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Thank you to the one that shared this article! Lots of great links to check too.

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The message for readers of all ages is clear: reading medium matters. Adult readers need to be more critically aware of the choices and reading strategies they use with the different reading media available to them. In this post, Natalia Kucirkova explains why emergent or young readers need to be provided with high-quality print and digital books, and optimal ways for their use at home or schools. Natalia Kucirkova is Professor of Early Childhood Education and Development at the University of Stavanger, Norway and Senior Research Fellow at the University College London, UK. Natalia's research concerns ways of supporting children's book reading, digital literacy and exploring the role of personalisation in early years. She co-edits the Bloomsbury Book Series Children's Reading and Writing on Screen and the journal Literacy published by Wiley. She leads the International Collective of Research and Design in Children's Digital Books.

In her recently published book Reader Come Home, Professor Maryanne Wolf cautions against screens taking over reading on paper. She calls readers to return to the deep reading processes activated when reading on paper and in particular for high-quality, long texts. Professor Wolf is an authority in reading research and currently acts as the director of the Center for Dyslexia, Diverse Learners, and Social Justice in the USA. In her book she has mobilised an impressive body of evidence to highlight how screens affect the reading process. She is worried that the more we read short automated texts on screen, the more our reading shifts towards skimming. This means that we will be less able to read long literary texts and benefit from the cognitive processes that deep reading affords. Wolf zooms in on the "deep reading" processes that, in her definition, consist of internalised knowledge, analogical reasoning, and inference; perspective-taking and empathy; critical analysis and the generation of insight. Wolf's main argument is that these processes are threatened by the digital medium of reading, notably interactive touchscreens, with distracting hyperlinks.

There is no doubt that reading matters a great deal. To be able to read is to be able to fully participate in the modern society and lead a meaningful life. Teaching children to read and enjoy books is the primary goal of early childhood education. International reading/literacy organisations (e.g. Book Trust), promote the love of reading even before children are born (e.g. Bookstart Bump, read to your bump). For decades, reading researchers have identified barriers to reading and ways of counteracting them. Traditional risk factors include limited access to books at home, or a poor home learning environment. A recent risk factor are screens: tablets, smartphones, video consoles and other modern technologies.

There is a concern in some quarters that children's activities with screens will replace their reading of books. There is a concern that the habit of skimming digital texts will carry over to reading on paper. These are valid concerns but they are not substantiated by research and they omit the important role of context and individual readers in driving change. Clearly, positioning paper books as superior to digital books offers a more convenient explanation than turning the mirror towards ourselves. Screens were cited as the reason for US teens' declined interest in reading but as Jordan Shapiro bluntly puts it: "...it is easier to frame the story as paper vs. digital. It gives us permission not to engage with our kids. We can blame the video games and apps rather than blaming ourselves."

There are many experimental studies that compared reading on paper versus reading on screen and found a difference in readers' performance. Two meta-analyses summarised the evidence for adult readers ( Clinton, 2019 and Delgado et al., 2018) but did not provide explanations for why the difference occurs. There could be a difference because of the way gains were measured (methodological reasons) and/or because of how gains were defined (theoretical reasons). Clinton's meta-analysis provides some explanation in that it compares fictional and expository texts and detects a negative effect on reading performance for expository texts only. She reflects on the difference and suggests "contextual cue" as a possible reason for different reading performance with reading expository texts on screen. The readers' awareness of how they read on screen (and the calibration process they engage in when reading on screen), might be the sources of the print-versus-screen difference, Clinton suggests. This process is called meta-cognition and it influences your impressions of how much you understood the text you read, how much you focused on the text, whether you skimmed it or not and many other factors. The calibration process is not dependent on the digital medium but on the readers' preference: if you prefer to read this blog printed out on a piece of paper, your awareness of reading on a screen is influenced by this preference.

The chain of influences is an essential piece of understanding for the debates on reading on and off-screen. It is a continuation of a long argument in media studies where one camp of researchers focuses on metacognition and another camp of researchers on the inherent characteristics of the medium. Intentionally or not, Wolf follows in footsteps of Herbert Marshall McLuhan, a communication theorist famous in the 1960s, who represents the "medium is the message" camp. In his early writings, McLuhen insisted on the causalities and effects inherent in technologies. In his later writings, McLuhan extended his concern with the digital medium to the trends observable in the modern society such as heightened individualism, nationalism and their threat to democracy. In Reader Come Home, Wolf expands her concern around time spent on screens to wider concerns.

I am not at home with this concern (forgive the pun). To me, Wolf's engaging writing style makes for enjoyable reading, and the book's availability as a Kindle and paperback gives me a choice to enjoy it in a format of my preference. In my review of her book, I applaud Wolf's endeavour to present a clear case on why the concerns around reading on screen need to be addressed by researchers, communities and policy-makers. I suggest giving more voice to research that focuses on features that are present in both print and digital reading, such as interactivity, materiality or personalisation. I also highlight the interplay of content and format in affecting children's story comprehension and caution that the privileged status of written stories for developing children's empathy has not been confirmed by research yet.

The 'home' that Wolf invites readers to, will be invariably different for different readers. The screen introduced hyperlinks, large collections of e-books, automatic possibility for translation, multimedia representations of meaning. Despite many gloomy predictions, the presence of children's e-books and story apps generated a surge of interest in children's print books. Recent research by the National Literacy Trust in the UK shows that it is not the reading medium but readers' motivation that explains their reading habits: skilled readers read a lot and well both on paper and screen.

