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March 21th, 2023
If we had to mention one of the biggest dilemmas facing education in reading, this would undoubtedly be one of the main ones: do digital materials really contribute to improving students' reading skills or can they be counterproductive? ?
In this regard, the answer to this question is not simple, to such a degree that, as indicated by the Regional Center for the Promotion of Books in Latin America and the Caribbean (Cerlac), even researchers seem to disagree! While some argue for a certain equivalence between printed and digital formats, others opt for the advantages of printed materials, mainly in reading comprehension.
In this sense, we are sure that the defenders of paper have a great point, since we cannot deny that it has its own magic. But the truth is that digital formats have multiple advantages, including: access to interactive content and activities that enrich reading, the ability to adjust font size and spacing according to individual needs, the ability to immediately find the meaning of some unknown word, among many others.
However, this is not without its difficulties, since facing the large repertoire of digital resources that exist today can make us feel overwhelmed. Which to choose? Which will be the best to support student reading? To make a good choice, it is essential to identify what problem these children present. Some of the most common are:
Sometimes, the lack of comprehension is due to texts that are not very attractive to them. In this way, helping them find something of interest is essential. For this there are sites like Epic Reads or the popular Goodreads. These sites not only contain suggestions and filters that facilitate the search, but also invite reading socialization through reviews, reading clubs or discussion groups. By creating a network of readers, commitment is strengthened and, therefore, it is possible to have a better reading experience.
As you may have noticed, podcasts stand out as a great complement to reading, largely because they break with the linear sensation that a text can have; that is, they break the monotony. Another way to do it is taking advantage of the great editorial offer that the market has today, and that is that, although the classics of literature are invaluable, limiting ourselves to a single genre can cause a certain heaviness. So, technology is our ally! A good Google search will help you find variety: comics, blogs, ciberliteratura and more.
As a consequence of what has been mentioned so far: lack of interest, distractions, and monotony, among other things, it is common for students to read a text but, when discussing or solving a test, they do not remember anything! This relates to how meaningful a reading is to them. For example, we all remember events that have marked us but we can hardly remember how to integrate an implicit derivative, right?
Therefore, one way to improve retention is by involving them in the subject at hand. This is when a concept that has become increasingly popular in education makes sense: the consumers, that is, currently students are not satisfied with the consumption of content, but also become creators, editors, critics, distributors and many more roles, as indicated in the article From consumer to prosumer in the era of ubiquity.
Therefore, there are platforms that you may be familiar with and can serve as a resource for support, such as Wattpad, which invites them to create and share their own stories; or the community of booktubers, who can inspire them to create their own content and generate a virtual community.
Finally, let us summarize the points addressed in this article, where we have emphasized that digital tools can be great allies not only for improving reading skills, but also for generating interest and positive links with reading. To achieve this, it is essential to recognize what problems our students present and thus determine the means to counteract them. But, beyond the thousands of resources and strategies that we can turn to, there is something irreplaceable and a priority: our active role as parents or educators and the attitudes and practices that we ourselves transmit.