Visual tracking and the emerging reader

I came across this intriguing article on how our eyes move around on a web page or an app in comparison to how we read text on a page.  I can't find it again in order to share it ;) but, I did some more research on online eye tracking habits.

Sixrevisions.com, which is a web developer's resource, explained how a study on eye tracking helps web traffic: 

Now, my interest in this is in how this eye tracking patterning affects kids learning to read an actual written text. 

My two oldest boys are 11 and 9.  I taught them both to read using the same curriculum, which was before
"apps" or even computer games were targeted to 4 and 5 year olds.  

In fact, my boys had no interest in the computer since they knew there was nothing on it for them!  Snuggled up together, we read books aloud, made up stories using the pictures and all that other creative stuff.  Neither of them had any issues with how to move across the page; this book is laid out well and teaches left to right tracking from the beginning:

(check out mamaofletters.com review  here)

My youngest son who is 5, however, has "grown up" with apps and watching his older brothers play computer games online.  He jumps all over this page when reading! His eyes scan the whole page and he then picks a sound or word to read based on his preferred visual familiarization.

We have a whole new generation of emerging readers who are visually biased and stimulated to page layout and random scanning.  In order to correctly learn to read, then, these students are needing to be retrained in left to right eye tracking on a page.  Unfortunately, studies have shown that reteaching a skill is far more difficult because you have to overcome bad habits and retrain the brain's neural pathways (read How The Brain Learns by David Sousa)   

The method for teaching reading is still effective but the day to day interaction with information has greatly influenced how readers seek information.  Sad to say that the impact of scanning written text will continue to cause reading difficulties.  Eye tracking during reading is a complex and necessary process and the interruption, or competition, of scanning is not building the correct neural pathways for successful reading skills.

On Brain Overload

When you find yourself "zoning out" in the middle of a...........it is usually from mental fatigue!

For many people, the zoning out is just a symptom of something else in overload in our lives.  Once the trigger is identified, you can learn to prevent it.  Others of us are not as fortunate in being able to control the overload and can happen in quite a few areas of our daily lives. 

Here is an living example:  A mid thirties man has a job in a fast paced working environment.  There are job duties that require flexibility and others that depend on set procedures for quality. He is known as "Minute Max" by all the staff.  Some use descriptors such as "flighty, out there, unreliable, or inconsistent."  For a management team that requires great higher order thinking skills and consistency, this great guy is a nightmare to work with.  

Or, take a cheerful young learner who has difficulty learning to read.  By the time she has sounded out all of the five to seven short words in the sentence, she has forgotten the first few words.  Getting flustered, she starts all over again by sounding out all of the words until she gets so disoriented and embarrassed that she just gives up.  Teachers may say she is inconsistent with her abilities and just needs to try harder.

When this "zoning out" seems to become like a label for a lack of ability, the mental fatigue is the symptom of working memory overload.

By adopting the following strategies, it is possible to improve working memory!  Start by reducing the load on your working memory. 

1. Reduce the amount of material to be remembered by:

• finding patterns
• learn material in a variety of ways (hands on, auditory, visual presentations)
• rely on what is already stored in long term memory
• chunk, or group, information as it goes in using patterns and link it to previous knowledge in your long term memory
• prompt recall by rehearsing it and using memory aids

2. Increase the meaningfulness and familiarity of the material

• let automaticity take over for what it knows so your working memory is free to explore and become familiar with the specific content goal.
• use existing knowledge and structure 
• "KISS":  Keep It Simple, Stupid

3. Simplify mental processing

• Support the new with repetition, scaffolding, and memory aids
• modify information for comprehension

4. Restructure complex tasks

• Define simple steps in procedures
• Identify the familiar first
• monitor comprehension

Want to learn more about working memory?  These notes were expounded on from the book Working Memory and Learning by Susan E. Gathercole and Tracy Packiam Alloway published in 2008.

amazon.com

Here's a link to a free online publication by the authors:

Working memory and classroom learning

Some other great links:

Lumosity.com