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With the many enhancements to mobile devices, multimedia websites, e-books, interactive graphics, and social media, there鈥檚 no question that the nature of reading has changed during the past decade.

But has the way reading is taught in elementary schools changed as well? And what should teachers be doing to get students ready for the realities of modern reading?

For now, there鈥檚 no consensus on exactly how digital skills should be incorporated into literacy instruction. Practitioners have few guidelines, and many are simply adapting their lessons as they see fit. But many literacy experts do agree on at least one thing: that all students should be learning with a mix of print and digital texts鈥攅ven the very youngest.

鈥淛ust like we teach nonfiction and fiction at a very young age, I think we can talk to preschoolers and kindergartners about different kinds of texts鈥攖his is one where we turn the pages, and this is one where we click on the different pages,鈥� said Kristen Hawley Turner, an associate professor of English education and contemporary literacies at Fordham University.

Exposing students to both print and digital reading early on in school is a way of reflecting what authentic reading looks like, many said.

鈥淚t is the way people read, write, communicate, and learn in the world, so kids should be learning it from the beginning,鈥� said Bridget Dalton, an associate professor of literacy studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 wait till they鈥檙e proficient in one to do the other. It鈥檚 a simultaneous development.鈥�

But unfortunately, experts said, the transition to that way of instruction has been slow going in many places. The word 鈥渞eading鈥� in elementary classrooms often still refers mainly to print.

According to survey data from the 2015 National Assessment of Educational Progress, only about 1 in 10 4th graders use computers to access reading-related websites on a daily basis or nearly every day at school. About 30 percent of students in 4th grade classrooms never, or hardly ever, use computers to access such reading material in school.

鈥淭hink about what happens in the real world, and school is not there, regrettably,鈥� Turner said.

Brenda LeClerc, an elementary reading specialist in Lincoln, R.I., who attended a digital-literacy institute at the University of Rhode Island this past summer, said students in her classes have generally read 鈥渞eally only print-based materials.鈥� She is working to expand her own digital skills because 鈥渆verything outside of school is not print-based for the most part,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 feel like I need to be more comfortable with it.鈥�

Print Skills Plus

Adding digital reading to the already-tough task of teaching elementary students foundational print skills can be daunting, though.

Even students born in a digital age need to learn a host of new skills, including how to operate the devices, navigate online tools, manage distractions, and maintain their own safety and privacy.

鈥淚t鈥檚 challenging. As teachers, we鈥檙e just realizing how much our own reading and writing lives have changed,鈥� said Franki Sibberson, a 3rd grade teacher in Dublin, Ohio, and the vice president of the National Council of Teachers of English.

One of the best ways to teach technical skills is through modeling, many said. Teachers can show students how to use technology by using it themselves and talking out the process.

鈥淭his week, we might be reading a paper book [for a read aloud], and next week, I might read something off my Kindle,鈥� said Kristin Ziemke, a 1st grade teacher at the Academy of St. Benedict the African in Chicago, who also consults with other urban schools as a learning-innovation specialist. 鈥淚 want them to see what it looks like to turn the page, to go back.鈥�

Students, especially the youngest ones, don鈥檛 each need their own device to do that, either. 鈥淥ne device and the projector changes everything for kids and for teachers,鈥� she said.

The transition from looking at words and text in print to viewing it on screen isn鈥檛 hard at all for young students, said Karen Pelekis, a 1st grade teacher in Scarsdale, N.Y. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just a natural extension of how they already see the world. It鈥檚 what they鈥檙e already exposed to.鈥�

Teachers can also use modeling to show young children how to navigate an online space, such as a web-based article with hyperlinks and multimedia.

鈥淲e talk about text features in books鈥攊ndentation, the big first letter at the beginning of a chapter, what a chapter means,鈥� said William L. Bass II, the innovation coordinator for instructional technology, information, and library media for the Parkway district in Chesterfield, Mo. 鈥淏ut what about those text features that are inside of web pages? What is this underlined blue thing? Why did the author choose to make that a link?鈥�

Nonlinear Texts

Perhaps the biggest difference between print and online reading is that the latter introduces decisionmaking.

鈥淧rint reading is very much there鈥檚 a dead end鈥攊t鈥檚 isolated reading,鈥� said Katharine Hale, the instructional-technology coordinator at Gunston Middle School in Arlington, Va. 鈥淒igital reading is more like a 鈥榗hoose your own adventure.鈥� You can click on something else and continue on again.鈥�

In other words, reading goes from being a linear experience in print to being a nonlinear one online. Teachers need to be direct about that difference, experts said, showing students that sometimes it鈥檚 OK to stop and click on a link or watch a video in the middle of an article if it will help them understand the content better.

鈥淲e need to teach young children digital text is hyperlinked and networked, and you go from one place to another, and it鈥檚 not left to right,鈥� said Turner. 鈥淚鈥檝e had students successfully do that in early elementary by having them click on hyperlinks and talking about, where did that take me? The idea is being very explicit and not just assuming they have the knowledge.鈥�

At the same time, students need to see that, while the format is different, the purpose of reading remains the same. 鈥淲hen you think about comprehension strategies, they work whether you鈥檙e reading a blog post or watching video or reading a print book,鈥� said Sibberson, who co-wrote a book with Bass in 2015 called Digital Reading: What鈥檚 Essential in Grades 3-8.

