W. Ian O'Byrne

The New Literacies of Online Reading Comprehension: Expanding the Literacy and Learning Curriculum.

This commentary explores a central issue for our times, online reading comprehension. It first defines three issues that have largely gone unnoticed as the Internet enters our classrooms: 1) literacy has become deictic; 2) effective online information use requires additional online reading comprehension practices, skills, and dispositions; and 3) misalignments in public policy, assessment, and instruction impede our ability to prepare students for the effective use of online information and communication. It analyzes the Common Core State Standards for Reading and Writing in the U. S. and the Australian National Curriculum in relation to elements of online reading comprehension. It argues that continued misalignments especially jeopardize opportunities for those students in districts that are economically challenged.

Multicultural Education and Multiliteracies: Exploration and Exposure of Literacy Practices With Preservice Teachers

This quasi-experimental, mixed model study explored the use of an instructional approach that provided direct instruction and experiences in multicultural education while empowering preservice teachers to examine their perspectives using a hybrid classroom format. The purpose of the study was to explore preservice teachers’ attitudes and dispositions toward the integration of multicultural education and multiliteracies to promote literacy among struggling readers. For the purposes of this study, we defined multicultural education as a field of study and an emerging discipline whose major aim is to create educational opportunities for all students, including students who are traditionally disenfranchised, to meaningfully and successfully engage in the education process. The study used a convenience sample of preservice teachers enrolled in a graduate-level educational program at a small private university in the Northeast. Results indicate opportunities for the use of an instructional approach that provides direct instruction and experiences in multicultural education while empowering preservice teachers to examine their perspectives in a hybrid classroom environment.