Online Reading Literacies
In exploring the topic of online reading, as informed by Coiro & Dobler’s research on skilled and less skilled readers (2004), we asked the following questions:
What does online reading involve?
How does it differ from reading traditional texts?
What do skilled readers do? What do less skilled readers struggle with? Why?
What must students acquire to become proficient at online reading?
What types of pre-reading activities would best help all kinds of learners?
What would the potential drawbacks be to directing student to reading online texts? Conversely, what would the benefits be?
Have online texts reached its pinnacle (in development) as a source of information? If so or if not, what are the implications for both teachers and learners?
We considered both cognitive strategies and navigation behaviors. The comments in response to this post record our attempt to address some of these questions. Feel free to join our discussion by adding a comment of yours.
January 29, 2007 @ 7:39 pm
Vain Research?
The research of this article posed the following question: Does reading on the Internet look different for different level readers? My answer is absolutely yes! Why wouldn’t it? These diverse skilled readers are different because of the strategies and problem-solving abilities. Therefore, if a reader is struggling with utilizing strategies, using the internet will also be hard for them. The internet requires the use of strategies, problem solving and higher order thinking skills.
As I started to read this article, I began to question the relevance of it. Why did the researchers waste time doing a study that has an obvious answer? Who would want to commit time and energy to educational research that can already be proven with various groups of students around the world?
Since educators value time, students, progress, and change. I could only think of one reason why these researchers chose to do educational research on a topic we can answer simply by evaluating our class or readers in general. These researchers wanted to remind teachers of the importance of teaching strategies that will allow students to become better problem solvers. The researchers wanted to cause educators to see how skills can be used in any area of the students’ lives. As educators we are to produce critical thinkers, and we have to ask ourselves how prepared are our students for the real world if they can not perform simply searches on the internet?
Were these researchers’ work in vain? No, of course not. It will only be in vain if teachers chose to ignore the facts and truth in teaching. We can not afford to run away from teaching critical thinking and decision making; our society depends on it. If you had to do educational research on a topic that has on obvious answer, would you do it? Would you commit time and energy to research that has been already proven, in order to use it as a wake up call to teachers?
January 29, 2007 @ 8:00 pm
Ms. Outspoken’s out spoken response regarding Coiro & Dobler’s 2004 article on Investigating Internet Reading Strategies
When I began reading this article, I felt that this information seemed redundant. “… early evidence suggests that skilled sixth grade readers with Internet reading experience are aware of and demonstrate strategic online reading processes to a higher degree than their less-skilled peers with Internet reading experience” (Coiro & Dobler, 2004). Shouldn’t it make sense (to us professionals for whom the article was written) that those with greater reading skills would have better reading comprehension and more effective use of their time on the internet? Then to it’s contrary it would also seem COMPLETELY logical that those with weaker reading skills would have less reading comprehension skills and not be as efficient on the computer when searching and knowing where to click. I am just curious, but would any other professionals be interested in research we have not already been exposed to, so that we can use new information in our classrooms?
January 29, 2007 @ 8:01 pm
I Can’t Find It?: Providing Students Appropriate Strategies for Researching on the Internet
The research conducted in the given article; the investigation of how differently skilled readers used reading strategies while reading text on the internet, was extremely relevant to both this course and to any educator of today’s youth. The researchers used three questions to guide their research. What sparked my interest the most was the question of “Does reading on the Internet look different for different levels of readers?” Without any further reading into the article my personal response would be “absolutely”. And as I read further into the article, I discovered that I was correct. The examples provided within the article gave, brief, but vivid comparisons of differently skilled readers. Those that could draw from normal text reading strategies seemed to come across relevant, useful information much more efficiently than the less skilled readers. Those who could not draw from useful textual strategies were not able to easily navigate through websites in order to find useful information. In response, what can educators do in order to provide students with the appropriate usage of strategies when researching on the Internet? How can we teach them reading strategies that not only help them in a textbook, but also how they can transfer those strategies as they search for information the internet? Also, how will this not only help our students, but how will it benefit teachers as well?
January 29, 2007 @ 8:01 pm
Research Findings on different ability readers
This article post great questions and entailed agreeable statements. While enrolled in the course Literacy in Content Area for my graduate program last semester, we read an article which shared the same statements, such as, the importance for students to construct meaning through choices of links, icons, and websites. The findings from this journal article were evident, such as, the skilled readers had a reading process of higher degree than their less skilled peers and that the more Internet reading experience the better. Regarding the exposure of the internet, the article shed light of the importance of allowing your students to increase the opportunities of using the internet.
In addition, the exact findings of what strategies the skilled readers used compared to the less skilled were extremely astonishing. The manner of which these strategies were compiled was sufficient. For example, having the students think aloud or explain their reasoning for clicking on certain hyperlinks by asking “tell me out loud what you are thinking while you look for information that might help answer each question”. The article conjured other questions for me. As an educator how do we ensure that the less skilled readers are equipped with the proper tools to thoroughly navigate the internet?
January 29, 2007 @ 8:01 pm
How can we avoid the navigating pitfalls that struggling readers encounter?
My first response to the Coiro and Dobler article was, “Duh! Did they really need to do a study to find that out?” It seems extremely logical that less sophisticated readers would absorb less material from a given website and that participants with less internet experience wouldn’t find information as quickly or as methodically as those who had lots of experience. After digesting the information, I see the benefits of the study. It is very interesting to trace the students’ tactics in finding given information on a subject. The skilled students utilized most of the reading strategies in doing their searches. Even without reading the passages, students skimmed, used prior knowledge, searched using context and keywords, evaluated and predicted. When teaching reading strategies, how can they be modified for internet reading?
The article is very helpful in that it shows possible roadblocks in our own students’ internet hunts. Identifying the younger students’ thought processes helps me identify the thought processes of my older students. If I know why my students are getting stuck in their searches, I know how to help them. I wonder, however, what kinds of techniques can be taught upfront to teach kids the navigating “tricks” for successful internet searches.
February 7, 2007 @ 10:01 am
Response to journal article:
“Investigating how less-skilled readers use cognitive reading strategies while reading on the Internet.”
For me as a teacher, the results of this study should highly influence my instruction of Internet research. Students in this technology age need to be armed with not only effective research strategies, but also the tools for purposeful navigation through informational websites. I need to recognize the fact that websites are abstract for many students. They become overwhelmed with the eternal linking and hypertexting. Students need to be taught how to avoid getting hopelessly bogged down in web page after web page. As their teacher, I need to instruct them on how to locate the information they need quickly. They should be taught how to recognize websites that are either useless or a gold mine of information. When armed with these tools, even the less-skilled readers will be able to utilize the Internet to their advantage. It is interesting to note that as they improve their navigational skills, I believe students’ critical thinking processes will also improve. I suppose I am still of the old fashioned mindset – books are still the most effective way of researching and developing reading comprehension skills. I realize this is a highly debatable point and invite anyone interested to comment on this dated philosophy of mine. It is clear from this article that it is imperative to help our students become savvy both with website navigation and research strategies in order for the Internet to be a friend in the world of literacy and education.