Increasing comprehension
- 1. Increasing Comprehension The use of e-Readers to increase reading fluency and comprehension for students with a reading disability. Erika Worden EDET 735
- 2. The Facts 80% of students with a learning disability are identified as having a reading disability. The students struggle with fluent word recognition. They have a harder time decoding words and have a difficult time using letter and sound relationships and context to identify unknown words. Their inability to read fluently hinders their ability to comprehend what they are reading. Students with a reading disability do not practice the act of reading enough. Teachers are not prepared or trained to teach a student with a reading disability.
- 3. What to do? The Universal Design for Learning tells us to check our lessons for barriers for all students. Once barriers are removed from your lesson all learners are given a chance to succeed, even those with a reading disability. Different types of assistive technology exists to help students reach the same potential as their non-disabled peers. Specifically this presentation will look at e-Readers and their ability to increase fluency and thus comprehension in students with a reading disability.
- 4. eBooks • E-Readers or eBooks are digital books. • Most read a text to the student while highlighting the words. • You can turn web sites into eBooks with a Chrome Extension. • The extension SpeakIt reads the words you highlight on the web page.
- 5. Options Technology/Software Difficulty Addressed Barriers Broken Tumble Books Reading Fluency Reads familiar books out loud to students as the words are highlighted. HMH Readers Reading Fluency and Comprehension Reads books on the students current guided reading level. The words are highlighted. Prizmo Reading Fluency Allows you to scan documents/worksheets into a device. It reads the text out loud for students. Speakit! Reading Fluency Allows students to read web sties. As an extension for Google Chrome it can read the words you highlight.
- 6. Benefits eBooks maintain the look and feel of real books by having pages and allowing the reader to turn them. eBooks usually include multimedia elements such as animation, music, sound effects etc. The highlighted text in an eBook models fluent reading and enhances the reading experience. These features provide the scaffolds necessary to assist students in the reading process and to work in their zone of proximal development. Scaffolding allows a student to reach their goal that would otherwise be unobtainable. Instead of an adult or more capable student providing these scaffolds the embedded features of eBooks provide the support necessary for the students reach their goal.
- 7. Limitations The animations, sound effects, pronunciation of words may be a distraction for some students. Students may focus on the peripheral features instead of the details in the story. It can take longer to read an eBook versus a traditional book. In some cases eBooks can continue a learned helpless in students. Students could become dependent on the pronunciation tools rather than try to decode words on their own.
- 8. Research The research indicates students who read eBooks benefit in areas of: Reading Comprehension Fluency Reading Engagement The Greenlee-Moore and Smith (1994) study found that eBooks with difficult text resulted in high comprehension scores. The Matthew (1997) study discovered that students who used eBooks scored significantly better on comprehension and retelling written exams.
- 9. The Gonzalez Study This study looked at the use of eBooks to help students with a reading disability. Specifically it was to determine if there was a significant difference in oral retelling and comprehension with multiple choice questions. There were three different formats. 1. eBooks with text-to-speech tool. Entire book read out loud to student 2. eBooks with vocabulary and pronunciation supports 3. Traditional Books Twenty three third and fourth grade students were selected to participate. They all were identified as having a reading disability.
- 10. Methods During each session students read three books, which included two narrative and one non fiction. A short conversation about the book took place before each reading. This is a common practice for all students to participate in. Students read the entire book independently and received no extra help. After each reading the students participated in an oral retelling of the story and answered multiple-choice questions.
- 11. Results The results were mixed from the Friedman’s multiple-choice question test. Comprehension scores did not change across book formats. The results from the oral retelling did show a significant change. Students who used eBooks could better comprehend and talk about what they read versus the students who used traditional books. In conclusion students comprehended differently across book formats through oral retellings but not multiple-choice questions.
- 12. Conclusion As teachers we want to create lessons that adhere to the Universal Design for Learning. Barriers to learning need to be addressed in lessons Assistive technology can break down those barriers. eBooks have advantages and disadvantages. Studies have shown the ability for eBooks to increase comprehension in students with a reading disability.
- 13. References Dyslexia Statistics The National Center for Learning Disabilities Report Gonzalez, M. (2014). THE EFFECT OF EMBEDDED TEXT-TO-SPEECH AND VOCABULARY EBOOK SCAFFOLDS ON THE COMPREHENSION OF STUDENTS WITH READING DISABILITIES. International Journal of Special Education, 29(3), 111-125. Retrieved February 20, 2016. Greenlee-Moore, M. E., & Smith, L. L. (1994). Interactive Computer Software: The Effects on Young Children's Reading Achievement. Matthew, K. (1997). A comparison of the influence of interactive CD-ROM storybooks and traditional print storybooks on reading comprehension. Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 29(3), 263-275. Tumble Book image by K.W. Barrett is licensed under CC BY 2.0