Growing Reading Fluency: Engaging Readers with Technology and Text.

Abstract

The presence of technology in K-12 classrooms continues to increase. With the onset of these technological advances, a refined lens for analysis of the effectiveness of these tools is required. Web based tools necessitate a synthesis of Technological, Pedagogical and Content knowledge. Moreover, the use of technology should support the content and pedagogy linked to the objective of the lesson. This work introduces the use of VoiceThread as a promising technological tool used to encourage reading fluency. Particularly, it emphasizes the Audio-Visual benefits of interactive use of engaging text and VoiceThread to improve reading fluency via the notable practices of Repeated Reading and Readers Theater. The scope, therefore builds upon best practices in literacy instruction, the technological pedagogical and content knowledge framework, as well as application of integrating web 2.0 tools in classroom settings.