Deepening Comprehension Through Inquiry,

Collaboration, and Participation:

Challenges and Opportunities for Literacy Educators

Dr. Julie Coiro, University of Rhode Island Website | email: jcoiro@uri.edu | Publications

Teaching Literacy in a Digital World

Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU)

March 15, 2015

What are the challenges associated with online reading comprehension?

Challenge 1: New literacy skills required to locate, evaluate, synthesize, and communicate

Leu, Castek, Hartman, Coiro, Henry, Kulikowich, & Lyver (2005). Research on instruction and assessment of online reading comprehension. In Block, Parris, & Afflerbach, (Eds.), Comprehension Instruction: Research-based best practices, New York: Guilford Press.
Coiro (2011). Predicting reading comprehension on the Internet: Contributions of offline reading skills, online reading skills, and prior knowledge. Journal of Literacy Research.
Coiro & Dobler (2007). Exploring the online comprehension strategies used by sixth-grade skilled readers to search for and locate information on the Internet. Reading Research Quarterly.

Challenge 2: Students struggle with online inquiry and research, especially critically evaluating multiple sources

Pew Internet Study. (2012). How do teens do research in a digital world?
Miller & Bartlett. (2012). Digital Fluency: Toward young people's critical use of the Internet
Metzger & Flanigan. (2008). Digital media, youth, and credibility.
Walraven, Brand-Gruwel, & Boshuizen (2009). How students evaluate information and sources when searching the world wide web for information. Computers and Education.

Measuring Online Inquiry with The Online Research & Reading Comprehension (ORCA) Project

Leu, Kulikowich, Sedransk, and Coiro. (2012). The Online Reading Comprehension Project, including the companion website for professional development
- View a video of a 7th grade student taking the ORCA-Closed Assessment "Are Energy Drinks Heart Healthy?"
- Teaching Adolescents to Critically Evaluate Online Information (Supplemental Resources)

Challenge 3: Difficulty balancing mind, talk, and digital savviness

Mark Prensky's From Digital Natives to Digital Wisdom (Introduction in Hopeful Essays for 21st Century Education)
Brain Gain: Technology and the Quest for Digital Wisdom (Mark Prensky, 2012)
Julie Coiro & Michael Putman: Teaching Students to Self-Regulate During Online Inquiry (IRA Literacy e-ssentials, 2014; free for IRA members)
Coiro, J., Castek, J., Sekeres, D. & Guzniczak, L. (2014). Comparing third, fourth, and fifth grader's collaborative interactions while engaged in online inquiry. Journal of Education, 194(2), 1-16.
BUJOE.Vol194.2.Coiro,Sekeres,Castek,Guzniczak.pdf
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Challenge 4: Difficulty meeting demands of a Participatory Culture

New skills for play/problem-solving and simulation; collective intelligence; working across multiple texts and modalities; ethical use and responsibilities; social skills for increasingly public role as media makers and community participants (Jenkins, 2008)

Challenge 5: Adjusting to new teaching roles and supporting online reading dispositions as part of instruction

Coiro, J. (2009). Promising practices for supporting adolescents’ online literacy development. In K.D. Wood and W.E. Blanton (Eds.). Literacy instruction for adolescents: Research-based practice (pp. 442-471). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Coiro 2009 Promising Practices.pdf
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Paying attention to online reading dispositions: Coiro, J. (2012, April). Digital Literacies: Understanding dispositions toward reading on the Internet. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 55(7), 645-648.
Coiro 2012 JAAL Dispositions.pdf
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What are some of the opportunities the Internet offers to address these challenges?

Modeled Inquiry: Wondering and Mattering
- Authentic Inquiry Tasks (Alberta Model of Inquiry Based Learning, 2004)
  Alberta Teachers Inquiry Workbook.pdf
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  - 4 MB
- Internet Inquiry Baskets (Grades K-3)
- Wondering Notebooks and Inquiry Baskets (partner with Grades 3-5)
Structured Inquiry in Elementary School: Opportunities for Collaboration and Dialogue
- Structured Inquiry Prompts (Grades 3-5) - EcoFriendly Toys
  - Emerging Patterns of Productive Collaborative Talk and Implications for Classroom Teachers (Coiro, Sekeres, Castek, & Guzniczak, 2013 IRA Presentation)
  - Coiro, J. Castek, J., Guznickzak, L., & Bradshaw, C. (2012). Examining peer collaboration in online inquiry. The Educational Forum, 76(4), 479-496.
    EdForumArticle2012.pdf
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- Collaborative Projects Uniting Students with Scientists: Animal Adaptations VoiceThread
- Ask-An-Expert Voicethread and a second VoiceThread
Structured Inquiry in Middle School: Facilitating Deeper Thinking and Dialogue
- Coiro, J. (April, 2015). Teaching adolescents to evaluate the quality of online information. Edutopia: Education Trends.
Guided Inquiry with Secondary Students: A Digital Scaffolding Tool for Argumentation
- Coiro, J. & Kiili, C. (2014-2016). Elva Knight Research Award. Beta Version, Digital Scaffolding Tool.
  - Pilot Study: Coiro, J., Kiili, C., Hamalainen, J., Cedillo, L., Naylor, R., O'Connell, R., & Quinn, D. (2014). Digital Scaffolds for Reading Multiple Online Sources and Writing Argumentative Texts.
Personal Voice, Participation, and Mattering Across the Grade Levels
- Digital products for sharing at each grade level
- Teachers share their voice too with lesson plans on Read, Write, Think (Changing the World With Public Service Announcements)
- Google Science Fair
Ready to Learn More
- Learn more about our new 12-credit Graduate Certificate in Digital Literacy at the University of Rhode Island (includes 2 face-to-face Summer Institutes and two online courses)

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