Karen Wilkins established two reading circles - a face-to-face group and an online Google group - to encourage her students to discuss what they were reading outside of class. The face-to-face group had three participants who learned new vocabulary in context, developed their speaking skills, and attended almost every session. In contrast, the online Google group had ten participants but no one ever replied to posts, so there was no discussion. Based on this experiment, Karen concluded that an in-person gathering is more effective for discussion than a solely virtual platform.

1. Virtual vs. face-to-
face reading circles
Karen Wilkins IH Intuition

2. • I enjoy reading
• I’m interested in L2
extensive reading
• I wanted to encourage
students to talk about what
they were reading
Why reading circles?
What do you think about reading cirlces?
Have you ever belonged to a reading circle?
What do you think about reading cirlces?
Have you ever belonged to a reading circle?

3. Time was a major factor for my students in
participating in a reading circle so I
established two:
• One face-to-face
• One online google group
What I did
Poll: Which was more successful? Which
group demonstrated the most learning?

4. FACE-TO-FACE
•Three participants.
•Learnt new vocabulary in
context.
•Developed speaking skills.
•Attended almost every session.
ONLINE GOOGLE GROUP
•Ten participants
•Enjoyed reading my posts but no-
one ever replied!!
The results of the experiment

5. Conclusion
• Teachers are not going to
be replaced by iPads any
time soon!
• As useful as a virtual
platform is, nothing beats a
proper get together!

6. Virtual vs. face-to-
face reading circles
Karen Wilkins IH Intuition Languages

7. Virtual vs. face-to-
face reading circles
Karen Wilkins IH Intuition Languages