It seems to me that before we write the new digital paths off, we need to explore them in more depth. Children and adults have different experiences with screen media. With young children, it is parents' attitudes towards children's e-books that mediate their access of books and length of time they spend with them ( perhaps not surprisingly parents of youngest children prefer print books). For children born after 2010, seeing their family members reading on screen is as common, if not more common, than reading on paper. Their first encounter with stories, written, audio, visual and multimedia, happens as much with as without screens. These children are less aware of the disconnect between a digital and non-digital reading medium than any generation of children before them. It follows that they have different preferences, different resources for calibration, different lived examples of reading around them. Given the widely reported low quality of children's e-books, our research group focuses on maximising the learning opportunities with digital books and encouraging more and high-quality reading in local languages.

Without a doubt, readers will not be able to enjoy new reading adventures if they do not have a solid foundation. But as for how and where the reading adventures take us, there are courses for horses: different books work for different readers. The 'home sweet home' for reading in the digital age is the provision of, and the practice in the use, of high-quality texts on and off screen.
This post gives the views of the authors and does not represent the position of the LSE Parenting for a Digital Future blog, nor of the London School of Economics and Political Science.
About the author

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Why the debate on reading print versus digital books needs to change

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The message for readers of all ages is clear: reading medium matters. Adult readers need to be more critically aware of the choices and reading strategies they use with the different reading media available to them.

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Review these 4 links-
How would you categorize the information?

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To guide us...Outcomes stated in Session 1

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To guide us...Outcomes stated in Session 1

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Someone mentioned vision statement... thoughts?
These outcomes are guiding the work so far- are these enough? Do we need a vision statement (or belief statement, tenet, creed, etc.) to explain what we are preparing and promoting?

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How can we communicate this digital reading work with teachers?

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Within the scope of a professional growth plan, teachers and school administrators can undertake a range of professional learning activities including reading professional journals, trying out new practices in the classroom and joining professional organizations. Below is a list of professional development activities that can be undertaken individually or collaboratively as part of a professional development plan. In the past, professional development focused on individual development, workshops, inservice and external delivery systems. Today, the emphasis is on school-based activities such as coaching, partnerships and team/group development.

Action Research

In undertaking action research, educators begin by asking how current practice might be improved. They then study the relevant literature and research to select an approach that might improve current practice.

Teachers often use their classrooms as research sites. For example, teachers might teach a concept in different ways to determine which had the greatest effect on student learning. Likewise, teachers might experiment to see what approach is most effective in facilitating cooperative learning among students.

Administrators can use action research to address issues related to their leadership role in schools. Action research is a reflective strategy that requires the collection of qualitative and quantative data, which can lead to enhanced practice.

Teachers can engage in successful mini-research projects in their classrooms, while administrators can use schools, individually or collectively, as research sites. This "action" research often helps identify which techniques work best for particular students. Action research helps teachers to theorize from teaching practice and experience and redefine teaching as an autonomous form of inquiry. For more information on action research, consult the ATA document Action Research Guide for Alberta Teachers .

Book Study

Book study groups are an effective form of professional development that educators at all levels can use to facilitate their professional growth. Book studies work best if the participants have similar skills and interests. However, varying viewpoints are important because they inject diversity of opinion and enliven discussion. One of the first matters on which the group must reach consensus is a schedule for reading and discussion. If the book study is to consist of four to eight meetings in all, then each meeting should last between 60 and 90 minutes. Choose a book on a topic that interests everyone in the group but that is sufficiently open-ended to encourage new learning through reading and discussion. The book should be thought-provoking and have enough depth to stimulate debate. At the conclusion of the book study, ask the following questions: Did the book stimulate thought and discussion? Did the group study meet the learning objectives? How might the group study experience be improved?

Classroom/School Visitation

Teachers visit the classrooms of colleagues to view innovative teaching practices and expand and refine their own personal pedagogy. For classroom visitations to occur, school boards must be willing to engage substitute teachers.

School administrators may benefit from visiting a school in the jurisdiction or another jurisdiction to view the facility, explore alternatives for organizing resources and discuss leadership strategies with the hosting school administrator.

Classroom and school visitations may range from a single day up to two weeks and/or multiple visits over time.

Collaborative Curriculum Development

Collaborative curriculum development provides a unique opportunity for teachers to delve deeply into their subject matter. Working together, teachers can design new planning materials, teaching methods, resource materials and assessment tools.

Conference Audio Tapes

Conference audio tapes provide teachers who are unable to attend a national or international conference with an opportunity to learn new ideas from experts. Most organizations make available information on sessions or proceedings through audio cassettes, CD-ROMs, and MP3s.

Conferences

Conferences can provide very effective professional development opportunities, particularly when they are part of a teacher's ongoing professional development plan. A detailed listing of selectedconferences is located on the ATA online events calendar.

Community/Service Organizations

Community and/or service organizations provide an opportunity for teachers and school administrators to develop leadership skills and gain important knowledge related to their role and community context. Examples of community/service organizations include church, service clubs, 4-H, Scouts, Girl Guides and sporting groups.

Curriculum Mapping

Curriculum maps are tools to organize teaching. They outline a sequence for delivering content and provide a clear scope for what must be taught to all students as specified in the provincial curriculum. Curriculum maps, which can be aligned both horizontally and vertically, organize content, skills, assessments, and resources over time. A curriculum map can also serve as a tool for collecting data about the implemented curriculum in a school and in a district-the instruction that students are receiving. By mapping what's actually taught and when and aligning it with assessment data, teachers can modify instruction ( Educational Leadership, December 2003/January 2004).

Data Analysis

Educators use data to inform their professional practice, that is, to make decisions about what to teach, how to teach it and how to determine whether students have learned what was taught. Data come from a variety of sources. Some data help determine the degree to which an individual student or a group of students has achieved specific standards as measured by teacher-made tests and assignments, norm-referenced tests, student portfolios, observation surveys and other sources. Other data provide insight into contextual factors such as language proficiency, preschool experience, attendance patterns and family support that may influence student achievement. Still other data provide insight into structures, attitudes and practices that comprise the school program-factors such as curriculum organization, instructional strategies, assessment practices, report card, course completion rates and school satisfaction surveys. Reliable data are multi-sourced, relevant, timely and consistent.

