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Readability applications are the software products designed to make online text more readable. Using information foraging theory as a framework, the purpose of this paper is to study the extent, if at all, using a readability application improves skimming comprehension in a low-clutter online environment. It also seeks to identify the perceived benefits or effects of using a readability application for skimming comprehension.

Ten participants skimmed two articles each, one in a low-clutter online document presentation environment, the other using an online readability application, as a timed, information foraging exercise. After reading each article, respondents answered true/false comprehension questions and follow up questions.

There was little difference in the comprehension of respondents after skimming in the two online documentation presentation environments. The readability environment was the preferred environment.

This study suggests that since participants claimed to prefer the text presentation of the readability application interface, interface designers may wish to create library interfaces for information seeking that follow the readability application format. Because some of the participants found themselves reading rather than skimming when using the readability application, readability for tasks other than skimming may be enhanced.

This is a practical study investigating an existing online readability application and its effects on an existing online reading environment as they pertain to information seeking behavior in general and to information foraging in particular.

This paper aims to observe, measure and record comparative cognitive processes in print and online to explain the differences, if any, in the readers’ information-gathering processes and their subsequent comprehension and retention of information. It also examined the strategies that readers adopt that differ from print when reading online. Standardized reading comprehension scores were also collected. The results indicated that the participants demonstrated functional equivalency in both media, but they had a preference for print. The linear individualistic mentality learned through print gave the study group participants the skills to successfully navigate through the dense web of information that constitutes the Internet. Story presentation and hierarchy, key elements of the print design process, are less evident or absent online. As a consequence, as previous research has demonstrated, online readers are more poorly informed than print readers – but not in this case. The research from this study demonstrates that when the authors of the print media are those who also control the integrity of online content, print and Web readers are equally well-informed.

Coded texts from The Guardian Newspaper, The Economist and The New Yorker were used in a media lab to measure the study group’s ability to read and retrieve information from the publications’ print and Web editions. They were scored on how well they retrieved the core information in the articles from both media. Focus-group sessions probed for information about reading in print and online at the end of the reading sessions. This gave valuable insight into the coping strategies that the participants used when engaging with online texts. There were two sessions, each of three hours, and the participants were university students.

The study results show that the group participants were functionally equivalent in both print and online reading. However, they had a profound distrust for online content in general, which they found to be inaccurate and unstable. Web sites, they conclude, never achieve “fixity”. When reading online, the study group scrolls through the text to retrieve facts and then goes to a print source to verify the accuracy of the content. They do not engage with the content online as they do with print. While acknowledging that the publications in the study were reputable and of a high quality, the group still found scrolling through the Web sites tedious. The printed page was to the study group, a cultural object.

This was a small study with 11 participants in a controlled environment on two evenings, each lasting three hours. While the readings were intense, the researchers saw no evidence of fatigue. The group were very vocal during the focus-group sessions and gave valuable insights into the reading process. The stories were exactly the same in both media, were well-written and edited. Typographic cues that give the reader priorities when engaging with the texts were transferred from the print to the online editions. HTML texts to this group are an impediment to the reading process, and the amount of texts require too much time to read. A larger study with a more diverse readership reading more general news is required to verify the findings. This is being planned. As one from the study group stated “I grew up with print but younger people do not have the benefits of print”.

Typography provides a language with visual form and through that form, conveys the meaning of a text. The print reader decodes what she reads on the printed page, allowing her to quickly absorb and parse large amount of text, discarding redundant content. The question now becomes which print-reading operations are being transferred to the process of extracting relevant facts. Five centuries of continuous improvement of print communications have yet to be successfully transferred to the Internet. The visual aspects of print, the color advertisement, the photograph and elements that aided the print reader’s navigation are an intrusion on the Web. A new form of navigation, one that is more elegant and intuitive than the present, is required.

