[CASL-L] Reading online vs. reading on paper vis a vis the students we see in the library

[Cathy Andronik]

I see the same thing in my library.  And of course we're assuming the kids actually read what they print.  A few years ago I had a case-in-point experience while manning the reference desk at the local public library where I moonlight.  A middle school student came in with her dad, looking for information on the youth of a president--did he have siblings, etc. I found a reliable article and printed it.  The student, with dad watching, then said to me, "Now what do I do?  Did he have brothers and sisters?"  While I was taking a deep breath, dad said, very forcefully, exactly what I was thinking about how to put tactfully:  "YOU HAVE TO READ IT!!!!"  
My school requires research papers each year.  Again, we show students how to use databases to find information.  I know they print and save articles.  We show students how to do a works cited page.  But both the teachers and I agree that the piece that's missing is how to extract information from the articles and synthesize it in their papers.  In some of the co-taught classes, the teacher and special ed teacher do sit down with individual students, talk about key points, highlighting, taking notes, etc., but by no means is this done with every student.
I think all this relates to their reliance on the "images" tab even when looking for information. They can handle captions.  They don't want to read long pieces.  Much as I love the Eyewitness books for browsing, I blame them for this attention deficit when it comes to researching.  Kids have become accustomed to believing they can find all the info they need in a sound or print bite.
What does this mean for testing online when it involves reading long passages?  To be honest, I'm not sure it makes a difference whether the text is online or on a piece of paper; students seem to have difficulty with any form of extended reading.  

--- On Fri, 3/8/13, IRENE KWIDZINSKI <kwidz at sbcglobal.net> wrote:

From: IRENE KWIDZINSKI <kwidz at sbcglobal.net>
Subject: [CASL-L] Reading online vs. reading on paper vis a vis the students we see in the library
To: "CASL_L" <casl-l at mylist.net>
Date: Friday, March 8, 2013, 6:59 PM

Interesting point?!
----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Sarles Patricia  (18K500) <PSarles at schools.nyc.gov>
To: "aaslforum at ala.org" <aaslforum at ala.org>
Sent: Fri, March 8, 2013 1:40:38 PM
Subject: [aaslforum] Reading online vs. reading on paper vis a vis the students we see in the library



My experience has been that my students skip step 4 (use of information) in the Big Six Skills when they immediately print out what they find online without even reading it first to see if it is truly relevant. I see this also when I work one-on-one with my students. They ask ME what the article is about and I have to break the news to them that they will actually have to read it to find out for themselves what the article is about.

The new Common Core assessments in 46 states and the District of Columbia will all be computer-based. According to a memo from the NY State Education Department to all principals and superintendents, “The transition to computer-based testing will place New York at the forefront of innovative, 21st -century assessment design and delivery. For students, the benefits include using technology to better demonstrate what they know and are able to do” (http://www.p12.nysed.gov/nonpub/documents/transition_strategy_to_computer_based_testing.pdf).

This is my concern about Computer Based Testing: If you look at Smarter Balanced’s (one of the testing consortia designing the new CC assesments) sample test items, for example at: http://sampleitems.smarterbalanced.org/itempreview/sbac/ELA.htm, you will see that students will have to read a longish 9-paragraph text and then answer questions based on the text. (The sample for Grade 3 is pretty longish as well). I’m not sure our students have the stamina to read that much text online because this is not what I see in the library. Students nearly always prefer to print out online text to read later.

Do you see the same thing in your
 library and do you think your students will sit through and read so much text online? The test for High Schoolers for example will be 140 minutes long. Will students truly benefit from Computer Based Testing and be able to “better demonstrate what they know and are able to do?” for if this is the case, we need to disable printing in the library to force students to take notes on what they read on the screen NOW so that they are prepared to do this in 2014-2015.

Does anybody else see this as a potential issue?


____________________________________________
Patricia Sarles, MA, MLS
Librarian
Jerome Parker Campus Library
100 Essex Drive
Staten Island, NY 10314
718-370-6900 x1322
psarles at schools.nyc.gov
http://www.scoop.it/t/help-with-the-common-core-state-standards/
http://paper.li/psarles/1332609247

The new power is not money in the hands of a few, but information in the hands of the many. - John Naisbitt, Megatrends

The Internet may be the world's greatest library, but let's face it - all the books are scattered on the floor.  - D.C. Denison, Boston Globe

Getting information off the Internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant. - Mitchell Kapor

To save man from the morass of propaganda, in my opinion, is one of the chief aims of education. Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from the fiction ... The function of education, therefore, is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. - Martin Luther King, Jr. The Purpose
 of Education




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