IMPROVING STUDENTS' READING SKILLS WITH FLIPBOARD

I've recently read an article talking about how new technologies and social networks could be introduced in the classroom to improve teacher-student interaction and motivate them with apps they are familiar with. 

Selection of articles according to the topic

In that way, a Facebook group could be used within a class to keep everyone informed of homework, assignments, missed lessons and so on; Twitter, though, could be used for short direct messages among students or directly to the teacher.

Nowadays most teachers seem to be worried about their students' speaking or writing skills. Reading is often neglected in the EFL classroom since it is usually considered much easier than the other two. Teenagers and young adults on the contrary do not find reading very amusing and our task as teachers is to find ways to engage them into the reading habit.

Now is when I am going to talk about my experience with an application that I find extremely helpful with my English students, and that has to be Flipboard. Flipboard allows you to create a magazine with a selection of articles based on topics you are interested in or that one might find useful for students. 

What I have done is to choose the articles based on the topics that appear in the textbook adding more articles as we advance in the course. But also you can add articles according to your students interests so that they can read something they find engaging and they feel motivated. The advantage of using a site like this one is that you can download the app on your mobile or tablet and read anywhere.

Please comment if you are using an app/site like this and your experience in class.