【至fun閱讀】男孩也有閱讀天份！還能讀得很好！
2017-03-09
男孩也有閱讀天份！還能讀得很好！
閱讀大挑戰/Reading Battle（http://battle.cite.hku.hk）是採用遊戲化學習的好例子。簡稱RB的閱讀大挑戰在2014年2月推出，是個電子閱讀測驗平台，並曾於2016年獲得「知識交流獎項」。RB以小學生為對象，鼓勵他們在消閒時閱讀，並培育成習慣。RB是個自發性參與的平台，提供了各種各樣的中英文兒童文學以及相應不同難度的閱讀理解問題。在眾多書籍中，《Oliver Twist》、《Storm Castle》、《火柴盒怪客》和《誰送的早餐》非常受男孩歡迎。學生每一次表現都會由系統跟進和記錄，除了電子徽章和定期獎勵計劃外，還設有排名榜，讓學生了解自己與其他學習伙伴的表現。
成功學生個案：年讀100本書
來自藍田循道衛理小學的彭信立在2014年2月開始使用閱讀大挑戰，現時是排行榜上首幾名。在參加RB 之前，信立只有在母親陪伴下才會閱讀。使用此平台後，他很快養成在沒有他人輔助下閱讀的習慣。用了RB 約一年間，他已閱讀了超過100本書。順立表示，有別於傳統閱讀策略，RB電子平台可以讓他挑戰自己。信立的閱讀能力有所提升，而他的寫作表現亦突飛猛進。他過去通常在寫作練習中取得約70分，但在使用RB一年後，他的得分已超過80，此成績在他的學校來說十分卓越。直到現在，他已經讀了260多本書，成為一個「小學者」。
同校另一名小四男孩黃子樂的表現證明，他能閱讀得與女孩一樣好。自從他使用RB以來，他的閱讀能力大大提高。 子樂最初對閱讀沒有興趣，能力亦較同儕落後。他的母親表示，在使用RB後，「他有一天拿了16本書回家閱讀」。 RB大大激發起子樂的學習動力，讓他決心培養良好的閱讀習慣。他的閱讀能力得到了顯著的進步，書籍的選擇在半年間從1級（相當於小一程度）追上至4級（相當於小四程度）。期間，他閱讀了46本書。 子樂表示：「我喜歡得獎，所以我在發現了這個平台後非常努力。」在RB獎項的鼓勵下，他努力在平台上爭取更好的表現。
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyLWg0CA-pY&feature=youtu.be
如果您有任何問題或意見，請隨時發送電子郵件至 samchu@hku.hk
作者：Sam Chu @至fun閱讀
香港大學教育學院資訊及科技教育部副教授，兒童文學講師和作家，閱讀研究員。
http://web.edu.hku.hk/staff/academic/samchu
Reference:
Barwell, G. (2012). Boys’ Reading Commission. London: National Literacy Trust research.
Harper, S.N., & Pelletier, J. P. (2008). Gender and language issues in assessing early literacy.
Journal of Psychoeducational assessment, 26, 185-194.
Grants, Awards and Projects 撥款、獎項及項目. Retrieved February 13, 2017, from http://web.edu.hku.hk/community/grants-awards-and-projects
©2017 SAM CHU ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
其他文章：【至fun閱讀】如何讓孩子變得更聰明、更喜歡學習？
Boys can read! And can read extremely well!!!
Reading is an important building block for us to excel in learning. However, many parents find it difficult to develop their sons’ interests in reading. Studies have found that boys often fall behind girls in their reading ability and other related performances (Harper, Pelletier, 2008). ‘Boys spend less time on reading and perceive reading as a less enjoyable activity compared with girls’, according to the National Literacy Trust in UK (Barwell, 2012). Notwithstanding divergence stemming from the underlying biological differences, it is found that the underachievement in boys’ reading ability can probably be changed.
