Conference presentation at the annual meeting of the International Literacy Association 2019 in New Orleans, LA - Recipient of 2018 ILA Irwin Zolt Digital Literacy Game Changer Award

1. S
Designing Digital Spaces
That Support Online Inquiry
and Learning in Grades 3-12
Julie Coiro, Ph.D., University of Rhode Island
jcoiro@uri.edu
uri.academia.edu/JulieCoiro
ILA 2019 New Orleans, LA
Recipient of 2018 ILA Irwin Zolt
Digital Literacy Game Changer Award

2. Your Goals for Your
Readers/Learners?
S What hopes do you have for the students
you work with in terms of reading and
learning?
S What would like them to be able to do and
why (…toward what end in the real world)?

3. My Goals for
Readers/Learners
I hope READERS are curious and creative
problem solvers who….
S Reflect on their thinking, actions, and products
S Appreciate ideas from multiple perspectives
S Build and apply meaning as active
LEARNERS

4. Where are we headed?
S What is online inquiry?
S Considering challenges for learners
S Grades 3-6; Grades 5-9; Grades 7-12+
S Share examples of supports (authentic tasks, text-based
prompts, and digital interfaces) at each grade level
S Grades 3-6: Reading to Learn (Structured Inquiry Tasks)
S Grades 5-9: Reading to Judge (Critical Evaluation Tasks)
S Grades 7-12+: Reading/Arguing to Learn (Integrating
Multiple Perspectives into a Well-Informed Argument)

5. What is online inquiry?

6. Break down challenges
and offer supported practice
S Question
S Locate
S Evaluate
S Synthesize
S Communicate

7. Strategic Online Inquiry:
Challenges and Supports
S Knowledge – WHAT
S Skills/Competencies –
HOW
S Processes and
Routines - WHEN AND
WHY
S Teaching: Passion, curiosity,
explicit modeling &
differentiation
S Partner Work/Collaboration
S Discussion & Reflection
S Digital Supports (prompts for
planning & thinking; authentic
environments for inspiration and
practice)
CHALLENGES SUPPORTS

8. Emerging Online Readers
(Grades K-2 … Grades K-8)
Exposure to…
S Multiple texts and multiple
media
S High quality information
with text-to-speech option
so reading level does not
impede learning
S Models of curiosity
S Models of creativity
S http://bit.ly/SymbalooK-8

9. Solve A Puzzle – Watch A Video –
Have the text read aloud

10. Early Online Readers –
Reading to Learn (Grades 3-6)
S Variations in prior
knowledge levels and
reading levels
S Skim efficiently vs. read
closely
S Safe search engines
S Navigate website menus &
hypertext linked to goal
S Read across multiple
sources
S Embed structure & texts into
Informational Overview
Page
S Click > Think > Return
S Use Google Custom Search
S Explicit instruction
S Practice & graphic
organizers
CHALLENGES SUPPORTS

11. S
Structured Inquiry Tasks -
Reading to Learn
Building Reading Comprehension and Online
Inquiry Competencies in Grades 3-6

12. Structured Inquiry Task

13. Informational Overview Page

14. GOOGLE CUSTOM SEARCH

15. Using Google Custom Search
1. CREATE ENGINE
2. ADD LINKS
3. BUILD LIST
4. SHARE LINK

18. Envisioning Inquiry Tasks In A Weekly
Routine (Perhaps once a month or once a unit)
• Introduce the
task – Set the
stage
• Model use of
overview page
• Lesson: Reading Search
Engines – generating
keywords, making
inferences, and evaluating
relevance of results pages
• Lesson: Reading
websites: Reading
across two
websites &
integrating
information

19. Transitioning Online Readers -
Reading to Judge (Grades 5-9)
Reading critically to…
S Determine/judge relevance
S Differentiate fact vs.
opinion vs. persuasion
S Determine
accuracy/validity of stated
claims
S Determine author’s level of
expertise, affiliation, and
agenda
S Appreciate multiple
stakeholders/perspective
s
S Challenge students with
information problems (or
scenarios) to solve
connected to content
specific topics/themes
S Provide exposure,
modeling, supported
practice, and feedback
in context of information
scenarios
CHALLENGES
SUPPORTS

20. S
Online Inquiry Scenarios
Locating and Evaluating Information
in Grades 6-9

21. Dimensions of Critically
Evaluating Information
S Evaluating understanding: Does it make sense
to me?
S Evaluating relevancy: Does it meet my needs?
S Evaluating accuracy: Can I verify it with another
reliable source?
S Evaluating reliability: Can I trust it?
S Evaluating bias: How does the author shape it?
S Evaluating choice: Which one is best and why?

