Digital vs. print. Which is better for your child?
We all know that reading is an important activity for children. The more they do, the better skills they have in literacy, general knowledge, imagination, focus, and curiosity.
But is reading on the printed page the same as reading digitally? Do children — or even adults — lose any of the reading benefits if it is not a traditional book? The research is mixed, but let’s go through the findings to date.
There’s a fair bit of evidence that reading digital information does not enhance the deep understanding of educational material which one gets from physical books. In fact, students are slightly less likely to comprehend tricky ideas presented digitally than they would if they read them on paper.
There is a theory that this is because we give a poorer amount of attention to digitally presented text than on the page. Potentially, we are very used to mindless scrolling on our devices and our focus doesn’t really kick in as well with screens.
Is there any difference in which format you use for studying? Research shows that people who learn information via screens tended to be more confident about their eventual success — sometimes falsely so — than those who studied via the printed page. It appears that people also use their study time more efficiently when working with paper rather than a digital format.
The printed page provides lots of cues to a reader. It delivers a virtual cognitive map, where a reader might be able to recall the page set up, and where different pieces of information were located. This leads to better recollection. In contrast, the digital page is ever moving and potentially not able to be recalled as easily.
One way shown to turn around the inferiority of digital media is to have children actively engaged with digital text. Writing a summary of the material as they read or circling and underlining with a digital pen might help make the information more meaningful.
The difference between digital and paper is even more pronounced if the task is a time limited one, rather than self-paced. But if it just reading a novel at your leisure, then both formats seem to work similarly in terms of comprehension and being absorbed in the text.
Aesthetically, the two methods provide different joys. Many people report the pleasure of the smell of the printed page. (It’s also one of the big joys of reading a physical newspaper rather than the online version). Printed reading also gives one a better sense of where you are in the book — where you have been and where you are going.
But there are also joys of digital reading. Kids can read in the dark without a flashlight if they are reading on a tablet. Readers can look up the meaning of words they don’t know as they go through the text. Also, if something sparks your child’s curiosity, such as a historical question, they can google it to find out and then seamlessly go back to the text.
But to focus even better on digital content it is probably a good idea that your child downloads the text and turns the device onto airplane mode and get off Wi-Fi. Then the lure of social media and digital interaction won’t tempt them away from the book they are reading into a mindless social media scroll or reduced attention while waiting for a reply text.
Remember that ultimately, it’s better that they read something, and if they are more likely to read via a Kindle or similar, then parents should encourage that to happen. More tips on getting them to read, below.
Takeaway for parents
Encourage them to read — via the printed or digital page — with these tips.
· Ultimately reading is not going to happen unless you make it a priority in your house.
· Devote time to reading on the weekend by setting up an hour or two where the whole family gets off screens and reads books.
· Get a library membership and take the whole family there to borrow books. Head to the park afterwards to read your new finds.
· Listen to audio books in the car.
· Set up a cute reading nook in your child’s room.
· Make reading a special time together. Keep reading to them before bed, even when they can read.
