Headphones Help Pupils Improve Their Reading.

There was an interesting article by Helen Ward in the TES on Friday 14th September.  She highlighted a study carried out by Exeter University.  The study looked at 159 children aged between six and thirteen who were at least a year behind their peers in reading.  These pupils then worked on making tape recordings of themselves reading a list of words, they then listened to their own voice played back through headphones.  The children had the tape sessions twice a week for ten weeks, then practiced reading the words while listening to them.  When tested the children listening to their own voices and reviewing their speech made significantly greater gains in their word recognition abilities compared to the children following their usual classroom routine.  Another interesting point made was that some evidence suggested older pupils benefited more from the technique, possibly because they were better at independent learning. 

When reading the article I immediately thought of podcasting and how the idea of reading practice would be a great way to use Podium, more pupils would be able to access their podcasts at school and at home, allowing greater time for practice.  It also struck me as a great way to promote independent learning, making reading accessible to all pupils.

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