ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the features of digital texts that require readers to learn practices that differ from those involved in reading print texts, involving an alternative focus to reading instruction. A key issue that is engendering a lot of discussion is the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) notion of close reading which directs the reader back to the print text at different levels of comprehension, citing the importance of evidence in the text. Students can use annotation apps to engage in what Fisher and Cook describe as annotexting, synthesizing responses to and interpretations of texts, as well as sharing these annotations with others. One powerful and flexible approach to annotating can be adapted from a time-tested reading annotation strategy called REAP: Read, Encode, Annotate, and Ponder. Paul Morris uses annotations to foster student's dialogic responses to their reading. To complete their annotations, students used the Diigo social bookmarking or annotation app with their iPads to annotate essays by posing questions.
