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BY KATE BAKERFLIP TOOLBOX TECH TOOLS TO READING Maya Angelou said, “Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep continuing needs, is good for him.” With the advent of educational technology, teachers can extend reading opportunities for students and further develop the habit of reading. Whether it is making a complex text more accessible or modeling close reading skills, the following tools and instructional techniques will foster student learning. FLIPPED LEARNING As defined by the Flipped Learning Network and pioneers Jon Bergmann and Aaron Sams, flipped learning is “a pedagogical approach in which direct instruction moves from the group learning space to the individual learning space, and the resulting group space is transformed into a dynamic, interactive learning environment where the educator guides students as they apply the concepts and engage creatively in the subject matter.” Essentially, the responsibility for learning is “flipped” from the teacher to the student with the emphasis on the best use of face-to-face time and higher-order thinking skills in a flexible learning environment that promotes a positive learning culture. To flip reading, students need to do more than read a book at home and discuss the text in class. For some students, reading is a difficult task and using educational technology, the teacher can model close reading skills and deliver instruction to the students using a flipped approach. Effective flipped digital reading requires the reader to engage with the text, and tools such as Screencast-o-matic, Librivox, Booktrack Classroom, Google Docs, and Curriculet can engage students while reading. MODEL WITH SCREENCASTS Screencast-o-matic (http://screencast-o-matic. com/home) is a free screen recorder tool that provides educators with 15 minutes of recording time. The screencasts are saved to your files or uploaded to YouTube. Additionally, educators can post the files or links to the videos on class websites or learning management systems. Students can watch the screencasts on personal devices, tablets, or computers at home or in the classroom as needed. Screencasting enables the teacher to record a video of a lesson rather than repeat it for every class. Instead of standing at the whiteboard or using an overhead projector with the teacher controlling the learning of the group, screencasting provides a model for students and allows them to process the information at their own pace. If a student missed an important piece of information, he or she can rewind and play the video until the information is retained. For example, students can view my video explaining the prologue to The Wife of Bath’s Tale (https://youtu.be/M840kkHaek8) while they mark up and annotate a paper copy of the text. By pairing the viewing of the screencast with an instructional activity, I see proof that the students watched the video and understood the information. You can also have students show proof of watching the video by pulling the screencast into EDpuzzle (https://edpuzzle.com) and embedding questions as checkpoints within the video. That way you can view the data to see if students understood the material presented in the video and follow up with additional live or recorded lessons to address deficiencies in comprehension and analysis. 38 NJEA REVIEW
TOOLBOX ACCESS AUDIOBOOKS ONLINE Students are often plugged into their mobile devices listening to music, so why not capitalize on that by having students listen to audiobooks? Librivox (https://librivox.org) is a website and app for listening to free public-domain audio books. You can play an audiobook version of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet for the whole class or allow students to listen with headphones on a computer or personal device while they read along with the text. As with the screencast, students can pause and rewind the audiobook as needed, while listening to fluent reading. LISTEN TO SOUNDTRACKS FOR BOOKS Just as narration can aid in comprehension of a text, audio cues can also help students comprehend and remember what was read on a screen. Booktrack Classroom (https://booktrackclassroom.com) allows students to read and write audio-enhanced texts. Teachers can assign free public-domain texts and uploaded texts that are enhanced with a soundtrack to classes of students to listen to and can allow students to upload their own writing into the Booktrack Studio platform for classmates to read. The opening brawl sequence of Romeo and Juliet can be enhanced with the sounds of clashing swords, and other audio cues can be heard to denote the tone or mood of the scene. Teachers can assign texts to read independently or allow students to choose from the library of audio-enhanced texts to supplement whole-class literature study. PRACTICE DIGITAL LITERACY SKILLS WITH GOOGLE DOCS By transferring paper-based active reading skills to a digital format, Google Apps for Education and Google Classroom provide users with tools and a management system for practicing digital literacy in a collaborative setting. In Google Classroom, teachers can generate copies of Google Docs for the whole class, groups and individuals. On a shared Google Doc, students can annotate a text and insert comments while having a close-reading discussion on a text. Instead of using physical highlighters or colored pencils, students can practice digital literacy skills and fine motor Whether blending paper with digital formats or shifting entirely to digital, get students reading and have them drive their learning. skills as they select text and click to change the highlighted color. You can also teach the basics of hypertexts and train students to slow down their vertical scrolling on a screen so that they take the time to understand a digital text. FORMATIVELY ASSESS STUDENT READING Just as EDpuzzle allows teachers to insert checkpoints for understanding in a video, Curriculet (www.curriculet.com) is a free, web-based reading platform that allows the teacher to embed questions, annotations and quizzes within a text. Students can read free public-domain texts or teacher-uploaded content in addition to renting publisher-controlled texts or subscribing to USA Today. Using Curriculet, my freshmen English students independently read Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities during a three-month period. I was able to track their progress and monitor their understanding and alignment with Common Core without having to distribute or collect a single worksheet or book. In addition to canonical literature, students can read USA Today articles and answer Common Core-aligned questions. My reluctant readers enjoy having the choice to read articles that interest them during silent sustained reading periods. Because the annotations feature content that I embedded, my students realize that I am delivering my instruction to them while they are reading and that I am reading alongside them through the screen. DRIVE THE LEARNING By providing students with access to texts and tools that will bolster their reading skills, teachers can capitalize on students’ inclination toward digital formats. And, by using a flipped learning approach, teachers can encourage students to be active in the learning of the content. Whichever tool you choose to use, familiarize students with the digital tool, scaffold the process, and allow students to personalize the learning experience. Ultimately, the technology does not drive the learning in a class; technology is merely a vehicle for learning. Whether you are blending paper with digital formats, or shifting entirely to digital, get students reading and have them drive their learning. Kate Baker, a ninth-grade English teacher at Southern Regional High School in Manahawkin, is a contributing author of Flipping 2.0: Practical Strategies for Flipping Your Classroom. Baker has been recognized as a PBS Learning- Media Digital Innovator, a Jacobs Educator and an Edmodo Certified Trainer. Connect with her on Twitter @KtBkr4 and read about her teaching techniques on her blog, Baker’s BYOD (kbakerbyodlit.blogspot.com). J<strong>AN</strong>UARY 2016 39
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