It’s Friday at noon and there is enthusiasm among the 4th year ESO students at the Sant Ramon Nonat – Sagrat Cor school in Barcelona. Not because of the arrival of the weekend, but because they are preparing to receive the new chapter of the book they have been reading for the last few days. The group of teenagers, seated at tables of four or five specially organized for the activity, prepare to immerse themselves in reading.
For weeks they have been following the evolution of the story on an interactive platform, where they not only read, but also actively participate: they vote to decide the direction of the plot and share ideas with the author through a forum.
“Before I didn’t read, but everything changed when I felt part of the book,” says Adán Jiménez, a student at the center. “I wasn’t motivated or interested in reading,” he admits. However, the possibility of interacting with the author and contributing to the creation of the story has transformed his perception. “You realize that the author is a person just like you and that makes you feel closer and makes you want to read his book,” reflects Sheila López, also a student. “You think that one day you can be him,” he says excitedly.
Reading has to compete with a wide variety of leisure options, such as television, computers and mobile phones. Marta López, director of the Lecxit program at the Fundació Bofill, points out that the lack of interest in books is linked to the moment when young people begin to have a more active social life. “Reading is a very individual activity and, when you are a teenager, you look for more group interaction,” he says.
For this reason, López points out that the connection with a reading community – whether through new collaborative platforms or old-fashioned reading clubs – can be key to motivating young people.
Habit, understanding and technology
Year after year, PISA reports reveal a drop in results related to reading comprehension among young people. This trend is not an isolated phenomenon, since it is also reflected in the adult population. As stated in the second OECD Assessment of Adult Skills (PIAAC), the reading comprehension skills of adults up to 65 years of age have suffered a notable decline in most OECD countries. In Spain, one in three adults has difficulties understanding a long text, placing us below the European Union and OECD average.
One of the keys to reversing this data is to encourage reading, since it is a habit that “develops the ability to interpret and analyze information, essential skills for any area of life,” says López. Given this panorama, many experts point to solutions that involve technology and digital tools.
Collaborative reading platforms are one of those possible solutions. The one they use at the Sant Ramon Nonat – Sagrat cor school is Fiction Express. Created in 2016 by the Catalan Cristina Puig and Sven Huber, it is present in more than 9,000 schools around the world and is used by nearly one and a half million children.
It is designed to improve reading competence through the active participation of students. Every eight weeks, they release three different books that are published in chapters on a weekly basis. They make 51 copies a year, all original and locally produced. Students vote to decide the direction of the plot and share ideas with the writer through a forum, directly contributing to the development of the plot.
In addition, they address topics of interest to young people, such as anorexia, youth alcoholism, family conflicts, depression, bullying, toxic relationships, cyberbullying, machismo, toxic competitiveness, popularity and rumors. “I have always read a lot, but this has helped me open new horizons in reading and discover all kinds of genres,” explains Jiayi Lin, a 4th year ESO student at the center.
Within the classroom, all students experience how the platform adapts to their own reading pace. For those with curricular needs, specific tools are offered, such as the option to listen to the texts in audio, adjust the font size or change the background color of the pages. “These functionalities allow us to personalize the reading experience and help each student progress according to their needs,” say Esther Romera, head of studies, and Mireia Gento, 4th year ESO tutor at the center.
At Fiction Express they consider that traditional methods cannot be followed to promote reading when the media and formats have evolved. “It is no longer about demanding that they read a 100-page book in a week,” highlights Cristina Puig, co-founder of the Fiction Express platform. The true impulse towards reading, according to Puig, “is listening to young people and understanding what they are looking for: new formats, current topics and different ways of reading.” “We want them to overcome the ‘I don’t like reading’ stage and stop looking for excuses,” he adds.
A reflection of society
There is a wide range of interactive platforms and all of them offer gamification opportunities, which, according to López, can be motivating for certain student profiles. However, the director of the Lecxit program highlights that many of these functionalities can be achieved without the need for a specific digital application and that they must be complementary to the use of paper.
In fact, the effectiveness of these platforms, as the expert explains, is closely linked to their design and didactic approach. But many are inspired by strategies already consolidated in classrooms, such as peer recommendation or the collective creation of stories. With the difference that they adapt to the digital language of young people.
Therefore, interactive platforms can be a useful tool, but according to López, they are not the only solution to reverse the decline in reading levels among young people. He highlights that this problem cannot be solved with digital tools alone; It is also essential that adolescents have reading references, both among teachers and in the family and social environment.
And that is one of the great challenges. “Before attributing the drop in reading levels solely to adolescents, we should ask ourselves if adults read as much or if, on the other hand, we also prioritize other forms of entertainment,” López admits.
“Reading habits are a reflection of the general cultural context, not only of the educational stage,” he concludes. Even so, youth continues to be the sector of the Spanish population that reads the most in their free time. The rate of readers between 14 and 24 years old reaches 74% according to the Barometer of Reading and Book Purchasing Habits in Spain 2023.
So, although general belief says otherwise, the experts and teachers consulted for this report remain optimistic. And this is demonstrated by the class’s reaction when, at 12 noon, the new chapter comes out. On their computer screens you can see different reading levels, font sizes and background types: some have white text on black, others black on white, and even yellow on white. Everyone reads in silence, perhaps thinking about where they will turn the plot.
#Collaborative #platforms #promote #reading #didnt #feel #part #book
