New+Literacies+-+Online+Reading+Comprehension

The Internet has profoundly changed the way we interact with text. As couched in the literacy dialogue, students need to learn new skills to comprehend information found online. The question is not how to teach children to use the new literacies, but how to teach children to continually relearn and adapt to the the new literacies. In essence the skill is adaptability in learning new skills. One way to do this is through constructivist teaching methods, guided projects that require students to use new skills.


 * The world has changed **

The Internet has redefined the ways in which we interact with the world. It is now THE defining medium for information, communication and reading.

International Reading Association (IRA) The Internet and other forms of information and communication technology (ICT) such as word processors, web editors, presentation software and email are regularly redefining the nature of literacy. To become fully literate in today’s world, students must become proficient in the new literacies of ICT. Therefore, literacy educators have a responsibility to effectively integrate these technologies into the literacy curriculum in order to prepare students for the literacy future they deserve.


 * What do we know? **


 * Online reading comprehension is not isomorphic with offline reading comprehension; additional reading comprehension skills are required.


 * Online reading comprehension is defined not only around the purpose, task, and context but also by a process of self-directed text construction that occurs as readers navigate their own paths through an infinite informational space to construct their own version of text. (Coiro, 2007; Leu et al., 2005; Leu, Zawilinski, et al., 2007).


 * Although adolescent “digital natives” may be skilled with social networking, texting, video and mp3 downloads they are not generally skilled with online information use, including locating and critically evaluating information (Bennett, Maton, & Kervin, 2008; Leu, Reinking, et al., 2007).


 * Students appear to learn online reading comprehension skills best from other students within the context of challenging activities designed by the teacher (Castek, 2008).


 * Valid and reliable assessments of online reading comprehension have been developed (Castek, 2008; Coiro, 2007; Henry, 2007; Leu et al., 2005).
 * What do we need to teach? **


 * Identify important questions/keywords
 * Locate information
 * Evaluate information critically
 * Synthesize information
 * Communicate/store information


 * Who teaches it? **

Framing the Internet as a Literacy Issue:


 * Look past the technological aspects of the Internet to analyze the underlying social and educational ramifications


 * View the Internet as a context in which to read, write and communicate, not as a separate discipline


 * Technology standards, instruction and assessment become integrated within subject areas

A meta-analytic review of sixteen studies (Rosenshine & Meister, 1994) showed that reciprocal teaching had a consistent, large, and positive effect on comprehension outcomes.
 * How do we teach it? **

While working in small groups, teachers and students take turns leading discussions of the text and demonstrating each strategy. Eventually, through continued practice and a gradual release of responsibility, students begin to develop a useful repertoire of metacognitive strategies for better understanding what they read. Over time, these strategies appear to become self-regulated and transfer to new reading contexts (e.g., Cooper, Boschken, McWilliams, & Pistochini, 2000; Palincsar, 1986; Palincsar & Klenk, 1992).
 * Reciprocal Teaching:**
 * the use of traditional, printed texts, which are often narratives
 * the reading of a common text
 * the teaching of a small group of students, often struggling readers
 * teacher modeling of comprehension strategies
 * a focus on predicting, questioning, clarifying, and summarizing strategies
 * a gradual release of responsibility away from the teacher as students take on the modeling of comprehension strategies
 * collaboration and discussion among all participants in each reciprocal teaching group


 * Internet Reciprocal Teaching:**
 * Students must have laptop with wireless access to the Internet


 * The strategy focuses on both the common text and on the texts students create individually as they navigate the Internet


 * Teachers and students model their choices about which search results are most relative through think alouds.


 * Also through think alouds the teachers and students discuss choices about which sites to read, where to read on those sites, which links to follow to gather additional information, and when to conduct new searches.


 * Instead of predicting, questioning, clarifying and summarizing strategies, IRT focuses on questioning, locating, critically evaluating, synthesizing and communicating strategies.


 * Three phases of Internet Reciprocal Teaching**


 * Phase 1** – direct whole class instruction of basic skills and strategies of Internet


 * Phase 2** – group work and the reciprocal exchange of online reading comprehension strategies by students with their peers. Example: How high is Mt. Fuji in Japan? Find a different answer to the same question. Which answer do you think is most accurate and how did you determine that it was? Share your answers via the class web, email, etc.


 * Phase 3** – online individual inquiry units, sometimes with the collaborative efforts involving other student in other classes/parts of the world and periodic strategy sharing sessions with groups.


 * How will we monitor students’ progress? **
 * **Formative Assessment of Students’ Emerging Knowledge of Internet Strategies (FASEKIT)** – once every three to four weeks, students are given approximately fifteen minutes to list the most important strategies they employ when using the Internet


 * **Online Reading Comprehension Ability (ORCA)** – rubric guided measures ask students to search for, locate, critically evaluate, synthesize, and communicate solutions using instant messaging, email and blog technologies


 * Multiple choice and short answer items to estimate a student’s level of online reading comprehension ability.


 * Next steps **


 * School leadership must provide the vision and leadership to direct the changing nature of reading comprehension instruction.


 * Provide professional development for teachers

Not a single state in the United States:
 * Contestation **
 * measures students’ ability to read search engine results during state reading assessments
 * measures students’ ability to evaluate critically information that is found online to determine its reliability
 * measures students’ ability to compose effective email messages

Few, if any, states in the United States permit all students to use a word processor on the state writing assessment.

Finally, the framework for the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress in reading, the supposed “gold standard” for assessment in the United States, failed to include any online reading comprehension skills, suggesting that these skills will not be assessed nationally until the next iteration in 2019.

The teacher has to be able to adapt to the new ways of learning. On a positive note this medium could keep the young students more engaged in their learning. We are looking at a new generation of "i-literates" or a new terminology "i-literacy". Hemma

Hemma, I agree about the fact that we need to adapt and teach our children the skill of adaptation. However, I need to go back to square one and learn about ALL these new mediums before I can start to adapt to them. I feel like a dinosaur sometimes!

The 3rd culture kids adapt very quicky. They have had a lot of exposure in real life because they have traveled a lot, lived an expatriate lifestyle and are just so "with it".