iRead, iThink, iComprehend,

and iConnect with Students

Around the World

Donald J. Leu

Neag Endowed Professor of Literacy and Technology

The Neag School of Education

University of Connecticut

Thank You To

Your Amazing Leadership Team!

Nancy

Meagher

Sheelah

SweenyNancy

Verdolino

Laura

Broach

Terrie

Marr

Joan

Tuttle

Bernie

TuttleSherry

Sausville

Peggy

Coyne

Nancy

Witherall

My Thanks To:

What I Would Like To

Share Today

Ideas that inform our work at the NLRL.

Reading the CCSS with a lens to the

past + a lens to the future.

Online Research and Comprehension

Assessments (ORCAs).

How to teach new literacies in a time of

CCSS.

IDEAS THAT INFORM OUR

WORK AT THE NLRL

Clint Kennedy

Nicole

Timbrell

Cheryl Maykel

Elena Forzani

Idea 1. We Live In New

Times

Rapid, Disruptive Changes To The

Technologies of Literacy Are

Happening All Around Us.

One Example:Traditional,Print

Newspapers are Disappearing

Idea 2. New Technologies

Require New Literacies:“Literacy is not just new today;

it becomes ew every day of our lives.”

Idea 3. New Literacies Are

Required by Everyone

Idea 4. The Internet Is This

Generation’s Defining

Technology For Reading and

Learning

One Third of the World’s

Population Is Connected

to the Internet

Idea 5. The Nature of Work Has

Changed

CEO

Upper Level Management

Upper Middle Level Management

Middle Level Management

Line Supervisors

Workers

The “General Motors” Model of Economic

Management

Wasted

intellectual

capital

In a Flattened World: Opportunities

Expand but Competition Increases

Team Team TeamTeam Team

These teams take full

advantage of their intellectual

capital to the extent their

education system has

prepared them for this.

Greater Intellectual Capital Use = Greater Productivity

Online Research and

Comprehension

1. Define problems

2. Locate information

3. Evaluate information

4. Synthesize and solve problems

5. Communicate solutions

The Internet Is Used Extensively in

the Workplace To Conduct Research,

Solve Problems, and Learn

Team Team TeamTeam Team

1. Online Research and

Comprehension

2. Define problems

3. Locate information

4. Evaluate information

5. Synthesize and solve problems

6. Communicate solutions

Idea 6. Our Focus Is The New Literacies

of Online Research and Comprehension

Defines how we read online when we conduct informal

and formal research to learn and develop new

knowledge.

1. Identify the problem/question

2. Locate

3. Evaluate

4. Synthesize

5. Communicate

Castek, 2008; Coiro & Dobler, 2007;

Henry, 2007; Leu, Castek, Hartman,

Leu, O’Byrne, Zawilinski, McVerry,

& Everett-Cacopardo, 2009;

Leu, Kinzer, Coiro, Castek, & Henry, 2013

The Common Core State Standards:

Three Major Changes

1. An Increase in Informational Text

Reading.

2. Higher Level Thinking is Emphasized.

3. New, Digital Literacies are Integrated

For the First Time.

These New Literacies Appear

at Every Grade Level in CCSS

Kindergarten (WS 6)With guidance and support from adults, explore a

variety of digital tools to produce and publish

writing, including in collaboration with peers.

Grade 3 (WS 8)

...gather information from print and digital sources;

take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into

provided categories.

Grade 6 (RS 7)

Integrate information presented in different

media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively)

as well as in words to develop a coherent

understanding of a topic or issue.

READING STANDARDS WITH A “LENS

TO THE PAST” AND A “LENS TO THE

FUTURE.”

RS1. “Read closely to determine what the

text says explicitly and to make logical

inferences from it; cite specific textual

evidence when writing or speaking to

support conclusions drawn from the text.”

A Lens to the Past

• Narrative Text

• Inferential Comprehension

• “How do you know?”

A Lens to the Future

RS6. “Assess how point of view

or purpose shapes the content

and style of a text.”

A Lens to the Past

• Narrative text

• What was the

author’s point

of view?

• What was

Jacob’s point

of view?

A Lens to the Future

• Who is the author?

• Is the author an

expert?

• What is the author’s

point of view?

• Is this reliable?

How We Read CCSS Will

Determine What We Teach

+

A “Lens to the Past” + A “Lens to the Future”

ONLINE RESEARCH AND

COMPREHENSION ASSESSMENTS

(ORCAs):

A NEW FORM OF AUTHENTIC

ASSESSMENT

Locate

• Can the student locate the correct email

message in an inbox on the first click?

• Can the student use appropriate keywords in a

search engine?

• Can the student locate the best site for a task

from a set of search engine results on the first

click?

• Can the student locate and communicate the

correct website addresses from two different

search tasks.

Evaluate

• Can the student identify the author of the website?

• Can the student evaluate the author's level of

expertise?

• Can the student identify the author's point of view?

• Can the student evaluate the reliability of a

website?

Synthesize

• Can students provide a summary of one important

element from the first website?

• Can students use their own words to integrate one

detail from each of the first two websites?

• Can students use their own words to integrate one

detail from each of the second two websites?

• Can students use their own words to develop an

argument after reading all four websites?

