Reluctant readers have been a reality of schools for many years. These readers struggle to comprehend, engage with the text, or just plain find reading cumbersome. Technology is one avenue to increase the success rate of changing reluctant readers into enthusiastic ones.
One mode of technology that turns on reluctant readers is the Kindle. Kindle is the trademark of Amazon and it is an electronic book. What is wonderful about the Kindle is that many books may be stored on it. Amazon is also adapting its technology to add page numbers to go along with the printed text Kindles go to school. Students that were hesitant to read a hand held book find the Kindle to be user friendly. They can easily change pages with a finger swish and the print is easy on the eyes. E-readers are also popular. The audio component and the highlighting capability offer other ways to engage the reluctant readers.
Another mode of technology for the reluctant reader is the Digital Book Talk book trailers. This device allows students to view videos and listen to a preview of books. This enables the student to choose a novel that they are interested in. Of course, just like any preview, the trailer leaves off where the student is going to want to find out what happens next. This technology can be utilized in the classroom effectively introducing new books to students and engaging the interest of those reluctant readers.
Technology for reluctant readers doesn’t stop with these two devices. An equally exciting electronic solution is the website Storybird - Collaborative storytelling. This site allows the students to create their own books to share with others and it is free. Illustrations enhance the stories and the print capabilities grant the ownership of having a published product. This site works with any age. Universities have also employed this technology for students presenting projects.
Of course a tool that is available to many schools is Smart technology. Smart tools are visual and hands on. Students enjoy the graphics of these tools. As the people from Smart say, “Kids learn better when learning is interactive” (SmartBoard, 2006). Reluctant readers are just that-reluctant. By making the reading more interactive, the success rate of the student completing the reading is higher. Textbooks are also available online which appeals to many students as well because they are able to use technology to do their reading.
To close my thoughts on reluctant readers and technology is this. We have the technology. Isn’t it to our advantage to take advantage of these tools to change our reluctant readers into enthusiastic ones? The only question we should have is which electronic tool will we use.
Key words: reluctant readers, technology
References
Basten, A. (2011, March 9). Kindles go to school in a big way this month.
Retrieved from
Gunter, G. and Kennedy, R. (2010, Aug. 8). Digital Book Talks: Book Trailers for
K-12. Retrieved from http://ilearntechnology.com/?tag=reluctant-readers
Smart Technologies Inc. (2006). Interactive Educator. New Technology Trends
for Education. Retrieved from
This is a very interesting post and I would agree with your points. I think that it is interesting how it is possible to take an old item and make it new again. In this case it is books. I am not one for reading but when I got my iPad I was all about downloading some of my favorite ones. I now enjoy reading again and it gets me to play with my new gadget. I think technology provides a lot of value to the students. I think that it allows individuals to learn from more than one approach. Great blog.
ReplyDeleteI find this post interesting for two reasons. The first is that I just purchased a Kindle for myself and I am torn between complete admiration and absolute disgust. I love the idea of the Kindle and I am satisfied with what I have gotten from my own, but I am also a fan of a hardcover book. However, I am not classified as a "reluctant" reader, so I may not see the true benefits of an E-Reader in the classroom. Second, I was just learning about this topic in my methods of Teaching Communication Arts class. The professor, Dr. Julee Russell, said something very similar to what you have noted in this post. In order to engage any learner who does not want to learn, you must make the material interactive. The same goes for reading. Great post and great topic.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great topic. I myself have been debating whether of not to purchase a Kindle. I am a fan oh paper books and find reading on the computer to be less engaging. I feel like i can just gloss over the words. But for a young generation to grow up with them could be beneficial. I find kindles so intriguing because it is a technological upgrade these things are the things that move us forward. Replacing and out-dating the thing before it.However, I hope in 15 years books wont be as hard to find as VHS's are now. GOOD POST:)
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