Click and Read More than meets the eye

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Click and Read? -- More than meets the eye!
Thomas Robb Kyoto Sangyo University
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Outline

• Types of Reading
• Differences between the Media
• Paper vs the Screen
• Book vs. Computer
• Differences in Content
• Course Management Considerations
• Cognitive Processing
• An experiment with online reading
• Approach to Reading Memo-making
• Teacher Review Evaluation of Student Reading
• Student Responses to Questionnaire
• What CAN we do with the Internet?
• Thinking about the Future

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What do we mean by Teaching Reading?
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Types of Reading Classes
Reading Textbook
Intensive
Whole Class
Class Reader
Skills-based
Copied Materials
Individualized
Graded Reader
Extensive
Authentic Materials
The Internet
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Types of Reading Classes
Reading Textbook
Intensive
Whole Class
Class Reader
Skills-based
Copied Materials
Individualized
Graded Reader
Extensive
Authentic Materials
The Internet
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Types of Reading Classes
Reading Textbook
Intensive
Whole Class
Class Reader
Skills-based
Copied Materials
Individualized
Graded Reader
Extensive
Authentic Materials
The Internet
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Types of Reading Classes
Reading Textbook
Intensive
Whole Class
Class Reader
Skills-based
Copied Materials
Individualized
Graded Reader
Extensive
Authentic Materials
The Internet
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http//www.kyoto-su.ac.jp/information/er
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How is paper reading different from screen
reading?
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Paper vs. Screen

• Note-taking
• Cant write interlinear comments
• Review
• Difficult to review
• Eyestrain
• Many cannot tolerate prolonged reading

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Book vs. Computer

• Usability
• Have you ever met someone who couldnt use a
  book?
• Accessibility
• Not everyone has a computer
• They are not always available for use
• Mobility
• Computers are normally in a fixed location, books
  can be used anywhere
• Posture Environment
• Can you use a computer while you lie on the beach?

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Differences in Content

• Quality
• Texts are professionally edited, but sites are
  often not
• Sites by NNS and NS teenagers often poor models
• Suitability
• No control of difficulty level, intended audience
• Length
• Texts units are bite-sized, sites vary in
  length
• Genre
• Short essays, stories sites mostly factual in
  nature
• Reading mode
• Usually read linearly, from beginning to end
  sites often skimmed, read as hypertext or aborted
  halfway.

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Course Management

• Textbooks have a fixed amount of material,
  normally right for length of course
• Student can see how much material there is to
  read and how much has been studied
• Teacher knows what has been read and can assess
  accordingly

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Cognitive Processing

• Do people understand what they read as well when
  reading from a screen?
• Do people evaluate the information similarly when
  read from a screen?
• Are paper reading strategies automatically
  transferred to reading from the screen?

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• "We think readers develop strategies about how to
  remember and comprehend printed texts, but these
  students were unable to transfer those strategies
  to computerized text," says Karen Murphy,
  assistant professor of educational psychology.
• Source Staff Wire reports, "Reading A Screen
  Reduces Comprehension," Health, Education
  Science, USA Today, September 6, 2000.

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We know that textbooks work computers may
not be a viable substitute for the class reader
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Experiment in Online Extensive Reading
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Experiment in Online Extensive Reading

• Object
• to have students read material of their own
  choice
• not to waste time searching
• to provide a mechanism for the students track
  their reading
• a) for review the material if desired and,
• b) for proof of what they had read.

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• Paper vs. Screen
• Note-taking --gtMemo function
• x Interlinear comments
• Review--gtCan review memos
• Eyestrain --gt Can print out readings if desired
• Book vs. Computer
• Accessibility --gt Can do outside of class or at
  home or on paper
• x Mobility
• x Usability

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• Differences in Content
• Quality --gt list of recommended sites
• Suitability -- No control for level, audience
  --gtlist
• Length -- Sites vary in length --gt ones of
  suitable length chosen for inclusion
• x Genre -- sites mostly factual in nature
• x Reading mode sites often skimmed, read as
  hypertext
• Course Management
• Textbooks have a fixed amount of material
  --gtpoints
• Student can see how much material there is
  --gtpoints
• Teacher knows what has been read and can assess
  accordingly --gtmemos points

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Student Comments - 1

• I think online reading is good way, but it is
  hard to look for interesting article. So, in main
  page, link many interesting homepages please,
  because I was disappointed and gave up when I
  could not find an article.
• I don't have computer at my house so it's not
  convenient to do this on computer. If we do it on
  paper, we can read materials wherever we want,
  on the bus or train, or in the bed before going
  to sleep. I think paper is better.

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Student Comments - 2

• I don't like On line reading. The eyes become
  very tired with facing to the screen. But On
  line reading is very convenient since I can read
  where there is a computer. I can read at the own
  pace.
• I think the system we're now doing is OK, but I
  don't have computer in my house, and it's hard
  for me to find time to use a computer at school.
  These are negative points of this system. People
  who has computer at home and be able to connect
  to the internet has advantage over people who
  don't have, like me.

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Student Comments - 3

• The bad points about to read on the computer is
  first, the computer room is noisy. It influenced
  to my concentration. Second, the available
  computer room is limited. And the time is
  limited. I have many classes and belong to club.
  It starts on 430. So, I can't go to the room.
  Third, the text is in the computer so I can't
  study it unless I stay in the computer room. It
  is hard for me to review.
• I dont like using a computer, so I am always
  irritated. But I try to do it because I think
  this way of learning is useful for me.

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Some students like online reading but it
probably isnt suitable for an entire class
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Individualized study is good for the student
but more work for the teacher
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Some suggestions for what CAN be done with the
Internet
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Dont bring your students to the Internet Bring
the Internet to your students
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Bringing the Internet to your students

• Find articles relevant to the topics you are
  currently studying.
• Simplify the language and prepare activities
  around it.

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Bringing the Internet to your students

• Searching for useful material
• Moving the material to your word processor
• Adapting the material
• Adjusting the language level
• Creating an activity with it

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Searching for Useful Material

• Lists of links
• Lists for ESL/EFL learners
• Lists for native-speaker children
• General lists
• See http//www.kyoto-su.ac.jp/trobb/read/main.ht
  ml
• http//www.kyoto-su.ac.jp/trobb/content.h
  tml
• Search engines
• www.google.com -- the current king

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Moving the material to your word processor

• Using the file/save as text menu item
• Copying pasting (easier with Explorer)
• Grabbing graphics
• Slide to the desktop
• Copy paste
• Taking a screen shot
• Printing out use real scissors paste

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Adapting the material

• Adjusting the language level
• Replacing lexical items with easier ones
• Simplifying the grammar
• Shortening the passage
• Eliminating difficult or irrelevant sections

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Creating an activity with it

• Types of activities
• Traditional comprehension questions
• Find where it talks about
• Cloze exercise
• Scrambled paragraphs
• See http//www.kyoto-su.ac.jp/trobb/activtypes.h
  tml

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Another approach - preset lesson plans

• Springboard Site (Oxford Univ. Press)
• Site contains lesson plans to go along over 100
  sites, divided into 24 common topics such as
  traveling, dating, food, etc.
• See http//www1.oup.com/elt/springboard

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Thinking about the future
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Thinking about the future

• Our students will have to read online for
• Business correspondence
• Information related to their work
• Our students will need to know how to
• Search for relevant information
• Decide what information is useful

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