Today in class we learned about incorporating the digital canon into our classrooms. The one method that seemed to allow the most interaction with the text was hypertexts. This allowed students to click on other areas of interest and gave access to additional information. However, I do not know if these would really help improve the process of reading itself. It would create more engaged readers, but what about those who are struggling to read period?
Soliloquy Learning, Inc. believes they have found the solution. Their relatively new program, called the Soliloquy Reading Assistant, is an advanced speech recognition program that will provide individualized support for students from elementary school all the way to adult education. The student reads an e-book aloud to a computer using a headset and microphone. Through speech-recognition technology, the program follows the reader through the text and provides help when needed. Throughout the reading, there are invisible “trigger points” that allow “comprehension queries” to pop up. These questions reinforce essential information and terms, are open-book, and must be answered correctly before the student can move on. The students do not know when the questions will appear. As a result, the reader must think while reading, “just in case.” At the end of sessions, readers are presented with progress pages, citing problem and fluency areas, as well as providing comprehension evaluations. The areas of difficulty in the text are then highlighted, making it easier for the reader to review. This information is continually updated and accessible to the teacher.
“The Reading Assistant was originally designed to help elementary school children with their reading fluency,” said Jon Bower, CEO of Soliloquy Learning. “The next logical step was to try to develop more advanced content for older students and adults so that they can continue to develop fluency, while broadening their vocabularies and learning to comprehend from informational texts.”
Right now this is mainly used in science and social studies and involves content-area reading and learning in Grades 5-11. These texts were chosen because they coincided with the state and national science and social studies standards. Therefore, the questions in the “comprehension queries” are most likely in the realm of recitation and memorization because there are “correct” answers. This would not help the active learner approach that is ultimately more effective for students. A truly great software program would continue the reading evaluations, and then ask open questions at the end to test for comprehension. This could work if the questions were general and similar on each reading, then emailed to the teacher for evaluation.
However, this type of program could be beneficial in some ways because it provides instant feedback to the students and forces them to consciously think about what they are reading. Also, it evaluates students on the basis of their fluency when reading and could act as a personal tutor during reading. It gives the students individualized attention to specific needs. Furthermore, it integrates at least two subjects, and could be used in a program similar to my last blog topic.
2 responses so far ↓
prettyladyliun06 // March 3, 2007 at 2:10 am
I have to say that I think the program sounds great! It really makes use of the scaffolding idea, which I am a firm believer in. Despite the fact that the questions are recitation style, I think they are very valuable because they force the reader to be a concious reader, one who not only reads but also comprehends what it is he/she is reading. You make a good suggestion about making up a few questions at the end that are open and allow for the student’s personal imput, which the teacher would then be able to review. I wonder (and if you know please let me know) if this program is instituted in schools only or if it is available as a resource for parents to use in their homes. Being the mother of a 2 year old this would be a great tool for the home for when he gets older. If he stuggles with reading, him and I could work on it but it would also be a nice outlet for him so he doesn’t feel that I am crowding him or drilling him as a parent. The program may be a more fun way of reading for him and if he’s enjoying then he is more likely to get something out of it.
I really sounds like a great program. Do they plan to implement the progam in other classrooms yet, or only in science and social studies?
Very interesting.
Comments « daily pennies // April 18, 2007 at 2:58 am
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