Dr. Don Leu, the head of the University of Connecticut’s New Literacy Research, says there is a different skill set needed for online reading comprehension versus offline reading comprehension. I had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Leu discuss his theories at the recent International Reading Association Convention in Toronto.
Dr. Leu spoke at length about the new skills needed for Internet reading and the research under way to help identify instructional strategies for teaching them. Dr. Leu also showed how online-savvy students often perform poorly on comprehension skills on high-stakes state tests but perform well on online reading comprehension assessment skills.
The five specific skills needed for online reading, according to Dr. Leu, are:
- Identifying important questions before reading
- Locating information
- Analyzing information for usefulness
- Synthesizing information from many disparate points of view
- Communicating information via the Internet
Good online readers, he said, can determine understanding, relevancy, accuracy, bias, and stance. He added that the gap between the high and low socio-economic populations will widen as online comprehension becomes more and more important unless something is done to address online skill instruction for all students. Currently, no state actually tests for online reading comprehension skills. But I feel the online skills will only gain in significance, which is why Learning A–Z is considering developing lessons that would target online reading skills. What you think? Is reading online the way of the future?
Online reading is definitely the way of the future, particularly for non fiction text. Etexts, ebooks and PDFs are increasing at an exponential rate. Secondary school is all about non fiction. We need to develop e-reading skills for these students. Also e-proof reading skills, yes, lets start preparing material as soon as possible.