A colleague once told me that he aspired to be the “Johnny Appleseed” of English language teachers, inspiring students to read whenever he could. His enthusiasm for “preaching” the virtues of reading was so infectious that I soon took up the call as well. In my role as a reading advocate for students, I have found a useful technology—the website Goodreads.com.

What Is Goodreads?

I was first introduced to Goodreads 8 years ago by a friend who suggested it would be a great way to connect with fellow book readers and keep track of my reading exploits.

He was right! I have since used Goodreads as a way to organize my reading lists, mark reading milestones, and to post book reviews for other readers. I also write a blog post on the site about once every week. In addition, I am a member of about six different groups on various reading topics.

Perhaps the thing I like most about Goodreads is that members can interact with other people who have read or are reading a particular book as you are reading it, giving you a sense of shared experience and community with other readers.

How to Use Goodreads in the Classroom: The Basics

There are many ways to use Goodreads in your classroom. However, I have created a step-by-step guide for instructors who want to experiment with the site in a simple and effective way.

Step 1. Registration

Encourage students to create a profile and add fellow classmates as friends.

Step 2. Add Course Books

Next, ask students to search for and add any course books that have been assigned to their “to read” list.

Step 3. Netiquette

Before moving forward, give a brief talk on the importance of netiquette. Distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate behavior on the web. You may introduce these rules using Educational Learning and Mobile Learning’s short article, “15 Essential Netiquette Guidelines to Share With Your Students.”

Step 4. Create a Discussion Group

Create a discussion group on Goodreads and encourage students to join. Other classroom programs, like Blackboard, also have the option to create discussion groups. One of the benefits of using Goodreads is that it presents students with the possibility of continuing the discussion group after the course has ended. In addition, you may choose to hand over administrator duties to a student at the end of the course and discuss whether it would be appropriate to allow members from outside the class to join.

Step 5. Students Review Books

As the students read their books for the course, you can encourage students to rate and review the books. For English language learners, offer to help proofread and edit the reviews before students submit them because they will become public after they are submitted.

How to Use Goodreads in the Classroom: Advanced

In addition to this basic way of using Goodreads, there are a few other activities you can use.

Recommend a Review

As part of the course, you can have students recommend a book for the class and write a book review advocating for why it should be added to the syllabus in a future course.

Comment on Reviews

As part of the course, you can also encourage students to comment on reviews from people outside the course.

Blog Post

You may also encourage students to publish a writing assignment for the course as a blog post on the site, thus making their writing public. As with the book reviews, I encourage instructors to help students get their essays ready for publication before posting.

Quizzes and Trivia

You can also use the quizzes and trivia functions on Goodreads to make interaction with the site more like a game and less like school. I don’t recommend using scores from these games as a grade (this takes away from the fun and makes participation seem regimented). However, I do recommend using these games as a way to help students prepare for graded assignments.

Conclusion: Making Reading Social

The idea behind using Goodreads in the classroom is to make reading meaningful by making it fun and social. When students feel like they are part of a reading community, they are more likely to continue reading and to read in ways that add value to reading communities. As an educator who has been on Goodreads for many years now, I can honestly say that Goodreads makes reading more addictive.

Daniel Clausen has taught ESL, English composition, and other courses in the United States, Japan, and Saudi Arabia. He has also conducted research in the field of international relations. His work has appeared in The Diplomat, e-IR, East Asia Forum, and the Korean Journal of International Studies, among other places. He currently works as an English language instructor for Coco Juku in Japan.