In the United States, literacy rates vary between socio-economic groups, and this reading gap is also a common feature in the education systems of OECD member states. To help address this reading gap previous research has identified a number of teaching strategies that have a positive impact on student learning outcomes, including the use of peer…

The aim of this needs analysis article was to investigate the students' needs for computer assisted cooperative learning (CACL) in studying reading skills. The needs analysis depends on present situation analysis (PSA). The result of the analysis showed that both professors and students use the internet for reading outside the university.…

Comprehension is the goal of reading. However, students often encounter reading difficulties due to the lack of background knowledge and proper reading strategy. Unfortunately, print text provides very limited assistance to one's reading comprehension through its static knowledge representations such as symbols, charts, and graphs. Integrating…

An achievement gap between Anglo and Mexican American students is profound in many school districts. The lack of academic vocabulary that many Mexican American students possess is a major constituent that contributes to this educational gap. Conversely, children who enter school with limited vocabulary find reading, difficult, resist reading,…

Teachers often miss opportunities to use their classroom computers as teaching partners because of a lack of knowledge or confidence about how the computers can support learning. Internet-connected computers can enable teachers to access well-designed websites that support literacy instruction and involve students in interactive responses to…

The purpose of this study is to examine readers' comprehension as they develop their mental representation of reference in four sequential online texts. A total of 92 college students from three reading classes were recruited to complete the following steps in each text: (1) identify references, (2) draw the relationships between references, and…

Offering fresh alternatives to common instructional practices that fail to get results, this accessible, highly practical guide highlights ways to motivate middle school students while enhancing content-area learning. Each chapter features an enlightening case study of a teacher whose current strategies are not supported by research; describes…

This study attempts to implement a cooperative reading environment for EFL early reading using a mobile-device-supported computer-assisted reciprocal early English reading (CAREER) system, and to evaluate its effect on the early reading skills and learning behaviors of elementary EFL learners. The design rationale of CAREER is based on the three…

Young children today are exposed to technology at a much younger age than they were five to 10 years ago, and technology is now an important component of literacy. To be able to function in the world today, children need to learn how to read beyond a paperbound book. In this article, the author highlights Web sites that provide unique…

Today's students face a barrage of competing texts in many different forms and media, and it is now up to teachers to help students determine not only "what" should be read but "how" it should be read. This book addresses this issue. The book explores the idea of "textual intelligence"; offers both practical and…

Introduces educators to inexpensive, commercially-available CD-ROM software that combines speech, text, graphics, sound, video, animation, and special effects that may be incorporated into classroom activities for both normally developing and language learning disabled children. Discusses three types of multimedia CD-ROM products: (1) virtual…

This article discusses teaching strategies for reading and writing using computer software and Internet-based electronic materials for students with disabilities. Different types of educational software are described, along with prereading strategies, reading activities, and postreading activities. A list of literacy links on the World Wide Web is…

Presents suggestions from teachers who use computers to enhance education, including six ways to use the World Wide Web to support reading, the computer as a classroom management tool, and computerized scanning of photographs or images. (SM)

Following an examination of the ways in which literacy is taught in the Literacy and Technology Hands-On (LATCH-ON) project at the University of Queensland, Australia, this article describes some of the reading-related literacy learning of 17 young adults with Down syndrome who participated in the 2-year course. (Contains references.) (CR)

This paper describes the activities and outcomes of LATCH-ON (Literacy and Technology-Hands On), a literacy program for young adults with Down Syndrome based at the University of Queensland in Australia. The program's aims are to support literacy as a desirable and valued aspect in the students' quality of life through developing communication in…