Literature Review
The Changing Spaces of
Reading
Reading the Internet:
Working it out with Students
University of British Columbia
Lois Aeckersberg
Annotations
Altun, A. (2000). Patterns in cognitive processes and strategies in hypertext reading: a
case study of two experienced computer users. Journal of Educational
Multimedia and Hypermedia. 9(1), 35-55.
This is a qualitative study that through in-depth triangulated case studies indicates that
navigating the Internet is a complex cognitive activity. The variety of text is non-linear
and a more flexible interactive reading experience. Two mature expert computer
navigators were observed, questioned, interviewed, and email correspondence was
collected throughout the study. The author concludes that reading is shaped by personal
interest, reading is a multilayered process, readers create reading strategies, are more apt
to look up words, and interact with text. As this research was conducted in 2000 I
believe that today’s students would be as experienced as these experts were then.
Students reading the Internet are engaging in multilayered reading.
Birkerts, S. (2010). Reading in a digital age: notes on why the novel and the Internet are
opposites, and why the latter both undermines the former and makes it more
necessary. American Scholar, 79(2), 32-44.
The discussion stresses the importance of reading novels. Reading the Internet is not the
same as reading a novel, even opposite according to Birkerts. Birkerts negatively
describes teenage technology savvy behaviors and the digitized world. Novels engage the
mind and imagination, encourages thinking for the sake of thinking and allows the reader
to dig deeper into themselves. The author argues that reading the Internet lacks
concentrated deep thought. The article is one-sided focusing in depth on the beauty and
intense experience of reading a novel. It shows the other side of the debate of Internet
reading.
Coiro, J. (2003). Reading comprehension on the internet expanding our understanding of
reading comprehension to encompass new literacies. The Reading Teacher. (56)5,
458-464.
Coiro, who has written many articles on the subject, believes that in the classroom,
Internet reading comprehension needs to be addressed in order to successfully prepare
students for their reading future. In this article she focuses on the skills students need to
use the Internet, questioning whether the comprehension process is different when
reading the Internet and if Internet reading requires different skills. She is a proponent of
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Internet reading, using specific websites and examples to show her thinking. She
summarizes with a broader model of reading comprehension and the educational
implications. Reading on the Internet is different and the traditional definition of literacy
needs to change to encompass this valuable form of literacy.
Gambrell, L. (2005). Reading literature, reading text, reading the Internet: the times they
are a’changing. The Reading Teacher. (58)6, 588-590.
Gambrell, after reading a U.S. report entitled Reading at Risk (National Endowment for
the Arts, 2004), questioned if people are really reading less or if they are just reading
different things. She questions that reading is all about the great works of literature and
proposes a new definition for literacy to encompass digital literacies. Reflecting on her
own reading the author felt her reading was broader, expanded and enriched because of
her Internet reading. She calls for a balance of reading genres in classrooms. I think her
personal experience is indicative of many Internet reading experiences. There may not be
a decline in reading, just a decline in print reading.
Rich, M. (2008). Literacy debate: online, r u really reading? The New York Times.
Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/books/27reading.html.
Parents are concerned that their children are not reading books, but they are happy that
they are reading something, even if it is the Internet. Not denying the importance of
books, Rich states that learning to read online will be beneficial to students in the future
when they begin looking for jobs. Rich terms novels as predetermined sets that fosters
sustained focus on one author’s view. The Internet allows readers to create their own
vision, which is more life like, non-linear, interactive. Developing an argument for the
need of a variety of reading experiences Rich considers both perspectives; learning from
books is important and the Internet can motivate and improve reading. This article is
important in that it shows the interest in the debate of print versus online is not solely in
the classroom but an interesting topic for all readers.
Schmar-Dobler, E. (2003). Reading on the internet; the link between literacy and
technology. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy. (47)1, 80-85.
Beginning with two anecdotes about teenagers using the Internet Schmar-Dobler argue
that the definition of literacy is widening to include accessing information efficiently,
solving problems, and communicating this new information. Schmar-Dobler believes
that reading from the Internet is a demanding task. In the article print reading strategies
are compared to see if they hold true for Internet reading. This method is similar to the
method I was going to test to determine if Internet surfing is reading. Through this line of
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thinking the author has concluded that best practice reading strategies for print reading
are valid for online text as well.
Sutherland-Smith, Wendy. (2002). Weaving the literacy web: changes in reading from
page to screen. The Reading Teacher. (55)7, 662-669.
