Page 92 - Štremfel, Urška, ed., 2016. Student (Under)achievement: Perspectives, Approaches, Challenges. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut. Digital Library, Documenta 11.
P. 92
mostly general upper secondary school (gimnazija) students. In technical up-
per secondary schools (strokovna gimnazija) and 4-year technical (vocation-
al) secondary programmes, the majority of students are non-engaged readers
with average learning and metacognitive strategies,5 whereas in 3-year voca-
tional (upper) secondary education the predominant number of students are
non-engaged readers with poor learning and metacognitive strategies. The
problem for students who are not being educated at general upper second-
ary school programmes seems to be their lack of reading engagement (ibid).
Reading motivation is also a highly important factor of reading literacy in
Slovenia. When it comes to 15-year-old Slovenian students, this is an area that
would be worth strengthening, however not only in general upper second-
ary school programmes, but also in short-term and secondary vocational pro-
grammes and in relation to boys who are on average not overly fond of read-
ing. A solution to this problem is by no means unambiguous. However, it is the
author’s belief that a potential source of reading motivation is a greater adjust-
ment of reading to current social circumstances and the needs and activities in
which adolescents are interested and that they feel close to. For this reason the
92 focus of the paper hereafter is on young people’s motivation for reading digi-
tal texts and the use of information and communications technology for edu-
cational purposes.
Digital texts as a Source of Stimulation in Reading?
Changes in Understanding of Reading Literacy
Good reading literacy in today’s world is not only of key importance for dis-
covering the world in printed and also digital texts, which are becoming an
increasingly important part of students’ and adults’ reading material. In 2007,
almost 1.5 billion people, or one fifth of the world population, did some read-
ing on the internet (International Telecommunications Union, 2009). The most
dramatic increase in internet use has occurred in the last five years. Howev-
er, there are considerable differences in the speed of its growth in individual
countries (World Bank, 2007). These differences are not only geographically-re-
lated, but also socially and economically. In all countries of the world, internet
use is closely and positively associated with socio-economic status and educa-
5 Learning strategies within the context of PISA 2009 refer to the memorisation strategies (memoris-
ing a text), elaboration strategies (understanding information better by relating it to previously ac-
quired knowledge) and control strategies (deciphering the most important points and how they
are organised, knowing which concepts they have not understood, looking for similarities and dif-
ferences between concepts etc.). Metacognitive strategies within the context of PISA 2009 refer to
students’being aware of the usability and usefulness of reading strategies, such as text comprehen-
sion, memorisation and summarisation strategies. Meta-cognitive and learning strategies are thus
closely associated. At the same time there is also interest in finding out to what extent students use
memorisation strategies and which of them they evaluate as useful.
student (under)achievement: perspectives, approaches, challenges
per secondary schools (strokovna gimnazija) and 4-year technical (vocation-
al) secondary programmes, the majority of students are non-engaged readers
with average learning and metacognitive strategies,5 whereas in 3-year voca-
tional (upper) secondary education the predominant number of students are
non-engaged readers with poor learning and metacognitive strategies. The
problem for students who are not being educated at general upper second-
ary school programmes seems to be their lack of reading engagement (ibid).
Reading motivation is also a highly important factor of reading literacy in
Slovenia. When it comes to 15-year-old Slovenian students, this is an area that
would be worth strengthening, however not only in general upper second-
ary school programmes, but also in short-term and secondary vocational pro-
grammes and in relation to boys who are on average not overly fond of read-
ing. A solution to this problem is by no means unambiguous. However, it is the
author’s belief that a potential source of reading motivation is a greater adjust-
ment of reading to current social circumstances and the needs and activities in
which adolescents are interested and that they feel close to. For this reason the
92 focus of the paper hereafter is on young people’s motivation for reading digi-
tal texts and the use of information and communications technology for edu-
cational purposes.
Digital texts as a Source of Stimulation in Reading?
Changes in Understanding of Reading Literacy
Good reading literacy in today’s world is not only of key importance for dis-
covering the world in printed and also digital texts, which are becoming an
increasingly important part of students’ and adults’ reading material. In 2007,
almost 1.5 billion people, or one fifth of the world population, did some read-
ing on the internet (International Telecommunications Union, 2009). The most
dramatic increase in internet use has occurred in the last five years. Howev-
er, there are considerable differences in the speed of its growth in individual
countries (World Bank, 2007). These differences are not only geographically-re-
lated, but also socially and economically. In all countries of the world, internet
use is closely and positively associated with socio-economic status and educa-
5 Learning strategies within the context of PISA 2009 refer to the memorisation strategies (memoris-
ing a text), elaboration strategies (understanding information better by relating it to previously ac-
quired knowledge) and control strategies (deciphering the most important points and how they
are organised, knowing which concepts they have not understood, looking for similarities and dif-
ferences between concepts etc.). Metacognitive strategies within the context of PISA 2009 refer to
students’being aware of the usability and usefulness of reading strategies, such as text comprehen-
sion, memorisation and summarisation strategies. Meta-cognitive and learning strategies are thus
closely associated. At the same time there is also interest in finding out to what extent students use
memorisation strategies and which of them they evaluate as useful.
student (under)achievement: perspectives, approaches, challenges
