixth-grade students, mainly in inferential and critical levels, thus confirming the potential negative impact of abusive and unmediated use of ICTs on this competence.
Article Details
How to Cite
Campos, I.-O., & Rivera-Alegre, P. (2024). Influence of the use of ICT on the development of reading comprehension in Primary Education. Ocnos. Journal of reading research, 23(2). https://doi.org/10.18239/ocnos_2024.23.2.451
Campos and Rivera-Alegre: Influence of the use of ICTs on the development of reading comprehension in Primary
Education
Introduction
After a period of exaltation of the potential of technological tools in the field
of education, scientific progress regarding the contact of children and adolescents
with these devices has called into question the conception of this part of the population
as “digital natives” (), pointing to the need to implement “digital literacy” processes () based on the development of the already curricularly consolidated “digital competence”.
In this sense, argues that, although the term coined by Prensky was widely used two decades ago,
his thesis lacked a scientific basis and suggested a kind of “biological determinism”
regarding the ability to use Information and Communication Technologies (hereinafter
ICTs) by the generations born in the new millennium. Consistent with this discourse,
, or have denied the idea that children born in the digital age are per se trained for efficient and appropriate use of ICTs, and studies such as those by , , or have provided solid evidence for the opening of a debate on the potential harmful
impact of unmediated overexposure to these devices on the development of different
communication skills among the younger population.
Following an extensive review of international research, concludes that, although schoolchildren often show a preference for digital media
in reading activities, the comprehension achieved through this medium is lower than
when the medium is analogue. In addition, it highlights the results of research conducted
between 1992 and 2017 (Singer & Alexander, 2017; cited in ) which lead to the conclusion that comprehension of texts longer than one page in
length is superior when the format is in print. In a similar vein, , analysed 54 empirical studies published between 2000 and 2017 with more than 170,000
learners at different educational levels in 19 countries, concluding on the validity
of the “Paper Superiority Effect” (ESP, as per its Spanish acronym) thesis, finding
that readers achieve better comprehension levels when they read on paper than when
they read on screen. For their part, argue that, although the inclusion of ICTs in schools has been a priority for most
teachers, recent results from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)
() with more than half a million students from the 65 participating countries show
that the use of ICT in the classroom is not significantly linked to better academic
results and that, moreover, there is sometimes even a negative association between
the use of these tools and performance in certain skills.
These discourses, in any case, are not aligned with a negationist stance regarding
the inclusion of ICTs in the classroom, but rather, in line with Wolf's discourse
(), they appeal to the role of the adult as a mediator in the construction of a brain
that the aforementioned author calls “bioliterate”; that is, capable of reading and
writing in both analogue and digital contexts, which, in coherence with cognitive
development at an early age, requires the achievement of a basic reading competence
in analogue media prior to the inclusion of screens under the mediation of the adult.
The positive impact of the incorporation of ICTs at ages when reading competence in
analogue media has already been achieved, and from a mediated approach, is evidenced
in research such as that conducted by with two groups -experimental and control- of students in the third cycle of Primary
Education, where it was found that the use of ICTs -interactive whiteboard, laptops,
digital players, Internet connection, interactive applications and educational websites-
during 25 sessions of Spanish Language and Literature in an active, interactive and
dynamic way for the development of teaching-learning tasks reported significant differences
in scores in oral and written comprehension in the pre-test and post-test in the experimental
group -being higher in the second group-, The results showed significant differences
in the scores in oral and written comprehension in the pre-test and post-test in the
experimental group -being higher in the second test-, but not in the control group,
where only traditional tools had been used.
From an educational point of view, the inclusion of ICTs is linked to the concept
of “digital competence”, which not only refers to the skills, knowledge and attitudes
with and towards ICT, but also to their effective and critical application for a given
purpose (). The curricular consolidation of this competence in recent years has led to a proliferation
of studies focused on the analysis of different aspects linked to training in the
use of ICTs in the classroom, highlights for the case of Spain that most of the research on ICTs in the pedagogical
field has focused on the use of different digital tools for curricular purposes. Nevertheless,
it is still necessary to delve into aspects that transcend the school scenario such
as, for example, those related to the attitudes of teachers and parents towards this
type of tools. Therefore, given the influence of the family as a literacy context
(; ) and following in the wake of recent works such as those by or , we are interested in finding out how legal guardians act with respect to the use
of ICTs at home by students in the 3rd (N= 142) and 6th (N= 268) years of Primary Education, and also in the potential link between this
mediation and their reading comprehension level.
