ONLINE FUNCTIONAL LITERACY, INTELLIGENT TUTORING SYSTEMS AND SCIENCE EDUCATION

Abstract

We live in a time of transition from print reading (off-line) to screen reading (on-line), where the role of the book and other literature is being taken over by different types of electronic devices (computers, tablets, smart phones). In the lives of young people, there is less and less printed media, because it is being pushed out by electronic media. Most written media that is still used is thus bound to the classroom. However, in recent years schools have also become more like e-schools. It is almost impossible to find a school that does not use e-material in its educational process. Research indicates that there are differences in reading comprehension when reading off-line and on-line. In a study in which 78 students from the 8th grade of elementary school participated at the course Technology and science (n=77; 53.2% female), it was shown that in order to overcome this difference, individualised and adaptive Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) can be used. The evaluation of the results also indicates that, for such a form of ITS, there is still plenty of space for optimisation, which is a permanent method of improvement and upgrade in such systems. Key words: reading comprehension, Technology and science, ITS, elementary school.