Year 7 having to do all reading online - is this usual?

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My DC has just started secondary school and has been given English homework to do online on Sparx Reader. Apparently the homework is to finish reading one novel on there per week, for which DC will earn points. The Sparx website will only show 2 pages of the novel at a time, and then it asks 5 questions about what has been read. Once these have been completed, it shows 2 more pages, and so on, until the book is finished.

My DC has always loved reading, but is hating this do far - not least because

(a) there are only 3 books to choose from, 2 of which are pre-20th century;
(b) the questions interrupt the flow of the book;
(c) it has to be read on a screen (and DC doesn’t have a tablet so has to borrow my laptop - not easy to read on in bed!):
(d) DC had just started a novel from the library which is much more engaging, but won’t have time to read both within one week.

Is this normal for first year at secondary? Will it all be like this? Am I going to have to give in and buy a tablet or similar? It doesn’t seem to be usable on a Kindle, sadly, as that was my first thought. And isn’t this likely to put them off reading for life??

That sounds like a fast way to kill a love of reading! It's not what's done in my DC's school. They read physical books in class and have a reading lesson once a fortnight in the library which is just for reading books of their own choosing.

Mine love reading but would absolutely hate this.

Can the app be put on a Smartphone? Easier to read than a laptop or tablet.

I'm a huge reader but have switched to buying everything on Kindle and reading on the app my phone as it's more convenient and I can set the font, size and contrast to something that suits my eyes much better now my vision isn't quite what it once was.

Most secondaries use a lot of apps for homework - Memrise, Hegarty, Sparx etc but I've not seen large amounts of reading on them.

That sounds vastly better - DC would love that.

Possibly - at the moment we’re using a website not an app, but I will check. I know I’m going to have to buy DC a smartphone shortly, but really hadn’t thought it would be necessary for reading novels! I don’t really want DC taking the phone up to bed either. Ugh.

I should add that they also use Sparx for maths, which works really well (on my laptop) and DC has enjoyed the challenge of doing the increasingly tough maths puzzles on there - but that seems very different from reading a novel.

Can the app be put on a Smartphone? Easier to read than a laptop or tablet.

I hate reading anything on a phone, I couldn't manage a book like that! I like print books, but do occasionally get ebooks for lighter reading, but only on the laptop.

That is ridiculous and seems to me like the best way to kill a love for reading! Not normal at all I would say, at DDs school they have a 1 hour reading slot per week in their timetable and just have to take a book of their choice or borrow one from the library. DD is an avid reader but what you are describing would definitely put her off.

It doesn't sound normal. My DCs have had some texts that they were reading as a class in KS3 English/GCSE English Literature available online but that was partly in a context of COVID related staff shortages, and it wasn't ideal. They are meant to have library lessons in KS3 but this all got a bit disrupted (DS1 was in year 8 in March 2020 and has just finished GCSEs and gone to another school for 6th form as our local is 11-16, DS2 is just starting GCSEs) and there is a system of online quizzes developed in the US, but DS1 also chose his own books from home/the public library and shared some of them with a classmate - some had quizzes and some didn't, but it was just a quiz if available, soon after reading the book. Sadly he's given up reading for pleasure early in year 8, before lockdown, after a few years of apparently quite enjoying it.

It might work on kindle fire.
That also has kindle app.
And can use borrowbox library app.

No, not normal at all.

I imagine the school is trying to avoid paying for books but ruining the pleasure of reading in the process. What a shame.

That’s really depressing. Can you boycott it? Why would teachers want students to spend more time on screens rather than reading a book? I suppose it allows for automated marking. But it’s not just not as good, it damages comprehension and concentration skills to spend all your time skimming screens. Can you buy all the teachers a copy of Johann Hari’s ‘stolen focus’ and show them some articles like this one: https://www.brainfacts.org/neuroscience-in-society/tech-and-the-brain/2020/reading-on-paper-versus-screens-whats-the-difference-072820