Enhancing the reading culture among language education graduate students through emerging technologies

Abstract

The extent to which traditional forms of information is giving way to digital materials is high. Learners are bombarded with information that necessitates quick access, internalization and synthesis; which makes reading significant among graduate students. The reading culture among language education graduate students at Makerere University is low, as they do not seem to engage in intensive and extensive reading which is part and parcel of their scholarly and intellectual development. Using Bowers’ Affordance Analysis Framework, the researcher identified and utilized a voki as an e-learning tool to foster the reading culture among graduate students. The findings revealed that the introduction of a voki in the teaching learning process led to improved student engagement with content, motivated interaction among students, and subsequently stimulated their interest in reading. The acquired skills, reading inclusive were not only viewed as pertinent to pedagogical considerations but significantly relevant to students’ working life after school.