Communicate: Email (Wiki)

Include the correct email address in an email

message?

Include an appropriate subject line in an email

message?

Include an appropriate greeting in an email message

to an important, unfamiliar person?

Compose and send a well-structured, short report of

their research in an email with sources and

appropriate argument structure, containing at least

one relevant claim and at least two pieces of

evidence.

Reading to Locate

Information Online

Reading to Locate

Information Online

Reading to Synthesize

Information Online

How Well Do Students Conduct

Online Research and Comprehend?

Students are only minimally prepared.

Average % of Correct

Responses

Locate Skills 52.9%

Evaluate Skills 54.3%

Synthesis Skills 64.6%

Communicate Skills 44.4%

TOTAL 54.0%

Skill%

Correct

Reading to Locate Online Information 52.9%

Locate the correct email message in an inbox or the

correct section of a wiki. 60.5%

Use appropriate key words in a search engine. 59.5%

Locate the correct site in a set of search engine results. 56.0%

Locate and share correct website addresses in two

different search tasks.33.0%

Reading to Evaluate Online Information 54.3%

Identify the author of a website. 78.5%

Evaluate an author’s level of expertise. 47.5%

Identify an author’s point of view. 51.0%

Evaluate the reliability of a website. 39.5%

Reading to Synthesize Online Information 64.6%

Summarize an important element from one website. 77.5%

Synthesize important elements from two websites. 63.5%

Synthesize important elements from a second set of two websites.

57.0%

Synthesize important elements from websites to develop an argument.

60.5%

Writing to Communicate Online Information 44.4%

Include the correct address in email and make a wiki entry in the correct location.

41.5%

Include an appropriate subject line in email and an appropriate heading in a wiki.

53.0%

Include an appropriate greeting in email and use descriptive voice in a wiki.

49.5%

Compose a short report of research, including sources, in email and wiki.

33.0%

Skill % Correct

What Can We Conclude For

Literacy Education?

Integrate The New Literacies of Online Research Into

Our Reading and Writing Programs. (Total = 54%)

Focus Particular Attention on Evaluating the Reliability of

Online Information. (39.5%)

Focus Particular Attention on All Aspects of Online

Communication. (44%)

Online Research and Comprehension:

Representative State Samples of 13-year

Olds In Two States

State 1State 2

(laptops)TOTAL

Locate (8) 4.52 4.64 4.58

Evaluate (8) 3.61 3.32 3.47

Synthesize (8) 6.07 5.86 5.97

Communicate (8) 4.22 4.00 4.11

TOTAL (32) 18.42 17.81 18.13

State 1: 4th in Median Family Income/ Few Laptops

State 2: 32nd in Median Family Income/1 to 1 Laptops

Adjusted Total Mean Scores When

Covariates of SES and Prior Knowledge

Controlled

State 1State 2

(laptops)

Adjusted Means 17.56 19.08*

*p < .05 F (1, 1021) = 14.854, p = .000

HOW TO TEACH NEW

LITERACIES IN A TIME OF CCSS:

TWO CLASSROOM IMAGES

Two Classroom Models of Instruction

Grades 2-3: Internet Morning

Message of the Week

http://www.epals.com/find-classroom.php

Grade 7: Online International

ProjectsOh yeah! I got some

grat idea. Let me send

them to Tomas and

Ben in the US

We’re on it!

Making a web

page now.

Monique, South

Africa

Ben and Tomas,

Connecticut

Jose, Costa Rica

Hey.

Gary Paulsen?

Internet Reciprocal Teaching

(IRT)

A Three-Phase Model

• Phase I: Teacher-led and Student-led

Instruction in Cool Tools for Information Use

• Phase II: Problem-based Learning of Online

Research and Comprehension Skills

• Phase III: Internet Inquiry

IRT: Phase III

Inquiry

Initially, within the class.

Then, with others around the world.

Internet Morning Message of the Day

Student Online Collaborations

Help The Last Become First

With New Literacies.

Teach The Online Reading Skills

Needed to Locate Information

http://www.google.com/insidesearch/searcheducation/lessons.html

Play: First Click

Teach Critical Evaluation

Reverse Wikipedia Spoof Site Homework

Require references that include an explanation of why

a source was considered reliable.

Integrate Email, a

Blog, and a

Wiki...use the magic

word… “Pilot.”

• Mary Castle’s first grade blog

http://michellesmelser.blogspot.com/

• Mr. Thompson’s second grade classroom blog

http://gcs.infostreamblogs.org/tthompson

• Mary Kreul’s 4th grade class

http://mskreul.edublogs.org/

• Mr. Monson’s Grade 5 Blog

http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=59644

• TAS Grade 3 ESL

http://grade3esl.blogspot.com/2008/08/welcome-to-20082009-school-year.html

Change Is Never Easy.

How Does It Look On a Bad Day?

But, On These Most Difficult

of Days, Keep This One

Thought In Mind:

The Leadership That

You Provide With New

Literacies…

Determines The Future That Our

Students Achieve!

iRead, iThink, iComprehend,

and iConnect with Students

Around the World

Donald J. Leu

Neag Endowed Professor of Literacy and Technology

The Neag School of Education

University of Connecticut