RUNNING HEAD: ReadWorks.

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Multimedia Critique Paper Number Two:

ReadWorks.org

Kedralyn L. Folk

Coastal Carolina University

ReadWorks.org 2

Reading has always been a core subject in schools. It is one of the most valuable skills a

person can obtain. ReadWorks.org creates a place where reading skills can be practiced in three

ways, projected, in print or in a digital classroom. Through reading comprehension focused

passages and question sets, ReadWorks.org gives students in grades kindergarten through twelfth

grade, a grade level comprehensive curriculum to follow based on Common Core State

Standards. In South Carolina, teachers use the South Carolina College and Career Ready

standards, however these standards are similar to Common Core State Standards and are easily

aligned.

Read Works is a web-based application. There must be internet access to use it. In the

digital classroom, it uses audio, text and other graphic elements to present students with a

reading passage and questions. There are options for the student to change the screen to display

only the passage, only the questions or both at the same time. Seeing both the passage and the

questions simultaneously is a wonderful tool. Students standardized assessments are formatted in

the same way, giving them much practice with this view. Read Works also allows students to

highlight and annotate the passage as needed. This encourages them to refer to the text for

answers to the questions building their reading skills. Parents and students can access the site

from home or on the go by simply using the class code and password.

ReadWorks.org describes its purpose as addressing the nation’s reading crisis. Many

students are unable to read on their grade level. Read Works is helping to fix this crisis by

providing teachers with a free reading website that follows a superb curriculum rooted in

cognitive science (“ReadWork.org”).

ReadWorks.org does not have the qualities of a fun website. There is no animation or fun

graphic text and pictures. It is mostly in black and white. The audio is always read in monotone
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voice. Below, in figures one and two, are the students screen when they log into the digital

classroom and select an assignment. Figure two looks similar to the standardized assessment

format.

Figure 1 Student Assignment Page

Figure 2 Student Assignment Page with Passage and Questions Side by Side

One of the best parts of Read Works is that the website is completely free. The free site

offers everything an instructor would need to teach meaningful and valuable reading skills. Via
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the teacher site, teachers have access to all student data in real time, complete with tables, grades

and diagnostics. Read Works grades all multiple-choice questions and allows the teacher to grade

written responses online. Teachers have an opportunity to use data from Read Works to drive

further instruction. Below, in figure three is the teacher site homepage where content can be

searched and explored.

Figure 3 Teacher Dashboard

Read Works has the potential to teach and reteach essential reading skills. In relation to

multimedia learning, students should experience a pre-training before using the Read Works

digital classroom. The pre-training principle states that people learn better when the multimedia

message is given after the learner knows the characteristics and names of the main concepts

(Mayer & Pilegard, 2014). Read Works has projected and in print versions of their content. A

teacher could use these versions of Read Works to model for students how to use the content

before releasing them to use the digital classroom. In a whole group (projected) or small group

(in print) setting students can be taught a reading skill prior to using Read Works’ digital
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classroom. Teachers have the option to assign specific assignments for certain students. So, if a

student is not reading on grade level, that student can be assigned reading passages on their

reading level.

Read Works also, incorporates the spatial contiguity principle, the coherence principle,

and the image principle (Mayer & Fiorella, 2014). The spatial contiguity principle states that

people retain information better from a multimedia message when matching phrases and words

are presented near each other rather than far apart (Mayer & Fiorella, 2014). Closeness and word

relation play a significant role in multimedia learning. Students are presented with information in

a clear, cohesive format in the Read Works digital classroom. Once they begin working with the

digital classroom the entire screen is dedicated to that assignment and reading all about it. Below

in figure four, there is a view of the student page with highlighted sentences and a question

answered.

Figure 4 Student Assignment Page in Use

Students are in control of rather to make their screen full size, split screen, cut sound on

or off and rather or not have the passage read to them. These controls allow students to have
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choice in their cognitive information process. Driscoll (2005), states that the information

processing system of the learner has three stages: sensory memory, working (short-term)

memory and long-term memory. Each stage represents how learning occurs through information

input from the environment, it is processed and then stored in memory. Whatever is learned can

be demonstrated in various ways, such as on a Read Works assignment. Students interact with

Read Works by moving the computer mouse and manipulating the contorls on the screen.

The multimedia principle states that people learn best from words and pictures rather than

just words alone (Butcher, 2014). Read Works uses words and pictures to help students master

reading skills. Throughout each reading passage assignment, he or she will be exposed to words

and pictures to increase their overall learning. In chapter fourteen of the text, Mayer (2014)

states, “The image principal says people do not learn more efficiently from a multimedia

presentation when the speaker’s image is on the screen.” ReadWorks.org uses a monotone voice

with no image. Listen here:

A redesign of Read Works would use more animation and game-like reading passages.

For teachers it is great because the reading worksheets once used exclusively are now a part of

the Read Works digital classroom. ReadWorks.org does not support the segmenting principle.

Students would benefit from the site using the principle in the curriculum. Segmenting is

designed to reduce essential overload (p. 316). The segmenting principle states that people learn

better when the multimedia message is displayed in learner-paced parts rather than as a

continuous system (Mayer & Pilegard, 2014). Read Works is not user-paced. The teacher sets

assignments for the student. Students would benefit from a user-paced design, giving them

greater autonomy over their learning in reading. For students, Read Works may be cool to use
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initially but without any cool animations, graphics and games, the site may not appeal to them.

Math content should be added too. This would provide teachers with a one stop shop for

multimedia content learning fun.

ReadWorks.org is a great, purposeful and useful site. The benefits of using it can be seen

fairly quickly and students enjoy using it versus paper and pencil. It is a great way to teach and

review essential reading skills. Read Works can serve as a motivator to any student who

struggled initially with their reading. Teachers can use this as a progress monitoring tool and

tailor assignments to meet student needs. However, there are a few improvements that would

increase multimedia learning. Read Works is assessment based but gives students the practice

they need to succeed on standardized assessments.

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References

Butcher, K. R. (2014). The Multimedia Principle. The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia

Learning,174-205.

Driscoll, M. (2005). Psychology of Learning for Instruction (3rd ed.) (pp. 71-77). Boston, MA:

Allyn and Bacon.

Mayer, R. E., & Fiorella, L. (2014). Principles for Reducing Extraneous Processing In Multimedia

Learning: Coherence, Signaling, Redundancy, Spatial Contiguity, and Temporal Contiguity

Principles. The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning,279-315.

Mayer, R. E., & Pilegard, C. (2014). Principles for Managing Essential Processing in Multimedia

Learning: Segmenting, Pre-training, and Modality Principles. The Cambridge Handbook of

Multimedia Learning,316-344.

Mayer, R. E. (2014). Principles of Multimedia Learning Based on Social Cues: Personalization,

Voice, and Image Principles. The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning,345-368.

ReadWorks.org. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://about.readworks.org/