Sutherland-Smith, an Australian classroom teacher, calls for a change in classroom
reading practice. Literacy is an ever changing, evolving concept that allows for nonlinear
thinking, requires visual literacy skills, and is interactive, more like real life. The author
believes that the Internet extends thinking and requires a higher level of critical thinking,
besides being more motivating to students. The article explains many teaching strategies
appropriate for teaching Internet reading. She does not believe that online reading should
replace print reading but it should be an option in expanding literacy skills.
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Literature Review
Internet Reading: Working it out with Students
Independent reading is part of the British Columbia Language Arts Curriculum. The
curriculum does not state what specific materials are to be read in the classroom, leaving
the decision in the hands of the qualified teacher. Some teachers believe that reading
during sustained silent reading must be from a novel, but why is that? Why can’t students
read short stories or poetry? The purpose of the reading practice is to make meaningful
connections, to improve and extend thinking (Ministry of Education, 2007). As long as
these objectives are met it shouldn’t matter what the students are reading.
Students should read a variety of texts, read and make meaningful connections, read to
improve and extend their thinking. Just read. I repeat this seemingly simple yet complex
issue of reading several times daily because as a Language Arts teacher I find myself
repeating it in class many times. At times, with some students, it is like pulling teeth to
encourage them to read a book, short story, poem or even a magazine. Can the use of
technology in a Language Arts class motivate students to read? If the Internet provides
text for students to read, offers motivation and increases student engagement in the text,
why wouldn’t I use this in my class? Students could read what they are interested in and
read in a context they are accustomed to. Is reading on the Internet the same as reading a
novel? Is one form of reading literacy better than others?
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Modeling good reading behavior in my English class this morning I opened up the
newspaper to the Opinion section. In the Kelowna Daily Courier, the editorial title caught
my eye, “Let’s hear it for the book”. I am not the only one questioning Internet reading.
The idea of print, book versus Internet screen, seems to be currently in vogue. As I am
informally testing out Internet reading in my classroom some students have laptops open
reading on the Internet while others enjoy the comfort of a book. Internet reading
comprehension is garnering a lot of attention.
What is literacy? Teachers, librarians, and literacy specialists alike are trying to define or
redefine the term literacy. It seems the term is in flux, changing to encompass emerging
thought with the increasing predominance of technology. “Perhaps reading as we have
traditionally defined is at risk” (Gambrell, 2005). “Today’s definition of literacy is being
broadened” (Schmar-Dobler, 2003) to encompass questioning skills, accessing
information, problem solving, and interacting with information. As text shifts from
printed pages to computerized screens, literacy specialists question whether current
philosophies of reading apply to the new medium of technology, the Internet. Literacy
researchers are attempting to describe the differences and similarities between print based
and Internet reading.
Reading online and offline are different. It is different in form and function. “Web
literacy is a term for finding, scanning, digesting and storing Internet information”
(Sutherland-Smith, 2002). “The comprehension process is different on the
Internet”(Coiro, 2003). Online reading is non-linear, it quickly connects expository text
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with the click of a button opening unlimited amounts of information by numerous
authors. The novel can be perceived as opposite, “a predetermined beginning, middle and
end, where readers focus for a sustained period on one author’s vision” (Rich, 2008). The
narrative novel takes the reader on an inward, imaginative, and contemplative journey
(Birkerts, 2010). Most Internet reading is analytical, focusing on problem solving,
information finding, synthesizing, and evaluating. This process is interactive and flexible
lead by the master of the mouse. During reading time in my class, whether students are
flipping pages or navigating screens they all seem to be engaged in reading. Even though
there are differences many of the processes are similar.
Strategies for online and print reading are parallel. Schmar-Dobler outlines reading
strategies that are currently seen as the components of what good readers do when they
read. When stronger reading students read they activate prior knowledge, monitor
comprehension, determine key ideas, synthesize, infer and ask questions whether they are
reading print text or online information. “Internet reading appears to apply similar
reading strategies as those used with print text reading” (Schmar-Dobler, 2003). The way
these strategies look may differ when students are interacting online than with print. A
student who poses a question while reading print may stop reading for a moment to think.
A student with the Internet open may click to open a new tab, type in their question, skim
the results of the Google search, click the top choice, read a part of the page, click on a
link, find the answer to their question and return back to their original reading. “The
Internet forces us to expand our understanding of each of these elements by considering
new aspects of comprehension that are clearly related to traditional comprehension areas”
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(Coiro, 2003). It would appear that the student with the plethora of information at their
fingertips is delving deeper, improving their reading comprehension. However, there are
still skeptics.
