The COP was delighted to welcome three new members and we were all energised by the opportunity to engage in practical and insightful discussions and activities about app use in relation to reading development. These centered in the main, on sharing experiences and knowledge gained since COP Meeting 1 about reading apps and how these might be used effectively with and by learners.

Challenges identified by Teachers

While the teachers are all keen on using digital apps with their students, they identified several challenges to their use.  These included

• the rigidity of school timetables and the difficulty of adapting plans in the middle of a school year.
• issues caused by teacher shortages
• the fact that teachers in each school are not working as a team on project issues
• the teachers involved in the project changed as they rotated between classes and moved to new roles/school.  

Learning about Apps

Hannes (from HAPPs) joined the COP remotely to demonstrate the latest updated English version of Karaton, which received a very positive reaction and endorsement. Another teacher demonstrated how she used MS Immersive Reader/ Reading Progress in the classroom. Ultimately, the COP decided that its overall approach would be to work strategically, building on the group's current and emerging expertise, by sharing experiences around the adoption of apps selected from a range of apps.

Future Plans

All schools seem to have sufficient infrastructure and equipment to implement app use, but they may need support from the project to acquire the apps they target.

• Each school will select an app based on learner needs
• COP members will share details about the learners chosen and the proposed context and duration of reading programmes and app use in Sept 2023
• They will come together in a face-to-face format in October /November 2023 to exchange experiences and give an appraisal of the usefulness of their chosen apps then.  
• This Autumn meeting/workshop will be hosted and chaired by another of the participating schools.
• We are all really looking forward to listening about the various experiences of COP members and to learning from each other then.

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