Can touchscreens replace teachers? Chinese children’s character learning from a touchscreen-based app, video, or face-to-face instruction

Given the increasing prevalence of touchscreen devices that are intended for educational purposes, this study explored children’s transfer of learning from touchscreen media compared with video and offline face-to-face learning. A total of 76 5- and 6-year-old Chinese kindergarten children (M = 68.21 months, SD = 3.57, range = 62–76; 30 boys and 46 girls) were randomly assigned to learn eight Chinese characters using a touchscreen-based app, using a video, or through face-to-face interaction. Learning was measured via the recall task scores, recognition task scores, recall efficiency, and recognition efficiency. The results revealed that children’s recall and recognition task scores improved when learning took place using the touchscreen or face-to-face interaction. Children’s recall efficiency and recognition efficiency were strongest in the face-to-face condition, followed by the touchscreen condition and then the video condition. The effects of instructional format on children’s recall and recognition scores and recall efficiency were moderated by age; younger children’s recall and recognition scores in the face-to-face condition and the touchscreen condition were significantly higher than in the video condition, yet older children’s recall and recognition scores did not differ between conditions. However, for recall efficiency, younger children’s recall efficiency in the face-to-face condition and the touchscreen condition was significantly higher than in the video condition; older children’s recall efficiency in the face-to-face condition was higher than in both the touchscreen condition and the video condition. In conclusion, both face-to-face interaction and a touchscreen-based app were helpful ways for children to learn Chinese characters compared with video, but face-to-face learning showed advantages over touchscreen learning in recall efficiency for older children.