The social implications of reading are a fundamental characteristic of any society. The codex provided the model for the book, the newspaper and the magazine. These became and still are trusted sources of information. When the study group gets a Twitter or Facebook prompt on a breaking news story, they check a trusted broadcasting source for confirmation of its accuracy. If the findings of this study are confirmed in subsequent research studies on the process of reading online, it will have profound implications for the industry. Publishing to be successful requires the reader to engage with and respond to a message. There is strong evidence that this is not the case with what the advertising industry would consider an important core audience, the Internet “reader”.

As a newspaper and magazine designer and teacher, the author been increasingly concerned with the transfer of information from the printed page to the computer screen. Many studies have been conducted on aspects of reading and designing for online reading. They are very often inaccurate and as such inconclusive. Reading is complex and measuring it difficult. The author conducted this study as both a designer and from an academic perspective. It is hoped that it encourages a robust debate.

Purpose – To examine whether or not exposing novice teachers in a graduate literacy education diversity course to particular texts and activities focused on economic diversity and lifestyle differences among students makes them more likely to positively respond to these lesser understood forms of diversity in their own teaching and if so, in what ways.

Design – The research design was qualitative and included written reflections from the teacher-participants at the beginning, middle and end of the semester, and videotaping and transcribing activities and post-activity discussions. Ethnographic observations and notes were made by the primary investigator (PI). The theoretical frameworks that were foundational to the study were critical literacy and teaching for social justice.

Findings – The findings of this qualitative study indicate that exposing teachers to texts, discussions, and activities that educate them on economic diversity and lifestyle differences among students makes them more likely to positively respond to these forms of diversity in their own teaching. Specific examples of how participants did this are provided.

Practical Implications – This study contributes to the literature on diversity in literacy instruction by providing concrete, research-based suggestions for how both teacher educators and K-12 teachers can expand their definitions of student diversity to include economic disparities and lifestyle differences among students. It includes recommended texts and activities for both teacher educators and K-12 teachers to address less typical forms of diversity, with a focus on economic diversity and lifestyle differences.

Developing attention-aware systems and interfaces based on eye tracking technology could revolutionize mainstream human–computer interaction to make the interaction between human beings and computers more intuitive, effective and immersive than can be achieved traditionally using a computer mouse. This paper aims to propose an eye-controlled interactive reading system (ECIRS) that uses human eyes instead of the traditional mouse to control digital text to support screen-based digital reading.

This study uses a quasi-experimental design to examine the effects of an experimental group and a control group of learners who, respectively, used the ECIRS and a mouse-controlled interactive reading system (MCIRS) to conduct their reading of two types of English-language text online – pure text and Q&A-type articles on reading comprehension, cognitive load, technology acceptance, and reading behavioural characteristics. Additionally, the effects of learners with field-independent (FI) and field-dependence (FD) cognitive styles who, respectively, used the ECIRS and MCIRS to conduct their reading of two types of English-language text online – pure text and Q&A-type articles on reading comprehension are also examined.

Analytical results reveal that the reading comprehension of learners in the experimental group significantly exceeded those in the control group for the Q&A article, but the difference was insignificant for the pure text article. Moreover, the ECIRS improved the reading comprehension of field-independent learners more than it did that of field-dependent learners. Moreover, neither the cognitive loads of the two groups nor their acceptance of the technology differed significantly, whereas the reading time of the experimental group significantly exceeded that of the control group. Interestingly, for all articles, the control group of learners read mostly from top to bottom without repetition, whereas most of the learners in the experimental group read most paragraphs more than once. Clearly, the proposed ECIRS supports deeper digital reading than does the MCIRS.

This study proposes an emerging ECIRS that can automatically provide supplementary information to a reader and control a reading text based on a reader’s eye movement to replace the widely used mouse-controlled reading system on a computer screen to effectively support digital reading for English language learning. The implications of this study are that the highly interactive reading patterns of digital text with ECIRS support increase motivation and willingness to learn while giving learners a more intuitive and natural reading experience as well as reading an article online with ECIRS support guides learners’ attention in deeper digital reading than does the MCIRS because of simultaneously integrating perceptual and cognitive processes of selection, awareness and control based on human eye movement.

