Idea: Reading to a computer is not scary
An online coach who helps students improve their pronunciation and reading skills in English. Teacher Lotte Pragt grants everyone such a Reading Assistant.
Photo: Angeliek de Jonge
A buzz of English sentences can be heard in the room. Students sit behind a computer with headphones and speak softly into their microphones. 'Every reader deserves a listener' is the slogan of Reading Assistant, the program that enables students to independently improve their pronunciation and reading skills. Teacher Lotte Pragt discovered Publisher Graviant's program during the National Education Exhibition, ran a pilot last school year with her pre-vocational secondary education students from Metzo College in Doetinchem and is so enthusiastic about it that she wants to share her experiences. "I wish this to every student and teacher."
Because reading together in class used to be quite frustrating. Many of her students on the vocational pathway are weak readers, but there are also those who are much more advanced. “If you then start reading together, one half doesn't come along and the other half gets bored,” she explains. "That is not fun for anyone, not even for me as a teacher."
'Great job'
Reading Assistant makes differentiation possible and offers a continuous learning path from the beginning of primary education to the end of VWO. The student reads completely independently, at his own pace and at his own level. After a test in which the level is determined, a student can choose an e-book and read it first. He can have words read aloud for which he does not know the pronunciation. Then he reads the text to the computer himself. Thanks to advanced speech technology, the online program recognizes what a student reads aloud and can improve it where necessary. The text that has been read provides the program with color: green stands for 'Great job', blue for 'Try again' and red for 'Needs work'. Finally, by answering questions it is tested whether the student has understood the text.
Students immediately find it super cool. Before that, no one listened to them as well as they read, and now they are even corrected immediately if they mispronounce something.
“Pupils immediately find it super cool,” says Pragt. “Before, there was no one who listened to them as well as they read and now they are even instantly corrected if they mispronounce something. They see for themselves how they progress, which is enormously motivating. Moreover, it does not matter whether they stutter or stutter, because no one else hears this. It boosts their confidence. ”
Pupils have to learn to work with it for a while. “I explain to them: 'Just pretend to read to my three-year-old daughter. Then you also have to speak calmly and clearly, otherwise she cannot follow it. That's how it works with the computer too. ' Once they get it, things keep getting better. ”
Remarkable
To create support for the program, she invited the director to her fourth grade VMBO basic, 'tough metal boys'. “A boy said: 'Sir, two weeks ago I couldn't read anything, but if you want I can just read this book now. Now I can and I dare to. My director was immediately convinced ”, says Pragt. “The change is really remarkable. Previously, students saw reading as a kind of punishment and now they even continue with it at home. The program makes reading fun again. ”
Since this school year, all teachers of the English department have been working with Reading Assistant. Reactions from her colleagues have been positive so far. “They see students progress, which also motivates them. Of course we only know what the program really did after the exam, so we have to wait and see. But after the four weeks in which I ran it as a pilot last year, they entered the exam confidently. With that you have already won half. "
No, she doesn't have stock in the company, she says with a laugh, but everyone should know about something that works so well, she believes. The most expensive license costs XNUMX euros per year for schools. “That is quite an expense, but it is a few euros per student. If you see what you achieve with it and how much work it takes off my hands because I don't have to keep track of the progress myself, then it is more than worth it. ”
