In July, 2017 I began a discussion about the value of writing out notes / homework in longhand rather than using a keyboard. In July, 2018 I did a blog post about reading from a Kindle vs. from paper where I said that it appears that reading from paper uses the brain differently than reading from a screen.
This posting is in the same vein. The article that I recently read begins with this intriguing quote:
“If you want to make sure that you understand this story as fully as possible, you might consider printing the article and reading it on paper. That is one of the findings of a recent study of research done on the differences between paper and screen reading.”
It then goes on to explain the study. Virginia Clinton, who is a professor of Education, Health and Behavior at the University of North Dakota did the research. She found what she called a “small but significant” difference in reading text from screen versus paper. Her findings were recently published in the Journal of Research in Reading and she has presented her findings at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association.
“Clinton’s examination found that reading from paper generally led to better understanding and improved a person’s performance on tests connected to the reading material. And, she found no major differences in reading speed between the two. In other words, paper reading was found to be more efficient. Such differences were notable only when the reading materials were expository texts– or explanatory and based on fact. Clinton said she found no major difference when it came to narrative, fictional texts.”
In other words, there was only a difference when deeper reading was required and this did not carry over to lighter reading.
Clinton also talks about the importance of metacognition (thinking about thinking) and she says that screen readers often think they have understood a text better than they actually have.
There are other good ideas in this article and I encourage you to read it for yourself (or maybe PRINT it, and then read it!).
This discussion is especially important in light of the fact that more and more schools are leaving textbooks behind in favor of digital reading and that concerns me because I am not sure of the effects of screen reading on the depth of reading and comprehension of a text.
Here is the link: https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/study-paper-reading-more-effective-than-screen-reading/4876473.html
