1. Online Reading Comprehension Off line reading comprehension and online reading comprehension do not correlate: it takes different skill sets!

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. They must have reading skills to read search results and know which ones to choose from: – 1 st 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

6. Here’s a good activity to introduce these skills to your students…. Put yourself in their place for a moment.

7. 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.

8. 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 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