Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-2018

DOI

10.24059/olj.v22i2.1222

Publication Title

Online Learning

Volume

22

Issue

2

Pages

221-247

Abstract

This research used an inductive qualitative method to examine how adolescents participated in online literature discussion, with limited guidance from adults, through a summer reading program. Using a New Literacies framework, the authors considered that literacy is social and collaborative and that adolescents often engage in such literacy practices on the Internet outside of school. This study considered these literacy practices to examine an eight-week voluntary online summer reading program at a public library and how such a program might inform such activities in school settings to promote more authentic opportunities for literacy engagement. In this program, 12 adolescents (ages 13-17) read print-based young adult novels and responded to their reading in threaded discussion boards, called book clubs, in a closed, online social network. Results indicated two overlapping themes related to students' formality in writing that promote shared learning and personalize digital discussions to make connections. Researchers found adolescents spontaneously adopted online discussion techniques that hybridized formal discussion practices with more personal practices to encourage emotive transaction with text. These results raised implications for integrating such activities in classroom settings to support all learners and to promote academic literacies.

Comments

NOTE:The Online Learning Journal (OLJ) is an open, peer-reviewed, quarterly journal.

Original Publication Citation

Colwell, J., Woodward, L., & Hutchison, A. (2018). Out-of-school reading and literature discussion: An exploration of adolescents' participation in digital book clubs. Online Learning, 22(2), 221-247. doi:10.24059/olj.v22i2.1222

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