Examining Student Work

Student work provides teachers with a critical source of information about how a student is learning, developing, acquiring new knowledge and applying new skill sets. Student work includes such items as writing samples, projects, oral reports and pictures. Thinking analytically about the work can give teachers greater insights into teaching and learning. The information can also be used in study groups.

Education Exchange

The Alberta Teachers' Association administers the International Education Exchange Programs (IEEP) under the existing exchange agreements between Alberta Education and its international counterparts and the Ministry of Education in Quebec. Calendar year and short-term exchanges are offered in a number of countries. All costs of the program are borne by the participant but the benefits of an exchange are both personal and professional. More information.

Focused Conversations

Focused conversation is a four-stage process that can help people reflect together about any issue, large or small. A facilitator leads the conversation and asks a series of questions that elicit responses that take the group from the surface of a topic to its in-depth implications.

Hosting a Student Teacher

Hosting a student teacher is a form of mentoring, except that the experienced teacher has an obligation to focus on supporting the development of standards related to interim certification. All Alberta universities provide a handbook and orientation workshops for host teachers that outline the expectations for field experiences. Host teachers are ultimately responsible for their students and therefore must closely supervise what the student teacher does with respect to lesson planning, classroom instruction and student evaluation. Student teachers do not have teaching certificates and, therefore, should not, under any circumstances, be allowed to act as substitute teachers.

Integrated Curriculum Planning

The terms "integrated curriculum planning," "interdisciplinary teaching" and "thematic teaching" are often used synonymously. The teacher organizes curriculum so that it cuts across subject-matter lines, bringing topics into meaningful association and allowing students to focus on broad areas of study. Integrated curriculum planning includes these features:

An emphasis on projects

Sources that go beyond textbooks

Relationships among concepts

Thematic units as organizing principles

Flexible schedules

Flexible student groupings

Internet Research

The Internet provides access to a wealth of information on countless topics contributed by people throughout the world. On the Internet, a user has access to a wide variety of services: vast information sources, electronic mail, file transfer, group memberships based on interest, interactive collaboration and multimedia displays. However, Internet research has a number of limitations. Because the Internet is a self-publishing medium, anyone with minimal technical skills and access to a host computer can publish content. Furthermore, Internet sites change over time according to the commitment and inclination of the creator. Some sites demonstrate an expert's knowledge, while others are amateur efforts. Some may be updated daily, while others may be outdated.

Journaling

Journalling is a technique for recording observations and reflections. The entries may be related to teaching, student growth, the implementation of a new initiative or any subject for which a teacher may want to develop a record. The journal can provide a rich, qualitative record of events and activities.

Lesson Study

Lesson study is a professional development process that Japanese teachers engage in to systematically examine and improve their practice. In this process, teachers work collaboratively to plan, teach, observe and critique a small number of study lessons. To provide focus and direction to this work, teachers select an overarching goal and related research question that they want to explore. This research question guides their work on all the study lessons. Teachers then jointly draw up a detailed plan for the lesson that one of the teachers delivers to students in a real classroom. Other group members observe the lesson. The group then meets to discuss their observations. Often, the group revises the lesson, and another teacher delivers it in a second classroom, while group members again look on. The group then meets again to discuss the observed instruction. Finally, the teachers produce a report of what their study lessons have taught them, particularly with respect to their research question.

Leadership Development Programs

Leadership development programs are generally designed to provide teachers aspiring to school or district administration with an opportunity to learn about various aspects of the role and thus increase the pool of applicants for leadership positions. These programs may be locally developed within the school jurisdiction, in partnership with the ATA local or offered at a provincial level by the ATA, CASS or regional consortia. Some programs may be recognized by universities for postgraduate credit and participants are encouraged to confirm these arrangements with the university in question.

Mentors and Mentorship

Mentoring is a confidential process through which an experienced professional provides another with information, support, feedback and assistance for the purpose of refining present skills, developing new ones and enhancing problem solving and decision making in a way that promotes professional development.

Studies on beginning teachers demonstrate that the first three years of teaching play a crucial role in shaping a teacher's perception of the profession and in helping the teacher decide whether to stay or leave. Beginning teachers are in greatest need of the support that will enhance their classroom management and instructional skills. They also need support systems that will help them see teaching as a collegial, rather than an isolated, endeavour. Mentors can provide the advice, suggestions and constructive feedback that can make the difference between whether a new teacher succeeds or fails. More information on mentoring is available in the ATA publication Mentoring Beginning Teachers: Program Handbook .

School administrators who are new to administration or new to the school district, veteran administrators in the first few years in the role, or vice-principals aspiring to become school administrators can find mentorship supportive and beneficial to the development of their leadership practice. Mentorship is most beneficial when it is based on an action plan that includes goals and strategies. More information on mentorship for leadership is available in the ATA publication Administrator Mentorship Handbook.

Mentoring is an effective process to support teachers whether they are new to the profession, new to a curriculum or grade level, or new to an administrative designation. According to the provincial Teacher Growth, Supervision and Evaluation policy, a plan for teacher mentorship can be the teacher's professional growth plan.

Networks

Effective professional development initiatives use a variety of communication networks and strategies. The vertical and horizontal boundaries at the school and system level must become interrelated and mutually supportive.

Electronic networks can respond to educators' needs to communicate with a larger and more diverse group of educators beyond the staff at their own schools. A computer, a modem and access to a telephone line can link teachers to the electronic village. Open systems can connect teachers to existing online libraries, databases, list servers and other communication systems.

