Roles of paper-based reading ability and ICT-related skills in online reading performance

Online reading requires a hybrid of reading and information and communication technology (ICT)-related skills. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of paper-based reading skills and ICT-related skills in online reading and to identify the effects of age on learning online reading. ICT-related skills that investigated in this study were defined as information searching which indicate abilities to locate online information. To verify these relationships, a path analysis model was proposed. The age effect for learning online reading was analyzed through multivariate analysis of variance. In total, 376 children from grades four to six were recruited as participants. A paper-and-pencil reading comprehension test, an online reading test, and a self-reported information searching skill questionnaire were administered. Results showed that paper-based reading and ICT-related skills together could predict almost 50% of online reading performance. However, with respect to online reading, the importance of ICT-related skills was much less than that of paper-based reading skills. Implications of the results are discussed. As for the age factor, it is recommended that an appropriate age for reading and making good use of online information might be around sixth grade.