eBooks in your Classroom: PD Flipped

eBooks in the Classroom
Teaching Students to Really Read Online

What if I primarily use print texts in my classroom?

The most recent research suggests that print reading is a better deep reading experience for most people.  Still, our students will encounter the expectation that they read online texts more and more as society seeks ways to economize.  Many publications, including trade manuals, are offered exclusively online.  And many colleges require digital textbooks and other readings.  Below are some ways you can help students practice online reading alongside their print reading.

Keep in mind that many researchers now hypothesize that mindset is an import factor in effective digital reading. We need to check how we might inadvertently transfer our own mindset about print vs. online reading to our students.  Students who approach the task with apprehension will struggle to effectively engage in deep reading online.  You can help. 

Project

• model reading strategies by projecting a passage from an eBook (think overhead projector).
• walk through the process of annotating a passage with digital tools that mimic paper annotation.
• have your class analyze illustrations, maps, or other graphics found in e-texts.
• demonstrate and practice "how to read a graphic novel" with your whole class.
• ask students to share out their ideas with whole class while referencing the text on the screen.

Pair

• provide students with a e-text version of a print book to facilitate searching of the text for ideas and passages.
• allow students to read along to an audio version of the text to support fluency.

Supplement

• use online texts to front load information or enhance understanding of a book (pre-reading)
• have students use the built-in dictionary features when encountering new vocabulary
• have student collaboratively annotate a passage in an ebook (social reading) using online tools.

What if I primarily use web based digital readings? 

Reading web pages and reading longer texts that have been previously published in print are different skills.  Resources designed for the web are generally assist readers with the tasks of navigation and skimming.  Resources designed for print but only available to a student online may present challenges to students that make them likely to avoid those "long articles."

Most recently, researchers hypothesize that mindset is an import factor in effective digital reading. Students who approach the task with apprehension will struggle to effectively engage in deep reading online.  You can help. 

Talk to your students about what we know about reading.

• Share current research about the benefits of deep reading vs. reading for information.
• Discuss different types of reading (and annotation) and help them identify strategies for tackling the various purposes of reading and mediums of access: skimming for information, evaluating author credibility, deep analysis, navigating ideas, etc.
• Reading online is a modern skill. And while they may already be proficient at skimming online texts (because writers who develop for the web often force navigational flow), they must be prepared to examine online texts that may not have navigational aids, such as online users manuals and documents presented in PDF format.

Help your students minimize digital distractions.

• Encourage students to install a Chrome extension manager such as EXTENSITY, that will allow them to turn other extensions on and off easily.
• Require full screen mode when possible to diminish temptations to go off task.
• Allow students to take paper notes when the text does not have an online annotation option.
• Teach them that when reading texts with hyperlinks to "right-click > open in new tab" any hyperlinks they would like to explore. Require them to finish reading the entire text before viewing those new tabs and then encourage them to re-read the text after having learned more.

Model digital reading skills for your students.

• Use EBSCOhost to find articles cited in class readings to reinforce the purpose of a bibliography in providing additional information.
• Point out various formats available online (html or PDF) Discuss the advantages of print layout provided through PDF in comprehending articles (Both Gale and EBSCO provide students with access to both.)
• Encourage students to read a levelled text at two different levels (easier first). Ask students to compare levelled reading options. Can they identify differences in vocabulary, tone, supplemental information. Did reading the easier level first help them in understanding the higher level of text better. This is why "pre-reading" or front loading information in before doing deep research and reading is so important.

SHARE YOUR IDEAS!