LITERACY NEWS

Another aim of the research was to ascertain if Kindles would motivate boys to engage in morereading. Overall the boys were interested, excited and motivated in becoming involved in the projectand they treated the Kindles with care. However, in relation to the question of whether Kindleswill encourage boys to read more books. Some of boys thought they would as: ‘Boys like gadgetsso maybe a gadget for the sake of it,’ also ‘Boys like electronics….so will encourage more peoplethan books.’ There were other boys who were not convinced that Kindles would and as one boystated: ‘We have better things to do than read, play football…Xbox ,run around the streets.’ Anotheracknowledged that: ‘No, you are still reading, no difference.’ It may be the case that reading on aKindle may not encourage those boys who do not read fiction voluntarily to engage in future reading.The Principal and Year 7 teachers all agreed that the Kindles ‘Really motivated the boys…reallypositive about it.’. One Year 7 teacher also found that: ‘The boys were very excited about the prospectof reading from a Kindle.’ Another stated that ‘Sometimes you have to say ‘get your books out’but with the Kindles I didn’t have to say once….even during break time which is unheard of.’The principal recognized that ‘The cinema tickets have kept their attention.’ One of the Year 7teachers agreed that the cinema tickets ‘had a huge impact on them….a good incentive….somethingwe could use again.’ Some of the boys when asked how boys could be encouragedto read using Kindles agreed with the Principal that if the movie tickets had not been offeredthey would not have engaged in the process. One boy stated ‘unless more than 2 cinema tickets,don’t take the offer.’ Another suggested ‘four cinema tickets,.’ Other prizes were suggested such as‘a free holiday’ or ‘a pencil at the end.’ So it could be argued that A kindle alone may not be enoughof an incentive for boys to read: additional ‘prizes’ may be necessary.In conclusion it would appear that the Kindle initiative got Year 7 boys reading a novel which few ofthem would have done during this time period. The Principal believed that this is a positive thingand there may be ‘The subliminal message ‘I have read a book….it is something I could do again.’He hopes that maybe we have made a difference’. The school plans to use Kindles with all Year 7pupils throughout the forthcoming academic year.28