Navigating the future: New and complex skills for reading and viewing digital online texts

Our work focuses on the ever-changing textual landscape for learning in school and the significantly new and complex skills required as primary and secondary students read and view digital online texts. For the last decade and a half Kress (2003) has stressed that reading and viewing digital online texts requires more knowledges and skills than reading and viewing traditional print based texts. Digital online texts can be one of a number of forms, such as linear, hyperlinked or interactive. The rest of the paper explains the points of difference between linear, hyperlinked and interactive digital online texts and advocates for teachers to scaffold primary and secondary students through the specialised demands for reading and viewing these texts. The concluding section provides some examples of teaching strategies for working with students to manage the ever-changing demands of reading and viewing digital online texts.