Tracking Children's Interactions With Traditional Text and Computer-Based Early Literacy Media

Early literacy skills have been the focus of considerable research for the past two decades. Many instructional interventions have been developed to help improve children's acquisition of key skills – among the most recent is an array of software programs. In this chapter we review the foundations for software design, instructional theories related to computer media-based instruction and an assessment of how children interact with the visual information provided in children's software. In particular, the chapter will highlight current research examining what features of software design impact children's ability to attend and learn from this media. Eye tracking technology has been used in research on early literary to better understand how learning occurs. This chapter identifies how eye-tracking technology can facilitate understanding of how young children interact with literacy tools in computer-mediated contexts.