Authors such as or have highlighted the need to study the link between access to ICTs and reading achievement
in children and adolescents, taking into consideration both the time spent using these
tools and the purpose of their use. In this sense, in a cross-national study with
adolescents, found a negative link between the use of ICTs in leisure time and reading achievement,
but, however, a positive association between the use of these tools specifically for
leisure reading and reading achievement. In the same spirit, found significantly lower performance among Dutch adolescents who used ICTs excessively
for leisure-based purposes, but nevertheless found that the highest reading scores
were found among those who showed moderate use of ICT at home for schoolwork.
In line with these findings, our study aims at shedding new light in the Spanish context
on the previous research by , in which the focus was on exploring the link between the degree of parental mediation
in ICT access perceived by sixth-year students and their level of reading comprehension.
Using a similar research design, we addressed new variables in order to study comparatively
in a wider population -3rd and 6th year of Primary Education- the link between time, purpose and perceived parental
mediation in the use of ICTs at home and the degree of reading comprehension achieved
by students, paying attention also to their different levels -literal, inferential
and critical-.
Method
Objectives and assumptions
The research had three objectives in which the exploration of possible differences
according to the grade (3rd or 6th year of Primary Education) was taken into consideration:
– To explore the degree of parental mediation perceived by students in the use of
ICTs in their free time and to identify the presence of possible risk situations.
– To analyse the possible correlation between the degree of parental mediation perceived
by students in the use of ICTs in their free time and their level of reading comprehension.
– To explore possible differences in the level of reading comprehension according
to the time spent using ICTs in their free time and the main purpose -educational,
communicative or recreational- of such use by girls and boys.
As for objectives 2 and 3, and in coherence with the revised theoretical framework,
the aim was to verify the possibility of rejecting the following null assumptions
in reference to the link between the use of ICTs at home and the level of reading
comprehension achieved by students:
– Null assumption 1. There is no positive link between the degree of parental mediation
perceived by students in their access to ICTs and the level of reading comprehension
achieved.
– Null assumption 2. There are no significant differences in the level of reading
comprehension achieved by students according to the main use of ICTs in their free
time -educational versus other uses-.
Design and participants
The research was conducted under a quantitative and ex post facto design in which 410 students of 3rd (N= 142) and 6th (N= 268) years of Primary Education from nine schools in Aragón (Spain) participated.
The sampling applied was non-probabilistic and by convenience, following the request
for participation sent to different educational centres. The criteria for inclusion
in the study were the willingness of the children and their legal guardians to participate
in the research and the absence of reading difficulties that could affect both the
comprehension of the questions in the questionnaire and the reading comprehension
test conducted.
50.6% of the participants were boys and 49.4% were girls. 68.8% attended public schools
and 31.2% attended private schools (publicly funded, but privately run).
Data collection instruments and procedure
Data were collected using two validated tools. To analyse the variables linked to
student use of ICTs, we applied the questionnaire used by -which, in turn, is an adaptation of the tool by –, and for the measurement of the level of reading comprehension, two tests of linguistic
communication competence in Spanish published by the Ministry of Education and Vocational
Training of Spain (Ministerio de Educación y Formación Profesional, ; ).
The first questionnaire made it possible to collect data corresponding to: socio-demographic
variables, the frequency and purpose of students’ use of ICT sin their free time and
the degree of parental mediation perceived in the use of these tools (table 1). Regarding the latter variable, 17 items were presented on a Likert-type scale with
five response levels that contemplated different dimensions of parental mediation
in the use of ICTs. Table 1 shows in brackets the number of items incorporated for each of the dimensions. The
reliability of this scale was calculated using Cronbach’s test, which yielded an alpha
value of .862, showing good internal consistency of the scale ().
The reading comprehension tests involved reading an expository text and answering
a set of multiple-choice questions that made it possible to assess the application
of different cognitive processes involved in reading comprehension competence: the
ability to locate and obtain information, the ability to integrate and interpret information,
and the ability to evaluate and reflect on it. The tests selected were “Las aventuras
de Lucy, la niña pintora” for 3rd year () and “El origen de algunos símbolos tecnológicos” for 6th year ().
Both the questionnaire and the reading comprehension test were completed in analogue
format with the presence of one of the researchers, which favoured the control of
possible biases. Students were given 60 minutes to respond.
Table 1Summary of the structure of the questionnaire
Type of variable
Variable
Type of response
Socio- demographic
Gender
Closed-ended with two options
Year
Closed-ended with two options
Age
Open-ended
Age of legal guardians
Open-ended
Education of legal guardians
Closed-ended with three options (primary education, secondary education and/or vocational
training and university studies).
