WEB 2.0 TECHNOLOGIES FOR READING PROMOTION: FINDINGS FROM RESEARCH AND ACHIEVEMENTS IN ROMANIA

The paper shows results from the project “Lifelong Readers 2.0” (Lire 2.0) with reference number 2015-1-IE01-KA201-008625, which is financed with support from the European Commission through the Erasmus+ Programme. A lifelong learner is first and foremost a lifelong reader. Lire2.0 dispels the widespread notion (especially amongst parents and educators) that technology is the enemy of reading. LiRe2.0 is based on the opposite assumption: innovative use of ICT-based, open educational practices and resources that link up informal, non-formal and formal reading/learning, can play a significant role in enhancing people’s reading attitudes, reading engagement and reading skills; especially in the case of disengaged or reluctant readers and marginalized learners.

The current paper is structured in two parts: the first one presents findings from a qualitative study performed in Romania during the initial phase of the Lire2.0 project to identify the state-of-the-art with respect to reading promotion in general and to reading through the use of ICT and Web2.0 technologies, reading habits and practices. The research was achieved through Literature and Curricula Review and Focus Groups performed with students and teachers. The second part emphasizes on how the research results have been valorized through the piloting phase (workshop with teachers) and implementation phase (activities implemented in three schools from Arges County, Romania), both achieved based on the developed Lire2.0 Toolkit for teachers and ICT-based teaching units.