The librarian comes to visit my class during reading time to introduce the class to a few
new novels and sees my students with laptops open on their desks. “This is not sustained
silent reading they are doing,” she says judgmentally. We have had many conversations
about reading online, she agrees with Birkerts, “The reader who reads without directed
concentration, who skims, or even just steps hurriedly across the surface, is missing much
of the real point of the work; he is gobbling his foie gras”(Birkerts, 2010). Many literacy
experts point to gaps in traditional reading development because of the World Wide Web.
“We may become familiar with much but understand little” (Sutherland-Smith, 2002).
The world is over digitized, there are too many choices for students to get lost in, the
Internet lacks creative prose, are some of the arguments that are mentioned. “Given my
experience reading, I’d beg to differ”(Gambrell, 2005). In most of these articles the
advantages far out-way the disadvantages of reading online.
My English students enjoy reading online during reading time. I’m not repeating myself
as much anymore. “Read, read, just read,” has calmed as the students are engaged in
interactive, fast, text that they are interested in today. They are reading more. “One early
study showed that giving home Internet access to low-income students appeared to
improve standardized reading test scores and school grades…Once they’re on the
Internet, they’re reading” (Rich, 2008). And students are reading information in many
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different genres, being exposed to text written by many authors. “Internet based
comprehension tasks broaden our understanding of these elements because they present
new purposes for reading, more critical thought processes during reading and new
examples of authentic responses after reading” (Coiro, 2003). Visual learners enjoy the
color, pictures, and video. Struggling readers enjoy the differentiated experience
scaffolding their understanding with visual support and without everyone knowing they
are reading text at a lower reading level. The more life like, authentic experience “also
allows a blurring of the relationship between reader and writer (Sutherland-Smith, 2002).
Students are a part of the text and are more apt to respond thoughtfully. Exactly what the
English reading objective in the British Columbia curriculum requires, make meaningful
connections, to improve and extend thinking. Reading online satisfies the objectives for
independent reading in my classroom.
“Can we do this all the time?” a student shouts from the back.
“No, we can’t.”
“Many literacy educators are currently watching the convergence of literacy and
technology and they are seeking answers (Schmar-Dobler, 2003). There needs to be a
balance of different forms of reading in a classroom to include online and print text
(Gambrell, 2005). All forms of literature are valuable. “The Internet does not represent an
alternative “better than books”; it signifies an option “different than books” (SutherlandSmith, 2002). As new forms of literacy emerge research needs to continue addressing the
issues of teaching and learning for survival in the 21st century.
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In my English class we are still using many different mediums to practice reading skills.
We, the students and I, have had many discussions about reading print and online text
and we still have questions that are unanswered. Are novel readers better readers? IF
balance is the answer, what is the optimal balance of reading print and the Internet? Will
the curriculum developers shift the focus from traditional objectives and forms of
assessment to 21st century ideas?
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Bibliography
Altun, A. (2000). Patterns in cognitive processes and strategies in hypertext reading: a
case study of two experienced computer users. Journal of Educational
Multimedia and Hypermedia. 9(1), 35-55.
Birkerts, S. (2010). Reading in a digital age: notes on why the novel and the Internet are
opposites, and why the latter both undermines the former and makes it more
necessary. American Scholar, 79(2), 32-44.
annotations1.doc
Coiro, J. (2003). Reading comprehension on the internet expanding our understanding of
reading comprehension to encompass new literacies. The Reading Teacher. (56)5,
458-464.
Gambrell, L. (2005). Reading literature, reading text, reading the Internet: the times they
are a’changing. The Reading Teacher. (58)6, 588-590.
Manchester, J. (2011). Let’s hear it for the book. The Daily Courier. A8.
Ministry of Education. (2007). English language arts 8 to 12: integrated resource package
2007. Ministry of Education, Province of British Columbia. 122.
Rich, M. (2008). Literacy debate: online, r u really reading? The New York Times.
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Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/books/27reading.html.
Schmar-Dobler, E. (2003). Reading on the internet; the link between literacy and
technology. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy. (47)1, 80-85.
Sutherland-Smith, Wendy. (2002). Weaving the literacy web: changes in reading from
page to screen. The Reading Teacher. (55)7, 662-669.
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