Empowering literacy through technology

Maria does well in geometry and is involved in my school’s robotics club, working with her peers on a robotic arm. She is, however, up against a big problem: Maria struggles to understand what she reads.

When Maria’s English language arts teacher asked me about digital resources to help bridge Maria’s reading gaps, I suggested Read & Write. With features like text-to-speech, interactive dictionaries, and a set of comprehension questions for users, this tool has helped Maria to research and learn unfamiliar words. She has embraced it, carefully listening to the text and building her understanding of the written text, especially when it comes to robotics and the effect it may have on our future.

According to the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), only 25 percent of 8th graders in our state are reading proficiently. The Arkansas LEARNS Act has promised to boost not only the reading skills of these students but also their capabilities in math and other subjects.

However, the act is nearly devoid of directives for what reading programs or what kinds of materials, including digital tools, should be used with students who are falling behind.

Using technology to bolster literacy is one way we can support students like Maria to bolster her confidence as her reading comprehension improves. Here are some digital platforms and strategies I have found work well when teachers have asked for my technology expertise to build literacy in their classrooms:

– Gamified learning environments: Educational gamification creates many opportunities for our students to engage, rewarding them with badges and points. Maria’s geometry teacher, for example, utilizes gamified learning environments to design interactive challenges where students earn incentives for mastering concepts such as angles, shapes, and theorems. When Maria solves complex problems or accurately draws geometric figures, she receives rewards; she sees the outcome as fun and is motivated to continue learning. For “reading quests” and “literacy challenges,” Kahoot and Quizlet allow her to embark on a digital adventure in which she earns points and unlocks virtual rewards by completing tasks such as identifying themes in a story, summarizing passages, or answering comprehension questions. Progress badges, leaderboards, and interactive avatars keep the high school student motivated, transforming the process of improving literacy into a dynamic and enjoyable journey.

– Interactive e-books: Digital books and reading applications ramp up engagement with features such as pronunciation guides, clickable glossaries, and comprehension checks. Research from the National Center on Literacy and Disability shows that these digital tools may improve literacy for many struggling readers because they can be less intimidating. While assistive technology like e-books is a tool in my school’s special education classes, they aren’t substitutes for teaching decoding and the necessary skills for reading fluently and understanding what has been read. Instead, they can be the entry point to reading. For example, Maria read the e-book The Sound of English, which helped her improve her English pronunciation and literacy skills—with features like clickable glossaries and pronunciation guides meant to ignite her confidence in reading.

– Virtual discussion groups: Our teachers also utilize student discussion groups held virtually. For example, one book club is called “Diverse Voices in Literature,” which recently read The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas and then met on Microsoft Teams to share summaries and answer questions developed by a student discussion leader. This online community, led by a teacher, gives students opportunities to speak and also comment in the chat, in this case comparing the novel to the movie. Because of the question-and-answer format of these virtual groups, better readers help struggling ones with comprehension during informal peer-to-peer moments.

Digital tools for reading comprehension that work well can reach the students who need them and do so engagingly and efficiently.

Maria, for instance, has benefited greatly from sustained usage of Read & Write, which has augmented the reading skills that help her better understand geometry word problems. Let’s make sure that all our students have access to the technology tools they need to become fluent, confident readers.

Editor’s note: Dr. Anthony Bland is a Technology Specialist and Certified Career and Technology Education Teacher at Little Rock Central High School. He is a 2024-2025 Teach Plus Arkansas Policy Fellow. The opinions expressed are those of the author.