Participants can discuss such issues as evaluation and assessment, technology across the curriculum, environmental and global education, second language instruction, conflict resolution, school leadership and school-based research.

Online PD Programs

Some organizations and postsecondary institutions have developed online courses, tutorials and self-guided programs for teacher professional development. Most programs have a registration fee.

Peer Coaching

Teachers and school administrators solicit and receive feedback about their practices after being observed by a peer or other observer. Observation and assessment encourage educators to reflect on their everyday professional lives and can take many forms. Reflective writing and discussion allow educators to develop ideas that can be integrated into their evolving personal pedagogy and professional practice.

Post-Secondary Courses

Teachers interested in continuing their academic development can register for credit courses offered by postsecondary institutions. Some programs are offered using outreach or online strategies. Teachers should consult the Teacher Qualifications Service to determine the credit that they will receive for taking a particular course.

Professional Books and Journals

The ATA library offers an excellent collection of professional books and journals available to members. Visit the online catalogue for a complete list of titles. The Association has purchased access for its members to three online periodical databases containing more than 3,000 titles. Members can access these resources through the Members Only portion of the ATA website at

Professional Development Schools

Professional Development Schools are schools that collaborate with a university. The faculty and staff of the university work directly with field-based practitioners on problems and issues relevant to the everyday practices of teachers, schools and school systems. Universities play an active role in graduate education and professional certification.

Through their ongoing communication with teachers, principals, consultants and superintendents, faculty members help to identify trends and challenges. Field development projects are collaboratively formulated between school boards and university personnel and may involve a combination of the following activities: problem framing, planning, delivery of PD sessions, ongoing school support, board committee membership and project evaluation.

Professional Organizations

Many organizations offer publications and professional development programs for teachers, among them the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), Phi Delta Kappa, the National Staff Development Council (NSDC), the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) and the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).

Professional Portfolios

Professional portfolios are collections of credentials, artifacts and reflections that document a teacher's professional practice. Some teachers and school administratorshave used the portfolio development process to reflect on and improve their professional practice.

Regional Professional Development Consortia

Alberta Education funds six regional professional development consortia. The purpose of these consortia is to provide professional development and curriculum inservice to teachers in the K-12 system. Each consortium publishes regular program bulletins and maintains a website describing its program. More information is available from the Alberta Regional PD Consortium website.

School Improvement Teams

Changes in school organization and roles within the school require teachers to rethink what professional development means and who controls it. Decentralized decision-making affords the opportunity to explore the talent that resides within the school. The Alberta Initiative for School Improvement (AISI) provides schools with the opportunity to address contextual school issues using a process of strategic planning and action research. Strategic planning empowers all members of the school community-administrators, teachers, paraprofessionals, support staff, parents, trustees and other stakeholders-by enabling them to build their future exactly as they want it at the professional and personal levels. The strategic planning process also involves reaching a consensus on the expectations of the organizations. The value of strategic planning depends on the extent to which the school administration and staff are willing to change and to invest the time required to bring about that change.

School-Based Professional Development Workshops

The ATA offers a wide range of professional development workshops designed for school staffs. These workshops can be offered as full- or half-day sessions or as part of an ongoing program of school-based professional development. Find out more about ATA workshops .

Self-Reflection

Self-reflection is a critical skill for the ongoing development of one's professional practice. Many effective teachers use three levels of reflection: reflection on action, reflection for action and reflection in action. Self-reflection can be broken down into the following four steps: (1) problem identification, during which teachers identify a problem or question about their practice that they are motivated to address; (2) information gathering, during which teachers collect data to inform the area of practice; (3) reflection and decision-making, during which teachers attempt to find meaning in the data through reflection and analysis; and (4) application and change, during which teachers plan how to improve their practice. Self-reflection can be combined with other PD strategies such as action research, journalling and developing a professional portfolio.

Specialist Councils

The ATA sponsors 22 specialist councils whose mandate is to promote the professional development of teachers in a particular specialty. Specialist councils publish journals and newsletters, organize regional professional development activities and sponsor annual provincial conferences. Find out more about specialist councils.

Study Groups

Study groups involve small groups of educators who meet regularly to work on a predetermined project. This approach to professional development benefits both teachers and administrators by bringing colleagues together to undertake in a group setting a task that they would normally do in isolation. The optimum size for a study group is about six so that each participant is equally responsible for the success of the group.

Commitment to a study group is greatly enhanced when participants are directly involved in setting the task and its parameters. Whether the task chosen is implementing a new curriculum, demonstrating the use of math manipulatives, researching theories of teaching and learning, or studying strategies for school administration, the group must stay focused on its purpose-to create an environment conducive to student learning. The study group provides the structure; the participants concentrate on content.

To implement a study group, follow these steps:

1. Define the task.

2. Set regular meeting times and places.

3. Establish appropriate meeting behaviours.

4. Create an action plan.

5. Choose a shared decision-making process.

6. Contemplate appropriate leadership roles.

7. Promote a climate of shared commitment.

8. Consider logistics of time, space and money.

9. Discuss criteria for achieving and evaluating goals.

As the work of the study group progresses, participants may decide to redefine goals or to invite a specialist to attend a scheduled meeting. Study groups work best in a collaborative environment that allows for intellectual exchange and shared experience.

Summer Institutes

Summer institutes provide teachers with an opportunity to immerse themselves in a curriculum or pedagogical topic for an extended period of time. Most summer institutes are three or more days in length and some are offered for university credit. Summer institutes are organized by most PD organizations in the province. Teachers are encouraged to contact these organizations directly for more information.

