I’m starting to prepare to teach a new class about learning in a technology-saturated world (CI 317) this Fall (yes, I’m a little behind) which gives me the opportunity to dig back into the research on learning and technology again. So expect a few more blog posts over the next few months!
One thing I like to do when I teach is provide students with a range of material to use when they prepare – so not just text books or articles to read, but some current media – including podcasts. This week I’ve been digging into the Schools’ In Podcast from Stanford GSE (yes, my alma mater)
This one is a great summary of some recent research on apps that claim to help kids learn to read. It’s based on a meta-analysis by Professor Rebecca Silverman and colleagues, where they pulled together research from 119 different research studies to gain an understanding of the patterns that emerge in research on apps to support kids learning to read.
One thing I like is they break down the difference between two primary skills necessary to learn to read – decoding and comprehension. Decoding is basically being able to read words, while comprehension is understanding what you’re reading. When you’re thinking about how to help your kids learn to read, it’s important to think about which of these skills you need to target.
Early readers need practice decoding – and a lot of really simple apps can help with this. You don’t need much for an app to engage little ones in identifying letters and turning letters into words (though I have to admit I’m still a huge fan of the Osmo apps and packs). Here pick something free and ad free (we like PBS kids for a wide variety of choices). Matching the letters CAT to a picture of a cat and getting some balloons afterwards seems to be enough here.
Comprehension is more complex and requires context for kids to engage with in order to allow them to build this skill. Simple rewards are much less likely to work for persistence with these types of apps – instead pick something immersive, in a topic your child is interested in (it’s ok if it’s the Wildcrats or another TV show offshoot). But they need to have a reason to keep pushing through this topic.
So pick carefully – not all apps are created equally, and not all are trying to support the same skill. Look for ones that talk about what their goal is – learning to read isn’t simple, and there’s lots of reasons to read from a book to your child (I’ll post about this soon) but if you’re going to use an app – we finally have some guidance on what works!
