Online Reading Comprehension

Off line reading comprehension and online reading comprehension do not correlate:

it takes different skill sets!

The New Literacies Of Online Reading Comprehension

• Read to identify important questions; • Read to locate information; • Read to critically evaluate the usefulness of that

information;• Read to synthesize information to answer those

questions; and• Read to communicate the answers to others.

(Leu, Kinzer, Coiro, & Cammack, 2004, p. 1570)

The new literacies of online reading comprehension

Why bother?

• The ability to find credible sources and how to read info on the web is critical

• Traditionally low readers actually score higher on online comprehension tests

• This will be a tested area in the very near future

Main Points to cover with your students….

• Students tend to think that they search for info by typing the search term or phrase into the address bar and add a “.com” afterwards.

• Students tend to “click and look” at search results instead of reading the result choices and evaluating them first

• They must have reading skills to read search results and know which ones to choose from: – 1st few results = paid to be at the top/be suspicious of

the top results (commercially motivated)…– wikipedia = good starting point but discuss reliability and

nature of wikis– now down to better results = read all search results

before deciding on the best option (.edu, .org, .gov = more credible….avoid .com)

– Once they choose a site to click… they should be sure to first find the source of the site before considering it as credible information.

– If there is no source/author mentioned…google the site to see what others are saying about it

Here’s a good activity to introduce these skills to your students….

• Put yourself in their place for a moment.

An Information Challenge For You: Target Skill -

Critically Evaluating Source Information

• Part A: Find the height of Mt. Fuji in feet• Part B: Find a different answer to the same

question.• Part C: Which answer do you consider

accurate? WHY? Be able to explain your answer to others.

If this was unblocked…

• Hoax site to teach students about the reliability of info on the web:– Tell students you want to find information on how

to help save the pacific northwest octopus…they will all find the following website

– www.savethepacificnorthwestoctopus.com – Students believe it because they use volume as

their main indicator for reliability…the more info it has on the site, the more reliable they feel it is as a source