1. Overview

Relevant OLI Principles & Tenets

Principle 3: Instructors and tutors should commit to regular, iterative processes of course and instructional material design, development, assessment, and revision to ensure that online literacy instruction and student support reflect current effective practices.

Principle 4: Educators and researchers should initiate, support, and sustain online literacy instruction-related conversations and research efforts within and across institutions and disciplinary boundaries.

2. Introduction & Affordances

[1] In the digital age, reading has evolved beyond traditional print. Digital texts are increasingly common, and students are reading on digital devices more than ever, especially in education. In higher education specifically, the prevalence and push for educators to use Open Educational Resources (OER) adds to the growing number of students using online texts for their courses. Additionally, many students are opting for digital copies of textbooks due to their lower cost. But, students aren’t trained to read digitally (Magnusson et al., 2019). Without digital reading strategies and skills in place, students’ reading comprehension may suffer. However, there are many strategies teachers across disciplines can use to increase student engagement with and comprehension of digital texts. In my English 101 classes at SUNY Orange Community College, I regularly use three strategies to help my students better comprehend the digital texts I assign. These strategies are guided note-taking, digital annotation, and reading aloud.

[2] There are many advantages to digital reading. Digital texts are easy to access and are portable, allowing students to complete their coursework from almost anywhere. Digital texts are often customizable, so students can increase text size and screen brightness to meet their personal needs, thus making them more equitable for students with disabilities. Digital texts also offer savings for students: ebooks are often cheaper than print texts and, with the rise of quality OER materials, many digital texts are free or low cost.

[3] But, recent research shows that reading comprehension suffers when students read digitally and this seems to be true regardless of students' grade level in school (Delgado & Salmeron, 2021). Shallow reading and skimming is more likely in the digital realm (Jensen et al., 2024). And, layouts of digital texts vary widely, which can be challenging for students (Jensen et al., 2024). Digital reading can also result in non-linear reading, where students jump around to different sections while they read, never fully finishing one section before moving onto the next (Mangen et al., 2019).

[4] With traditional print, students read more slowly, in a linear fashion, and are more likely to reread sections they don’t understand (Jensen et al., 2024). And the conventional layout of print text seems to make it easier for students to remember what they read, as well as go back to the text to find information they need (Mangen et al., 2019).

[5] My students like when I assign digital texts for many of the reasons I mentioned above. Their comfort with digital formats also reflects how deeply technology is woven into their everyday experiences and their educational experiences. However, using students’ preferred platform for learning does not always mean increased comprehension. Singer and Alexander’s (2016) research found this to be true and so did I in my research at a previous institution (Rockland Community College). I surveyed 25 of my students at the beginning and end of the Fall 2024 semester. At the beginning of the semester, of the 24 respondents, half of my students preferred digital texts and the other half preferred print. (These were the only two options on pre-survey.) Students also indicated they didn’t feel confident when reading digital texts. By the end of the course, after I had used the three digital reading strategies consistently, students had no preference for digital or print texts and 70% of students indicated that they felt more confident in their digital reading abilities as a result of the strategies we used. (In the post-survey students were offered three choices when asked about their preference with reading: digital text, print text, or no preference.)

3. Implementation

[6] There are three effective strategies instructors can use to address gaps in students’ comprehension of digital texts across grade levels and disciplines. When applied intentionally, these approaches can enhance students’ focus, engagement, and overall understanding of digital reading materials.

Strategy 1: Guided Notetaking

[7] Guided notetaking helps students to identify the purpose or goal of a reading assignment before reading, and it helps to keep them more grounded in their reading of a digital text. For this strategy, I prepare a notetaking handout or graphic organizer to accompany a digital reading assignment (see Figure 1). The notetaking sheet includes key concepts, ideas, and questions that students should understand after they read the text. 

[8] When teaching traditional, in-person classes, I provide a hard copy for students and ask students to fill in the blanks, taking notes using a pen or pencil. In an online environment (both online synchronous as well as asynchronous) I encourage students to print out the notetaking sheets and use a pencil to complete, and submit pictures of their handwritten notes. Examples of guided notetaking tools include Cornell Notes sheet (Pauk and Owens, 2010; see Figure 2; a system of taking notes that helps students organize, summarize, and make meaning of their notes), use of a graphic organizer, and a technique called “Stop & Jot.”  See the Appendix for handouts of SPACECAT and the Cornell Notes Sheet). 

