This document discusses various topics related to reading in the digital age, including: 1) How reading a second language can cause cognitive overload if readers have not automated certain reading processes like word recognition. 2) How text manipulation templates can engage students by presenting authentic texts while promoting awareness of context clues. 3) Resources for reading, writing, and blogging including ReadingMatrix, WritingMatrix, and educational blogs. 4) Technologies like the Kindle e-reader and on-demand printing that are changing how written works are distributed and consumed.

1. Reading and the Internet International School of Bangkok January 16, 2008 Vance Stevens http://adVancEducation.blogspot.com Petroleum Institute Abu Dhabi, UAE Future of Learning in a Networked World 2 http://flnw.wikispaces.com

2. What is Reading? William Grabe and others characterize how reading is interaction with a writer (mirrors writing as interaction with a reader) Cognitive loads on both, but L1 readers and writers have native language advantage Reading heuristics might need emphasis with L2 readers who … “ may not have automated one or more of the component processes of reading in the second language, such as word decoding and recognition, resulting in working-memory overload and diversion of attention away from the construction of a text model.” “ Or at a higher processing level, readers may not be familiar with semantic or discourse schemata specific to the culture of the second language, so that they have no pre-activated scaffolding to help them summarize and organize the details of the incoming text, and quickly face overload. “ From Cobb and Stevens, 1996; reference next slide

3. Text Manipulation In … Cobb, T. and V. Stevens. 1996. A Principled Consideration of Computers and Reading in a Second Language . Pennington, M.C. (Ed.). The Power of CALL . Houston: Athelstan. pp.115-136. Online version: http://www.vancestevens.com/papers/1996/cobb_stevens.htm We argue that “TM (text manipulation) templates can engage students at higher cognitive levels while presenting them with virtually limitless amounts of comprehensible input in the form of authentic texts”; e.g. “on-line cloze exercises may promote awareness of contextual help in restoring degraded messages “ the distinctive feature of TM program design is that the program is able to deal with any text whatever”

4. Concordance and Vocabulary “ One option made possible by the potentially large amount of text available is to provide help in the form of a concordance on the word the learner is trying to discover,” E.g “with that word masked in the concordance output, giving learners richer context, but not the answer” Tom Cobb’s Compleat Lexical Tutor provides corpus-based help with vocabulary: http://www.lextutor.ca See also: http://www.vancestevens.com/textanal.htm

5. ReadingMatrix Journal and reading resources: http://www.readingmatrix.com/ Occasional online conference http://www.readingmatrix.com/onlineconference/conf_proceedings.html

6. Blogging Blogging puts students in touch with one another Blogging for Educators URL: http://blogging4educators.pbwiki.com/ All current EVO sessions: http://evo08sessionscfp.pbwiki.com/ Relation to reading Best introduction to blogging is to get students READING good blogs and engage in conversations with others in reflection on their practice It is important that TEACHERS blog: There is evidence that teachers who blog are better able to model and impart enthusiasm to their students.

7. Writingmatrix http://writingmatrix.wikispaces.com Focus on writing, but incidentally through reading and collaboration Students locate each other’s work though search on common tag i.e. writingmatrix Students read peer material and comment Students know what they write is being read, encouraged to read and write more For more information, Google ‘writingmatrix’ or see most recent document: http://docs.google.com/View?docid=dr22kn2_24dpqdgg

8. The Kindle from Amazon.com Google: Amazon.com Kindle Holds hundreds of books, memory variable More texts easily downloadable Designed to be read comfortably Utilizes ‘digital paper’ No backlight Display can be read out of doors, in sunlight Feels like a book, similar weight and size

9. Printing on Demand Machine developed to print books in minutes Shoppers can have books printed while-u-wait More information at On the Media, NPR “One for the books” Nov. 23, 2007 http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2007/11/23/01

10. Other Reading Resources http://www.vancestevens.com/reading.htm Virtual Learning Resource Center: http://www.homestead.com/prosites-vstevens/files/vlrc/start.htm Project Gutenberg http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page Google Library Project http://books.google.com/googlebooks/library.html TheFuture of Learning in a Networked World unConference http://flnw.wikispaces.com is (un)organized by TALO: Teaching and Learning Online: http://learningnetworkedworld.blogspot.com/