REA 4 - To what extent does/can technology enhance/inhibit reading?

To what extent does/can technology enhance/inhibit reading?

I think there is a happy medium between how technology can both enhance and inhibit reading and literature in general.

From a personal perspective, I believe myself to be somewhat experienced with technology, yet when it comes to reading via tablet or computer it does promote some challenges for myself. For instance, reading the article I find it easier to go back to a certain page to reread or with paper I like to add notation or highlight to reference back to. Granted apps and adobe allow the possibility to add notes and highlight I still prefer paper to screen.

The article mentions:
"At least a few studies suggest that by limiting the way people navigate texts, screens impair comprehension. In a study published in January 2013 Anne Mangen of the University of Stavanger in Norway and her colleagues asked 72 10th-grade students of similar reading ability to study one narrative and one expository text, each about 1,500 words in length. Half the students read the texts on paper and half read them in pdf files on computers with 15-inch liquid-crystal display (LCD) monitors. Afterward, students completed reading-comprehension tests consisting of multiple-choice and short-answer questions, during which they had access to the texts. Students who read the texts on computers performed a little worse than students who read on paper." (Jabr, 2013)

This doesn't surprise me one bit, I too lack the comprehension skills when reading from a screen. 

Technology Enhancing Reading

I feel that technology can enhance reading in multiple ways:

1. You have the ability to be read to.
2. You can convert your speech to text without lifting a pen/pencil to jot notes or remember certain aspects.
3. You can look up words (their meaning/definition), have unknown words pronounced and read to you.
4. Help those with speech issues read and write.
5. Offers the ability to multi-task while completing a reading or writing assigning or for pleasure. You could technically be driving and write an entire paper based on thoughts to your head, or have a book read to you. The safety might be an issue here.
6. Apps allow us to practice supplement our skills in specific areas of struggle, and it can be made fun to engage our learners at multiple levels.. Yes, there's an app for that!

Technology Inhibiting Reading

As mentioned before, I myself read better with paper or inside an actual book. For pleasure I don't mind reading a book via my iPad but when it comes to technology I think it mostly inhibits young readers.

I can't stress the importance of reading at a young age, the exposure alone to books, being read to, modeled by parents/guardians, and an abundance of books available to them.

As a kindergarten teacher, I whole-heartedly believe that students should learn to read with paper/hardcover books. For several reasons;

1. Having the coordination to hold the book and turn the pages correctly (fine motor skills) The article mentions that babies touch EVERYTHING this being true it would be key to notice if they are utilizing every day objects the correct way, part of an individual kindergarten assessment.

2. Reading left to right and turning pages in order - I understand we flip, slide, and turn our tablets for orientation - Can young children accomplish this? Yes, but they should learn this from a hard copy first just so in their future they may possibly encounter an actual real-life book and understand how to interact with it.

3. Children exposed to "screen time" at a young age has been referenced to decreased brain/eye development. I have read and heard that from 0-3 no iPad/screen-time should occur...do I have the research to back that up...unfortunately, no. Currently, our school district supports no screen time in our 0-3 programs.

4. Learning to write apps and tools are great to supplement learners utilizing them with both tech and pencil paper. Using your finger to trace on an iPad isn't going to teach my children to properly hold a pencil, cut with scissors, or experience writing on different surfaces. Do these supplement these skills and help students practice, absolutely. We cannot fully rely on this to teach them to read and write though.

5. Text to speech - speech to text - doesn't teach our students to spell correctly! Oh I can't get over the spelling issue in this day and age... With slang, abbreviations and flat out lack of grammar it's disturbing. I feel that technology has made us lazy in this aspect, even myself.


The article mentions
"In most cases, paper books have more obvious topography than onscreen text. An open paperback presents a reader with two clearly defined domains—the left and right pages—and a total of eight corners with which to orient oneself. A reader can focus on a single page of a paper book without losing sight of the whole text: one can see where the book begins and ends and where one page is in relation to those borders." (Jabr, 2013) 

This is so true for kindergarten and young learners, they need this exposure.  

Tools

Intrigued by the free download of iSpeech, I downloaded and I utilized it - perhaps it's my voice or annunciation skills but these apps are not always accurate and could potentially mark you down for incorrect spelling or purely not even making sense in regards to creating an assignment utilizing this tool (assuming they do not check their work).

The literacy app list is a great reference tool that I hope I can share with my colleagues who are constantly looking for great apps to use as supplemental tools in the classroom. However, there are so many lists out there for great apps, do we really know whats creditable?

The issue I have with utilizing technology and apps to assist young readers and writers...there are an abundance of apps out there but not everyone knows which app is true to be effective. This comes in with training and research. As a teacher, do we have the opportunity to explore and research each app? Not necessarily. We see a list and we immediately download every suggestion and without opening and trying ourselves some of us hand the iPad to the student and say go, not really knowing or understanding if this is truly helping this student make any gains in literacy.

I utilize many of the apps in my classroom, in fact a student that I have who cannot physically write words (doesn't know his alphabet) but can completely converse and draw a story is able to show me through an app on my iPad called MyStory (not included on the list and is $1.99). Here are some samples of student created stories not particularly the student I mentioned:
http://msty.me/10QFimj
http://msty.me/17tbjV7
http://msty.me/10QGsye
Here my students just took pictures of their writing but you can add photos you take of other items or simply create your drawing with a paint like style option.

This was a great tool and it allowed me to make class digital books but also email a link home for parents to see their students work and the progress. Now with two iPads in my class it proposed some difficulty getting through the entire class but we made it work.

Conclusion

I am all for our classrooms to include technology but implemented differently amongst grade level and age. I see technology as a tool but not as a sole item to introduce reading and writing to a young adolescent.


Work Cited from:

“The Reading Brain in the Digital Age:  The Science of Papers versus Screens” (Fabr)