Top Ten Strategies for Technology in English/Language Arts

Take advantage of these ten powerful strategies for using technology to enhance the teaching of reading, writing, and language skills.

1. Electronic publishing projects to encourage student writing — Students spend more time writing when they know their work will be displayed on a website or in a print product that others will see.
2. Electronic pen pal (keypal) activities to encourage student writing — Students are more likely to want to write and to take more care with spelling and language conventions when they have an authentic audience.
3. Internet resources to engage students in literature — Internet sites offer examples, background, and analysis to enrich students' study of literary works and help make literature more real and relevant to them.
4. Online book clubs — Encourage pleasure reading by having students create an online book club for kids or join an existing one.
5. Concept mapping software to help students plan their writing — Concept mapping software (e.g., Inspiration) helps students create visual outlines to plan what they want to write about.
6. Talking books to engage students in reading — Interactive storybooks or electronic books scaffold students' initial reading skills and draw them into reading activities.
7. Alternate formats for writing stories — Students can use a video-editing program such as iMovie and an audio-editing program like Audacity to develop stories in formats other than simply text - encompassing movies, pictures, and sound.
8. Threaded discussions to motivate student writing — These draw students into writing by giving them a supportive, nonjudgmental environment for expressing their ideas.
9. Blogs and fan fiction websites to motivate student writing — Students practice written expression as they engage in dialogue with others about topics of mutual' interest.
10. Tracking systems to motivate student reading — Systems such as Accelerated Reader give students opportunities for reading at their own levels and rewards them for improved comprehension.