俄亥俄州格林市格林小學的二年級學生莉安娜·胡思（Julianna Huth）如今迷上了數字世界。
8歲的她會用
iPad平板電腦和Nook電子閱讀器，無論是在家裡還是學校，她都喜歡讀電子書。
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大衛·麥克斯韋（David Maxwell）/《紐約時報》
莉安娜·胡思（Julianna Huth）在用iPad和一個無線鍵盤學習。
莉安娜從6歲起就開始用電子書，她說：“能用iPad讀書真是太酷了。電子書更有趣，也可以讓你學到更多的東西。”
孩子們會這樣說的。iPad和一些電子閱讀器（如Nook Color或Kindle Fire）上的電子書都很好玩。它們包含了音樂、動畫和其他互動元素，使看書感覺像是在玩電子遊戲。
在一本適合3至7歲兒童閱讀的電子書《皮特貓：我愛我的白鞋子》（Pete the Cat: I Love MyWhite Shoes）中，孩子們可以觸摸皮特貓的鞋子來改變顏色，可以看着滾動式歌詞隨音樂唱歌，還可以聆聽敘述人或者自己大聲朗讀並錄音。
但電子書比圖書好嗎？這也許需要一代人的時間才能確定答案，甚至從現在開始的今後10年或20年中，這個問題都會被爭論，就像我們如今依然在討論電視或電子遊戲的影響那樣。
莉安娜的老師考特妮·丹寧（Kourtney Denning）認為電子書是必要的。她說：“老式的圖書真的已經不再有吸引力了，我們必須轉變我們的學習方式了，我們知道這一點。”
即使在這種興奮和熱情之中，仍有人建議要對電子書更仔細地進行審視，尤其是為了那些正在學習閱讀的孩子們着想。賓夕法尼亞大學的博士後朱莉婭·帕里
什-莫里斯（Julia
Parish-Morris）研究了電子書以及兒童如何與之進行互動的課題，她說：“現在，從基於研究的實踐來看，當前的發展水平是：和你的孩子一起讀傳
統圖書。沒有任何證據顯示有哪種電子設備比父母還好。”
莉安娜的班級正在參與阿克倫大學讀寫中心（Center for Literacy atthe University of
Akron）的一個研究項目，以弄清楚父母是否應該以極大的熱情來接受電子書，還是該像限制孩子們看電視的時間一樣限制他們對着電子閱讀器屏幕的時間。
此項目意在尋找一種將電子書與課堂相結合的最佳方式。它屬於一個更大的研究項目，後者對介於幼兒園和二年級年齡段之間的孩子使用各種設備和計算機進行研究。
莉安娜的媽媽凱茜·伊萬希克（Cathy
Ivancic）在得知女兒所在的班級參與了這項研究後很高興。她說，像iPad這樣的電子設備新穎有趣，並能激勵孩子們——包括那些可能不愛讀書的——
閱讀。她說：“這是孩子們讀書的新動力。這個年紀正是你學會愛上讀書或不愛讀書的時候。”
伊萬希克的另一個女兒、13歲的傑西卡（Jessica）也在使用一部電子閱讀器。比起傳統書來，她更喜歡閱讀電子書，因為它們讀起來更容易。她說：“讀書的空檔你還可以玩玩應用程序。”
帕里什-莫里斯和教育者們擔心孩子們會為電子書中的動畫和遊戲般的特色分神。他們表示，在發展讀寫能力時，很重要的一點是把注意力保持在故事上。
這種情況自發產生的一種方式是：父母和孩子共享一本書，並自然地進行來回對話。
范德堡大學（Vanderbilt University）兼職助理教授加布里埃爾·斯特勞斯（Gabrielle
Strouse）曾研究過電子書，她表示：“最重要的事情是坐下來和你的孩子談話。不管你是在讀一本傳統圖書還是在讀電子書，或是在看電視。一起互動、一
起觀看才是他們學習的最好方式。”
新美國基金會（New America Foundation）的早期教育項目負責人麗薩·格恩西（Lisa
Guernsey）表示，討論一個故事中的事件如何與孩子自己的生活有關係，或者就發生了什麼事提出開放式問題，就是
自髮式對話的例子。她說，但這種互動
常常和電子書不同，在某些情況下甚至會消失。
她說：“我們看到一些跡象顯示父母們指望電子書去包攬所有事情，而他們則從和孩子的交流中抽出身來。”
丹寧老師班裡另一個孩子的母親克瑞思蒂·路德羅絲克（Cristy Ludrosky）是電子書的倡導者，儘管她確實也擔心孩子分心的可能性。她說：“我有些糾結，有時候你看着它就會想：‘他們是在閱讀或學習閱讀，還是在玩應用程序或遊戲呢？’”
Julianna Huth, a second grader at Green Primary School, in Green, Ohio, is a convert to the digital word.
