ABSTRACT
With computers penetrating ever more areas of everyday life, including that of children in all age groups, today's teachers are facing a new challenge: the effective use of innovative CD-ROM storybooks (eBooks) with young children in a classroom who have already been exposed to computers. In addition to their acquaintance with computers, these young children appear to be more cognitively receptive to written language than previous generations, a result we can attribute to changes embedded in the contemporary socio-cultural environment (Neuman & Dickenson, 2001; Whitehurst & Lonigan, 2001). Yet, the creators of these books often overlook the need to integrate educational goals with the developmental capacities of young children (Haugland & Wright, 1997; Shamir & Korat, 2006). The purpose of this chapter is, therefore, to provide teachers with some guidance regarding eBook use in the kindergarten classroom.
