Reading Revolution: New Texts and New Technologies

Web 2.0 tools are providing new ways to help our students become better readers. Dr. Laurie Fowler, in her presentation "Reading Revolution: New Texts and New Technologies," focused on three main tools to help our students to develop 21st century reading skills. Blogs, "wikified" word walls and podcasts create new and engaging tools to develop better reading and comprehension skills.

The first tool, blogs (or weblogs) provide students with a safe place to respond to literature or to polish a response before making it public. Dr. Fowler examines the value of new texts available as ebooks, audio books and other alternative texts. She provided links for new texts that ranged from early elementary to secondary readers. A second tool includes wikis and word walls, a traditional technique transformed into the 21st century. Using wikis and programs such as Wordle, students work with words in a unique and interactive manner. Podcasts, the third tool, provide another means to respond to literature in the form of book reviews and audio responses. Vokis and gcasts are two methods to record student responses, both engaging and 21st century!

Now....why would I be interested in Web 2.0 tools for reading? A couple of reasons come to mind. The first is that I am always looking for ways to engage students! Blogs can be used for responding to literature....or art! Same tool, different use! Wikis can be used for word walls...and art terms. Podcasts can be created to demonstrate new learning or to respond to student work. Using the cell phone for a gcast appeals to high school students, particularly when the use of the phone is banned in classes (for non-academic use anyway)!

My second reason for choosing this presentation is a more personal one. I am working with my grandson on reading fluency. He is a bright young man with excellent phonetic and comprehension skills who struggles somewhat with fluency. He also loves technology! Anything I can create with technology seems more like play than work. I have created Colton's Corner, a blog to engage him in reading and writing. I have enlisted family help with this blog in order to create authentic reasons for him to engage in reading. I plan on using Wordle and wikis to highlight words that need extra work and gcasts and podcast to record his progress in fluency when reading aloud.