Study: eBooks could spark interest in reading Ball State researchers say wireless handheld devices might help engage reluctant readers
By Laura Devaney, Associate Editor, eSchool News
eSchool News

A team of researchers at Ball State University has released the results of a small-scale study suggesting that wireless handheld devices, or eBooks, could help encourage reading among students who are reluctant readers. August 2, 2007—Can the use of wireless handheld reading devices, or eBooks, in classrooms boost students’ interest in reading? According to a group of Ball State University researchers, the answer might be “yes.”

A team of graduate students led by Richard Bellaver, associate director of Ball State’s Center for Information and Communications Sciences, is in the midst of a multi-year study designed to test the effectiveness of the wireless handheld device as a reading tool. The team has released its latest study results, which suggest that many elementary students who have been ambivalent toward reading in the past have displayed enthusiasm for reading with the devices.