Some studies have shown that students struggle more with comprehension on digital devices than print materials. A 2012 study by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, a research organization for children鈥檚 digital media, found that 3- to 6-year-olds who read interactive e-books with their parents 鈥渞ecalled significantly fewer narrative details than children who read the print version of the same story.鈥�

But some educators chalked that up to students not getting explicit instruction on how to navigate online text and transfer those print comprehension skills. 鈥淚 once had a kid say, 鈥業 didn鈥檛 know we were allowed to think when we read online,鈥� 鈥� said Sibberson. 鈥淭hey need to see it鈥檚 the same thing鈥攕ometimes with online stuff, they think of play.鈥�

Young students also need instruction on how to self-regulate and manage distractions in the online world鈥攚hen to ignore links, close tabs, and stay on one text or app rather than jumping around to others, for example.

鈥淚f you don鈥檛 start thinking early about managing distractions, you鈥檙e going to be building bad habits,鈥� Fordham鈥檚 Turner said.

Search for Texts Online

Just as young students learn to choose books from the library, many experts said they should also learn to search for texts online. But, of course, surfing the web is rife with safety and privacy issues, so elementary students will need to do that in a more limited environment.

Pelekis sets up wiki pages with links related to whatever her 1st graders are studying鈥攆or instance, students can go there to get more information on chicks during a unit on the egg-to-chicken life cycle.

She avoids search engines altogether. 鈥淚 know some people do [use them] but ... I did once, and it鈥檚 a bad mistake I鈥檓 not making again,鈥� she said. Even YouTube鈥檚 education channel can turn up inappropriate content, she said. (And don鈥檛 even think about having students Google the word 鈥渃hicks,鈥� she mentioned offhandedly.)

That said, some teachers want to maintain authenticity in how students search for information online, both because they will need those skills later and because giving students a choice can motivate them to read.

鈥淪o often we say, go to National Geographic Kids, open the article on giraffes, and read it,鈥� said Ziemke, who co-wrote a 2015 book called Amplify! Digital Teaching and Learning in the K-6 Classroom. 鈥淚 noticed I wasn鈥檛 giving students that same choice piece with digital reading [as with print].鈥�

Ziemke now recommends introducing 3rd graders and up to a half-dozen or so vetted educational websites, such as Wonderopolis and Tween Tribune, and giving them free time to search within those for texts they鈥檇 like to read.

By 5th grade, though, Bass says students should have opportunities to really search the web on their own.

Authentic Reading vs. Games

There are countless online games and apps available to help students practice their foundational reading skills鈥攑honics, sight words, vocabulary, among them鈥攁nd teachers have been using them for years. But digital-literacy experts caution that there鈥檚 a difference between using games and having students do authentic online reading.

鈥淧eople ask me what鈥檚 the best sight-word app for 2nd grade, and I say I don鈥檛 know, I don鈥檛 use tech like that,鈥� said Ziemke. 鈥淚鈥檓 not against games by any means, but when I look at where we need to start, we can do so much with modeling daily work and authentic ways of using tech.鈥�

Many games and apps aren鈥檛 much more than 鈥渟ouped-up worksheets,鈥� according to Hale, the instructional-technology coordinator in Virginia.

More-authentic digital-literacy instruction would have students working with the technology that readers and writers use all the time鈥攂logs, social media, movie-making apps, bookmarking tools, audio recorders, virtual bulletin boards, and annotating tools, educators said.

鈥淭here are isolated skills you can learn nicely on the computer, but overall for me, reading is all about thinking, and the more I can get them to think, explore, be curious and interested, and have a desire to read and learn, the technology helps you be able to capture that and extend what they can do in the classroom,鈥� said 1st grade teacher Pelekis.

Classroom Barriers

Needless to say, incorporating digital skills into early reading is easier in some situations than others.

For starters, there鈥檚 the issue of access to digital devices. Many teachers said they simply don鈥檛 have the internet-connected tools they need to get going with online reading.

鈥淲e do have iPad carts and laptop carts, but teachers have to sign up to use them, so you have to work around everyone else鈥檚 schedule,鈥� said Lisa Maucione, a reading specialist for the Dartmouth public schools in Massachusetts, who also attended the digital-literacy institute at URI. 鈥淎nd if there鈥檚 testing, testing is the priority.鈥�

But Turner said devices are the least of teachers鈥� problems. 鈥淎lmost everybody can get at least one device in the classroom whether through grants via DonorsChoose or from the district,鈥� she said. And students can learn the basics they need when a teacher projects the device on a screen and models how to use it.

A bigger issue is that teachers feel hamstrung by policies that don鈥檛 necessarily promote digital reading, some said. Standardized tests do take place on computers now in most states, but they don鈥檛 measure authentic digital skills, such as navigating websites and using search engines. And in many cases, because authentic online reading tasks aren鈥檛 being assessed, teachers in tested grades may not prioritize teaching them.

In addition, many elementary teachers are uncomfortable with their own technology skills, which makes them hesitant to start digital reading with students.

鈥淔or the most part, we were not trained as educators to teach kids who are reading in digital spaces鈥攖hat鈥檚 not part of most teacher-prep courses,鈥� said Bass, the innovation coordinator in Chesterfield. 鈥淲e fall back and rely on the way we were taught, and that鈥檚 a barrier.鈥�

There are also some mindsets that hold teachers back from teaching digital reading. 鈥淚鈥檝e been in classrooms where it鈥檚 not happening at all,鈥� said Ziemke, the 1st grade teacher and consultant. 鈥淭here are people that are waiting it out [until they leave teaching] or saying, 鈥業鈥檓 going to go to a school that鈥檚 not as techy.鈥� 鈥�

And some educators are鈥攗nderstandably鈥攕till attached to the idea of falling in love with print books.

鈥淭here鈥檚 still something very magical about holding a book and being able to flip the page in your hands,鈥� said Hale. 鈥淏ut reading isn鈥檛 just reading print text anymore. Reading is reading the world.鈥