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What it is:
Digital or Electronic Text is text stored as strings of characters. In most classrooms books or handouts are the main media in which teachers deliver content to students. Adjusting a standard print format to accommodate different learners can be time-consuming.
The flexibility of digital text makes it a great option for customizing text to the needs of different learners. Digital text can be searched, rearranged, and read aloud by a computer. And because it is so flexible, it is often a perfect option for students with disabilities. The National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS) are working to create a standardized format that will allow alternate versions of text designed to meet the needs of students with visual, physical, hearing, learning and cognitive disabilities. While it is being developed, there are still many books and historical documents which have been converted to digital format, for access via a computer.
The “Digital Text” tip will direct you to many sources of free and subscription-based digital content. The tip on “Searching” will assist you in finding the best content using specialized search engines.
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Who does it help?
Think of one or more of your students who would benefit if:- the text was larger or easier to see?
- they could hear text read aloud?
- they could highlight or cut and paste the important points, or mark words that were unclear?
- there was a summary of the article that could be read before reading the whole piece?
These adjustments can be easily done with electronic text and will help you differentiate instruction for a wide range of students. Ideas for instruction are discussed further in the Digital Enhancement tip area.
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The Digital Reader: Using eBooks in K-12 education
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