Purpose – To provide an overview of the development of an integrated classroom curriculum linking literacy, literature, science, and digital technologies designed to develop online literacies with struggling readers from disadvantaged communities.Design/methodology/approach – The chapter opens with a consideration of the theoretical perspectives underpinning the study presented in the chapter. Following this, the methodological and contextual frameworks underpinning the study design are described. Finally, findings from the study are discussed.Findings – The chapter discusses key findings and lessons learned related to the design of an integrated curriculum linking literacy, the content areas, and technology; the development of high levels of online reading comprehension skills with struggling readers; and the crucial role of peer-to-peer collaboration to develop the affective, cognitive, and social aspects of learning online.Research limitations/implications – Findings from the small-scale study indicate the potential of the Internet and other digital technologies to actively engage, motivate, and challenge struggling readers to develop high levels of literacy skills in challenging inquiry-based activities.Practical implications – The chapter provides teachers with practical examples of classroom pedagogies to develop the skills, strategies, and dispositions necessary to successfully exploit the potential of the Internet and other digital technologies as sites for deep learning.Originality/value of chapter – Teachers are struggling to successfully integrate digital technologies into the classroom curriculum. The chapter provides an insight into the development of an integrated curriculum and the learning environments necessary to develop online skills and strategies in authentic classroom environments.

This study holistically and systematically consolidates the available research on digital reading to reveal the research trends of the past 20 years. Moreover, it explores the thematic evolution, hotspots and developmental characteristics of digital reading. This study, therefore, has the potential to serve as a research guide to researchers and educators in relevant fields.

The authors applied a bibliometric approach using Derwent Data Analyzer and VOSviewer to retrieve 2,456 publications for 2003–2022 from the Web of Science (WoS) database.

The results revealed that most studies' participants were university students and the experimental methods and questionnaires were preferred in digital reading researches. Among the influential countries or regions, institutions, journals and authors, the United States of America, University of London, Electronic Library and Chen, respectively, accounted for the greatest number of publications. Moreover, the authors identified the developmental characteristics and research trends in the field of digital reading by analyzing the evolution of keywords from 2003–2017 to 2018–2022 and the most frequently cited papers by year. “E-books,” “reading comprehension” and “literacy” were the primary research topics. In addition, “attention,” “motivation,” “cognitive load,” “dyslexia,” “engagement,” “eye-tracking,” “eye movement,” “systematic analysis,” “meta-analysis,” “smartphone” and “mobile reading/learning” were potential new research hotspots.

This study provides valuable insights into the current status, research direction, thematic evolution and developmental characteristics in the field of digital reading. Therefore, it has implications for publishers, researchers, librarians, educators and teachers in the digital reading field.

This chapter presents findings from a qualitative study focused on the strategies that two marginalized seventh graders used as they completed an Internet inquiry project about survival.

The participants spent time over a four-week period in three phases – selecting a topic, locating information, and presenting information. Participants completed journals and participated in interviews. The participants’ online searches and how they organized their presentations were recorded. The researcher took field notes. These four data sources were used to determine subcategories in each phase to document the strategies they employed as they completed the project.

Participants used phrases and questions as they decided on key words to locate information. The majority of the sites they visited ended in the .com domain. They used different web browsers and spent varied amounts of time reading websites once they decided on key words and selected sites. Each participant approached the project uniquely and met the requirements to complete it.

This study suggests that students in self-contained resource classes engage with online content in sophisticated ways but that they still need support from teachers to optimize their learning.

Studies like this add to a body of research offering thick descriptions of teachers and students work together. In addition, this chapter derives value from the fact that it was conducted by a classroom teacher and therefore offers a unique perspective on the classroom as a learning environment as well as a site of inquiry.

