Digital vs. print

As with anything new, digital reading has been met with hesitation. Mark Pennington, a reading specialist in Elk Grove, believes that digital reading can eventually be on the same level as reading print. He says that the trick to being a good reader is being an engaged reader, and that it does not matter whether students are reading digitally or through print. "It's pretty clear that good readers are active readers engaged with the text," he said.

While more and more schools adopt digital readers like iPads and Chromebooks, some research shows that students comprehend more from reading print. Even though digital readers allow students to interact with their text in new ways, a study done by West Chester University found that younger students may be overwhelmed by the multimedia environment that e-books provide (which can therefore overwhelm their limited working memory) and that older students find it difficult to take notes on digital readers.

Perhaps all it takes is a shift in perspective in order to alleviate these issues with digital reading. Hillview Middle's principal, Erik Burmeister, says that annotating digital books is actually better than traditional note-taking, as annotating provides permanent notes whereas traditional annotating typically means throwing away the books at the end of the year. Despite these achievements with digital reading tools, more research still needs to be done about whether digital tools or pen and paper are more effective. In the meantime, schools like Elk Grove and Hillview Middle will continue to use digital tools to help students understand what they're reading.

Interested in learning more? Check out the original article, "Can Students ‘Go Deep’ With Digital Reading?" and West Chester University's study.

Every year we ask questions about how educators and administrators are successfully using digital tools in the classroom, or which tools they wish they used in the classroom. An example is:

Imagine you are designing the ultimate school. Which tools would have the greatest positive impact on your (the student’s) learning? 

Speak Up provides an easy way for students, parents and educators to participate in local decisions about technology, as well as contribute to the state and national dialogue about educational technology. Data from the surveys - including data regarding online classes - will be released in February 2015. Click here to register for Speak Up 2014 and mark your calendars for the survey's launch date on October 6!

Speak Up featured on Education Week!

Digital or print? While some educators are pushing the use of digital tools in the classroom to promote reading, others have chosen to stick to the traditional use of textbooks and paper handouts - some have even combined the two and have opted for lesson plans that consist of both paper handouts and e-books. Benjamin Herold from Education Week addresses reading comprehension and reading tools in his article, "Digital Reading Poses Learning Challenges for Students," citing studies regarding the use of reading tools - notably data from Speak Up 2013. He writes,

Schools have experienced a huge influx of digital learning tools in recent years, with nearly 1 in 3 public and private school students in the United States now using a school-issued mobile computing device, such as a laptop or digital tablet, according to a recent survey from Project Tomorrow, an Irvine, Calif.-based nonprofit group.

To learn more about digital reading, check out Herold's article here.

Editorial Projects in Education Is the independent, nonprofit publisher of Education Week and other high-quality print and online products on K-12 education. EPE's mission is to raise awareness and understanding of critical issues facing American schools. It is a 501(c)(3) organization.