Use of Gen-AI to aid reading
1624 sats \ 13 comments \ @cryotosensei 1 May alter_native
zaps forwarded to @DesertDave (21%)
Singapore is nothing but progressive when it comes to education. Recently, my school got approached by the Ministry of Education headquarters to pilot the use of an app called Easify. Highlight a text supported by HTML web pages and a simplified version will pop out. This helps weak students to understand complex texts at their preferred reading level when they do online research.
My school would be selected as a pilot school, so I dug out my notes on experiment design because I would have to share my ideas on how the pilot study ought to be conducted. Yes, Sensei is also a scientist!
What is Easify?
  • Easify is an app that empowers students to engage with literacy content at their preferred reading level, nurturing self-directed learning, and fostering reader engagement and motivation.
  • In the context of NorthLight, Easify has the potential to scaffold students’ engagement with more difficult texts and aid in their independent learning.
Considerations
  • Motivation is a hard thing to measure.
  • Experiment should be conducted with existing habits in mind, one of which is students taking home their laptop once a month.
  • Increasing the frequency of laptop usage at the home induces a behavioural shift, which may temper with the accuracy of the experiment. Cognitive switching costs are incurred with staff and students alike adapting to new habit
  • Seems that there are two broad goals: 1) engagement with difficult texts and 2) self-directed learning
  • Sensei suggests to focus on engagement with difficult texts because teachers are likely to have to remind students to use the Simpler app. It takes on average 66 days to form a new habit. Without teachers’ prompting, students are unlikely to internalise the practice of using Easify.
  • Which raises the question: on what grounds should engagement with difficult texts be measured? It could be the length of time a student spends on reading a text or the questions he answers correctly to demonstrate comprehension of the text. Do we accept alternative forms of assessment, such as drawings, PPT slides or even role play?
  • Notion of difficult texts need to be defined. If we use the compre passage for the mid-year exam as a benchmark, the readability score of the texts used for this experiment could be raised a notch or two.
Aim of experiment: to find out if the Easify App enhances students’ engagement with difficult texts.
Relationship statement: The greater the use of the Easify App, the greater a student’s engagement with difficult texts
Changed variable: Use of the Easify App
The following variables must be kept controlled to make the experiment a fair test.
Constant / controlled variables:
  • same amount of time to access to laptop
  • standardisation in the way teachers scaffold students’ use of Easify
  • same difficult texts to be read by students
  • same questions to be attempted by students (after reading) - if we decide to equate engagement = comprehension. Alternatively, we can make use of Interactive Thinking Tools or Discussion Forum, which are features in Student Learning Space.
Sharing some happy sats with @DesertDave who graciously keeps his territory available for another month
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168 sats \ 1 reply \ @elvismercury 1 May
For something like this, I wouldn't try to lock too many things down. The pragmatic question is: can you give students a tool that makes them genuinely engage with texts more? This, to me, is the key. That's the only thing I would try to measure, because everything else will distort the picture and give you a false sense of knowing anything.
If Easify (or any tool) is genuinely useful to students then they'll use it. If it isn't, they won't, not really. They'll go through the motions, and whatever you try to do to capture them, they will evade, either now, or soon.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei OP 1 May
Thank you for your comment and analysis! It’s a stunning reminder to Keep It Simple, Stupid. I will include your POV in my email to my Head of Department - her pay scale is higher haha.
I teach in the weakest-progress school in Singapore - teens who have failed their Pri Sch Leaving Exam. I wonder if they will take to reading in the first place if their teachers don’t make a concerted effort to create the conditions for reading.
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60 sats \ 5 replies \ @anniedustan 2 May
Your post caught my attention because of the title! I have been pondering about how to tackle reading with one of my children as they really struggle to sit down and focus on a text. It isn't that they are lazy and they are also very quick to learn, but they do struggle with reading and therefore keeping up with the class. If there was a way to make the text simpler, they would be able to keep their focus, maybe? I am interested to see what the results of this pilot show?
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21 sats \ 4 replies \ @cryotosensei OP 3 May
I think simpler texts would help to keep one’s focus, though if they are based on unappealing topics from your child’s point of view, they would not ignite the desire to read.
