What Are Preadolescent Readers Doing Online? An Examination of Upper Elementary Students' Reading, Writing, and Communication in Digital Spaces

The online reading, writing, and communication practices of students have been of significant interest to literacy researchers and teachers throughout the last several years, as insights into what students are currently doing in and outside of school can inform what they can be expected to know and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Reading research quarterly Vol. 51; no. 4; pp. 435 - 454
Main Authors: Hutchison, Amy C., Woodward, Lindsay, Colwell, Jamie
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Newark Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.10.2016
Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
Wiley-Blackwell
Subjects:
Academic achievement
Adolescents
and materials
Classroom communication
Communication
Comparative Analysis
Digital/media literacies
Early adolescence
Electronic Publishing
Elementary School Students
etc.
Gender Differences
Grade 4
Grade 5
Information and communication technologies
Instructional technology
Internet
Literacy
Literacy Education
methods
Multimedia Materials
music
New literacies
Older children
Online Searching
Perceptions
Preadolescents
Reading
Reading Instruction
Reading research
Research methodology
Scholarship
Schools
Scores
Skill Development
Skills
Social media
Specific media (hypertext
Specific media (hypertext, Internet, film, music, etc.)
Strategies
Strategies, methods, and materials
Student Attitudes
Student Surveys
Students
Survey
Teachers
Technology
Womens education
Writing
ISSN:0034-0553, 1936-2722
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:The online reading, writing, and communication practices of students have been of significant interest to literacy researchers and teachers throughout the last several years, as insights into what students are currently doing in and outside of school can inform what they can be expected to know and be able to do in digital environments. Yet, little is known about the online activities, perceptions, preferences, and skills of preadolescent students. The present study reports the performance of 1,262 fourth and fifth graders on the Survey of Internet Use and Online Reading. Results were analyzed to determine whether there are gender differences in preadolescent students' Internet activities, perceptions, preferences, and skills. Findings from descriptive and comparative analyses of students' responses indicate that (a) préadolescent students in this study are moderately skilled at online search, evaluation, and communication tasks, with females scoring significantly higher on digital tasks than males; (b) preadolescent students engage in many digital tasks more frequently in school than outside of school; (c) despite reporting a preference for using the Internet, préadolescent students believe that it is more difficult to use it than to read a book, and believe that they would learn more from a book than from the Internet; and (d) there is a significant gender difference in students' skills and confidence related to digital tasks, and students' perceptions of their own skills may not align with their achievement on digital skills-based tasks.
Bibliography:ark:/67375/WNG-H2Q2C32P-X
istex:13FE49E7D8EE89AE040ACDEFF63B8AEBC9B48FD6
Appendix: Survey Items Assessing Students' Digital Skills
ArticleID:RRQ146
ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 14
ISSN:0034-0553
1936-2722
DOI:10.1002/rrq.146