The 8-year-old uses both an
iPad and a Nook, and she enjoys e-books at home and at school.
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David Maxwell for The New York Times
Julianna Huth working with both an iPad and a wireless keyboard.
“It’s just cool that you can read on your iPad,” said Julianna, who
started using e-books when she was 6. “It’s more fun and you learn more
from it.”
Children would say that. Books on iPads and some e-readers like the
Nook Color or the Kindle Fire are fun. They include music, animation and
other interactive elements that make reading a book feel like playing a
video game.
In “Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes,” an e-book for children ages
3 to 7, they can change the color of Pete’s shoes by touching them,
sing along to music with the lyrics that roll along the page, listen to a
narrator or record their voices as they read aloud.
But is it better than a book? It may take a generation to ever know
for sure, and even 10 or 20 years from now it will be debated as the
effects of television or video games are still discussed today.
Julianna’s teacher, Kourtney Denning, sees e-books as essential. “Old
books don’t really cut it anymore,” she said. “We have to transform our
learning as we know it.”
Amid the excitement and enthusiasm, some people are suggesting a
closer look, especially for younger children learning to read. “Right
now, the state-of-the-art, in terms of research-based practice is: read
traditional books with your child,” said Julia Parish-Morris, a
postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania who has studied
e-books and how children interact with them. “We don’t have any evidence
that any kind of electronic device is better than a parent.”
In an attempt to figure out whether parents should embrace e-books
with great enthusiasm or ration e-reader screen time as they do TV time,
Julianna’s class is participating in a research project for the Center
for Literacy at the University of Akron.
The project is meant to find the best way to integrate e-books into
classrooms. It is part of a broader study of kindergartners through
second graders using a range of devices and computers.
Julianna’s mother, Cathy Ivancic, was elated when she learned the
class would take part in the study. She said that devices like the iPad
were new and fun and gave children an incentive to read, including those
who might be reluctant. “It’s a new motivation to explore reading,” she
said. “At this age is when you learn to love reading, or not love
reading.”
Ms. Ivancic’s other daughter, Jessica, 13, also uses an e-reader,
preferring e-books over traditional books because they are easier to
read. “And in between books you can play apps,” she said.
Ms. Parish-Morris and educators are concerned that children can be
distracted by the animations and gamelike features within e-books.
Maintaining a focus on the story is important in developing literacy
skills, they said.
One way this happens spontaneously is through a back-and-forth
dialogue that develops naturally between a parent and child sharing a
book.
“The most important thing is sitting and talking with your children,”
said Gabrielle Strouse, an adjunct assistant professor at Vanderbilt
who has studied e-books. “Whether you’re reading a book, whether you’re
reading an e-book, whether you’re watching a video. Co-interacting,
co-viewing, is the best way for them to learn.”
Lisa Guernsey, director of the early education initiative at the New
America Foundation, says conversations about how events of a story
relate to the child’s own life, or asking open-ended questions about
what happened, are examples of spontaneous dialogue. But this kind of
interaction is often different with e-books, she said, and in some
cases, disappears.
“We are seeing some evidence that parents expect the e-books to do it
all and are stepping back from the engagement with their children,” she
said.
Cristy Ludrosky, another parent with a child in Mrs. Denning’s class,
is an advocate of e-books, although she does have concerns about the
potential for distractions. “There’s this struggle there,” she said.
“Sometimes you look at it and you are thinking, ‘Are they reading or
learning to read, or are they playing an app or a game?’ ”
Amazon is taking on the high-end clothing business in its typical way: go big and spare no expense.
(c)Eiichiro Oda / SHUEISHA