Educational Leadership Academy (ELA) is a summer institute, offered by the Association in collaboration with the Council on School Administration (CSA), for school administrators and those aspiring to administration. Find out more about

Symposia, Institutes and Retreats

Institutes are intensive, specialized sessions that focus on one topic or issue. Institutes and retreats provide opportunities for teachers to learn new teaching strategies and techniques and to explore in depth with colleagues different dimensions of their profession.

Teachers' Conventions

Local, provincial and national conferences provide a forum in which ideas can be debated, analyzed and sometimes validated. They can inspire, motivate and create feelings of renewal. Some school staffs participate in conferences and seminars as groups and then meet to discuss what they learned and how it can improve student learning and classroom practice. Find out more about Teachers' Conventions .

Training Trainers/Lead Teachers

One role of the teacher trainer is to help a group of teachers identify a project that is meaningful to them and then work through the steps required to carry it out: implementing curriculum, conducting research, holding workshops and establishing new lines of communication among staff. By engaging in such group processes as consensus building, vision building and conflict resolution, teacher trainers model ways for teachers and administrators to develop and hone their collaboration skills.

Video Conferencing

Video conferencing enables teachers to consult with their peers when distance would otherwise prevent them from doing so. Video conferencing can be used to facilitate study groups, analyze student work, participate in workshops and view presentations.

Viewing Educational Videos

The ATA Library has a wide selection of professional development videos that teachers anywhere in the province can borrow. Most educational videos have a facilitator's manual and workshop material that group leaders can use to offer professional development at a time that is convenient for the group.

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Within the scope of a professional growth plan, teachers and school administrators can undertake a range of professional learning activities including reading professional journals, trying out new practices in the classroom and joining professional organizations. Below is a list of professional development activities that can be undertaken individually or collaboratively as part of a professional development plan.

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Although current surveys show faculty have no preference about whether students buy digital or print books, that could change in light of new research from a pair of reading experts at the University of Maryland.

UMD's Lauren Singer and Patricia Alexander published a piece in Conversation in October, 2017, which ran in the Chicago Tribune, Business Insider and other popular publications. It offers details from three studies that compared print and digital comprehension among college students reading newspaper articles and fiction excerpts.

The studies showed students read digital formats faster - at a cost. Students gleaned the main idea from digital texts as well as they did from print. But they absorbed fewer details, which suggests students are much better off reading print for in-depth, university-level study.

Students believed their comprehension of the digital texts was better, however, so it's not surprising that they overwhelmingly preferred digital to print, too. Most of us are more likely to favor formats that give us a sense of competence.

A bind for instructors and administrators

Digital bias could present a challenge for teachers who want to encourage deeper reading and for administrators who want to see improved outcomes. Faculty will either force students to purchase print textbooks for classes - which could raise student costs - or they'll aim to persuade them that slower reading is better.

The latter could be especially difficult, if not impossible. Students' preference for fast reading stems, at least partly, from years of experience with timed standardized tests. By virtue of design, such tests shape the impression that speed is synonymous with skill. In-class teacher-made assessments are often timed, too, which gives students the idea from an early age that reading slowly is the same as reading badly.

In college-level courses, nothing could be further from the truth. Comprehending a complex literary text, for instance, requires multiple levels of reading. In many cases, it's wise for a student to stop and think - visualize what's happening or reread key passages to uncover layers of possible meaning. In my experience, many students have been trained to believe that reading slowly and rereading means they're stupid. Or, they express the view that challenging materials, which can't be easily skimmed, are too hard. Such books should have been written "better," they say.

A teacher's best choice for now might be to adopt only print titles. They can reduce the student costs if they avoid the newest editions and order their texts early enough in the semester to guarantee a large selection of used books.

However, being forced to use print might upset students- and not just because an increasing number of digital natives come from high schools with 1:1 tablet programs. After years of being rewarded for fast reading, it would be hard to accept the notion of slowing down, even if a teacher has said it will improve retention.

Reimagining eBooks

Developers of digital textbooks might offer a solution for this bind, if they draw on recent research into the mechanics of reading - studies of the way our eyes move while ingesting lines on a screen or a page.

Digital books are typically designed to mimic the print experience: black words on a white screen. This limits the potential virtual texts may have for improving our comprehension, according to a 2016 article in the Atlantic, which cites research from Stanford and the University of Texas at Austin.

It's possible to engineer digital texts in a way that makes up for physiological differences, which have an impact on comprehension. Strategically adding color to words, for instance, helps the eyes "sweep" across the text more efficiently. It helps us take in more meaning faster.

"We all take in information in different ways. Some people read more quickly and retain more information when lines are shorter, or when fonts are bolder, or in different colors," the article points out.

Linguist Nick Lum developed a product called BeeLine, which changes word colors onscreen in a way that increases the accuracy of our eye movements. BeeLine has found a great following among readers diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD.

As course materials consultant Kim Miner pointed out in a recent Spotlight article, more people may prefer digital as the technology evolves.

"When the readers and the technology for the readers become more advanced, we'll see digital blow up even more than it is now," she said.

Any advancement that increases students' capacity to absorb challenging material will undoubtedly curry favor among K-12 and college educators alike.

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Print Versus Digital: What Does the Latest Research Tell Us?

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Although current surveys show faculty have no preference about whether students buy digital or print books, that could change in light of new research from a pair of reading experts at the University of Maryland. UMD's Lauren Singer and Patricia Alexander published a piece in Conversation in October, 2017, which ran in the Chicago Tribune, Business Insider and other popular publications.

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Reading in a Digital World - Vialogue Discussion Space. This is not required- if interested. 

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This website uses cookies and similar technologies to understand visitors' experiences. By continuing to use this website, you accept our use of cookies and similar technologies, Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.

