Katie Davis (@katesydavis) Phil Lindert (@plinderto) Dan Priest (@ablahbrouhaha)

#SIGert
Interacting With Texts
Until recently, interacting with a story meant writing in the margins or following annotations to the back of the book. This is a very visceral way of reading it is also a very personal way of reading that is not easy to replicate in a secondary classroom with schoolowned novels/textbooks. Having students interacting with expository or narrative writing through the use of technology opens up the opportunity for students to explore while reading, instead of restricting them to reading words on a page.

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Building Vocabulary
While technology plays a greater role in students everyday lives, research shows that many teachers are not aware of the digital resources available to enhance reading instruction (Kilckaya, 2010). By bringing technology into the classroom teachers are able to make vocabulary instruction more visual which allows for students to better process and organize word meaning and relationships.

Tablets and apps are also shifting ideas about how we interact with texts (Stuart, 2010) stories are becoming more centered on discovery and participation turning reading into something closer to gaming.

Programs like Wordle and Tagxedo allow teachers to create word clouds that can show word relationships and presentation software like can PowerPoint can be used to create multimedia showcases of visual and aural representations of different words (Dalton, 2011).

The rise of eliterature, with hyperlinked pages and hidden messages or images, shows a sense of play when it comes to storytelling. These interactive books are often nonlinear, and shift readers attentions from rotely following the stories, to actively understanding the choices made by the author (Fleming, 2010 LuceKapler, 2006).

Likewise research has also proven that the incorporation of eReaders increases the amount of time students use a dictionary to look up unfamiliar words (Wright, 2013).

Improving reading comprehension through the use of technology

As students spend more of their lives online and in front of a digital device, teachers must adapt by integrating new technologies to revive old curriculum. Teaching reading comprehension has been stalled in the realm of physical books for decades, but with the use of specific digital tools teachers can replicate and, more importantly, enhance strategies for interpreting and analyzing text. First, technology can be used to enhance vocabulary instruction by adding visual components to create deeper connections. Technology also increases reader engagement by providing greater opportunities for student expression and discussion. In addition, the Internet and eReaders have made interacting with words, structure, and other literary devices more profound by involving students in the process of reading for understanding. Finally, technology may be used to promote both cross curricular and personal connections by embracing social media in the classroom though Connected Learning strategies. When taken altogether these different facets promote reading comprehension in the 21st century.

Web 2.0 tools such as blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and Google Docs, when used correctly, have shown the ability to increase reader engagement as students feel that their feelings and ideas are more important and valued by others which leads them to become more engaged with the text (Park, 2013).

Connected Learning is pairing with The National Writing Project to further explore how Connected Learning works in multiple writing environments.

Adults Formal Education Online Community

Personal Interests

Social Media

While engaging with a text means something different to every reader, the amount digital resources available to teachers to enhance reading allows for great differentiation. Current research shows that students view using an ereader as more interesting and exciting when compared to traditional printed texts (Wright, 2013). Other possibilities for teachers are to incorporate digital storytelling tools to help students visualize the text or to bring in podcasts as a means of providing an audio accompaniment to the text (Kajder, 2008).

Connected Learning strives to combine our students' love of social media, talent for networking, and personal interests to promote production centered learning. Rather than ban common social media websites in the classroom, they are utilized to promote literacy with the ultimate goal that the student will synthesize his or her learning at school, home, and in their social life. By embracing personal passions, the knowledge of teachers and peers, and the creative facets of the internet, students are able to achieve Connected Learning (Ito, Livingston, et al., 2013).

Engaging Students
References
Dalton, B., & Grisham, D. (2011). eVoc strategies: 10 ways to use technology to build vocabulary. The Reading Teacher, 64(5), 306-317. Luce-Kapler, R. (2006). Creative fragments: The subjunctive spaces of E-literature. English Teaching: Practice and Critique, 5(2), 6-16. Fleming, L. (2010, September 8). A primer on interactive books. Edutopia. Retrieved from: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/laura-fleming-interactive-booksprimer Ito, M., Guterrez, K., Livingstone, S., Penuel, B., Rhodes, J., Watkins, S. C. (2013). Connected learning: An agenda for research and design. Retrieved from: http://dmlhub.net/sites/default/files/ConnectedLearning_report.pdf Kajder, S. (2008). Listening 2.0: What adolescents want us to know about new literacies and learning. Adolescent Literacy: In Perspective. Retrieved from: http://www.ohiorc.org/adlit/inperspective/issue/2008-04/Article/feature.aspx Park, S. W. (2013). The Potential of Web 2.0 Tools to Promote Reading Engagement in a General Education Course. TechTrends, 57, 46-53. Stuart, K. (2010, September 22). Is interactive fiction the future of books?. The Guardian. Retreived from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2010/sep/22/ideo-andinteractive-fiction Wright, S., Fugett, A., & Caputa, F. (2013). Using E-readers and Internet Resources to Support Comprehension. Educational Technology & Society, 16(1), 367379. Kilickaya, F., & Krajka, J. (2010). Teacher's Technology Use in Vocabulary Teaching. Academic Exchange Quarterly, Spring, 81-86.

Connected Learning
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