Purpose – This chapter explores how teachers and learners can use technology in powerful and agentive ways for literacy development. It presents information about communication technologies (ICTs) that can be used to develop student literacy skills in each of the major areas of literacy learning: emergent to beginning literacy, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and writing. It also addresses how assistive technologies fit within a literacy development program.

Design/methodology/approach – A brief overview of the breadth of technologies available for instructional uses and the pedagogical perspective used is followed with specific ideas for free or inexpensive technologies that can be used to address literacy development. Additionally, websites for professional reviews of software are included to help readers learn about emerging technologies and software applications as they become available.

Practical implications – Specific ideas for instruction that addresses student literacy development while integrating 21st-century technology are included. Teachers and teacher educators will find immediately useful, practical ideas for boosting literacy learning with technologies matched to specific literacy needs such as sight words, fluency, and comprehension.

Social implications – Struggling readers and writers deserve and need experiences that help them acquire technology skills. Too often these students are excluded from technology activities because they are participating in intervention instruction or do not finish seatwork and have no available “free” or “choice” time. Technology can be a powerfully motivating tool for literacy instruction. It can also provide engaging practice, targeted specifically at the learning needs and developmental stage of the literacy learner. Most importantly, struggling readers and writers need exposure to the academic possibilities of technology.

This paper aims to assess the usability of electronic books (e‐books) and paper books (p‐books) with objective measures, including user comprehension, eye fatigue, and perception.

A total of 56 sixth‐year public school students participated in this study. This paper was conducted in the following order: pre‐CFF measurement, p‐/e‐book reading, post‐CFF measurement, quiz, and questionnaire. A standard CFF device, a computer with a monitor for reading e‐books, p‐books, desks, and chairs were provided.

This paper found that there is a significant “book effect” on quiz scores; compared to e‐books, p‐books appear to enable better reading comprehension. Regarding eye fatigue, students had significantly greater eye fatigue after reading e‐books than after reading p‐books. Students were satisfied with the e‐book, but they preferred p‐books.

Students would show satisfaction with e‐books and acknowledge their usefulness, but still prefer p‐books. However, a clearer understanding of this paradox in perception is needed. Further studies should try to explore the students' perceptions of e‐books.

Surprisingly, though, Korean students studied herein, who have had a higher level of exposure to technology than those in other countries, did not show positive behavioral intentions toward e‐books. Overall, the responses from the Korean students suggest that there was general satisfaction with reading e‐books on screen. However, this study also found a discordance in the students' perceptions of e‐books. In this study, most students grew tired of reading on the screen; this tiredness could have an adverse effect on both reading comprehension and the perception of e‐books. In further analyzing user responses, many of the critical remarks were found to refer to the screen/text size or clarity rather than to the e‐book itself.

Although this study suggests that students in general are not yet ready to entirely give up p‐books, e‐books are becoming increasingly common. However, great challenges remain in terms of making e‐book content more available and in enabling improved comprehension and reducing eye fatigue.

Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to explore an application of the gradual release of responsibility (GRR) to the reading comprehension of students in kindergarten to grade five.

Findings – In this chapter, the author provides a brief review of think-alouds as a way for proficient readers to model the comprehension strategies that they apply to a text. The author introduces a three-step process in which students gradually take ownership for such strategies through think-alouds, think-alongs, and think alones. The author demonstrates that when students in kindergarten through grade five have strong models of comprehension through think-alouds, they are able to apply these strategies to their own independent reading. Though a case study of one English language arts teacher, the author shows how the teacher released responsibility to students through think-alouds.

Research limitations/implications – The examples within this chapter are from a second-grade classroom in an urban charter school.

Practical implications – This three-step process is applicable to all content areas as well as text genre and reading levels. This approach is a valuable model for teachers to understand how to gradually release comprehension strategies to students across grade levels.

Originality/value of paper – This chapter provides research-based examples of using the GRR model to build students’ ability to inference. Additionally, the chapter provides “I” language and sentence starters to help students internalize comprehension strategies and apply them to independent reading.