New technology can help reading

The United Kingdom celebrated World Book Day on Thursday. The event is designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, and is marked in over 100 countries around the globe. A main aim of World Book Day in the UK and Ireland is to encourage children to explore the pleasures of books and reading. Now, with the launch of the iPad and other tablet computers, books can come with moving pictures and other interactive features.

“I lot of people have criticized things such as the iPad and other interactive books as saying it takes away children’s imagination,” says Dr. Caroline Walker-Gleaves, the Senior Lecturer in Special Education and Inclusion at Durham University.

But she told Vatican Radio these devises can actually help children read.

“Certainly from our research, particularly with new readers, with very young children, or with children who find writing and reading difficult…it makes literacy and books far more accessible than ever,” she said.

She points out important features, such as the ability for the new readers to “read out” hard to pronounce words, and give definitions.

“There is nothing more discouraging or demoralizing, especially for a poor or struggling reader, than when they get stuck on words and actually lose interest in the greater narrative of the story,” she said. “I don’t buy that all of these digital imagery and digital books make literacy worse…it is too early to tell what effect it is going to have on literacy longer term, but I think from our research, it actually helps.”

Listen to the full interview by Charles Collins with Dr. Caroline Walker-Gleaves: