169
E-­B OOK S A N D
AU DIOBOOK S
Extending the Digital Reading Experience
Lotta C. Larson
Recent advancements in tablet and e-­book technologies provide enhanced
literacy experiences that integrate both digital reading and audiobook
listening to support students’ comprehension of and engagement with text.
“T
he lady sounds weird and confusing,”
Trevon offered.
“Yeah, but she knows how to
pronounce the words,” Alaina
responded, “and when you hear it, you’ll know how
to pronounce it too, even if you can’t read it.”
During a recent visit to Mr. Clark’s sixth-­g rade
classroom, I [a teacher educator at a nearby univer-
sity] overheard Trevon and Alaina (all names are
pseudonyms) discuss their e-­book reading/audio-
book listening experience of Number the Stars (Lowry,
1989). While Trevon found the narrator’s voice
annoying, Alaina recognized that the audio support
helped her pronounce and understand words that she
was not able to read independently. After a few more
minutes of contemplation, Trevon and Alaina put
on their headphones, powered up their Kindles, and
found a comfy reading corner.
In the past few years, children’s use of e-­books
and digital reading devices has increased rapidly. In
fact, between 2010 and 2014, the portion of children
ages 6–8 who reported having read an e-­book more
than doubled, from 28% to 64%; similarly, the per-
centage escalated from 22% to 56% for children ages
9–11 (Scholastic, 2015). While e-­book reading is not a
new phenomenon, its current popularity among chil-
dren, coupled with the greater availability of digital
texts and more affordable reading devices, warrant a
reminder to effectively integrate e-­books to support
reading instruction. Along with a growing number
The Reading Teacher  Vol. 69  Issue 2  pp. 169–177  DOI:10.1002/trtr.1371  © 2015 International Literacy Association
of children reading e-­books, recent advancements
in tablet and e-­book technologies allow enhanced lit-
eracy experiences among students (Larson, 2013).
One such development is the addition of profes-
sional narration during which a voice recording, or
audiobook, is synchronized with an e-­book text.
This provides a vastly different c­ ombined listen-
ing/reading experience compared to early ­versions
of text-­to-­speech functions, which only offered a
computerized, robotic voice. As exemplified in the
opening vignette, Mr. Clark’s sixth-­g rade s­ tudents
navigated a ­combined e-­book and ­audiobook
­reading ­experience using Kindle Fires.
New Literacies and New Ways
to Read
Rooted in cognitive constructivist theory, new liter-
acies perspectives (Leu, Kinzer, Coiro, & Cammack,
2004; Leu, Kinzer, Coiro, Castek, & Henry, 2013)
recognize that literacy is persistently evolving and
challenge teachers to transform reading instruction in
response to emerging technologies and new possibil-
ities for communication and collaboration within the
literacy classroom. In addition to the more traditional
literacies of paper, pencil, and print texts, today’s
students encounter and interact with new digital
Lotta C. Larson is an associate professor at Kansas State University,
Manhattan, USA; e-­mail lottalarson@ksu.edu.
170
E - B O OK S A N D AU DIO B O OK S: E x T E N DI Ng T H E DIg I TA L R E A DI Ng E x p E R I E NC E
literacies, including e-books and tablet
technologies (International Reading
Association [IRA], 2009). While e-book
readers like Kindles, Nooks, or Sony
Readers tend to replicate a print-text
reading experience through their screen
size, page-turning features, and gen-
eral layout, their many tools and settings
(including audio narration) can allow
for a wide range of individualized read-
ing experiences (Larson, 2013; Moyer,
2011). For students to tap into the poten-
tial advantages of such reading devices,
they need new literacies, or “skills, strat-
egies, and dispositions necessary to
successfully use and adapt to the rapidly
changing information and communi-
cation technologies and contexts that
continuously emerge in our world” (Leu
et al., 2004, p. 1572). In other words,
with advancing technologies, contempo-
rary literacy acquisition is most effective
when readers are able to incessantly
adapt and adjust to such changes.
Reading aloud has long been
acknowledged as an important com-
ponent of effective reading programs
and, by some, considered the single
most important activity for building
knowledge required for reading success
(Anderson, Hiebert, Scott, & Wilkinson,
1985). The benefit of audiobooks is
Pause and Ponder
What kinds of experiences have your
■
students had using e-books and
audiobooks?
How would you respond to teachers or
■
parents who express concerns that using
audiobooks is not “real” reading or
perhaps even cheating?
How do you envision using e-books with
■
audio/narration capabilities to support a
wide range of learners in your classroom?
The Reading Teacher Vol. 69 Issue 2 September/October 2015
similar to that of reading aloud, and
research supports the use of audiobooks
to strengthen literacy development
(Beers, 1998; grover & Hannegan, 2012;
Moyer, 2012; Wolfson, 2008). Since
recorded audiobooks often present pro-
fessional narrators, well-known actors,
or the author’s own voice, they may pro-
vide an extra dimension to a read-aloud
experience (gander, 2013; Moyer, 2011;
Wolfson, 2008). A consistent, fluent
voice demonstrating proper punctuation
and cadence is an important component
of reading. Audiobooks model effec-
tive read-aloud attributes, which can
be particularly beneficial if the listener
is reading along (gander, 2013). While
some teachers (and parents) may feel
that listening to an audiobook does not
really constitute real reading and, per-
haps, could even be considered cheating,
this perception is only true if the read-
ing process is defined as decoding the
words in a book. However, many literacy
skills and strategies used by audiobook
readers are comparable to those used
by text readers. Wolfson (2008) argued
that the “only difference is that we have
substituted the visual understanding of
written words with the auditory under-
standing of written words” (p. 107).
Furthermore, Moyer (2011) explained
that “listening is in fact ‘real’ reading
and that listeners can engage with
audiobooks in much the same way as
they can engage with printed or elec-
tronic texts. Therefore, theories of
engaged and motivated reading based
on printed or digital texts can certainly
be applied to audiobooks” (p. 254).
Setting the Stage
While audiobooks and e-books are not
new, little is known about students’
use and perceptions of the combina-
tion of these two media, as the ability
to synchronize an audio track with a
digital text is rather innovative. Hence,
“Recent advancements
in tablet and e-book
technologies allow
enhanced literacy
experiences among
students.”
I was eager to spend time in Mr. Clark’s
classroom to learn more about how
sixth-grade students navigate and
perceive digital texts and audio con-
tents in a combined reading/listening
experience.
Despite nine years of teaching expe-
rience, Mr. Clark openly expressed
concerns over his limited repertoire
of instructional strategies for teach-
ing reading and his unfamiliarity with
technology. “My use of technology is
probably less than average, especially
compared to newer teachers. I had never
even touched an e-reader before this
project,” he said. He recognized that the
district ’s attention to the Common Core
State Standards (CCSS) and subsequent
testing put pressure on teachers to inte-
grate technology and focus on literacy
instruction across content areas.
Each of the 26 students was
equipped with headphones and a
Kindle Fire loaded with an assortment
of e-books (downloaded from Amazon
.com) and corresponding audio books
(downloaded from Audible.com) to
accommodate a wide range of inter-
ests and reading levels. During my
17 classroom visits, the sixth graders
read the following e-book/audiobook
combinations:
Moon Over Manifest by Clare
●
Vanderpool (2010), which
received the Newbery Medal in

E -­B ooks and Audiobooks: E x tending the Dig ital R eading E x p erience
2011. This work of historical fic-
tion follows 12-year-old Abilene
Tucker, an adventurous girl who
is sent by her drifter father to
live in Manifest, Kansas, in the
summer of 1936. The audiobook
features two female narrators
(Jenna Lamia and Cassandra
Campbell) and one male nar-
rator (Kirby Heyborne) who
collectively bring the story’s
many unique characters to life
through interesting dialects
and voice interpretations. Total
audiobook length: 9 hours and
31 minutes.
● Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
(1989), which received the
Newbery Medal in 1990. This
work of fiction depicts the
escape of 10-year-old Annemarie
Johansen and her Jewish family
during the Occupation of
Denmark in World War II. The
audiobook is performed by a
female narrator (Blair Brown)
who changes her voice to expertly
portray different characters and
accents. Total audiobook length: 2
hours and 47 minutes.
● Holes by Louis Sachar (1998), which
won the Newbery Medal in 1999.
The fictional story features Stanley
Yelnats, a teenager who is unjustly
sent to Camp Green Lake, a boys’
detention center where they “build
character” by spending all day,
every day, digging large holes. The
audiobook is read by a male nar-
rator (Kerry Beyer) who uses his
voice to engage the listener and
add interest to the story. Total
audiobook length: 4 hours and 23
minutes.
(More information about the partici-
pants and the research methodology can
be found in the research supplement.)
171
E-­Book Reading and students to take the Kindle Fire home
Audiobook Listening after school (see Figure).
During the first session, I connected a During the next 11 sessions, all stu-
Kindle Fire to an LCD projector to dem- dents read and responded to Moon
onstrate 1) how to use basic e-­book tools Over Manifest. Each session began with
such looking up words in the diction- a grand conversation about the book,
ary, adding digital notes or highlights, followed by a minilesson over a read-
and inserting bookmarks; 2) ways to cus- ing strategy or a technology-­related
tomize font size, background color, and topic. Often, students also shared
page layout; and 3) how to switch between their responses to the literature or a
the e-­book and audiobook or read and newly discovered e-­book or audiobook
listen at the same time using a feature tool, assuming the role of technology
called Immersion Reading. In addition, expert. Following the whole-­class dis-
the sixth graders learned how to care for cussions, students were given time to
their Kindle Fires. Due to budgetary con- read and/or listen to the story, either
straints, purchasing protective cases for independently or with a partner. Some
each device was not an option. Instead, opted to sit at their desks, while others
each student was given a 6-­inch by 9.25-­ found quiet spots on the floor. Each
inch bubble envelope, which served as a day, students were informed how much
protective cover for the device (it is worth they were expected to read before the
noting that no device was lost or broken next session, and they were encour-
during this study). Students also learned aged to take their Kindles home to
how to use the charging station, which either finish reading or to reread the
had been set up on a counter in the back assigned chapters. For sessions 13–17,
of the room using inexpensive power the general format remained similar to
strips. “User agreements” were distributed that of the first 12 sessions; however,
which, once signed by parents, permitted Mr. Clark divided the students into two
Figure  User Agreement
• The only person allowed to use the Kindle is the student. While the student may demonstrate the
use of his or her Kindle to friends and family members, the student is the only person who may
use the Kindle.
• The student may not download or access any content (books, apps, magazines, etc.) without
permission from Mr. Clark.
• The student is responsible for and expected to complete any Kindle-related homework assignments
and follow all instructions. The student’s work must be completed in a timely manner and with high
quality.
• The Kindle must be treated with care. When not in use, the Kindle must be stored in a storage
case or protective envelope provided by Mr. Clark. The student should take great care not to
scratch the Kindle’s surface, drop the Kindle, or in any other way harm the Kindle.
• If a Kindle malfunctions even though the student has taken good care of the device, the student is
not responsible for replacing the device.
• If a Kindle is lost or broken due to mistreatment, carelessness, or from sharing the Kindle with
another person, the student is responsible for replacing the Kindle.
❑ Yes, I agree to the above rules and expectations (the student will be able to take the Kindle home).
❑ No, I do not agree (the student will not be able to take the Kindle home).
Parent Signature: ____________________________   Date: ____________
Student Signature: ___________________________   Date: ____________
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E -­B ooks and Audiobooks: E x tending the Dig ital R eading E x p erience
“Students should be
offered a choice
between print and
digital text whenever
possible.”
groups based on their reading abilities
and interests, with 7 students reading
Holes and 19 students reading Number
the Stars. While it is impossible to cap-
ture the five-­week study in its entirety
in this article, what follows is a glimpse
into the sixth-­g rade classroom, high-
lighting many of my observations and
findings.
Reading Preferences: “Now
That I’m Used to It…”
As Moon Over Manifest came to an
end, the students completed a brief
questionnaire about their use of and
attitudes toward the digital reading
experience. Twenty-­one students (81%)
reported that, if given a choice, they pre-
ferred reading e-­books over print texts.
Cameron explained, “I prefer a Kindle
because you can highlight words with-
out bleeding onto the next page and
there is a pop-­up dictionary that shows
you how to pronounce it.” Alyssa also
recognized the benefits of e-­book tools
and features: “I prefer e-­books because
it’s easier to read and I can insert notes
without having all these sticky notes
that would normally fall out.” On the
other hand, four (15%) of the sixth
graders shared a preference for the
familiarity of a regular print book. Finn
simply stated, “I would prefer the actual
paper book because that is what I’m
used to.” Shannon echoed this senti-
ment: “I am used to turning pages and
the way the paper feels when I turn the
The Reading Teacher Vol. 69 Issue 2 September/October 2015
page.” Only one student (4%) stated that
she had no opinion, “as long as I get to
read.”
The students completed a s­ imilar
survey after finishing their second
e-­book (either Holes or Number the Stars).
At this point, 23 students (88%) reported
a preference for e-­books, one student
(4%) preferred print texts, and two (8%)
students expressed no preference. Taylor
explained, “Now that I’m used to it, they
both [print text and e-­book] seemed
fine.” For both adults and children, the
shift between print and digital text is
often gradual and should be expected to
take time. “Because the reading experi-
ence is a personal one, students should
be offered a choice between print and
digital text whenever possible to encour-
age an engaging and motivating reading
experience” (Dobler, 2015).
E-­Reading Tools and Settings:
“The Dictionary Is Part
of My Reading Life”
Throughout the study, students were
encouraged but not required to use
e-­book tools to help them navigate
the reading/listening experience. Prior
Table  Students’ Use of Kindle Tools
Number of Students
Kindle Tool or Setting
Font size
Font type
Line spacing
Margin size
Background color
Audiobook/Immersion Reading
Bookmarks
“Go to” button to find place in book
Dictionary
Inserted notes
Highlight words/passages
Note. Students responded to the question, “Which Kindle tools did you use when reading Moon Over Manifest? Please mark
ALL that apply.”
e-­book studies suggest that effective
use of tools that allow students to cus-
tomize the digital text by changing
font size, page orientation, and back-
ground color; access digital dictionaries
or translation tools; take notes; highlight
­portions of the text; and add bookmarks
can s­ upport readers’ comprehension
by helping them navigate and gain
access to the text (Larson, 2010, 2013).
As i­ ndicated in Table, while reading
Moon Over Manifest, the students used a
wide range of digital tools and adjusted
Kindle settings to suit their needs as
individual readers.
Digital Dictionary. Most of the sixth
graders (88%) looked up words in the
digital dictionary by simply tapping on
a word. Sam, a frequent user of the dic-
tionary, explained, “The dictionary is
part of my reading life! I love just click-
ing on a word, and I can’t imagine read-
ing a regular book and having to use
a regular dictionary.” During whole-­
class instruction, Mr. Clark often drew
students’ attention to unusual or diffi-
culty vocabulary in the upcoming chap-
ters and encouraged them to look up
these words in the dictionary. While all
Percentage of Students
Using Tool Using Tool
21 81%
9 35%
8 31%
5 19%
21 81%
26 100%
26 100%
25 96%
23 88%
26 100%
17 65%

E -­B ooks and Audiobooks: E x tending the Dig ital R eading E x p erience
students in Mr. Clark’s classroom were
native English speakers, many d ­ igital
reading devices are equipped with dic-
tionaries in multiple languages. This
feature can be invaluable for English
learners, who could translate unfamiliar
words with a click of a button.
Screen Settings. Most students
adjusted their page and screen settings
to some extent. For example, Trevon
consistently changed the “page” to
a black background with white font:
“Reading on black helped; my eyes just
liked it better and that made my brain
understand [the story] better.” Brett, a
visually impaired student, took advan-
tage of the adjustable font size. For him,
using a large font and a brightly illu-
minated screen was instrumental.
Mr. Clark explained, “It’s great to not
have to use the copy machine to enlarge
pages from books so students like Brett
can read the same texts [as his peers].
With the Kindle, he can just change the
font size. Saves me time, and he doesn’t
have to feel so singled out.”
Notes, Highlights, and Bookmarks.
During the reading time, students were
encouraged to respond to the litera-
ture by recording their thoughts, ques-
tions, and ideas on digital notes that
were inserted directly into the e-­book
pages. As shown in Table, 100% of the
students inserted notes and bookmarks;
many also used the highlighter (65%). At
times, Mr. Clark would assign specific
comprehension questions or vocabu-
lary tasks, instructing his students to use
the e-­book note tool to record and insert
their answers or provide vocabulary
definitions. Many of these notes were
shared during the subsequent whole-­
class session. While reading Moon Over
Manifest, students collectively inserted
more than 300 notes and 200 book-
marks, and they highlighted more than
150 passages or vocabulary words. Many
“Effective use of tools that allow students to
customize the digital text...can support readers’
comprehension.”
digital reading devices offer easy access
to such notes and marks. For exam-
ple, on the Kindle Fire, simply clicking
the Notes button displays all marks and
notes inserted in the book. Mr. Clark
found this to be a quick and easy means
of assessing students’ progress.
Immersion Reading:
“Go at Your Own Speed”
Characteristic of many technology-­
rich classrooms, the sixth graders
quickly developed high levels of exper-
tise and, consequently, changed the
social dynamic as the adults were no
longer the sole providers of knowledge
(Leu et al., 2013). For example, on the
second day of reading, Alyssa demon-
strated how to accelerate or slow down
the audiobook’s playback speed. “Do
you see how the highlighted words are
also slower?” she asked her peers as
she played the decelerated story for the
class. “This helps me follow along the
text better.” As part of the Kindle Fire
tablet’s Whispersync feature, the stu-
dents could seamlessly switch between
reading an e-­book and listening to the
audiobook. Furthermore, using what
Amazon calls “Immersion Reading,”
students listened to a professional nar-
ration while simultaneously reading the
digital text with synchronized high-
lighting (www.amazon.com/gp/feature
.html?docId=1000827761). In other
words, students could follow high-
lighted e-­book text while listening to
the audiobook version.
Reading Rate. After Alyssa’s impromptu
demonstration, most of the sixth grad-
ers started to experiment with the
173
reading rate. At first, they found it hilar-
ious to accelerate the narrator’s voice to
three times its normal speed (achieving
a helium-­balloon effect), but as the nov-
elty wore off, they realized that it was
virtually impossible to read along at such
high speed. Comments including “the
narrator was really slow so I sped it up a
little,” “I’m not a fast reader so I slowed
down [the narrator],” and “you can go at
your own speed” suggest that students
adjusted the reading rate to meet their
own needs.
Word Pronunciation. The sixth grad-
ers also used Immersion Reading to
help them pronounce unfamiliar words.
In an interview, Lucas explained,
“I like using the audio because if you
don’t know how to pronounce a word,
it will say it and you can see it at the
same time. Next time you’ll know what
that word is.” Similarly, Finn stated,
“There were so many weird characters; I
wouldn’t have known how to pronounce
the names without the audiobook.”
Narration Preferences. Through inter-
views and class conversations, it became
apparent that the students had strong
opinions about individual narrators’
voice quality, accents, and overall per-
formance. After finishing Moon Over
Manifest, a book with countless char-
acters and three professional narrators,
many students commented on the per-
formance: “The audio basically helped
me picture how the people would talk…
You can really grasp how the charac-
ter’s voice sounds.” “I love that a person
is reading to us in a good voice telling
us who is who and you’ll know which
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E -­B ooks and Audiobooks: E x tending the Dig ital R eading E x p erience
person is which… It helps me to not get
the characters mixed up.” As exempli-
fied in the following comments, the stu-
dents reading Number the Stars reacted
strongly to the production of the audio-
book: “It had an old lady’s voice… It
sounded almost robotic.” “I like that
instead of mixing the voice around [as
in Moon Over Manifest], this book had
only one reader.” “The voice showed the
feelings and how they felt throughout
the story; that helped me understand it
better.”
Reading Stamina: “I Didn’t
Want to Turn Off the Book!”
It is commonly known that the amount
of time students spend reading, both at
home and at school, matters. Hiebert,
Wilson, and Trainin (2010) pointed out
that reading stamina, or “the ability to
sustain attention and proficiency across
a text” (p. 155), is not often addressed in
research, but it seems logical that stu-
dents, especially struggling readers,
“may quickly become fatigued when
asked to read longer texts” (p. 156).
As educators, we must emphasize the
importance of reading more and read-
ing longer. Many of the sixth graders
reported that they could concentrate
or focus on reading for longer peri-
ods on the Kindle compared to a print
book. For many students, this was due
to the audiobook support (“Listening
and reading at the same time helped
me understand the book better and I
could just keep going”). For some, other
e-­book tools helped them build up their
stamina (“Normally I would stop read-
ing if I don’t know a word… On the
“Many of the sixth graders reported that they
could concentrate or focus on reading for longer
periods on the Kindle.”
The Reading Teacher Vol. 69 Issue 2 September/October 2015
Kindle, I just looked it up in the diction-
ary,” or “When my eyes got tired, I just
made the font bigger and read more.”)
In The Art of Teaching Reading,
Calkins (2000) prompts us to make
plans for daily or weekly reading
goals by putting sticky notes in stu-
dents’ books to remind them of how
much and when to read. Similarly, the
sixth graders in this study were given
daily reading assignments, which they
marked by inserting digital notes and
bookmarks directly in their e-­books as
reminders of what and when to read.
As they made progress, they added to
these notes the number of minutes spent
reading. A review of the notes con-
firmed that the amount of time students
spent reading gradually increased over
the five-­week span. In an interview,
Mr. Clark contributed the students’
boost in reading stamina to an over-
all increase in motivation and interest
in reading. “Their focus on reading has
definitely improved, and they spend
more time reading now,” he said. “I
think a lot of the motivation is the fact
that it’s just ‘cooler’ to them than a reg-
ular book. With all the technology they
use in their everyday lives, it is just more
normal for them to use an electronic
device to read.” Mr. Clark is not alone
in his assertions regarding children’s
use of technology. In a letter included
in the Kids and Family Reading Report,
Fourth Edition (Scholastic, 2013), Richard
Robinson, COE of Scholastic, remarked,
Our challenge is to harness the power of
technology and kids’ interest in ebooks
to build better readers, and clearly the
opportunity is there. Of the children who
“The amount of
time students spent
reading gradually
increased over the
five-week span.”
have read an ebook, one in five says they
are reading more books for fun—espe-
cially boys, who tend to be less frequent
readers than girls. In addition, almost
half of all children age 6 to 17 say they
would read more books for fun if they
had greater access to ebooks. (p. 2)
For many of the sixth graders, the
technology itself did, indeed, seem to
make a difference. Kyle, an active stu-
dent and avid soccer player, explained
that the Kindle Fire (with its background
light) allowed him to read in the dark
in the car on his way home from prac-
tice. “I liked reading in the car and even
when we got home, I didn’t want to turn
off the book!”
Common Core Connections
The CCSS seek to develop skills that
will enable students to read, compre-
hend, and respond to increasingly
complex texts; to use technology and
digital media appropriately and effec-
tively; and to acquire an extensive
vocabulary (Grover & Hannegan, 2012).
In Mr. Clark’s sixth-­g rade classroom,
instruction was designed to meet several
specific standards for English Language
Arts (National Governors Association
Center for Best Practices [NGA Center]
& Council of Chief State School Officers
[CCSSO], 2010). To enhance speaking
and listening skills, students engaged,
through whole-­class and small-­g roup
book discussions, “effectively in a range
of collaborative discussions…” to build

E -­B ooks and Audiobooks: E x tending the Dig ital R eading E x p erience
on “others’ ideas and expressing their
own clearly” (CCSS.ELA-­Literacy.
SL.6.1). Furthermore, during these
discussions, the sixth graders were
expected to “interpret information pre-
sented in diverse media and formats”
(i.e., by listening to audiobooks and
reading e-­books), and explain how it
contributes to the literature that they
were reading (CCSS.ELA-­Literacy.
SL.6.2). As students switched between
e-­book reading and audiobook listening,
Mr. Clark challenged them to compare
and contrast the experience of reading
the book to listening to an audio ver-
sion of the text, “including contrasting
what they ‘see’ and ‘hear’ when reading
the text to what they perceive when they
listen…” (CCSS.ELA-­Literacy.RL.6.7).
These comparisons were often shared
during class discussions or in students’
digital notes.
As mentioned earlier, most students
accessed the digital dictionary while
reading e-­books. Mr. Clark encour-
aged the students to look up a word
and then insert a digital note affirm-
ing the definition and/or providing
an example of the word’s meaning.
According to the ELA standards (NGA
Center & CCSSO, 2010), sixth-­g rade
students should “consult reference
materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries,
­thesauruses), both print and ­d igital,
to find the pronunciation of a word
and determine or clarify its precise
meaning or its part of speech” (CCSS.
ELA-­Literacy.L.6.4.c). Moreover, as
­students read, they were encouraged
to “verify the preliminary determi-
nation of the meaning of a word or
phrase” by checking the inferred
­meaning in the digital dictionary
(CCSS.ELA-­Literacy.L.6.4.d).
As teachers face the challenge of
implementing the CCSS to advance
expectations that students read
increasingly complex and diverse texts
through the grades, digital reading
experiences can support reading skills
and help spark a love of reading in all
students (Larson, 2013). For advanced
readers who read quickly and avidly,
combining e-­book reading with
audiobook listening can force them to
“slow down and fully grasp the lan-
guage, humor, and context” because
listening to an audio narration inev-
itably means “no skimming”; every
single word is presented to the listener
(Grover & Hannegan, 2012, p. 13).
For English learners and struggling
readers, using e-­book tools and listen-
ing to audiobooks have the potential
to introduce new vocabulary within
the context of a story while model-
ing fluent reading and appropriate
phrasing, intonation, and articulation
(Serafini, 2004).
Changing Classroom Roles
Over the course of this study, Mr.
Clark gained confidence in using his
own Kindle, both as a reader and for
the purpose of supporting students’
literacy development. Previously, to
expose his students to technology,
he relied on two weekly 30-­m inute
computer lab sessions during which
students generally typed spelling
words or accessed Web-­based appli-
cations such as Compass Odyssey or
Accelerated Reader. When teaching
reading, he felt most comfortable using
a round-­robin approach to ensure all
students read the stories in the lan-
guage arts textbook. Mr. Clark was
open-­m inded and interested in imple-
menting digital reading and audiobook
“Many of the sixth graders assumed the role of
technology experts and openly shared their
discoveries and expertise with the class.”
175
listening. Furthermore, he embraced
the move from whole-­class textbook
reading to grand conversations, mini-
lessons, and flexible grouping. “This
project has reinforced the idea that I
need to continue to learn to integrate
more technology and try different
strategies into my teaching,” Mr. Clark
said.
As technology continues to infil-
trate our schools, it becomes evident
that “traditional definitions of read-
ing, writing, and communications,
and traditional definitions of best
practice instruction—derived from a
long tradition of book and other print
media—are insufficient in the 21st
century” (IRA, 2009, n.p.). However,
as pointed out by Prensky (2012), the
goal is not to suddenly recruit and
retain a “better” group of educa-
tors because current educators, for the
most part, are already highly com-
mitted to student success. “Most of
our teachers require neither punish-
ment nor replacement, but what they
do need is new perspectives and ideas
that work. Our educational context has
changed, and a new context demands
new thinking” (p. 3). As exemplified,
many of the sixth graders assumed the
role of technology experts and openly
shared their discoveries and expertise
with the class. Mr. Clark recognized
the importance of allowing his stu-
dents to explore the technology to
learn by themselves (Prensky, 2012)
and undertook the role of “orchestra-
tor of learners” rather than exclusive
source of knowledge in the classroom
(Leu et al., 2013, p. 1163). Reflecting
literacyworldwide.org
176
E -­B ooks and Audiobooks: E x tending the Dig ital R eading E x p erience
TA K E AC T I O N !
