Comprehension and Online Texts
By Theresa McKee and Terri McCaughan – Language Arts and Reading Supervisors, NNPS
“As new information and communication technologies permeate classrooms and libraries, educators have the responsibility to assist students in comprehending and understanding the information that is now available online.” In Angel Kymes’ Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy article, “Teaching Online Comprehension Strategies Using Think-Alouds” , she poses the challenge of teaching students to navigate and evaluate online texts, which are non-linear, unlike print text. She asks what many of us are asking as we encounter new forms of digital literacy, “how can we instruct students to become skilled, strategic readers when they encounter online texts and hypertextual formats?”
Take heart, for her response indicates that best practice strategies for building comprehension with print texts are just as effective for teaching comprehension with online texts. “By using a familiar technique, the verbal protocol or think-aloud method, educators can help students monitor their own learning and develop metacognitive strategies during online reading. The think-aloud as an instructional model for teaching online comprehension has roots in reading, cognition, and usability research. Through demonstration and explicit instruction in the use of mindful strategies, such as setting a purpose, questioning the text, and evaluating structures and forms, educators are able to give students skills for the comprehension of information in the online environment. These skills, when used in conjunction with Web-searching strategies and site evaluation, should also provide students with the ability to plan for their use and dissemination of information, as they are both consumers and producers of ideas.”
Armed with the knowledge that best practice literacy instruction works with all kinds of texts, we still have questions. We know educators face the challenges of becoming more technologically literate and capable of integrating these new technologies with their existing literacy curricula. What are the more specific challenges in Newport News and how can we overcome them?
Source: Kymes. Angel. Teaching Online Comprehension Strategies Using Think-Alouds. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, v48 n6 p492-500 Mar 2005.
April 30th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Teaching any kind of literacy requires asking questions concerning the validity of the source along wtih srategic thinking skills to critique the information in books or electronic sources.Comprehension is the key.
April 30th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
I agree that we need to explicitly teach students how to extract information from text, whether in print or online. The same thought processes apply. Students build skill with practice, and we have access to a rich array of electronic resources, yet we often do not provide engaging assignments for student practice of literacy skills. We have limited expectations, so we assign simple tasks. What would happen if we asked students to solve real-world problems?
The librarians believe that we need to teach a research process, as modeled in the Inquiry Process that is the basis of our library curriculum units. The process model provides a common language for the steps of a complex task. It gives students a structure for thinking about information problems.
All our school libraries offer a wide variety of resources, print, and online, that teachers and students can use. The Destiny online catalog, for example, searches across web pages and returns hits by grade level. Teachers can model the use of these products with a computer and their laptops, in the classroom as well as in the library.
May 3rd, 2009 at 12:02 pm
Understanding the challenges of technology literacy and creation are key. If students are unable to comprhend what they consume then they will not learn. This process applies to age old critical thinking skills as well as 21st century learning styles. If the student is unable to decipher good information from inaccuarate information; he or she will be unable to flourish in the 21st century.
That is why it is vital that students and instructors become proficient in the use of technology. The goal is to provide students with the best opportunities possible learn about and become successful in the real world. This will not be possible unless the teacher bridges his or her personal digital divide. If the instructor cannot provide meaningful instruction within the digital construct, the student will have a difficult time becoming a critical digital thinker.
A paradigm shift must take place in public education to bring American students and teachers into the digital non-linear age. Without a change in teaching methods and technology implementation, American students will be severely inequipped to compete in the 21st century.
In Newport News, the specific challenge is the generation gap and the digital divide. The generation gap is a pretty straight forward concept because the children have grown up with technology, while the majority of teachers have not. Therein lies a natural fear from the older generations to learn and implement something new. Once the older generations become comfortable with the use and relevance of each new technology, they will be able to provide instruction that will benefit the 21st century thinker.
May 4th, 2009 at 10:44 pm
I beleive that students will comprehend the concepts at hand IF the concept is conveied in a manner that best suits the learning style of the children. The “younger” generation is more apt in technological advacements because society enforces it. The 21st century is the Age of Information. It’s all about how to get information more quickly and efficiently. Kids want to be informed all the time, not necessarily on pertinent things, but informened none the less. Personally, I think that computers and the internet are great TOOLS, but they are not a SOLUTION to anything. Teachers will still have to teach and engage their students weither it be with hard copy text or online information. Teachers need to know what is applicable to the tasks that need to be accomplished in informing the kids. The integration helps engage the students, but I don’t think that anyone can expect that technology will carry out the task of conveying necessary concepts. The integration helps kids learn skills that will be needed later in the workforce and the technology ignites a diffrent level of cognition. I do think it is important for teachers to be technology literate, but I do not think that the technology should take away from the task at hand just to be able to say that they teacher has intergrated technology into their lesson.