Occupation of legal guardians
Open for further categorisation
Frequency of ICT use
Time spent per day on weekdays
Open-ended
Time spent per day on weekends
Open-ended
Purpose of ICT use
First purpose you use them for most
Open for further categorisation
Second purpose you use them for most
Open for further categorisation
Third purpose you use them for most
Open for further categorisation
Perception of parental mediation in the use of ICTs
Parental support in their use (1)
5-level Likert scale (Never, Hardly ever, Sometimes, Almost always, Always)
Extent of use in situations or places not recommended during childhood (3)
5-level Likert scale (Never, Hardly ever, Sometimes, Almost always, Always)
Use for primarily recreational purposes (1)
5-level Likert scale (Never, Hardly ever, Sometimes, Almost always, Always)
Setting hours for parental use (3)
5-level Likert scale (Never, Hardly ever, Sometimes, Almost always, Always)
Possibility of access to content unsuitable for child users (4)
5-level Likert scale (Never, Hardly ever, Sometimes, Almost always, Always)
Access to risky situations or activities for child users (5)
5-level Likert scale (Never, Hardly ever, Sometimes, Almost always, Always)
Data analysis procedure
In order to analyse the differences in the dependent variable -reading comprehension-
as a function of parental mediation in the use of ICTs, first of all, it was calculated:
1) the score in the reading comprehension test after coding each correct answer with
a point and each wrong answer with a zero; 2) the index of parental mediation perceived
by students in the use of ICTs during free time, calculated by assigning a code between
0 and 4 to the answer given to each item on the five-level Likert scale -giving the
highest score to the most desirable answer- and then obtaining the arithmetic mean
of all the items corresponding to this scale. For the interpretation of this index,
it was understood that scores below 2 points - the central measure of the scale -
implied situations of risk with respect to ICT use.
Once these indices had been calculated, mean comparison tests were applied after analysis
of the behaviour of the data in terms of normality and homogeneity of variances in
terms of each independent variable, which led to the application of the non-parametric
Kruskal Wallis test -and its corresponding post hoc test- and the Mann-Whitney U test.
In addition, Spearman’s non-parametric correlation test was also applied to analyse
the association between the scale-type variables corresponding to the score obtained
in the reading comprehension test, the index of parental mediation in the use of ICTs
and the time spent on these tools in free time. The operations were performed with
SPSS version 24.00 and the significance level for rejecting the null assumptions was
.05.
Results
Perceived parental mediation of ICT use
The first objective was to explore the degree of parental mediation perceived by students
in the use of ICTs in their free time and to identify the possible presence of risk
situations. As mentioned above, the index of parental mediation in ICT use was calculated
by coding the answers given to the 17 items of the scale. Specifically, each response
was coded between 0 and 4 points, with the highest score corresponding to the most
desirable response. Subsequently, a mean between 0 and 4 was obtained for the set
of items and, for qualitative interpretation, it was estimated that scores below 2
points would imply insufficient parental mediation, scores between 2 and 3 points
would imply acceptable or average mediation, and scores above 3 points would reflect
high or good mediation. Similarly, it was understood that scores below 2 on the different
items would indicate risk situations with respect to ICT use.
The parental mediation index among third year students reflects an acceptable value
of 2.61 points (SD = 0.658), half a point above the sixth year students (M = 2.13; SD = 0.642), which has a mean of about 2 points, thus at the lower limit of acceptable
parental mediation. In order to explore the existence of significant differences between
the two groups, the Mann-Whitney U test was applied, the result of which (U= 10014.00;
p= < .001) showed a significantly higher index among third year students (Median=
2.735; Range= 3.41) than among sixth year students (Median= 2.176; Range= 2.94).
Consistent with this, and as can be seen in table 2, the responses to the items on the scale of perceived parental mediation in the use
of ICTs show a greater number of situations with potential risk among sixth-year students,
with scores below 2 points in nine of the 17 items on the scale compared to the five
found in third-year students. The analysis of these results shows that the most problematic
aspects among third-year students are related to the support of parents in the use
of ICTs, its use mainly for recreational purposes and the establishment of hours for
its use. However, in the case of sixth-year students, five of the nine items corresponding
to access to risky situations or activities through ICTs and inappropriate content
for children are also added.
Table 2Mean of each item of the scale of perceived parental mediation in ICT use
Reactive
Dimension
3rd year
6th year
When I use my tablet, smartphone or computer, I do it with my parents.
