Connected Reading: Teaching Adolescent Readers in a Digital World

by Kristin Hawley Turner, Troy Hicks

Overview

As readers of all ages increasingly turn to the Internet and a variety of electronic devices for both informational and leisure reading, teachers need to reconsider not just who and what teens read but where and how they read as well. 

Having ready access to digital tools and texts doesn’t mean that middle and high school students are automatically thoughtful, adept readers. So how can we help adolescents become critical readers in a digital age? Using NCTE’s policy research brief Reading Instruction for All Students as both guide and sounding board, experienced teacher-researchers Kristen Hawley Turner and Troy Hicks took their questions about adolescent reading practices to a dozen middle and high school classrooms. 

In this book, they report on their interviews and survey data from visits with hundreds of teens, which led to the development of their model of Connected Reading: “Digital tools, used mindfully, enable connections. Digital reading is connected reading.” They argue that we must teach adolescents how to read digital texts effectively, not simply expect that teens can read them because they know how to use digital tools. Turner and Hicks offer practical tips by highlighting classroom practices that engage students in reading and thinking with both print and digital texts, thus encouraging reading instruction that reaches all students.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814108376
Publisher:	National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
Publication date:	03/06/2015
Series:	Principles in Practice
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	179
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Kristin Hawley Turner is a teacher, writer, and forever-learner. Currently a faculty member in the Caspersen School of Graduate Studies at Drew Universityin NJ, she focuses her research on developing digital literacies. She is fascinated by the ways we use technology to read, write, and connect, and wants to help teens to be savvy about their digital lives.

Dr. Troy Hicks is a professor of English and education at Central Michigan Universityand focuses his work on the teaching of writing, the intersections of literacy and technology, and, more broadly, teacher education and professional development. 

A former middle school teacher, he collaborates with K–12 colleagues and explores how they implement new literacies in their classrooms. Hicks directs CMU’s Chippewa River Writing Project, a site of the National Writing Project, as well as CMU’s Master of Arts in Educational Technology degree program. He frequently conducts professional development workshops related to writing and technology.

Also, Hicks is author of the Heinemann titles Crafting Digital Writing (2013) and The Digital Writing Workshop (2009) as well as a co-author of Because Digital Writing Matters (Jossey-Bass, 2010), Create, Compose, Connect! (Routledge/Eye on Education, 2014), Connected Reading (NCTE, 2015), Research Writing Rewired (Corwin Literacy, 2015), Coaching Teacher-Writers (Teachers College Press, 2016), Argument in the Real World (Heinemann, 2017), and From Texting to Teaching (Routledge/Eye on Education, 2017). His edited collection, Assessing Students' Digital Writing (Teachers College Press, 2015) features the work of seven National Writing Project teachers. Hicks has authored or co-authored over 30 journal articles and book chapters and blogs regularly at hickstro.org.