Digital Compensation? Investigating the Moderating Role of the Home Learning Environment in the Effectiveness of Learning Apps

Children already differ in their literacy and numeracy skills before school entry, which partly is due to differences in their home literacy and numeracy environments (HLE/HNE). Learning apps may serve as a compensatory resource when parents cannot provide adequate support. Based on this assumption, this study investigates whether learning apps predict gains in literacy and numeracy skills, and whether HLE/HNE quality moderates this relation. N = 500 children from Germany (M_age = 60.69 months, SD = 4.61) received either literacy, numeracy, or no learning apps for a period of six months before and after which literacy and numeracy skills were assessed. The HLE/HNE were measured via parent questionnaires at T1. Regression models showed that being in the numeracy app intervention group was associated with greater numeracy gains compared to a business-as-usual control group, while the literacy app intervention group showed greater literacy gains compared to all other groups. However, HLE/HNE did not emerge as significant moderators, providing limited evidence for digital compensation of lower-quality HLEs/HNEs. Methodological considerations that call for caution in interpreting the findings are discussed. The findings evaluate the promising character of learning apps to supplement learning in analog HLE/HNE. The potential impact of quality vs. quantity of app usage for compensatory effects is discussed.