The effect of cartoon images on children’s touchscreen learning

• Published in: Education and information technologies Vol. 28; no. 10; pp. 12845 - 12858
• Main Authors: Zhang, Zhuo, Wu, Lihanjing, Yu, Haoxue, Li, Hui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.10.2023; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Between-subjects design; Cartoons; Children; Computer Appl. in Social and Behavioral Sciences; Computer Oriented Programs; Computer Science; Computer Uses in Education; Computers and Education; Early Childhood Education; Education; Educational Media; Educational Technology; Electronic Learning; Imagery; Information Systems Applications (incl.Internet); Instructional Effectiveness; Interactive computer systems; Learning; Preschool Children; Pretests Posttests; Recognition (Psychology); Tablet Computers; Teaching Methods; Time; User Interfaces and Human Computer Interaction; Video Technology; Canada; Touchscreen; Cartoon image; Educational application; Video
• ISSN: 1360-2357; 1573-7608
• DOI: 10.1007/s10639-023-11716-6

Cartoon images have been widely applied in children’s educational media. The study examined the effect of cartoon images in touchscreen media on young children’s recognition of time. With a 2 (clock type: cartoon clock, non-cartoon clock) × 2 (media type: touchscreen, video) between-subjects design, ninety-two children aged 4–6 were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions. Each group was exposed for 10 min to the media designed to teach children how to tell the time. We examined children’s learning to tell time by pre- and post-test clock tests. Results showed that: (1) In the condition of the cartoon clock, children in the touchscreen groups got significantly higher total clock learning scores than the video groups; (2) In the condition of touchscreen, children in the cartoon groups got significantly higher total clock learning scores than non-cartoon groups. Findings suggest that touchscreen interaction is more beneficial for children to learn to tell time than watching videos, and when using educational apps for touchscreen learning, cartoon images have a positive effect on children’s learning to tell time. However, cartoon images have no effect on children’s learning to tell time through videos.