Support
M = 1.70SD= 1.167
MN = 1.30SD= 1.002
I use my tablet, smartphone or computer during meals (breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner).
Use in inadvisable locations or situations
N = 3.13 SD= 1.174
M = 3.33 SD= 1.000
When I go out, I usually take a technological device (tablet, smartphone, computer,
etc.) with me to entertain myself.
Use in inadvisable locations or situations
M = 3.16 SD= 1.236
M = 2.21 SD= 1.543
I use my tablet, smartphone or computer before I go to bed.
Use in inadvisable locations or situations
M = 2.43 SD= 1.406
M = 2.16 SD= 1.321
The main reason I use my tablet, smartphone or computer is for fun/entertainment.
Primary use for leisure
M = 0.95SD= 1.132
M = 0.93SD= 0.921
My parents set time limits on when I can use my computer or tablet to surf the Internet.
Setting the hours of use
M = 1.68SD= 1.657
M = 1.97SD= 1.535
My parents set hours for when I can use my smartphone to search for or watch what
I want.
Setting the hours of use
M = 1.62SD= 1.637
M = 2.04 SD= 1.578
My parents set times for me to play video games.
Setting the hours of use
M = 1.73SD= 1.668
M = 1.79SD= 1.561
My parents let me play violent video games (fighting, war...).
Access to inappropriate content
M = 3.29 SD= 1.257
M = 1.86SD= 1.607
My parents let me play with strangers online.
Access to risk situations
M = 3.39 SD= 1.231
M = 1.88SD= 1.719
My parents let me buy things online
Access to risk situations
M = 3.51 SD= 1.057
M = 3.17 SD= 1.166
My parents allow me to access social networks (TikTok, Instagram, etc.).
Access to inappropriate content
M = 2.62 SD= 1.542
M = 1.45SD= 1.614
My parents let me upload photos and videos to social networks.
Access to risk situations
M = 3.44 SD= 1.246
M = 2.84 SD= 1.485
My parents let me send photos and videos via Whatsapp.
Access to risk situations
M = 2.51 SD= 1.610
M = 1.57SD= 1.625
My parents let me contact strangers on the Internet (social networks, forums...).
Access to risk situations
M = 3.77 SD= 0.814
M = 3.67 SD= 0.871
My parents let me watch adult programmes or things.
Access to inappropriate content
M = 3.25 SD= 1.211
M = 2.88 SD= 1.304
My parents let me watch every video on Youtube.
Access to inappropriate content
M = 2.12 SD= 1.560
M = 1.18SD= 1.391
Perceived level of parental mediation in ICT use and reading comprehension
Our second aim was to analyse the possible relationship between the degree of parental
mediation perceived by students in the use of ICT and their level of reading comprehension.
The results of the Spearman’s correlation test show, for both third and sixth-year
students (table 3), a significant correlation (p= .019 and p= < .001 respectively), although weak (r= .199 and r= . 235 respectively), between the reading comprehension test score and the index
of parental mediation in the use of ICTs, so that those who perceive greater parental
mediation in the use of these tools in their free time, in turn, have higher scores
in reading comprehension.
Table 3Correlational analysis of reading comprehension score and: Parental mediation index
in ICT use and time spent using ICTs during the week and weekend.
* The correlation is significant at the level of 05 (2-tailed).
** The correlation is significant at .01 level (2-tailed).
For further analysis, three groups were created according to the parental mediation
index:
– the first group, made up of students who scored less than 2 points, which would
correspond to inadequate mediation;
– the second group was made up of students who scored between 2 and 3 points - which
would correspond to an acceptable or average mediation;
– the third group, made up of those who scored above 3 points - reflecting high or
good mediation.
Considering this ordinal variable, the Kruskall-Wallis test was used to detect possible
differences in the scores obtained in the reading comprehension test. The results
show statistically significant differences in the reading comprehension scores of
the sixth-year students [H(2)= 14.333, p= .001] between the inadequate mediation group
and the acceptable mediation group (p= .001). Furthermore, a comparison of the means
of the two groups shows a gap of almost one point (table 4). However, no significant differences were found between the groups for third-year
students [H(2)= 4.679, p= .096].
Table 4Average score in the reading comprehension test for sixth-year students according
to the established ranges in terms of the parental mediation index in the use of ICTs.
