Strategies for using dynamic digital libraries

The use of children’s data to enhance their reading experiences is a new way of encouraging reading for pleasure in the digital age. There is no blueprint or evidence-based way of how to do this well. In what follows, I draw on some of my experiences with the systems, and some broader ideas from research on effective pedagogy, to make suggestions how teachers may engage positively with digital library systems to facilitate learning benefits for children.

The safety and security of children’s data

First and foremost, it is essential that children’s data collected through the systems are kept safe and secure. In order to provide children with recommendations, digital libraries need to collect information about individual children’s likes and history of reading. This information is typically supplied to the systems by the teacher or by the children, who fill out a short questionnaire about their reading preferences. Information about reading habits can also be provided to the system less directly when the library monitors children’s use of the library. Based on the patterns of behaviour, the library derives children’s level of reading and interest in specific titles. It is essential that teachers and children are fully aware of the data collection and monitoring purposes of the digital libraries they use. Children’s data are analysed by algorithms, and algorithms are not neutral tools: they are typically designed with commercial, not only educational, intentions. Information about children’s engagement with digital books is typically stored in the cloud, so the providers of digital libraries need to guarantee that children’s data are stored securely and not sold for marketing purposes. If schools keep children’s data, they need to make sure they have valid reasons for storing them. They should not keep children’s data just for the sake of archiving them; they should securely dispose of any data they no longer need for assessment purposes.

The use and misuse of personal data by large companies have featured in public discourse (e.g. the Cambridge Analytica scandal) and media headlines. Digital libraries are not immune to potential data breaches and misuse of data by external companies. Teachers who use digital library systems in the classroom therefore need to ensure that children’s data are protected and that the systems’ providers comply with regulations on data access, encryption and retention. On many platforms, children can share their own stories, book ratings, preferences, reading progress logs and even videos. In the UK and mainland Europe, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies to all organisations that handle personal data. GDPR is a pan-European regulation that applies to small and big organisations, including children’s app designers and book publishers.

Although the responsibility for handling children’s data lies with the providers of digital libraries, data interpretation is carried out by individual teachers. It is important to remember in this process that digital reading logs do not represent children’s entire reading engagement (e.g. the system will not log what children read at home or on their way to school at the bus stop) and that behind each data point lies a complex reading pattern.

Enhancing dialogue through dynamic digital libraries

A promising element of dynamic digital libraries relates to the online dialogue spaces that they create. The commenting features and possibilities for children to leave feedback on specific titles are likely to encourage children’s engagement with the platform and conversations with their peers. Moreover, some dynamic digital libraries run a news feed or chat on their platform and some even host reading forums. These features add novelty and opportunities for synchronous conversations.

Teachers are unlikely to have the time to monitor an online chat, but they can direct discussion through strategically suggesting discussion topics. For instance, teachers could frame students’ online conversations on a platform with regular requests for them to review new books and share their views on what they liked or disliked about the books. For example, students could be asked to write a review of John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars, displaying their own comments next to the book and other students’ feedback. Teachers could also set up community contests, ask the children to rate their favourite titles and announce the class’s favourite title each week. The more that teachers can introduce a shared element that brings the class together as a community of readers, the more likely the platform will be used by children in a dialogic way in which each child’s reader identity is valued.

Different digital library systems have different characteristics and functionalities, so their use needs to be informed by the instructions provided by the individual systems. By way of illustration, I have selected some examples of digital library and digital reading management systems and shall describe their key features. I have seen most of these systems in use in schools, but some descriptions are based on the provider’s description, so caution should be exercised in interpreting the systems’ capabilities.