This article by Ted Hasselbring was pretty enlightening in that it allowed me to draw heavy connections between this online module about technology and my READ 411 class that gages on students with literacy issues. I have occasionally thought that struggling readers would benefit from the allure that technology supplies students with reading difficulties. Technology can help reinvent a text to draw in student attention with vivid screens and designs. Technology can also help students who struggle with dyslexia by use of interactive applications as well as focus on motivation to read a text as opposed to primary comprehension of what students might be reading. Though I feel comprehension is immensely important, it may also be equally important to try to hone in the reader and then practice over issues with structure and understanding. Students who have reading issues truly range from somewhat generic disinterest to various heavier difficulties such as context confusion, as well as struggles with intonation, syntax, point of view, and inferencing to prior based knowledge.
Though I agree with Hasselbring that technology can be an immense help to struggling readers, I can also agree with the reviewer of this article that believes some of his reasons that allow for technology to be a necessary aid for struggling readers are wishful thinking. Hasselbring attempts to bring in novel concepts that if technology is incorporated into struggling readers' lessons, they may benefit from the many technological aspects. These concepts vary but rely heavily on technology being available anytime and anyplace for students. These are great ideas but can be truly difficult to acknowledge for teachers when students may not have the access at home that they may have while in school.
Hasselbring provides five (5) distinct aspects of technology that can attempt to reinvigorate struggling readers and help them absorb content from what they are reading. I feel that the most important aspects are reasons # 1 and 5. The first, technology is adaptive, is beneficial to students with difficulties in reading because for example if a student is reading at a 5th grade level but the student is in 9th grade, there are various applications that can enhance what they are reading so that the student can keep up in some way without them being completely lost and disinterested. Hasselbring speaks of types of software that assist by changing the context to a more suitable reading level that the student can then comprehend. The fifth reason, technology is motivating, as mentioned prior is just as important to struggling readers by engaging their thoughts and keeping them focused while they may have difficulty with what they may be reading. SO many software and programs exist that are able to transform a text and help bridge students troubles with solutions. With this technological aid, they can easily use applications that change the text to a storybook format or something with illustrations that makes them want to read more intently.
I think Hasselbring brings up some interesting ideas that might prove useful for students who struggle with reading in one way or even those who struggle in many ways. Are these reasons completely necessary in your opinion? I think they might be both beneficial and somewhat burdensome, but that is primarily based on how distracted students can be when provided with technology that it different. Check the article out when you can. Are they useful? Which reason do you think is most important? Sound off with comments!
Girard,
ReplyDeleteI like the applications that tweak a text to a more appropriate reading level and the article did interest me, seeing as being a fellow English major, reading comprehension is VERY important. I think that if integrated into the classroom effectively then yes these technologies will be very beneficial however, as you have stated there may be a gap in the resources available at home and in the classroom for the student making the learning more rocky and less streamlined.
I think there is also the question of distraction in the classroom - is there a guarantee that the student will be actively paying attention with the technology in front of them and how does a teacher make it streamlined enough for all of the students?
Hi Girard,
ReplyDeleteI think using technology to help struggling readers certainly sounds like a good idea, but I wonder if there is any research on it actually being used? The article and your posted thoughts made me think of the student I am mentoring for READ 411. She is almost finished with 7th grade, but reads orally at the 4th grade level and silently at 5th grade level. She struggles with fluency, spelling, word endings and confidence, but she is patient and has excellent inferencing skills, so the comprehension she achieves often surprises me. If there were quality softwares available, I am sure she would want to try them. Teaching reading skills, packaged as a computer game that reinforces something a student is struggling with while capturing their interest certainly seems worth a try!
I posted a video on my blog that details the top ten reasons why we hshould use technology in the classroom. You may think that it causes distractions, but it actually helps students learn more because they are learning in a non-traditional way. The obstacle comes from providing the student with the proper tools for this to happen. Not all schools have the appropriate resources, but that's where we as educators step in to fix the gap that appears.
ReplyDelete