Supporting Emerging Readers in the Online Classroom

According to the US Dept. of Education, over 50% of adults read below a sixth-grade reading level. This is a serious equity (and economic!) issue – and college instructors are in a position to help. In this session, we’ll explore the data and learn strategies for supporting college-level reading in our courses through easy-to-implement tools like Immersive Reader. We’ll also cover strategies for teaching and assessing students in dynamic modalities that push beyond the text.

Session Outcomes:

• Identify data related to and potential causes of our country’s low literacy rate.
• Support emerging readers by leveraging simple tools within Canvas like Immersive Reader.
• Identify methods of teaching and assessing students that don’t overly privilege students with the strongest reading abilities.