1. Consider technologies (computers, iPads,
Kindles, etc.) available in your school that sup-
port synchronized e-book/audiobook reading.
2. Explore the availability of e-books also
available as audiobooks that are appropriate
for your students.
3. Establish instructional standards/objectives
and guidelines for students. What reading or
listening standards will you target? Are students
allowed or encouraged to use the audio/narra-
tion feature at any time while reading? Should
students keep track of how much time they spend
reading, listening, or combining the two media?
4. Model how to use both the e-book and
audiobook technology. Use think-alouds to
demonstrate to students how and when to use
particular e-book tools and features, including
the audiobook/narration support.
on this change, Mr. Clark shared,
“I realized that it was okay for me to
not know everything before introduc-
ing the Kindles to the kids. At first,
that made me nervous—it’s hard for
me to give up control—but now I see
the benefits. It’s a win-­w in situation.”
Moving Forward
During the five weeks that I worked
with Mr. Clark and his students, I
noticed tremendous excitement and
growing confidence as they engaged
in digital reading and implemented
student-­centered instructional
approaches. It is commonly known
that literacy practices have always
changed and will continue to evolve
to adapt to social contexts and emerg-
ing technologies (e.g., Gee, 2007; IRA,
2009; Leu et al., 2013). In Mr. Clark’s
classroom, students adapted quickly
to their digital devices and developed
The Reading Teacher Vol. 69 Issue 2
new literacies by customizing their
reading experiences which, in turn,
seemed to both motivate and engage
them. In traditional text forms, readers
typically rely on print texts and two-­
dimensional pictures to make meaning
(Leu, et al., 2013), while digital read-
ing may encompass a range of formats
such as interactive or hyperlinked
texts, animations, and audio. In this
case, the sixth graders had the option
to listen to a professional narration of
the book while simultaneously follow-
ing highlighted text in their e-­books.
Furthermore, the combined reading/
listening experience allowed them to
adjust their reading rate and tackle
unfamiliar or difficult-­to-­read words.
For many students, the extra audio
support improved their reading stam-
ina, enabling them to read more and
for longer periods of time.
While the goal is not to replace
print texts with digital texts, educa-
tors must consider ways to expand
their definitions of reading; it is
simply no longer feasible to ignore
rapid changes in both literacy and
technology (IRA, 2009; Rainie,
Zickuhr, Purcell, Madden, & Brenner,
2012). Similarly, teachers must pro-
vide learning environments in which
students can flourish with the help
of technology and as part of a collab-
orative process (Anderson, Grant, &
Speck, 2008; Prensky, 2012). Recent
advancements in e-­b ooks and digital
reading devices demand a progressive
research agenda that examines the
use of new technologies in authentic
school settings. By sharing my obser-
vations from Mr. Clark’s classroom,
I hope that teachers and research-
ers alike will be inspired to continue
to implement and examine the use of
evolving technologies and expand-
ing options for reading to prepare
­students for their literacy futures.
September/October 2015
“Students adapted
quickly to their digital
devices and developed
new literacies.”
Supporting Information
Additional supporting information may
be found in the online version of this
article:
• Online Research Supplement
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ILA Journal Articles
■■ Lesesne, T.S. (2011). Accidentally on
purpose. Journal of Adolescent & Adult
Literacy, 55(4), 336.
■■ Larson, L.C. (2009). E-­Reading and
e-­responding: New tools for the next
generation of readers. Journal of Adolescent
& Adult Literacy, 53(3), 255–258.
■■ Schugar, H.R., Smith, C.A., & Schugar, J.T.
(2013). Teaching with interactive picture
e-­books in grades K-­6. The Reading
Teacher, 66(8), 615–624.
literacyworldwide.org
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