Doug Johnson just posted today Top 10 ways to use technology to promote reading. He left number 10 open to readers to contribute. Here are my thoughts on a tenth way to use tech to promote reading.
10. Teach students to utilize the tools on digital devices to help them with their reading.
* If reading a digital text, students can look up a word in a dictionary with a touch. If they are reading a traditional book, looking up a word can be as fast as (and camouflaged as) sending a text. The language can become more approachable this way.
* The text to speech options are getting better with every generation of tech tool. Turn on accessibility features that allow text to be read in chunks. If a student gets to a part that they struggle with, they can also listen to the passage to aid comprehension. Check out how to turn on Speak Selection here: http://www.imore.com/how-enable-speak-selection-iphone-and-ipad
* Use audiobooks along side of traditional text. More and more ebooks are becoming available for readers. For newer, popular works, local libraries may carry the audiobook on systems like Overdrive or 3M Cloud Library. For texts in the public domain, https://librivox.org and http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/ make many classic novels more reachable for student readers. The best part? With their headphones in, their peers can’t tell if they are listening to music or following along with the audiobook.
* Last, digital devices allow the reader to adjust text size. I have found studies that look at text size, specifically in regards to students with reading disabilities. Larger text can increase comprehension, decrease anxiety, and help to limit distractions. The “Reader” button in Safari is one powerful way to manipulate text. Rather than reading a news article with related links and advertisements surrounding the words, Reader reduces the article to just the relevant text. In a hyperlinked world, this can really increase focus during reading.