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Investigating challenges readers with learning difficulties face on the Internet.

Suzanne C. Otieno1*, Eero Sormunen2, Carita Kiili3, Jarkko Hautala1, Laura Kanniainen1, Johanna Pöysä-Tarhonen4 and Paavo H. Leppänen1
  • 1 University of Jyväskylä, Department of Psychology, Finland
  • 2 University of Tampere, Department of Information Studies and Interactive Media, Finland
  • 3 University of Oslo, Department of Education, Norway
  • 4 University of Jyväskylä, Finnish Institute for Educational Research, Finland

The growth of the Internet use has changed literacy practices in many ways requiring new reading skills and strategies and new ways to combine technology and digital content. About 5-10% of learners experience learning difficulties. This necessitates research on how these learners interact with the Internet to facilitate the development of new methods and strategies to better support these learners. This poster summarizes the development and findings from 3 related projects addressing learning and learning difficulties in digital environments: eSeek (Internet and Learning Difficulties – Multidisciplinary approach for understanding information seeking in new media), iFuCo (Enhancing learning and teaching for future competencies of online inquiry in multiple domains and CoPSOI (Collaborative problem solving and online inquiry: Skills, processes and neural basis). The aim of eSeek project was 1) to increase understanding of Internet information seeking skills and their underlying factors in 6th grade children, 2) to clarify how children with different learning difficulties, including dyslexia and attentional problems, differ in Internet seeking skills and related cognitive and neural processes compared to typical learners, and 3) to provide knowledge which promotes creating teaching methods for effective use of the Internet in school context. The iFuCo project aimed to map Internet use related factors of online inquiry and to enhance learning and teaching of future competences of online inquiry in multiple domains. The ongoing CoPSOI project aims to examine and explain differences in collaborative problem solving (CPS) in digital environment and online inquiry (OI), as well as to understand related underlying processes. Findings from a large scale study in ca 425 sixth grade students (Kiili et al., 2018) on Internet seeking skills and background factors based on a widely referenced theoretical model produced a six-factor model of online reading comprehension (ORC): (a) locating information with a search engine, (b) questioning credibility of information, (c) confirming credibility of information, (d) identifying main ideas from a single online resource, (e) synthesizing information across multiple online resources, and (f) communicating a justified, source-based position. When estimating the role of reading fluency and poor reading in the sub-groups of 374 typical readers and 41 dysfluent readers, the most of the variability in students’ ORC performance was explained by reading fluency, written spelling, and reading comprehension (Kanniainen et al, 2019, in revision). Reading comprehension was the strongest predictor of ORC performance. There were also gender differences in ORC skills with girls outperforming boys. Readers with learning difficulties were overrepresented among those with lowest ORC profiles, while representing only less than 11 % among the average or above average profiles (Kiili et al., 2019). A detailed analysis of Internet seeking strategies utilizing eye-movement data in a subgroup of 36 students (Hautala et al., 2018) showed that students generally make flexible use of both eliminative and confirmatory evaluation strategies when reading Internet search results. Some students did not seem to pay attention to snippet text and URL address of the search results. A cluster analysis revealed three viewing strategies: 1) A group of students looked mainly at the titles and snippets, 2) another group examined all components, and 3) the third group focused on titles, which turned out to be a poor strategy, also adopted by a proportionally large number of dysfluent readers in this study. This strategy lead to more errors in finding the correct answer for the given tasks. In iFuCo study, the analyses from a large scale cross-sectional survey for 340 students resulted in a confirmatory factor model (CFA) consisting of five factors. These included three factors of self-efficacy (in web searching, evaluation of web search results, and synthesizing information across web sources) and two attitude factors (positive attitude towards online inquiry and reserved attitude towards online inquiry). Four variables explained these self-efficacy and attitude factors: gender, information and computer technology (ICT) activity at school, ICT activity in free time, and learning beliefs. Gender was the strongest predictor of self-efficacy in web searching and evaluation as well as positive attitude. The ongoing CoPSOI project includes ca 300 sixth grade students in a classroom setting and sub-groups in eye-tracking and MEG (magnetoencephalography) studies. One expected outcome is to understand whether and how children with learning difficulties benefit from collaborative online problem solving online, taking place in a game-like environment, in which interaction in pairs is based predominantly on written communication.

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Acknowledgements

The studies were supported by Academy of Finland and University of Jyväskylä, University of Turku, and University of Tampere. We thank all the participants and their families, researchers, research assistants and all who contributed to our studies. We also thank the eSeek-team, iFuCo-consortium team and CoPSOI-consortium team.

References

E Sormunen, N Erdmann, M Mikkilä-Erdmann, E Laakkonen, S C.S.A Otieno, A Hossain, T Mikkonen, P H.T. Leppänen, M Vauras (submitted). [Young] students’ internet activity, learning beliefs, self-efficacy in, and attitudes to online inquiry. Computers & Education. Hautala, J., Kiili, C., Kammerer, Y., Loberg, O., Hokkanen, S., & Leppänen, P. H. T. (2018). Sixth graders’ evaluation strategies when reading Internet search results: An eye tracking study. Behaviour & Information Technology, 37(8), 761–773. Kanniainen, L., Kiili, C., Tolvanen, A., Aro, M., Leppänen, P., H., T. (in revision). Reading and writing literacy skills and online research and comprehension: Struggling readers face difficulties online. Reading and Writing. Kiili, C., Leu, D., J., Utriainen, J., Coiro, J., Kanniainen, L., Tolvanen, A., Lohvansuu, K. and Leppänen, P., H., T. (2018). Reading to learn from online information: Modeling the factor structure. Journal of Literacy Research, 1–31. Kiili, C., Utriainen, J., Kanniainen, L., Leu, D. J., Tolvanen, A., & Leppänen, P. H. T. Performance profiles for online research and comprehension among different learners. Paper accepted to be presented at the AERA 2019, April, 5-9, Toronto, Canada.

Keywords: Digital environment, Internet reading, online inquiry, collaborative problem solving, learning difficulties

Conference: 4th International Conference on Educational Neuroscience, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 10 Mar - 11 Mar, 2019.

Presentation Type: Poster Presentation

Topic: Educational Neuroscience

Citation: Otieno SC, Sormunen E, Kiili C, Hautala J, Kanniainen L, Pöysä-Tarhonen J and Leppänen PH (2019). Investigating challenges readers with learning difficulties face on the Internet.. Conference Abstract: 4th International Conference on Educational Neuroscience. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2019.229.00013

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Received: 27 Feb 2019; Published Online: 27 Sep 2019.

* Correspondence: Dr. Suzanne C Otieno, University of Jyväskylä, Department of Psychology, Jyväskylä, Finland, susannah.c.s.otieno-leppanen@jyu.fi