Using National Data to Explore Online and Offline Reading Comprehension Processes

Abstract

Despite the common and growing use of and instruction on digital reading in schools, the ways in which reading comprehension may operate differently in paper and online environments are still underexplored. Using publicly available national datasets, we explore similarities and differences in how varied comprehension processes relate to each other in these spaces. Analyses using a Bayesian unidimensional graded response model found that paper-based reading performance involved hierarchical comprehension processes consistent with traditional theories of reading comprehension while digital hypermedia reading did not involve these same processes. This research provides usable knowledge for supporting researchers, and teachers in uncovering the unique educational benefits and challenges of online reading. Research on Digital Technologies in SchoolsEven prior to the 2020-2021 pandemic, elementary classrooms commonly used digital technology as a core feature of their reading instruction. A 2019 survey found that 45% of elementary teachers used digital learning tools, including websites, apps, and online programs, to teach on a daily

What a multi‐institutional collective case study of social annotation data reveals about graduate students' metacognitive reading practices

“…Latini and Bråten (2021) indicated that there was no difference in reading comprehension and strategic text processing across formats, whereas Goodwin et al (2020) posited that differences are due to format, text and context. We believe extant research reveals that digital versus paper-based reading practices do differ (Neugebauer et al, 2022), but research on digital reading has largely focused on non-linear online texts, while participants in this study were reading linear text. Thus, the main challenge appears to be distilling the use of metacognition and thinking about and beyond text while reading in any medium (Wylie et al, 2018).…”

“…As students read and respond to text, annotations make students' thinking visible (Parsons, 2018). This approach to assigned reading can increase engagement in a course (Lazzara & Clinton‐Lisell, 2022) as well as help instructors gauge students' understanding of assigned text (Neugebauer et al, 2022). From a constructivist perspective (Dewey, 1916), social annotation supports students in co‐creating knowledge during reading and facilitates complex understanding and perspective taking (LaRusso et al, 2016).…”