More and more texts are read via digital media which changes the very way we read. Modern media interfaces such as apps, e-books, audiobooks and their respective streaming services have enabled the creation of complex multimedia texts that utilize several sensory appeals (visual, auditive and tactile), and these new forms call for a reconsideration of the concept of reading. Consequently, different interfaces provide diverse sensorial experiences.
Through empirical studies in the Danish school context, the project seeks to:
- investigate what characterizes multisensory reading focusing on, among other things, didactic advantages of concrete reading practices such as audiobook reading and app reading that activates multiple senses;
- rethink the activity and concept of reading and help develop multisensory reading strategies and tools for school children thereby heightening their digital competences, inclination for reading, reading engagement, and strengthen their academic self-esteem, including readers with negative experiences of their own reading competences;
- challenge the idea that reading is ‘best’ when it involves visual “deep reading” and wishes to explore the experiential and learning advantages of accessing texts with the tactile sense, through interactivity and sound.
The Novo Nordisk Foundation’s open calls for humanitarian and social purposes has granted funding for the project Reading Between Media from 2019-2022.
