This presentation will introduce ER programs at two separate universities, one incorporating xreading and another utilizing physical books, and will review the activities in both programs. After reviewing these two programs and their implementation, I will discuss how AI has been incorporated in the form of Google NotebookLM to support extensive reading. Google NotebookLM, is a Google AI-powered tool that helps users interact with documents and sources by summarizing, extracting information, and answering questions based on uploaded content. NotebookLM’s ability to generate audio summaries has the potential to enhance ER by improving comprehension and engagement. Surveys and semi-structured interviews with students will be presented to reveal student impressions of the tool. This presentation will then discuss how NotebookLM can be integrated into an ER program, as well as its benefits, challenges, and pedagogical implications, with the aim of offering insights into AI’s role in supporting extensive reading.

All attendees are welcome to join the ERF Board meeting to listen in on what we are doing. Attendees are welcome to add their thoughts and make suggestions during this session.

In this moderated session, the scholarship recipients who received funding to support their attendance at ERWC7 will share solutions to some of the main problems associated with ER. Common challenges including limited awareness of ER in training on pedagogical approaches, rigid curriculum and institutional policies, and a lack of localized research evidence all hamper initiatives to implement ER. Although these are significant hurdles, it is only with access to suitable materials that ER/EL/EV can be introduced and delivered effectively to move forward in addressing these challenges. The success in grassroots classrooms and institutional programs depends on teachers having interesting, level-appropriate, graded materials for their learners. Drawing from their experience and summarizing a range of presentations at this Congress, the panelists will share examples of resources available and novel methods being taken to overcome this primary limitation. Participants will be able to add and take away valuable ideas.