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On Wednesday, February 24th, Children and Screens hosted an action-packed "Ask the Experts" webinar, "Oh, The Places They'll Go? Reading in a Digital World." From the workshop's forward to its epilogue, a group of esteemed reading experts engaged in a thought-provoking and insightful conversation about the current research on digital reading behavior, as well as the role of reading both on- and off-screen on cognitive development, language acquisition, and more.

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Read if interested- more research and information.
https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/how-should-reading-be-taught-in-a-digital-era/2016/11

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With the many enhancements to mobile devices, multimedia websites, e-books, interactive graphics, and social media, there's no question that the nature of reading has changed during the past decade.

But has the way reading is taught in elementary schools changed as well? And what should teachers be doing to get students ready for the realities of modern reading?

For now, there's no consensus on exactly how digital skills should be incorporated into literacy instruction. Practitioners have few guidelines, and many are simply adapting their lessons as they see fit. But many literacy experts do agree on at least one thing: that all students should be learning with a mix of print and digital texts-even the very youngest.

"Just like we teach nonfiction and fiction at a very young age, I think we can talk to preschoolers and kindergartners about different kinds of texts-this is one where we turn the pages, and this is one where we click on the different pages," said Kristen Hawley Turner, an associate professor of English education and contemporary literacies at Fordham University.

Exposing students to both print and digital reading early on in school is a way of reflecting what authentic reading looks like, many said.

"It is the way people read, write, communicate, and learn in the world, so kids should be learning it from the beginning," said Bridget Dalton, an associate professor of literacy studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder. "You don't wait till they're proficient in one to do the other. It's a simultaneous development."

But unfortunately, experts said, the transition to that way of instruction has been slow going in many places. The word "reading" in elementary classrooms often still refers mainly to print.

According to survey data from the 2015 National Assessment of Educational Progress, only about 1 in 10 4th graders use computers to access reading-related websites on a daily basis or nearly every day at school. About 30 percent of students in 4th grade classrooms never, or hardly ever, use computers to access such reading material in school.

"Think about what happens in the real world, and school is not there, regrettably," Turner said.

Brenda LeClerc, an elementary reading specialist in Lincoln, R.I., who attended a digital-literacy institute at the University of Rhode Island this past summer, said students in her classes have generally read "really only print-based materials." She is working to expand her own digital skills because "everything outside of school is not print-based for the most part," she said. "I feel like I need to be more comfortable with it."

Print Skills Plus

Adding digital reading to the already-tough task of teaching elementary students foundational print skills can be daunting, though.

Even students born in a digital age need to learn a host of new skills, including how to operate the devices, navigate online tools, manage distractions, and maintain their own safety and privacy.

"It's challenging. As teachers, we're just realizing how much our own reading and writing lives have changed," said Franki Sibberson, a 3rd grade teacher in Dublin, Ohio, and the vice president of the National Council of Teachers of English.

One of the best ways to teach technical skills is through modeling, many said. Teachers can show students how to use technology by using it themselves and talking out the process.

"This week, we might be reading a paper book [for a read aloud], and next week, I might read something off my Kindle," said Kristin Ziemke, a 1st grade teacher at the Academy of St. Benedict the African in Chicago, who also consults with other urban schools as a learning-innovation specialist. "I want them to see what it looks like to turn the page, to go back."

Students, especially the youngest ones, don't each need their own device to do that, either. "One device and the projector changes everything for kids and for teachers," she said.

The transition from looking at words and text in print to viewing it on screen isn't hard at all for young students, said Karen Pelekis, a 1st grade teacher in Scarsdale, N.Y. "It's just a natural extension of how they already see the world. It's what they're already exposed to."

Teachers can also use modeling to show young children how to navigate an online space, such as a web-based article with hyperlinks and multimedia.

"We talk about text features in books-indentation, the big first letter at the beginning of a chapter, what a chapter means," said William L. Bass II, the innovation coordinator for instructional technology, information, and library media for the Parkway district in Chesterfield, Mo. "But what about those text features that are inside of web pages? What is this underlined blue thing? Why did the author choose to make that a link?"

Nonlinear Texts

Perhaps the biggest difference between print and online reading is that the latter introduces decisionmaking.

"Print reading is very much there's a dead end-it's isolated reading," said Katharine Hale, the instructional-technology coordinator at Gunston Middle School in Arlington, Va. "Digital reading is more like a 'choose your own adventure.' You can click on something else and continue on again."

In other words, reading goes from being a linear experience in print to being a nonlinear one online. Teachers need to be direct about that difference, experts said, showing students that sometimes it's OK to stop and click on a link or watch a video in the middle of an article if it will help them understand the content better.

"We need to teach young children digital text is hyperlinked and networked, and you go from one place to another, and it's not left to right," said Turner. "I've had students successfully do that in early elementary by having them click on hyperlinks and talking about, where did that take me? The idea is being very explicit and not just assuming they have the knowledge."

At the same time, students need to see that, while the format is different, the purpose of reading remains the same. "When you think about comprehension strategies, they work whether you're reading a blog post or watching video or reading a print book," said Sibberson, who co-wrote a book with Bass in 2015 called Digital Reading: What's Essential in Grades 3-8.

Some studies have shown that students struggle more with comprehension on digital devices than print materials. A 2012 study by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, a research organization for children's digital media, found that 3- to 6-year-olds who read interactive e-books with their parents "recalled significantly fewer narrative details than children who read the print version of the same story."

But some educators chalked that up to students not getting explicit instruction on how to navigate online text and transfer those print comprehension skills. "I once had a kid say, 'I didn't know we were allowed to think when we read online,' " said Sibberson. "They need to see it's the same thing-sometimes with online stuff, they think of play."