[9] Another approach to guide students with their notetaking is what I call “Stop and Jot” (see example in Figure 3).  I ask students to pause at certain intervals when reading digital texts and take notes with a pen and paper. I often have my students pause after every three paragraphs. Depending on the nature of the text, what students stop to “jot down” can vary. Sometimes I ask students to summarize what they just read, and other times I have them jot down questions they have about a particular section, or record personal reactions. In the asynchronous environment, I post reading assignments with “stop and jot” questions in the margins and ask students to reply to these specific prompts as they read. Oftentimes I use a combination of these three response types (summary, questions, reactions) that encourage students to process what they’re reading and engage with the text.

Strategy 2: Digital Annotations

[10] Another useful strategy to increase comprehension and engagement is to have students interact directly with the text in the digital environment. Students can use annotation tools such as Perusall, Hypothes.is, VoiceThread, Google Docs, Word, Kami, or PDFEscape. These platforms allow students to highlight, comment, and reply to other comments, encouraging critical thinking and helping students make connections with one another in both in-person and online environments. The same tools can also be used for individual annotation. Students can digitally highlight and make comments on the text and then share those files with me, so I can assess comprehension.Students can also annotate PDFs housed in Google Drive, eliminating the need for an additional app and eliminating extra file conversion work for the instructor. See Figure 4 for a sample of a student using google docs to annotate for comprehension in a longer, challenging text. 

Strategy 3: Read Aloud

[11] The final strategy I use with my students is to read text aloud to them. When we start a challenging or long text, I read the first several paragraphs aloud in class to get students interested in the text. I pause at parts that may be confusing, encouraging students to stop and check in with themselves, and assess their own understanding. I often combine strategies, and use the “Stop and Jot” strategy during in-class read alouds, too. In an asynchronous environment I offer students read aloud links to texts when possible, and record myself reading the texts with cues to stop and jot.

[12] Reading aloud models fluency for my students, so they can hear how complex sentence structure and elevated vocabulary should sound. Reading aloud also allows students to focus on understanding the main ideas of a text rather than trying to focus on decoding and comprehending at the same time. I encourage my students to follow along, looking at the digital words on their screens, to help develop their own fluency.

[13] I also encourage my students to use online read aloud tools when they are reading on their own. Internet browser Microsoft Edge has a text to speech feature that reads web content aloud for students. Other tools, like Speechify and Natural Reader, are low cost options to turn any text into audio. Literature and longer texts may be available as audiobooks.

4. Conclusion

[14] Although students today are digital natives, many lack the strategies they need to engage with challenging information in the digital realm. As online educators, we need to support students by providing them with strategies to increase reading comprehension across multiple forms of media. By encouraging students to experiment with new ways of interacting with text, we can help them become more critical and stronger readers. In doing so, we position ourselves as pioneers in digital pedagogy, leading innovation and transformation in the ways students learn and interact with digital texts.

5. References

Carr, N. (2008). Is Google making us stupid? The Atlantic, www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/306868/

Delgado, P., & Salmerón, L. (2021). The inattentive on-screen reading: Reading medium affects attention and reading comprehension under time pressure. Learning and instruction, 71, 101396.

GSOLE. (2024). Online literacy instruction principles and tenets. Global Society of Online Literacy Educators. https://gsole.org/oliresources/oliprinciples

Jensen, R. E., Roe, A., & Blikstad-Balas, M. (2024). The smell of paper or the shine of a screen? Students’ reading comprehension, text processing, and attitudes when reading on paper and screen. Computers & Education, 219, 105107.

Magnusson, C. G., Roe, A., & Blikstad‐Balas, M. (2019). To what extent and how are reading comprehension strategies part of language arts instruction? A study of lower secondary classrooms. Reading Research Quarterly, 54(2), 187-212.

Mangen, A., Olivier, G., & Velay, J. L. (2019). Comparing comprehension of a long text read in print book and on Kindle: Where in the text and when in the story?. Frontiers in psychology, 10, 38.

Pauk, W., & Owens, R. J. Q. (2010). How to Study in College (10 ed). Wadsworth.

Pinsker, J. (2018). The problem with ‘hey guys.’” The Atlantic, www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2018/08/guys-gender-neutral/568231/. 

Singer, L. M., & Alexander, P. A. (2017). Reading on paper and digitally: What the past decades of empirical research reveal. Review of Educational Research, 87(6), 1007-1041.