First things first. What is reading? It's a relatively simple question that nonetheless stopped us in our tracks. I mean, what is reading? We just take it for granted that when we pick up a book, we'd just see the alphabets and comprehend their meaning and voila! That is reading!
But no, reading is, according to my lecture notes, the process of simultaneously extracting and constructing meaning through interaction and involvement with written language.
Tough stuff. =P
Anyhow. I've chosen to discuss reading for pleasure cos, honestly, that's the only reason I want to read at all. An example of what I read for pleasure would be poems, at an online poetry workshop - http://poetrycritical.net/
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As far as the comprehension process goes, internet reading and 'proper' reading (books, etc) isn't much different, therefore no new skills are needed beyond the ability to surf the internet. It is, perhaps, easier to understand the poetry when it is online, because when one is on the internet, there is easy access to online dictionaries, or even other poetry sites which one can use to compare, i don't know, styles of poetry or something. However, this site can be considered 'web-based learning', only it is the poet who learns, not the reader. As it is an online poetry workshop, the level of interaction between the poet and his or her readers is very high, compared to if it was a published piece of work, as it is possible to leave comments regarding the work. And learning-wise, again, there is no new skill needed to learn, only the ability to actually use the internet and a computer. So it is not that different skills are needed, per se, just additional ones.
I hope I make sense.
