Kramarski, B. & Feldman, Y. (2002). Internet in the classroom: Effects on reading
comprehension, motivation and metacognitive awareness. Educational Media
International, 37(3), 149-156.
 Introduction


Internet in learning
Researchers have indicated that the new medium has given teachers and learners
immediate access to authentic materials and contexts for cultural learning

Earlier studies on web-based environments for educational communication report how
network interaction in many learning projects results in superficial and
experience-based discussion


How can we enhance meaningful learning by using interactive technologies?
What are the pedagogical methods of using that technology?


Metacognition
Flavell (1979) defined metacognition as either
1) knowledge or awareness of one’s cognitive processes, their operation and outcomes
2) the conscious control or regulation of one’s own knowledge.

Metacognitive knowledge has three components referring to strategy use: declarative,
procedural and conditional knowledge.

Metacognitive knowledge is a predictor of successful problem solving. (Mayer, 1998)


Hypothesis
providing metacognitive instruction in internet classrooms would exert more positive
effects on students’ reading comprehension and metacognitive awareness


Purpose
to investigate English reading comprehension of students who were exposed to
metacognitive instruction in an internet classroom versus in a regular classroom

to examine the differential effects of the two instructional methods on students
motivation and metacognitive awareness

Method

Participants

consisted of 52 students (25 male and 27 female)

studied in two eighth-grade classesrandomly selected from one junior high school and
assigned to one of two conditions: (a)internet group, (b) control group




Treatment
studied English as a foreign language in pairs with the same teacher
used the same metacognitive learning methods
The metacognitive learning was based on a four stages of a metacognitive strategy
(Polya, 1957):
1. identifying the task;
2. planning;
3. performing; and
4. evaluation.

Measures

Three questionnaires were used in the present study to evaluate reading
comprehension, motivation and metacognitive awareness.

Reading comprehension questionnaire



A 12 item open test was used to assess students’ reading comprehension
at the beginning and the end of the study.
Motivation questionnaire

This questionnaire included 15 items adapted from the questionnaire used in
a study conducted by Schraw and Dennison (1994)


assessed students’ motivation to study English
Each item was constructed on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (Strongly
Disagree) to 5

Metacognitive awareness questionnaire



This questionnaire included seven forced-choice items with 5 choices
assessed students’ metacognitive awareness regarding their reading
Observations

The observations focused on three criteria based on students’ learning
behaviors: motivation, metacognitive awareness and technical skills.

Procedure



the reading comprehension questionnaire
observations
the Reading Comprehension, Motivation and Metacognitive Awareness
questionnaires

Results

no significant differences for the total reading comprehension scores in the pretest and
in the post-test

the use of reading comprehension strategies indicated significant differences on the
measure of finding authors’ opinion.
Table 1 T-test, mean scores and standard deviation on reading comprehension pretest and posttest by treatment
Control (n = 26)
T
S.D
Internet (n = 26)
Mean
S.D
Mean
74.5
13.2
75.3
Total-pretest
84.23
11.01
81.35
Total-post-test
(df=50)
0.210
0.949
13.2
11.19
Strategies on post-test:
993
3.22
22.46
4.74
21.35
Finding items by scanning
0.431
4.23
20.15
3.45
20.62
Understanding the main idea by skimming
0.185
6.37
26.77
5.58
27.08
Interpreting words with contextual clues
*2.039
4.48
14.85
4.64
12.27
Finding author’s meaning
*p<
0.05;
a Range:

0 – 100.
Significant differences between the two groups were found for the total motivation
scores and metacognitive awareness
Table 2 T-test, mean scores and standard deviation on motivation and metacognitive awareness by treatment
Control (n = 26)
t(50)
Internet (n = 26)
S.D
Mean
S.D
Mean
2.578*
10.27
58.00
8.23
64.65
Motivationa
3.871**
7.88
86.92
14.74
74.23
Metacognitive awareness b
a Range:
1–75; b Range: 0–100. Note. *p< 0.01, *p<0.001*


the internet group students were more enthusiastic about the new technology
but encountered more technical problems and dif. culties in integrating the
metacognitive strategy in their learning

the control group students were less motivated in their learning but efficiently utilized
the the metacognitive strategy lessons
Table 3 Description of the observations in each group
Control (n = 26)
Motivation
Internet (n = 26)
No enthusiasm about the lessons
Enthusiasm about the technological tool
Happiness when the lesson was � nished
Willingness to continue and engage in the
lesson
Metacognitive
Working deeply with metacognitive
Hardship to implement the metacognitive
Awareness
strategy deeply
strategy with the open learning environment
Utilized the class period to its fullest extent
Concentration problems
No technical problems
Pitfalls of high text level of internet
Technical problems
Unknown Internet commands
Students’ trying to utilize the class period for
CHAT options

Discussion

The main goal of the research was to examine the contribution of an internet
environment embedded with metacognitive instruction to students’ reading
comprehension, motivation and metacognitive awareness.

the internet environment failed to contribute signi. cantly to students’ achievement in
English reading comprehension.

some technical problems were noted, which interfered with the students’ concentration
and wasted time allotted for the assignment.

teenager students (age 13-14) often struggle with problems of concentration and
adherence to objectives

Observations indicate that the control group researched the context deeply and utilized
the class period to its fullest extent while encountering no technical problems

Garner and Alexander (1981) and Smith(1995) indicated an increase in motivation that
was due to internet assisted learning which included authentic and meaningful
information.

the internet environment contributes significantly as far as the motivation of the students
towards the subject of English goes,

no real contribution was found as far as the actual improvement of achievement in the
area of English reading comprehension and metacognitive awareness.


Implications and future research
the use of advanced technology is not a panacea for enhancing students’
understanding

there is a need to design metacognitive strategies as an integral part of the use of the
technology (Kramarski, 1999).

there is a need to develop metacognitve instructional methods that are appropriate for
using the internet in various domain specific areas