Print Reading: A Gold Standard?

Chapter 3 looks at how much reading adolescents and young adults are now doing. Their amount of leisure reading is startlingly low. The picture is equally worrisome for completing school reading assignments. After reviewing previous studies of college reading compliance, the chapter presents a study conducted by the author and a Norwegian colleague exploring faculty perspectives on student reading: how much faculty are assigning, how much reading they believe students are doing, and perceived effects of digital technology on both. It’s common to assume print as a “gold standard” against which to measure digital reading. But in reality, most readers most of the time don’t measure up when using print. The chapter concludes by considering a range of traditional strategies for reading print in learning contexts and asks which strategies might apply to digital or audio reading, and which are actually effective for print.

DEVELOPING READING COMPETENCIES OF COLLEGE STUDENTS USING BLENDED INSTRUCTION

Developing 21st century reading competencies is one of the primary concerns of higher education institutions (HEIs). Initiatives have been undertaken to prepare the learners to function effectively in this technology-driven society. Hence, academic institutions integrate technology and the Internet in the teaching-learning processes. This study intends to determine the effectiveness of an instructional material on developing reading competencies using blended instruction. Dziuban, Hartman and Moskal, (2004) define blended instruction as a pedagogical approach that integrate the effectiveness and socialization opportunities of the classroom with the technologically enhanced active learning possibilities of the online environment. Six lessons were implemented in the English 107 – College Reading Skills classes. The learners were provided with hypertext reading activities, individual and collaborative tasks, online discussions, online surveys and other extension activities which provided them with the opportunity to communicate their ideas on the topics discussed in class. To determine the effectiveness of the lessons, a one-group pretest and post-test design was used. The pre-test and post-test scores were compared using the paired t-test. Findings reveal that the students performed better after the implementation of the lessons in developing reading competencies using blended instruction. Moreover, majority of the students said that the lessons are interesting, meaningful, useful and enjoyable. It can be concluded that blended instruction effectively develops the students’ reading competencies.

Word Identification and Adolescent Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Readers

Many deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) high school students graduate with reading abilities that leave them poorly prepared for postsecondary settings. In college, reading ability is an important predictor of graduation rates and level of degree attained, and the postsecondary degree a DHH student completes will affect his or her future earnings, upward mobility, and job satisfaction. Considering how important reading is to a DHH student’s future, this chapter will review the evidence base surrounding the foundational building block of reading, decoding. Researchers suggest that decoding instruction for adolescents should occur not only during language arts classes but also in the content areas (i.e., math, science, and social studies). This chapter reviews successful decoding strategies and suggests decoding strategies that teachers can use to support adolescents in various content-area disciplines. The authors discuss how teachers and parents can make strategic decisions when implementing decoding interventions that have no available evidence base.