22. Reading to Locate
Information Online

23. Reading to Synthesize
Information Online

24. Reading to Evaluate
Information Online

25. Discuss/Compare Multiple
Dimensions of Critical Evaluation
Coiro, J. (August 2017). Teaching adolescents how to evaluate the quality of online
information. Edutopia Blog Post. https://goo.gl/gXrcT1

26. Coiro, J. (August 2017). Teaching adolescents how to evaluate the quality of online
information. Edutopia Blog Post. https://goo.gl/gXrcT1

27. Encourage Use of Multiple & Varied
Indicators of Quality … SCAM?
a. SOURCE: Ask students to elaborate: Who is the author? In
what specific area is his/her expertise? What kind of
company does he/she work for and for how long?
b. CLAIMS: How does the author’s expertise and affiliation
influence claims being made? corroborate with others?
c. ARGUMENTS: Evidence to support and refute claims?
What is the author’s purpose?
What techniques are used to attract and hold attention?
What lifestyles, values, and points of view are represented?
What is omitted from the message?
d. MAKE A DECISION about the validity of the
claims & arguments in relation to author & affiliation
Coiro, Coscarelli, Maykel, & Forzani, E. (2015). Investigating criteria seventh graders use to evaluate
the quality of online information. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 58(7), 546-550.

28. Advanced Online Readers -
Reading/Arguing to Learn
(Grades 7-12+)
S State claim in the positive with
desire to learn rather than
prove
S Actively seek multiple
perspectives (arguing to learn
rather than persuade)
S Articulate relevant and valid
arguments on both sides
S Integrate new ideas and invite
conversation about conflicting
ideas
CHALLENGES SUPPORTS
S Design scenario involving
controversial issue
S Allow time to discuss relevant
stakeholders and
perspectives
S Provide structure for
organizing/seeing gaps in
ideas
S Provide connector words to
link claims into a logical
sequence

29. S
Online Inquiry Tool
Recognizing Multiple Perspectives and
Arguing to Learn in Grades 9-12

30. ARGUMENTATION DELIBERATION
Express… Listen to understand... Seek common ground
Adapted from Bonnemann, T. (2007)

31. Kiili, C., Coiro, J., & Hämäläinen, J. (2016). An online inquiry tool to support
the exploration of controversial issues on the Internet. Journal of Literacy
and Technology.

33. Features Of The Tool
EVALUATE: Rate
trustworthiness and justify
reasoning (show/hide)
SYNTHESIZE/INTEGRATE:
Weigh conflicting evidence and
organize/integrate arguments
INTEGRATE/COMMUNICATE:
Structure essay to form a cohesive
representation that reflects multiple
perspectives
PLAN: Identify a specific claim
PLAN: Ponder the
kinds of perspectives
from which to
approach the issue at
hand
PLAN: Formulate
more specific
questions for guiding
the online inquiry
LOCATE/ORGANIZE: Focus on
one perspective at a time
(search/read)LOCATE/ORGANIZE: Consider
conflicting sides of an issue
LOCATE/ORGANIZE: Record
source for easy return
LOCATE/ORGANIZE: Build
additional arguments & add
evidence

34. Explicit Instruction in Linking Ideas

35. Data Sources
SAMPLE FILLED=IN ARGUMENT GRAPH

37. S
Looking to the Future
Integrating Online Inquiry, Collaboration, Critical
Evaluation and Multiple Texts Into a
Scenario Based Virtual Task
Coiro, J., Sparks, J., Kiili, C., Castek, J., Lee, C., & Holland, B.
(2019). Capturing dimensions of collaborative online inquiry and
social deliberation with multiple-source inquiry tasks in face-to-
face and remote contexts. Literacy Research: Theory, Method,
and Practice.

39. In summary…
S Being competent at using the internet for learning and
research is challenging, but there are ways technology
(and your teaching) can scaffold and empower students
at any grade level (K-2, 3-6, 5-8, and 7-12)
S Authentic tasks, text-based prompts, explicit modeling,
and digital interfaces provide supported practice in…
S Reading to Learn (Structured Inquiry Tasks) Grades 3-6
S Reading to Judge (Critical Evaluation Tasks) Grades 5-9
S Reading/Arguing to Learn (Integrating Multiple Perspectives
into an argument with the Online Inquiry Tool) Grades 7-12+
How might you begin to support your learners?