Table 1.

Sample search terms

	Concept 1	Concept 2	Concept 3a	Concept 3bi	Concept 3bii	Concept 4
Key concepts	Population: children aged 4–11	Setting: primary school or equivalent	Intervention: Mobile device	Intervention: Subject	Intervention: subject	Study design
Free text terms/natural language terms	Age 4, 5… (up to 11) 4 year old… (up to Child Boy Girl AND school class Classroom	Primary school Elementary school Junior school Kindergarten Grade 1, grade 2, and so forth. 1st grade, 2nd grade, and so forth. First grade, second grade, and so forth	iPad tablet Tablet computer* touchscreen Handheld device Portable computer e‐book OR ebook e‐reader OR ereader electronic storybook Game* console Digital game Smartphone smart phone Mobile phoneiPhone Cell* phone Portable cell* phone Mobile telephone Cell* telephone Personal Digital Assistant PDA* Transportable Cell* Phone 1:1 computing Online instruction M‐learning	Literacy Reading Writing Handwriting Transcription Verbal reasoning Critical thinking Comprehension Notetaking Composition Listening skills Phonics Phonemic awareness Alphabet Spell* Vocabulary Punctuation Grammar Reading fluency Speaking skills Spoken language Critical literacy Literacy skills	numeracy number* math* arithmetic sums calculat* addition adding subtract* multiplication division count* algebra fractions decimal* geometr* statistic* “problem solving” “shape sort*” “mathematical literacy” “quantitative literacy”	RCT Randomised Control Trial Randomised Controlled Trial Randomized Control Trial Randomized controlled Trial Placebo Random allocation Random assignment single/double/triple blind
Subject terms/headings and/or controlled vocabulary (from British Education index)		Elementary education Elementary schools Elementary education research Primary education Primary schools First grade (education) [repeat for all grades] School children Elementary school teaching Primary school teaching Computers in elementary education	Educational technology Computers in Education Educational innovations Internet in Education Computer Assisted Instruction Digital Technology Education‐Computer applications Computer games Educational games Handheld devices Technology integration	Reading Achievement Literacy Education Reading comprehension Reading achievement English language education in primary schools Computers and literacy Literacy research Literacy program*Reading (elementary) Reading (primary) Reading enrichment Reading mobile apps	Mathematics achievement Numerical calculations Mathematics instruction Mathematics education (primary) Mathematics education (elementary) Mathematics education (primary) Mathematics education (preschool) Games in mathematics education Study and teaching of numeracy Mathematical ability	RCT Randomised Control Trial Randomised Controlled Trial Randomized Control Trial Randomized controlled Trial
Free text search strings (tested through ERIC on EBSCO)	AB (“Age* 4" OR “age* 5" OR “age* 6” OR “age* 7” or “age* 8” OR “age* 9” OR “age* 10” OR “age* 11” OR “4 year* old*” OR “5 year* old*” OR “6 year* old*” OR “7 year* old*” OR “8 year* old*” OR “9 year* old*” OR “10 year* old*” OR “11 year* old*” OR Child* OR boy OR girl) AND (school OR class* OR classroom)	AB “Primary school” OR “Elementary school” OR “Junior school” OR Kindergarten OR “grade 1” OR “grade 2” OR “grade 3” OR “grade 4” OR “grade 5” OR “First Grade” OR “Second Grade” OR “Third Grade” OR “Fourth Grade” OR “Fifth Grade” OR “1st grade” OR “2nd grade” OR “3rd Grade” OR “4th Grade” OR “5th grade“	AB iPad OR tablet OR “tablet computer*” OR touchscreen OR app OR “handheld device” OR “handheld computer” OR “PDA” OR “personal digital assistant” OR “portable computer” OR '"e‐book” OR ebook OR “e‐reader” OR ereader OR “electronic storybook” OR “game* console” OR “digital game” OR smartphone OR “smart phone” OR “mobile phone” OR iPhone OR “cell* phone” OR “portable cell* phone” OR “mobile telephone” OR “cell* telephone” OR “transportable Cell* Phone” OR “1:1 comput*” OR “online instruction” OR “mobile learn*” OR M‐learning	AB Literacy OR Reading OR Writing OR Handwriting OR Transcription OR “Verbal reasoning” OR “Critical thinking” OR Comprehension OR Notetaking OR Composition OR “Listening skills” OR Phonic* OR “phonemic awareness” OR Alphabet OR Spell* OR Vocabulary OR Punctuation OR Grammar OR “Reading fluency” OR “Speaking skills” OR “Spoken language” OR “Critical literacy” OR “literacy skills"	AB numeracy OR number* OR math* OR arithmetic OR sums OR calculat* OR addition OR adding OR subtract* OR multiplication OR division OR count* OR algebra OR fractions OR decimal* OR geometr* OR statistic* OR “problem solving” OR “shape sort*” OR “mathematical literacy” OR “quantitative literacy”	AB RCT OR “randomised control trial” OR “randomised controlled trial” OR “randomized control trial” OR “randomized controlled trial” OR randomised OR randomized OR placebo* OR (random* AND (allocat* OR assign*)OR (blind* AND (single OR double OR treble OR triple))