Moving beyond tracing: The nature, availability and quality of digital apps to support children's writing
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abstract
Young childrens use of tablets and smartphones has proliferated in recent years. Furthermore, apps are being developed at breakneck pace, often designed to support childrens learning in a variety of academic skills across various domains. While a growing body of literature focuses upon the use of multimedia apps to support emergent literacy, little is known about the nature and quality of apps, particularly as it relates to early writing. Thus, the purpose of this study was to comprehensively and critically examine available early writing apps on a particular popular platform (iOS) in order to understand their quality, availability and nature. Initial search terms yielded considerable results (n=1,633). After examining apps based upon inclusion/exclusion criteria, a final sample of 472 apps was used for analysis. Apps were analysed for focal skill(s), multimodality, interactivity, assessment capabilities, appropriateness and factors related to equity (cost of apps for iOS and availability across other platforms associated with more affordable devices, i.e. Google Play and Amazon). Findings indicate that despite the prevalence of low-cost and free apps designed to support writing, these apps address highly constrained content (e.g., letter tracing) and are low in terms of various quality metrics. This study has implications for parents, teachers, researchers and developers and suggests a general lack of quality early writing apps and the need for multifaceted, higher quality and equitable media for the benefit of young children, their teachers and their parents.
