Obstacles to Developing Digital Literacy on the Internet in Middle School Science Instruction

Obstacles, and instructional responses to them, that emerged in two middle school science classes during a formative experiment investigating Internet Reciprocal Teaching (IRT), an instructional intervention aimed at increasing digital literacy on the Internet, are reported in this manuscript. Analy...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of literacy research Vol. 45; no. 3; pp. 295 - 324
Main Authors Colwell, Jamie, Hunt-Barron, Sarah, Reinking, David
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.09.2013
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects
Access to Information
Audio Equipment
Barriers
Charter Schools
Data Analysis
Educational Technology
Inquiry
Inquiry method
Internet
Item Response Theory
Literacy
Middle school education
Middle School Students
Middle Schools
Observation
Qualitative Research
Reciprocal Teaching
Science education
Science Instruction
Search Strategies
Secondary School Science
Semi Structured Interviews
Student Projects
Teacher Role
Teaching Methods
Technological Literacy
United States (Southeast)
Video Technology
Internet Reciprocal Teaching
middle school science
digital literacy
inquiry
formative experiment
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Summary:Obstacles, and instructional responses to them, that emerged in two middle school science classes during a formative experiment investigating Internet Reciprocal Teaching (IRT), an instructional intervention aimed at increasing digital literacy on the Internet, are reported in this manuscript. Analysis of qualitative data revealed that IRT enabled students to explain and demonstrate appropriate strategies for locating and evaluating information on the Internet when they were asked to do so. However, students did not use these strategies or they quickly abandoned them when working independently or in small groups during inquiry projects. Data revealed three obstacles that inhibited efforts to promote consistent, independent use of strategies: the teacher’s role in student inquiry, the structure of inquiry projects, and students’ previous strategies. Results suggest notable challenges to implementing instruction that inculcates dispositions among middle school students leading to consistent, independent use of appropriate strategies for locating and evaluating information on the Internet. Implications for practitioners, policy makers, and researchers are discussed.
ISSN:1086-296X
1554-8430
DOI:10.1177/1086296X13493273