In fact, boys can be motivated to read and are able to read extremely well through gamification. Gamification is the process of adding gaming mechanisms to a task, e.g. through the design of leveling, points, e-badges etc., unlike the traditional learning methods using concepts. Gamified reading aims to transform reading into a more interesting and attractive activity through achieving different goals in the gaming system. Gamification of learning can be achieved through web-based activities, apps or board games. The incentive provided by gaming is especially effective for boys as boys tend to learn through fun. Nowadays, it is observable that many game addicters are males. Compared to girls, boys are keener on competitions and have a higher desire to win. When learning is packaged by game settings such as rankings and conquering different levels, the boys could be highly motivated and exert more effort to achieve better performance.
One of the applications that adopts the gamification of learning is Reading Battle (RB), http://battle.cite.hku.hk/, which is an e-quiz reading platform introduced since Feb 2014. It is an award-winning project (KE Award 2016) targeted at primary school children to encourage extensive reading in their leisure time and develop reading habits as a result. It is a self-initiated platform which provides a wide selection of children’s literature and corresponding reading comprehension questions with different levels of difficulty. Both Chinese and English books are provided on the platform, in which Oliver Twist, Storm Castle, 火柴盒怪客, 誰送的早餐are popular among boys. The performance and the battles that students’ attempt is tracked by the system. Other than the e-badges and periodic award schemes that students could aim at, a leader board is also available so that students could get a sense of how they are doing compared to other participating students.
A student from Lam Tin Methodist Primary School, Pang Shun Lap, one of the top rankers in Reading Battle, started using Reading Battle in Feb 2014. Before participating in Reading Battle, Shun Lap barely read books on his own unless his mother accompanied him. With Reading Battle, he quickly started to read on his own without the assistance of his mother, and over the space of about a year, he finished over 100 books. Shun Lap mentioned unlike traditional reading strategies, he could challenge himself through the e-platform of Reading Battle. Shun Lap’s reading ability had a great leap, as did his writing performance. In the past, he usually scored about 70 for his writing, but after a year of using Reading Battle, he scored over 80 on his writing assessment, which is very hard to achieve in Shun Lap’s school. Until now, he has read more than 260 books and become a ‘small scholar’.
Another P4 boy, Wong Tsz Lok, also from Lam Tin Methodist Primary School, proved that he can read as well as the girls. He had shown great improvement in his reading skills since he joined Reading Battle. Tsz Lok originally was not interested in reading at all and he lagged behind in reading ability. However, after joining the programme, ‘He took home 16 books one day!’ his mother exclaimed. Tsz Lok was highly motivated and determined to develop his reading habits. With this drive, the improvement in his reading progress skyrocketed. He started with Level 1 (roughly targeted for Primary 1 students). In about 6 months, he has caught up all the way to Level 4 (roughly targeted for Primary 4 students) books. Over the period, he has attempted 46 books. ‘I like getting awards so I work very hard after I discovered about this platform.’, Tsz Lok commented. He was deeply motivated by the awards provided in RB and he has strived his very best for better performance in the platform.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyLWg0CA-pY&feature=youtu.be
This newly established column will be published every two weeks, focusing on the strategies to nurture students’ reading habits and develop “reading to learn” skills. It will share different successful stories of how students benefit from electronic reading platform like RB and how reading is conducive to their learning. Also, selected children’s literature of various genres that is suitable for different age groups will be recommended. Follow our column and we hope it will provide you with useful information to support your children’s learning!
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email to samchu@hku.hk.
By Dr Sam Chu, Associate Professor
Division of Information & Technology Studies
Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong
Children literature lecturer & author, reading researcher
Reference:
Barwell, G. (2012). Boys’ Reading Commission. London: National Literacy Trust research.
Harper, S.N., & Pelletier, J. P. (2008). Gender and language issues in assessing early literacy.
Journal of Psychoeducational assessment, 26, 185-194.
Grants, Awards and Projects 撥款、獎項及項目. Retrieved February 13, 2017, from http://web.edu.hku.hk/community/grants-awards-and-projects
©2017 SAM CHU ALL RIGHTS RESERVED