Utilizing an Online Group Study Environment to Enhance Student Reading Ability and Learning Effectiveness

Abstract

This paper proposes an online reading system that incorporates group study, called the OGS system, to enhance student reading ability and learning effectiveness. With the OGS system, a student can immediately share the experience of reading e-books with other group study students. Students can also use an online social network for the exchange of knowledge with other students. Teachers can provide guidance before students read or during the reading process. After the conclusion of group study, teachers and students can review their portfolios during this online social network meeting to discover deficiencies in their activities. In this study, an exploratory test was conducted with 32 males and 10 females at a college. Research data were collected using a questionnaire for the students. The results revealed that the OGS system is helpful to students in terms of reading skills, cooperative learning, and friendship.