Could books with movie adaptations help? Watch the movie first, then read the accompanying book?
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109 sats \ 3 replies \ @anniedustan 3 May
ha... this made me laugh, not because your advice isn't sound but because once they have watched a film they are even less inclined to read the book!
They are like me and are much more likely to engage if the book is being read to them which is why I love podcasts and audio book so much. I could allow them to soak the info in this way, however it won't help with the skill of reading, and that then has an impact on writing and spelling.
If it was up to them on what they read, I think their teachers would have heart attacks and have already asked them to stick to books from the "school" library as when they went to the local library with the school, their chosen book was "unsuitable".
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21 sats \ 2 replies \ @cryotosensei OP 4 May
What has enticed them to sit down and read a bit so far? I’d like to know their existing habits first n see if I can suggest something that works with their preferences.
Btw thank you for your comments. Since the birth of my second child, we have dropped the habit of reading to my first born haha. Your comment made me remember that I have an educator’s account with getepic.com (check it out. It has tons of books there n sometimes even reads aloud selected books to you). So this morning, I plonked my son in front of the laptop n had Epic read aloud a book on elephants to my boy. I hope I will turn it into a weekend routine!
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49 sats \ 1 reply \ @anniedustan 4 May
Things that will get them to sit down and read:
  • Bribes such as a set fee per page 😂
  • Motivation to beat their rival for the top spot in the class
  • Watching Netflix with the subtitles on and reading along
  • Doing it in 5 minute blocks staggered throughout the day
  • Reading in the car seems to work too for some reason
  • And... if it is something that they are going down a rabbit hole with!
When I look at that list they aren't doing too badly! I think I may have focused on the fact that I can't get them to read their school books! I may have to go and see their teacher you know and have a word. Maybe if I went to the school library with them and helped them to pick a few books that would spark their interest and write a list for the teacher. Honestly, the amount of out-of-the-box thinking I have to do with this child! They are the only one out of the four who isn't compliant in school and won't just "do" to please the teachers. (although number 4 is now showing signs of this too!) Don't get me wrong, I am proud of the fact that they stand up for themselves, voice their opinion and have found a way to learn for themselves, but it would be a quieter life sometimes if I didn't have them coming home each day telling me I should expect a phone call😂
I will check out the link! And I bet your son was made up with you doing that with him! We may be able to expand our hearts for each child that we have, however it takes time to get into a new rhythm and keep all the plates juggling when we do!
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei OP 5 May
Well you know, rebels are the ones who forge their path and become successful entrepreneurs.
I’m guessing he doesn’t like to have prescribed reading materials shoved down his throat. I remember when I was a junior college student, I was forced to read The Hitchhiker in the Galaxy and Catcher in the Rye and hated it. It was only when I read Catcher in the Rye the second time in my 20s that I understood the brilliance of teen angst haha.
Your solution sounds glad. Hope his teachers are understanding enough to let him choose his own books! 📚
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60 sats \ 2 replies \ @Satosora 2 May
It could work. I just know that when I was teaching 11 or 12 year old kids, they couldnt do much with english even though they had been in the program for 6 years. It all came down to the previous teachers and how they pushed them through the program for money instead of focusing on the educational aspect. If those same kids were given a chance to make their english easier to read, they would take it in a heartbeat, but I would worry if they would use it as a crutch forever. Their english level and vocabulary would never improve..
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10 sats \ 1 reply \ @cryotosensei OP 3 May
I guess if these kids aren’t interested n motivated to learn English in the first place, the app could act as a hook to get them to read more n gradually develop a love of reading.
I’m thinking about my own experience with Japanese. Sometimes I read books meant for primary school kids because the furigana was indicated alongside the kanji. It made for a more frictionless experience
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11 sats \ 0 replies \ @Satosora 3 May
Yes, but the furigana helps you read, so you are able to recognize the kanji later on. And then the furigana would disappear later in the book, and only the kanji would remain. It helped strengthen the reader.
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60 sats \ 1 reply \ @Taft 1 May
Wondering if Easify will make students more lazy, waiting for the “hard” be done by the AI? 🤔
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei OP 1 May
Well given that they don’t read much in the first place, reading the easy bits is a win for me haha
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