Shelfari: Using Technology to Promote Reading

Recently, I have found this great site, Shelfari. On the "About Us" page, it says, "Shelfari introduces readers to our global community of book lovers and encourages them to share their literary inclinations and passions with peers, friends, and total strangers (for now). Our mission is to enhance the experience of reading by connecting readers in meaningful conversations about the published word." 


Shelfari allows users to create a bookshelf, showing titles of books the user has read, plans to read, and is currently reading. Along with the titles, users can rate these books, name their favorites, and write their own facts and descriptions to those books. 
Here's a screenshot of my own bookshelf:

So how can Shelfari be used in education? Well, the day I actually signed up for Shelfari, I also learned about the Sigourney Community School District and their amazing technology plan. When I searched for reading groups, their high school's happened to pop up on the page. I think educators can probably learn a lot from Sigourney - if they're using Shelfari, it must be something to at least give a chance.


As a future ESL teacher, I plan to encourage my students to read, and I hope they learn to truly enjoy it. If putting a form of technology in front of students encourages them and makes learning fun, couldn't the same happen with reading? Shelfari might be a great place to start. Students can add friends from school on the site, see that their peers are reading, and get some good book recommendations from them. This would be a great way just for students to connect with each other in regards to reading. 


Obviously technology isn't going to make every kid enjoy reading, but I think it's a great place to start. 


Technology = Fun for most students. If School = Technology, maybe School will start to = Fun. Reading can be fun too! Students just need to see it in a different light. 


Picture is a screenshot from my own bookshelf.