Internet-Delivered Reading An Internet-Delivered, Individually Differentiated Reading Program: Effects on Students ’ Literacy Achievement and Technology Skills

Purpose- The present research investigated the effects of a technology enhanced learning system designed to facilitate students ’ reading and technology skills, an area in which there is a paucity of high-quality research (Patterson, Henry, O’Quin, Ceprano, & Blue, 2003). The program examined is an Internet-based learning system that provides daily reading passages to students in grades 2-8. Central to the program’s design is its capacity to deliver reading materials that are on students ’ individually differentiated reading levels. In other words, on any given day all students in a classroom receive a reading selection via the Internet on a single topic (e.g. hurricane Katrina), however, the exact reading level of the selection and its follow-up activities are determined by each student’s individual reading ability. The present research investigated the effects of this program on students ’ literacy and technology skills during a one-year intervention. Theoretical Framework- This investigation is framed from a cognitive processing theoretical framework. A cognitive processing theoretical framework aims to articulate the cognitive elements that comprise the reading process, as well as factors that enhance and impede those aspects of efficient reading. Early cognitive processing theorie