Level of parental mediation in the use of ICTs
Reading comprehension score
Insufficient mediation
M= 5.98; SD= 1.71
Acceptable mediation
M= 6.85; SD= 1.80
High mediation
M= 6.76; SD= 1.60
In order to achieve a more detailed analysis of the differences in reading comprehension
of sixth-year students according to this variable, the Kruskall Wallis test was applied,
considering the mean obtained in the test for each of the cognitive strategies reflected
in the questions: 1) locating and obtaining information, 2) integrating and interpreting
information and 3) evaluating and reflecting on it. The results show significant differences
[H(2)= 15.938, p= < .001] in the dimension corresponding to the integration and interpretation of
information, and the post hoc test indicates that both the group with insufficient mediation and the group with
acceptable mediation (p= < .001) and the group with high mediation (p= .014) are found among the group with insufficient mediation. On the 4 items corresponding
to these questions in the test, we found that those with insufficient parental mediation
in ICT use are more than half a point apart (M= 2.31; SD= 1.07) from those with acceptable (M= 2.88; SD= 1.06) and high (M= 2.88; SD= 1.07) mediation.
Time and main purpose of ICT use and reading comprehension level
The third aim of the research was to explore potential differences in the level of
reading comprehension according to the time spent at home and the main purpose of
reading use - educational, communicative or recreational - by student.
With regard to the time spent using ICTs at home, no significant correlation was found
in either group between the score obtained in the reading comprehension test and the
minutes spent using ICTs during the week or at the weekend (Table 3).
In order to determine the possible association between the level of reading comprehension
and the main objective of ICT use, the answers to the question concerning the first,
second and third main activity for the use of these tools, formulated as follows,
were considered: “Write down the top three things you use your tablet, smartphone
or computer for at home: | First purpose you use them for most: | Second purpose you
use them for most: | Third purpose you use them for most:”. The responses were categorised
according to the purpose they reflected as shown in tables 5 and 6, i.e., firstly more broadly and then according to the three broad categories: recreational
use, school use and educational use. The results show a similar order in the four
activities most frequently mentioned as the first, second or third main activity for
ICT use by third- and sixth-year students (the first two focused on leisure and the
second two on educational activities). However, in the rest of the frequencies, there
is a clear difference with regard to the use of ICTs for communication purposes -messaging
and video calls-, which is more frequent among older students.
Table 5Percentage of responses regarding the three main purposes for which the third-year
students said they used ICTs
Purpose
Type of use
1st answer
2nd answer
3rd answer
Total
Video-games
Recreational
33.8
31.7
14.8
80.3
Watch YouTube
Recreational
24.6
30.3
16.9
71.8
Homework
Educational
23.9
12.0
23.9
59.8
Search for information
Educational
8.5
8.5
11.3
28.3
Listening to music
Recreational
2.1
4.2
8.5
14.8
Social networks
Recreational
3.5
4.9
5.6
14
Make video calls
Communicative
2.1
4.9
5.6
12.6
View photos
Recreational
0
0.7
5.6
6.3
Watch series/movies
Recreational
1.4
1.4
2.1
4.9
Messaging
Communicative
0
0.7
2.8
3.5
Shopping
Recreational
0
0.7
2.8
3.5
Total
--
100
100
100
--
Table 6Percentage of responses regarding the three main purposes for which the sixth-year
students said they used ICTs
Purpose
Type of use
1st answer
2nd answer
3rd answer
Total
Video-games
Recreational
29.1
14.5
18.2
61.8
Watch YouTube
Recreational
14.5
20.9
21.8
57.2
Homework
Educational
21.8
10.9
9.1
41.8
Search for information
Educational
5.5
9.1
19.1
33.7
Social networks
Recreational
14.5
9.1
6.4
30
Messaging
Communicative
3.6
14.5
9.1
27.2
Make video calls
Communicative
8.2
10.0
7.3
25.5
Watch series/movies
Recreational
0.9
4.5
4.5
9.9
Listening to music
Recreational
1.8
3.6
0.9
6.3
View photos
Recreational
0
1.8
2.7
4.5
Shopping
Recreational
0
0.9
0.9
1.8
Total
--
100
100
100
--
Due to the variability in the responses, two groups were created for each grade to
deepen the analysis. The first consisted of students who used ICTs for less desirable
purposes as a priority, i.e., those who reported using them exclusively or mainly
for leisure purposes, with their responses reflecting only this type of use or doing
so in the majority - in two of the three responses. The second group was made up of
the remaining cases, which reflected hybrid uses, albeit among one part of the student
body primarily educational and among the other primarily communicative. To analyse
possible differences between the two groups, the Mann-Whitney U-test was applied.
