Software Aids for Reading Comprehension and Language Learning

Before reading this article in conjunction with this week's chapter, I never realized what a great help technology could be for those with problems in reading comprehension. This article speaks about how certain software programs can enable those who are either learning the English language, or mastering its mechanics to visualize what they're reading, dictate words they don't understand, or are unable to spell, and to learn how a word's sound is related to its "word-shape" as mentioned in the article. I think tools mentioned like Kurtzweil 3000 and Microsoft Reader could be really beneficial for use by special education teachers as well as ESL teachers. This is because when students can actively make connections when learning language, they can acquire it and commit it to memory more successfully than by pure memorization.
  Also, a few of the programs are able to save test results or data on the curriculum the students learn so as to track the development of their vocabulary. In this way, teachers can track their students' progress over time with little to no effort on their part when recording the students' grades. This article also highlights the idea that books in print are slowly fading in popularity due to technology like the Nook and Kindle, in which you can read electronically. It makes programs like the ones in the focus of the article seem as if they'll soon be implemented into many classrooms in the near future.
   I think aids like this are a terrific idea, because I feel that it's really difficult, especially for teachers of early elementary grades, to really give each of their students struggling with reading comprehension, the individual attention that they need. Even in the school I work in, there is a teacher on staff who's sole purpose is to aid those with reading difficulties daily by reinforcing their reading skills. Because this is such an ever increasing issue with students, many have to be taken out of the regular classroom for a significant amount of time. With software aids, however, I feel that students could learning in a more engaging and successful way and it would take up less time if used effectively.

http://www.ldaofmichigan.org/articles/early_intervention.pdf