Integrating Cross-Curricular Literacy into EdTech Tools

Last week, I explored how to integrate cross-curricular literacy in the classroom. If you haven’t checked that out yet, I highly recommend giving it a read, especially if you're a teacher. But today, I’m shifting gears. If you’re in the EdTech world like me, this one's for you!

Before joining the team at Mission.io, I spent seven years in the classroom as a secondary teacher. That experience continues to shape the way I think about EdTech, including what I advocate for, invest in, and champion.

One thing I’m passionate about? Ensuring that EdTech tools — especially those focused on math, science, STEM, and social studies — seamlessly integrate literacy. Because literacy isn’t just for language arts. It’s the foundation for learning across all disciplines. Without strong literacy skills, students struggle to engage deeply with content, analyze information critically, and communicate their understanding effectively.

Yet, too often, educational technology treats literacy as an afterthought rather than an essential component. If we truly want to create impactful EdTech tools, we need to rethink how literacy fits into digital learning across disciplines. Let’s dive into seven ways EdTech can (and should) support cross-curricular literacy.

1. Embed Reading Comprehension and Higher-Order Thinking Tasks

Strong literacy skills begin with comprehension. Digital platforms should integrate research-based reading comprehension strategies directly into their user interfaces. This could include guided questions or prompts that scaffold student understanding of texts—particularly in content-heavy subjects like science and social studies.

EdTech tools should go beyond simple multiple-choice quizzes and incorporate tasks that require students to:

• Respond to text-based questions in written or verbal form
• Engage in structured discussions with a partner or small group
• Summarize key ideas to build conceptual understanding
• Identify key details and textual evidence

These activities deepen students' engagement with the material and reinforce critical literacy skills across disciplines.

💡 Quick Tip: Align questions with higher levels of Webb’s Depth of Knowledge to promote deeper thinking within program activities. Surface-level questions don’t lead to higher-order thinking. Text-based tasks should always push students toward analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

2. Include Multimodal Components

Students don’t just learn through reading. They process information through a combination of text, visuals, video, and auditory components. EdTech tools should reflect this reality by offering multimodal learning experiences that strengthen literacy skills in meaningful ways.

Interactive literacy tasks should encourage students to analyze and synthesize information from multiple sources. A well-designed program should allow students to engage with concepts through text, images, charts, videos, and even simulations to mirror the way students will encounter information in the real world.

💡 Quick Tip: Present information in multiple formats to build background knowledge and enhance comprehension. If students are reading about a deep-sea creature, for example, pair the text with an image or video of that creature. If students are learning about climate change, integrate graphs, maps, and data visualizations to help them interpret scientific evidence.

3. Add More Collaborative Learning Features

Learning is inherently social, but too many EdTech tools isolate students behind screens. Instead, digital platforms should facilitate discussion, debate, and collaboration, just as students would experience in a well-structured classroom such as:

• Discussions where students engage in peer-to-peer dialogue
• Shared documents for collaborative writing and research
• Peer feedback tools that promote constructive critique

These elements bring EdTech beyond rote memorization, fostering critical thinking, communication, and deeper literacy engagement.

💡 Quick Tip: Why do we so often use technology to isolate students rather than connect them? Let’s prioritize building tools that get students talking, thinking, and collaborating — not just clicking buttons on screens.

4. Support Interactive Annotation Tools and Immediate Feedback

Annotation is one of the most powerful literacy strategies, but it’s often overlooked in digital learning. EdTech tools should integrate interactive annotation features that allow students to:

• Highlight and underline key information
• Add comments, questions, and reflections in the margins of a text
• Receive real-time feedback on their annotations and written responses

When students engage actively with a text — by questioning, summarizing, and analyzing as they read — they deepen their understanding and retention.

💡 Quick Tip: The more students interact with a text, the better their comprehension will be. Encourage layered reading, where students revisit texts multiple times, annotating and refining their thinking along the way.

5. Provide Scaffolded Literacy Tasks and Revision Opportunities

Digital learning should guide students through complex reading and writing tasks rather than overwhelm them. Scaffolded supports such as sentence starters, graphic organizers, and exemplars help break down multi-step literacy activities into manageable chunks.

Additionally, EdTech tools should provide:

• Real-time feedback on writing to help students improve both content and mechanics
• Opportunities for revision based on feedback, fostering a growth mindset
• Step-by-step supports for research, argument-building, and synthesis

💡 Quick Tip: Consider the final assessment task of an activity or unit. What scaffolding do students need along the way to succeed? Discussions, graphic organizers, and pre-writing activities all help students feel empowered rather than overwhelmed.

6. Offer Adaptive Learning Technologies

Not all students engage with literacy at the same level, and that’s where adaptive learning technology comes in. EdTech tools should personalize literacy instruction by:

• Adjusting text complexity based on a student’s reading level
• Offering scaffolded supports for struggling readers and English Language Learners (ELLs)
• Providing automated feedback and differentiated instruction based on performance

When literacy tasks are adaptive and responsive, all students (regardless of ability—can engage meaningfully with content.

💡 Quick Tip: Design with accessibility in mind. Consider how multilingual learners, students with disabilities, and students with IEPs will navigate your platform. Accessibility shouldn't be an afterthought.

7. Include Cross-Curricular Literacy

Education is interconnected, yet many EdTech programs still operate in silos, treating literacy as separate from STEM, social studies, or other content areas. Instead, literacy should be woven into every subject.

• Science platforms should incorporate reading and writing tasks that reinforce inquiry and evidence-based reasoning.
• Math programs should encourage written explanations of problem-solving processes.
• Social studies platforms should emphasize evaluating primary sources and constructing arguments.

💡 Quick Tip: Be part of the solution, not the problem. Literacy is everyone’s responsibility. Let’s build EdTech that reflects that.

Final Thoughts

When EdTech providers integrate cross-curricular literacy, we do more than enhance reading and writing skills. We empower students to engage with all subjects more deeply. Literacy isn’t just about decoding words on a page.  It’s about thinking critically, analyzing complex ideas, and communicating effectively across disciplines.

At Mission.io, we take this challenge seriously. Our program doesn't just approach science and math in isolation. Rather, we integrate literacy in meaningful and interactive ways in our hyper-engaging and standards-based Missions. We’re committed to helping students become stronger readers, writers, and thinkers as they engage with academic content in real-world contexts.

Want to see how we’re making it happen? Check out Mission.io and explore how we’re bridging the gap between EdTech and cross-curricular literacy to build a tool that truly prepares students for the future.