Young students also need instruction on how to self-regulate and manage distractions in the online world-when to ignore links, close tabs, and stay on one text or app rather than jumping around to others, for example.

"If you don't start thinking early about managing distractions, you're going to be building bad habits," Fordham's Turner said.

Search for Texts Online

Just as young students learn to choose books from the library, many experts said they should also learn to search for texts online. But, of course, surfing the web is rife with safety and privacy issues, so elementary students will need to do that in a more limited environment.

Pelekis sets up wiki pages with links related to whatever her 1st graders are studying-for instance, students can go there to get more information on chicks during a unit on the egg-to-chicken life cycle.

She avoids search engines altogether. "I know some people do [use them] but ... I did once, and it's a bad mistake I'm not making again," she said. Even YouTube's education channel can turn up inappropriate content, she said. (And don't even think about having students Google the word "chicks," she mentioned offhandedly.)

That said, some teachers want to maintain authenticity in how students search for information online, both because they will need those skills later and because giving students a choice can motivate them to read.

"So often we say, go to National Geographic Kids, open the article on giraffes, and read it," said Ziemke, who co-wrote a 2015 book called Amplify! Digital Teaching and Learning in the K-6 Classroom. "I noticed I wasn't giving students that same choice piece with digital reading [as with print]."

Ziemke now recommends introducing 3rd graders and up to a half-dozen or so vetted educational websites, such as Wonderopolis and Tween Tribune, and giving them free time to search within those for texts they'd like to read.

By 5th grade, though, Bass says students should have opportunities to really search the web on their own.

Authentic Reading vs. Games

There are countless online games and apps available to help students practice their foundational reading skills-phonics, sight words, vocabulary, among them-and teachers have been using them for years. But digital-literacy experts caution that there's a difference between using games and having students do authentic online reading.

"People ask me what's the best sight-word app for 2nd grade, and I say I don't know, I don't use tech like that," said Ziemke. "I'm not against games by any means, but when I look at where we need to start, we can do so much with modeling daily work and authentic ways of using tech."

Many games and apps aren't much more than "souped-up worksheets," according to Hale, the instructional-technology coordinator in Virginia.

More-authentic digital-literacy instruction would have students working with the technology that readers and writers use all the time-blogs, social media, movie-making apps, bookmarking tools, audio recorders, virtual bulletin boards, and annotating tools, educators said.

"There are isolated skills you can learn nicely on the computer, but overall for me, reading is all about thinking, and the more I can get them to think, explore, be curious and interested, and have a desire to read and learn, the technology helps you be able to capture that and extend what they can do in the classroom," said 1st grade teacher Pelekis.

Classroom Barriers

Needless to say, incorporating digital skills into early reading is easier in some situations than others.

For starters, there's the issue of access to digital devices. Many teachers said they simply don't have the internet-connected tools they need to get going with online reading.

"We do have iPad carts and laptop carts, but teachers have to sign up to use them, so you have to work around everyone else's schedule," said Lisa Maucione, a reading specialist for the Dartmouth public schools in Massachusetts, who also attended the digital-literacy institute at URI. "And if there's testing, testing is the priority."

But Turner said devices are the least of teachers' problems. "Almost everybody can get at least one device in the classroom whether through grants via DonorsChoose or from the district," she said. And students can learn the basics they need when a teacher projects the device on a screen and models how to use it.

A bigger issue is that teachers feel hamstrung by policies that don't necessarily promote digital reading, some said. Standardized tests do take place on computers now in most states, but they don't measure authentic digital skills, such as navigating websites and using search engines. And in many cases, because authentic online reading tasks aren't being assessed, teachers in tested grades may not prioritize teaching them.

In addition, many elementary teachers are uncomfortable with their own technology skills, which makes them hesitant to start digital reading with students.

"For the most part, we were not trained as educators to teach kids who are reading in digital spaces-that's not part of most teacher-prep courses," said Bass, the innovation coordinator in Chesterfield. "We fall back and rely on the way we were taught, and that's a barrier."

There are also some mindsets that hold teachers back from teaching digital reading. "I've been in classrooms where it's not happening at all," said Ziemke, the 1st grade teacher and consultant. "There are people that are waiting it out [until they leave teaching] or saying, 'I'm going to go to a school that's not as techy.' "

And some educators are-understandably-still attached to the idea of falling in love with print books.

"There's still something very magical about holding a book and being able to flip the page in your hands," said Hale. "But reading isn't just reading print text anymore. Reading is reading the world."

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How Should Reading Be Taught in a Digital Era?

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Most experts agree that even the very youngest students should be learning with a mix of print and digital texts.

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An "ah ha" moment that I had was the comparison between comprehension of texts on a printed page rather than on a screen.  People tend to understand and remember more when they read from a physical text vs. on a screen.  Also, the more we read in a tabular fashion, our brains rewire itself to the point where it become difficult to return to reading off a printed page or linearly.  I find this to be a huge dilemna for educators, as we want to teach students to read deeply/ closely into texts, and yet, we are having them read off of screens often.  Technology is a great way to enhance learning. however, I think that it is important for students to be engaging in as much linear reading as possible.

I also found it interesting that E-reading tends to foster some negative and positive behaviors that are necessary in today's world.  Negatively, e reading can cause impatience, and the desire for instant gratification.  However, at the same time, it teaches students how to quickly filter out important/ relevant information.  It also fosters more rapid decision making.

In the end, I believe that it is necessary to engage students in as much linear reading as possible, but still encourage some tabular reading in order to foster the concept of skimming and filtering of information.

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One thing that would be helpful to grow the mindset about e-reading would definitely be the metacognitive skills developed during tabular reading. Scanning and skimming is a comprehension skill that we rehearse in grades 3-6 RLA.

