# Using Tablets to Teach Basic Literacy Skills to Kindergarten Students: A Case Study
## 5 Discussion
### Discussion of the Findings Related to H1 and H2  
The findings related to H1 and H2 provide critical insights into the impact of tablet-based interventions on letter identification and letter sound recognition among kindergarten students. They demonstrate that tablet usage yielded a statistically significant improvement in learning outcomes compared to conventional educational materials. After controlling for variables such as sex and prior knowledge, the experimental group showed superior performance in evaluation tests and better retention of knowledge, evidenced by scores on the post-test. These results align with previous literature that highlighted technology's role in augmenting literacy skills [8]. The results of the study also confirm the role of tablets in literacy education and their superiority over alternative devices or conventional classroom activities [36; 39]. While existing research points to the potential of tablets in fostering emergent literacy skills through multisensory engagement and interactive learning experiences (e.g., [29; 33; 35; 38; 43]), the study's findings suggest that applications running on tablets, by integrating visual and auditory stimuli, can take this a step further by actively engaging young learners in immersive educational environments. These environments can facilitate deeper cognitive processing and knowledge retention, supporting claims by researchers who noted such advantages, in similar [33] or different educational contexts (e.g., [12; 39]). In addition, the study's findings underscore the value of interactive technology in fostering effective learning environments as suggested by others [35]. The medium effect size observed in the evaluation tests, though it can be viewed as not completely satisfactory,it reinforces, on the other hand, the notion that integrating tablets in early childhood education can result in meaningful gains in students' foundational literacy skills. Moreover, the medium effect size observed in enhancing knowledge retention supports the argument that tablets offer enduring educational benefits. This substantiates earlier assertions in the literature about the promising role of tablets in shaping sustainable educational outcomes [12; 35]. However, the discussion would be incomplete without acknowledging other factors that might have affected the learning outcomes. Taking into consideration the fact that the use of tablets was accompanied with a form of teaching, the reliance on teacher scaffolding emerges as a crucial factor that cannot be overlooked, reaffirming conclusions made by past research (e.g., [36]). Furthermore, students collaborated and were also engaged in self-directed learning (at least at some stages of the teaching method that was followed). Given that, it can be supported that the positive learning outcomes can also be attributed to these factors, as suggested by others [36; 41]. Past research has suggested several strategies that might be beneficial in enhancing kindergarten students' literacy skills. Such strategies include engaging students in repetitive activities with meaningful context [4], the use of visual cues [24], play-based activities [17], and multi-sensory activities [26]. As all the above were incorporated in the applications developed for this study, it is plausible that they also contributed in the learning outcomes being in favor of tablets. It is also plausible that the utilization of AR technology, up to a certain degree, contributed to the better performance of students in the experimental group. Research consistently highlighted the effectiveness of this technology in capturing student attention and enhancing the educational process [7], improving comprehension and participation of young students in tasks related to language learning [55], due to the interactive experiences it offers [56]. Lastly, the necessity of high-quality educational applications is also a crucial factor, as not all applications are developed equally, with some lacking pedagogical soundness [35; 45].