I thought the summer might be a good time to re-share posts from My All-Time Favorite Posts! list…

This post originally appeared in 2014.

455992 / Pixabay


An article in District Administration Magazine raises issues about the effectiveness of Booktrack, a website and app that provides a “soundtrack” of music, street sounds, etc. to a book (students can also create their own sounds). Some question research (funded by Booktrack) that suggests it improves comprehension.

I’ve previously posted about Booktrack, and think highly of it. I’ve seen some of my least interested readers regularly get very engaged in a book they can read on their phone using Booktrack.

And that’s the key — engagement. I’m not sure if students using Booktrack would score better than a control group not using it on a comprehension test.

But I also don’t care.

What I do know is that students who wouldn’t read are going to score a lot less on a comprehension test than those who did (not that test scores are the be all and end all of assessments).

It gets to an issue of previously written about a few times.

Research might be able to identify the best ways to get things done, but it doesn’t really matter if people won’t do those things.

Research can’t exist in a vacuum, especially where our students are concerned.

You can read these past posts (and don’t miss the comments section with them) for further discussion on this issue:

How Reading Strategies Can Increase Student Engagement

The “Best Learning Techniques” Are Useless If Students Won’t Do Them — A Critical Take On A Well Done Study