Among the third-year students - where 83.1% of the cases responded to the group with
the highest risk and 16.9% to the other - the test result did not allow us to reject
the null assumption of equality in reading comprehension scores between the two groups
(U= 1063.500; p= .053).
In the case of the sixth-year students -where 64.4% of the cases responded to the
group with the highest risk and 33.6% to the other-, the test result allowed us to
reject the null assumption of equality in reading comprehension scores between the
two groups (U= 968.500; p= . 014), and we found significantly higher scores among those who make hybrid uses
of ICT (Median= 6.666; Range= 8.33) compared to those who make an exclusively or fundamentally
recreational use (Median= 5.833; Range= 6.67).
In addition, to further analyse the differences, the test was again applied to each
of the cognitive dimensions reflected in the questions of the reading comprehension
test: locating and obtaining information, integrating and interpreting information,
and evaluating and reflecting on information. The result regarding the dimension of
integration and interpretation of information (U= 1001.500; p= .021) shows significantly higher scores among those who make hybrid uses (Median=
0.750; Range= 1.00) compared to those who make an exclusively or fundamentally recreational
use of ICTs (Median= 0.500; Range= 1.00). Similarly, significantly different scores
are found between the groups in the dimension of reflection and valuation of information
(U= 1041.000; p= .043), which are again higher in the case of those who use ICTs in a hybrid way
(Median= 0.667; Range= 0.83), compared to those who use them mostly or exclusively
in a recreational way (Median= 0.500; Range= 0.83).
Discussion and conclusions
With regard to the habits of ICT use in free time among students in the second and
third cycles of Primary School Education, the research conducted shows that most students
tend to use ICTs for recreational purposes. Furthermore, in line with previous research
(; ; ), the generalised existence of low parental supervision in the use of these tools
was found, with the perception of greater attention from legal guardians among younger
students. Thus, among third-year students we find a score below the central measure
of the scale in five of the 17 items in the questionnaire referring to parental mediation
in access to ICTs, while among sixth-year students this situation occurs in more than
half of the items, with deficiencies, moreover, in all the dimensions considered.
As for the link between this variable with the reading comprehension competence achieved
by the students, the results of the research corroborate those found in the previous
work by , although the differences are mainly found among sixth-year students. The evidence
is consistent with the thesis of authors such as , and on the potential negative impact of digital tools when abusive and unmediated use
occurs.
It is also relevant to highlight the non-existence -both in third- and sixth-year
students- of a significant correlation between the reading comprehension test score
and the time spent using ICTs at home during the week or at the weekend, which could
reinforce the thesis that the purpose and mediation of access to these tools -and
not so much the frequency of use- are of paramount importance in terms of their potential
negative influence on the development of reading literacy during childhood (; ; ; ). In this sense, the results obtained allow us to conclude that those who make hybrid
uses of ICTs, not focused exclusively or fundamentally on leisure purposes, have higher
levels of reading comprehension than those who use these tools exclusively or fundamentally
for recreational purposes.
On the other hand, it should be stressed that the results obtained point to a greater
impact of less mediated and non-academic ICT use on cognitive skills linked to reading
comprehension at the higher levels - inferential and critical, as opposed to literal
- which is consistent with evidence pointing to impaired concentration skills in analogue
reading linked to excessive and unmediated screen use during early childhood ().
In view of these results, we conclude that there is a need to counteract the deficiencies
observed in access to ICTs at home with educational actions aimed at achieving a solid
digital literacy, fundamentally among students in the third cycle of Primary Education.
As for the limitations of the study, the main one is common in educational research
and derives from the type of sampling implemented, non-probability and convenience
sampling. Thus, although the sample was large, as it was not probabilistic, caution
is required in generalising the results to students in Aragon or in Spain as a whole.
On the other hand, as a result of the research design and the statistical tests implemented,
the study does not allow us to infer causal relationships, but only associations between
variables. As for proposals for future research, in line with work such as that of
, it would be of interest to apply multivariate analysis techniques that would allow
complex conclusions to be drawn about the relationships between all the variables
considered.
Funding
This research is part of the activity of the reference research group ECOLIJ (Educación
Comunicativa y Literaria en la Sociedad de la Información (Communicative and Literary
Education in the Information Society). Children’s and Young Adult in the construction
of identities) through the R&D&I project “Non-fictional readings for the integration
of critical citizens in the new cultural ecosystem” (PID2021-126392OB-100) financed
by the Ministry of Science and Innovation of the Spanish Government, and through Project
S61_20R financed by the Government of Aragon.
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