Abstract:

Using the Internet and its associated digital tools requires additional skills and strategies by both young and adult learners for successful online reading comprehension (Coiro, 2012). Neglecting or ignoring the difficulties inherent to digital-based reading will only accentuate the performance gap between students with learning difficulties and other learners (Leu et al., 2011). Although research has paid much attention to understanding the strategies used by readers in the more traditional context of print literacy, few studies have focused on online reading and the strategies required in the context of digital literacy (Kingsley & Tancock, 2014; Leu, 2013). There is thus a great need for teachers to integrate and formalize digital technology into literacy instruction and develop teaching strategies for what is becoming the predominant mode of reading and searching information among young people in the 21st century. The ability to process written information in digital literacy environments is therefore a key issue to ensure the autonomy of future workers and their ability to continue learning throughout their lives. Among the educational institutions frequented by adolescents and adults with medium or low levels of literacy, the secondary vocational training (VT) centres in Quebec (Canada) welcome a diverse student population. These VT programs and resulting jobs are characterized by increasingly complex digital-based reading. As part of an action research study, we assessed the online reading comprehension of 10 young adults enrolled in a computer support training program using an adapted version of the ORCA (Online Reading Comprehension Assessment) instrument. This instrument includes simulation exercises aimed at students, developed with the help of teachers, and related to online reading. It consists of practical tasks to identify, locate, evaluate, summarize, and communicate information in real time on the Internet. It validates students’ skills during the online reading process and measures their progress pre- and post-test. While students carried out reading tasks on the Internet, we conducted meta-procedural interviews in which the students were asked to verbalize their approach each time they clicked. The students’ online reading assessment was recorded using the Camtasia software program, and the data were subjected to qualitative analysis. The results showed wide variation in student performance, partial understanding of the tasks, and superficial reading (browsing) of Internet texts. These findings confirm the need to train VT teachers in digital-based reading comprehension so that they in turn may train their students and enable them to improve their understanding.

Keywords:

Online reading, assessment, vocational training.