E-Learning versus Classroom Activities: Student Preferences in a Japanese University

Abstract

Xreading is an online virtual library and leaner management system that claims that it makes graded readers easily accessible for students while simultaneously making teacher assessment and management easier as well. This article describes the use of Xreading at a medium-sized private universe in Japan in a reading course with 2 lessons a week in an 8-week term . The article compares the use of Xreading alone in the first four weeks and supplemented with classroom activities in the second four weeks. Despite the willingness of the students to access and use graded readers in Xreading there was a distinct preference for ‘traditional’ paper-based classroom activities. This shows while the growth of online reading progresses unabated, teachers and students alike must bear in the mind the continued relevance, usefulness and effectiveness of more established in class activities.