# Using Tablets to Teach Basic Literacy Skills to Kindergarten Students: A Case Study
## 5 Discussion
### Discussion of the Findings Related to H4a-c and H5a-c  
The findings related to hypotheses H4a-c further emphasize the significant impact of engagement, enjoyment, and motivation on kindergarten students' learning outcomes, particularly during letter identification and sound recognition tasks using tablets. These findings also substantiate the assertion that the tactile and interactive nature of tablets offers distinct educational advantages, probably due to their innovative and inclusive features [36]. As the evidence clearly demonstrated the capacity of tablets to not only motivate (though only in the case of boys) but also actively engage students in literacy learning in an environment that they enjoy using, they also provide further support to prior research that emphasized the critical role of tablets in fostering emergent literacy skills [35]. On the other hand, although tablets proved to be more effective than conventional materials in enhancing students' motivation, enjoyment, and motivation, as demonstrated in the previous section, the direct impact of these factors on learning, stresses the need to carefully integrate tablets within a comprehensive pedagogical framework that explicitly addresses these factors, in order to maximize their impact.  
Nevertheless, varied results in the control group highlight a nuanced interaction between these emotional and cognitive factors and conventional learning tools. Specifically, while enjoyment and motivation were significant predictors of learning outcomes (though the former in the case of boys and the later in the case of girls), engagement did not exhibit the same level of influence, hinting at differential engagement dynamics based on medium-specific characteristics. Previous research has also highlighted the limited engagement potential of conventional methods in comparison to tablets [12]. This suggests that while conventional methods can foster intrinsic enjoyment and motivation, they may fall short in engaging students as effectively as technology-enabled solutions.  
The inquiry into H5a-c demonstrated that none of these affective variables significantly impacted the retention of knowledge in both groups. In the case of tablets, this probably indicates a dissipation of the initial engagement and motivational effects over time or following the removal of the interactive platform. This further suggests that while tablets can elevate immediate learning outcomes through enhanced student engagement, motivation, and enjoyment, the long-term retention of knowledge might necessitate additional strategies, potentially integrating periodic reinforcement or blended learning models that incorporate intermittent engagement with technology. Such sustained methodological interventions might mitigate the waning impact of entertainment-oriented learning strategies, ensuring lasting educational benefits.  
In conclusion, the study's findings as a whole, advocate in favor of the use of tablets in early childhood education in the context of basic literacy skills, though there are some considerations related to their long-term impact on knowledge.