Reading on the Screen

You have to teach students the skills required to read online. They are different than those required to read in print. However, the ultimate goal should be finding the type and style of reading that kids enjoy most and then fostering it to ensure a love of reading continues and expands into adulthood.

With testing online, students need to master the art of online reading to fully understand the text. No ads or other on screen distractions should be incorporated into the reading selection. Utilizing text features also help the students focus on the selection.

For the higher level students, being able to navigate sites quickly and effectively will save time and narrow down your text/article to gather information.

That is a great point you brought up about the fact that state testing is done online, even though the majority of people prefer to read print on paper. It is imperative that students learn how to effectively read digital text so that their scores are an accurate representation of their abilities. 

We need to spend time teaching students how to read online. We need to teach all teachers the differences between reading online and on paper so they can help their students be better prepared.

We need to be more intential about teaching kids to read, especially online.  There are skills they need to develop and we need to teach those skills to the teachers better so that we can do better overall.  

I agree that we need to be intentional about teaching the skills of online reading. It is not the same, which is why so many people prefer one over the other! I don't think that teachers know how many students struggle with online reading skills. Just because children have grown up in front of a screen doesn't mean they have the necessary skills to succeed without the help of teachers. 

Digital reading skills must be taught and should be taught at an early age to ensure that tech-comfy students are effective digital readers. 

We have to teach children on how to read online.  With using the Highlights, it's a good resource for teaching them and has activities to enhance their reading.

I think it is important to remember that there are certain skills that need to be taught when reading on the screen. Technology has advanced and is amamzing, but if we don't teach students how to take full advantage of the features that are available for them to make the most out of their reading. Whether it's bimodal text, highlighted text, text read aloud, translated text, etc. It is important that they learn how to use these features so they are successful with reading online. 

I think this is the same takeaway that I was reminded of the most while doing this PD class. I also need to do a better job at helping our classroom teachers become familiar with and utilize the digital text features. 

That I learned of another resource to utilize when particular physical books are not accessible, to continue learning on child-interest topics, and to use the interactive read-aloud option to follow along as the Preschool children emerge in the beginning stages of reading and familiar letter-sound correspondances. 

The most important thing I learned from this class is that simply being a strong reader in print doesn't automatically translate to online reading.  It really surprised me how many challenges students face when reading on screens.

This is important to me because it totally changes how I approach teaching reading in today's digital world.  I used to think if students could read well in a book, they'd be okay online.  Now, I understand I need to equip them with specific strategies to navigate digital text effectively.  Being critical consumers of information online is such a crucial skill, and I want my students to be prepared!

One of the things that most surprised me was that students who may not be excellent paper print readers can learn to become effective digital print readers. Many of the students I work with are ELL students and struggle with print reading. For informational reading, many of our students DO prefer to read digitally because of the digital text features available. One thing that I can do better, however, is to be more intentional about introducing and exploring those digital text strategies so that they become more familiar with them and use them to their full extent. Another area that I need to continue to improve upon is helping our teachers understand the digital text features available.

This was a very useful class. I think what I learned most was that we need to very purposefully teach young students the tools to help them be better readers of digital text. Many online apps have read-aloud options. Do students know how to access that option? Do students know how to access highlighters or annotate features? I know that digital natives know how to use technology for entertainment, but they don't know how to use technology to learn. I have to be very purposeful in teaching students how to use technology for learning. That also includes perseverance and a plan to increase their attention span. It is important to me because that is something that students could struggle with for a long time.