E-reading is often vilified and seen as "just more screen time".  The encouragement of tabular reading and the print code lends itself to the rewiring of the brain.  Great stuff!
The clear difference between linear and tabular reading transforms the brain. i especially enjoyed the increased comprehension of longer passages and how neuroplasticity helps improve reading comprehension. Tabular reading also supports scanning, skimming, and multisensory learning! Great for all learners and our MTA students. We must share how to keep the distractions to a minimum when reading on devices.

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An Aha moment from the video when tabular reading was being discussed is the idea that a major piece of tabular reading is being able to filter information and make rapid decisions about which details are relevant and which are not. This is a skill we see many students struggle with whether it's identifying the central idea of a text, selecting appropriate text evidence, or distinguishing between important and non-important details.

I think teachers need to know that while linear reading is crucial to building those neural pathways of our learners, the benefits of tabular reading on critical thinking should not be ignored.

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An ah-ha moment I had from the video and article was realizing how much e-reading/digital reading can really impact ones comprehension, although I understand that this may not be true for everyone but the research and statistics was surprising for me and when I reflected on my habits as a digital reader I did find myself displaying and participating in most of the behaviors talked about digital readers both from the video and infographic. I think that it would be beneficial for all RISD teachers to hear about and understand the difference between linear and non-linear (tabular) reading. Not only this, but I believe that we must understand that we do use both of these types of reading, we just need to learn when and how to utilize these for the correct purpose and to get the most of whatever specific task and goal we are working and using it for. I also think it would be of great benefit to see how print vs digital reading connect with either linear and/or tabular reading.

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My Ah-ha moment was from the video when they shared that research shows the more your brain rewires itself from reading on a screen, the harder it becomes to read from printed material. This tells me we need to do as much as we can on paper and as little as we can get away with on a digital screen.
This leads to the nuggets that I feel teachers need to know. Since STAAR has moved to online, there feels to be a push to teach children how to take a reading test on an iPad. That's become a priority, and it's making it harder for students to read continuously out of a book, truly comprehend what they are reading, and making necessary inferences by looking deeper in the text. Understanding and knowing what all the research that was mentioned in the video and on the flyer says, teacher can make better decisions on when and how to utilize digital tools and paper resources.

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I think teachers understanding the difference between linear and tabular reading are very important. Also, knowing how important it is to stress linear reading, out of a traditional book in hand, is so very important for all students to have regular, consistent practice with, will help foster growing readers. I also feel that tabular reading is also important at times. Mainly due to STAAR being online, but also the benefits for struggling readers and the accommodations that can be done through reading digitally.

Definitions that are needed are:
Linear - traditional, book in hand, reading from the page supports that sustains focus.

Tubular - digital reading that fosters more skimming and rapid decision making. It encourages to scan in order to decide what's relevant and not.

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Consider While Watching Questions - Heather Pineda

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Consider While Watching Questions - Heather Pineda

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-Linear is a traditional practice in classrooms with assigned articles and independent reading time. Most of our RLA TEKS are written with linear reading in mind.

-Screen reading promotes tabular reading, which is skimming and scanning for an overview of the text or the resource. Social media and online sites promote/require tabular reading

-I think tabular reading skills are touched on in TEKS 7.8F (analyze characteristics of multimodal and digital texts).

-Why is STAAR being given online when we have research to show that comprehension improves on texts of over 500 words when it is printed on a page?

-What is the district expectation for reading digital vs. print text?

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My ah-ha from the video is that there seems to a great deal of research currently being conducted on this topic.

What nugget(s) do you think must make it to all RISD teachers so that instruction is all that it should be for our students? I would first need to know what the district expectation is for “so that instruction is all that it should be for our students.” Is this question in regards to print and electronic reading?Teaching reading is a very complex process. The first step might be to make sure that all teachers know how to teach reading.

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I can't say I had an "ah-ha" moment from the infographic or the video. I do question some of the evidence supplied in both. For example, the video talks about eye mapping and the creation of the F-shaped reading pattern at the 27:00 mark. But in that example, they are showing webpages, not electronic books. I suspect a printed newspaper or restaurant menu would also foster an F-shaped reading pattern. In the infographic, I was unable to find the study from UCF that was referenced stating that using one's finger to scroll "drains more mental resources" than turning a page. I would like to see that study. Other studies I have found on-line confess that the meta-study of print verses digital favors the print version but that the advantage is slight. https://hechingerreport.org/evidence-increases-for-reading-on-paper-instead-of-screens/ see article as well as research linked from the article. The idea that reading an electronic book with a multi-purpose device increases distractions is misplaced. Reading a hard-cover book while having your phone sitting face-up next to you is going to provide the exact same amount of distraction. We need to focus on helping students learn how to turn off notifications on their devices and minimize the amount of times they are disrupted in thinking by those devices whether they are reading electronically or not.

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An ah-ha in the video for me was the clear difference between linear and tabular brain recognition and absorption of content. The presenters shared that "print offers better comprehension for texts > 500 words".

The nugget I think all RISD teachers should be aware of is that there is a clear trade-off between accessibility of content and features on e-readers/digital content and fostering the sustained connections and text comprehension of physical books.

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Please add a discussion post here before 10/4

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Please add a discussion post here before 10/4

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You can like and comment on other's posts as well.

What was an ah-ha from either article or video that struck you?

What nugget(s) do you think must make it to all RISD teachers so that instruction is all that it should be for our students?

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We're viewing only 6ish minutes of this video- 16:49 min mark through 27:41 mark.
Click to play- it's trimmed to start at 16:49 for you.
The part we'll be discussing ends at 27:41, you can stop there if you wish.

To consider while watching-
Would defining some of the terms in regards to reading digital vs. print text support teachers and instruction?
What definitions are needed?