This study investigated the influence of tablet technology on student motivation and engagement for online reading. An ethnographic approach was utilized to examine the case studies of six grade 8 students including three proficient and three struggling readers. In addition to motivation and engagement, their thought processes while conducting online research using an iPad was explored. Several research techniques were employed including participant observation, standardized reading comprehension tests, questionnaires, and participant interviews. The results revealed a significant increase in motivation for reading by the three proficient readers. Results also revealed an increase of two grade levels in reading comprehension for two of the struggling readers. Several findings about students' metacognitive strategies while reading and researching online along with factors affecting motivation and engagement were also explored. These results have the potential to inform classroom literacy instruction and teacher education programs in this rapidly evolving digital age.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/43476 |
| Date | 07 January 2014 |
| Creators | Benevides, Tina |
| Contributors | Stagg Peterson, Shelley |
| Source Sets | University of Toronto |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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