Naomi
S.
Baron
American
University
Washington,
DC
USA
Internet
Research
11.0
Associa>on
of
Internet
Researchers
Gothenburg,
Sweden
October
21‐23,
2010

How
are
changes
in
technology,
along
with
sensi>vity
to
environmental
issues,
affec>ng
the
ways
in
which



Students
are
being
encouraged
to
read
Students
indicate
they
wish
to
read
What
are
the
forces
driving
educa>onal
decision‐
making?
2

Awareness
of
larger
societal
issues/trends



Cogni>ve/pedagogical
issues


Technology
Environmental
considera>ons
Assump>ons
that
students
are
techno‐savvy,
visually
oriented
Financial
considera>ons


Costs
of
running
the
ins>tu>on
ASrac>ng
students
(assume
they
want
technology,
they
care
about
environmental
issues)
3

Societal
issues/trends


ShiV
towards
reading
more
online
(computer,
Kindle,
iPad)
Cogni>ve/pedagogical
issues

Growing
literature
on
implica>ons
of
reading
onscreen
and
of
mul>tasking
for
“deep
thinking”
  Nicholas
Carr,
The
Shallows:
What
the
Internet
is
Doing
to
Our
Brains
  NY
Times,
“Does
the
Brain
Like
Ebooks?”


No
ins>tu>onal
discussion
of
educa>onal
ramifica>ons
of
shiV
from
hard
copy
to
onscreen
reading
Financial
considera>ons


California:
replacing
hard
copy
texts
with
ebooks
Students:
e‐versions
cheaper
that
hard
copies
4




Do
we
read
differently
in
hard
copy
than
onscreen?
What
are
the
consequences
on
reading
onscreen
for
short‐term
learning?
What
are
the
consequences
of
reading
onscreen
for
long‐term
learning?
Are
we
being
driven
to
onscreen
reading
by
market
factors
(rather
than
by
pedagogical
arguments)?

E.g.,
aSract
students,
reduce
cost
5

US
Campus
ini>a>ves
for
students
to
read
onscreen



E‐reserves,
Blackboard/Chalk/etc.
H1N1:
in
case
university
needs
to
close
Cer>fying
courses
as
“green”:
ini>a>ves
include
  Send
syllabus
electronically
(don’t
distribute
hard
copies)
  Assign
e‐books,
not
printed
books
  Use
e‐reserves,
Blackboard
rather
than
handouts
  Have
students
submit
all
work
electronically
  If
you
let
students
submit
work
in
hard
copy,
require
doubled‐
sided
prin>ng,
single
spacing,
and
small
margins
6

Theore>cal
issues


Empirical
issues



Pedagogically
and
intellectually,
what
do
we
gain
or
lose
by
shiVing
from
reading
in
hard
copy
to
onscreen?
What
are
reading
habits
of
university
students?
How
do
university
students
assess
reading
in
hard
copy
versus
onscreen?
Context


Cross‐cultural
mobile
phone
study
of
18‐24
year‐old
university
students
Conclusion:
students
enjoyed
contac>ng
others
but
felt
trapped
by
always
being
reachable/dependent
on
mobile
phone
7


Online
survey
(SurveyMonkey)
(c.
6
minutes)
Undergraduate
students
at
mid‐sized
private
university
in
US


N=87
Addi>onal
data
to
be
gathered
(Spring/Fall
2011)



US
graduate
student
data
US
faculty
data
Cross‐cultural
student
data
8

Course
textbooks






Do
you
sell
your
textbooks
at
the
end
of
the
term?
Are
you
ren>ng
hard
copies
of
textbooks
this
term?
Are
you
purchasing
short‐term
electronic
downloads
of
textbooks
this
term?
Are
you
purchasing‐to‐own
electronic
downloads
of
textbooks
this
term?
Annota>on
habits
(hard
copy)
Reading
preferences
by
genre


Hard
copy
vs.
onscreen
Academic
work
vs.
pleasure
9

Re‐reading
habits



Remembering
what
you
read


Pleasure
vs.
academic
work
For
each
context,
more
likely
onscreen
or
in
hard
copy
BeSer
onscreen
or
in
hard
copy
Reading
and
mul>tasking

More
likely
to
mul>task
when
reading
onscreen
or
in
hard
copy
  NOTE:
Consistent
findings
in
mul>tasking
literature
that
concentra>on,
learning
decline
when
mul>task
10

Prin>ng

For
academic
work
and
for
pleasure
reading,
if
material
is
available
online,
do
you
  Read
onscreen
  Print
out
and
read
  Read
onscreen
but
then
print
out

Doing
the
reading

Are
you
more
likely
to
read
an
assigned
ar>cle
if
  It
is
online
  If
you
are
handed
a
copy
11

Receiving
comments
on
wriSen
assignments

Do
you
prefer
  Online
comments
in
a
document
file
  HandwriSen
comments
on
physical
submission

Reading
comments
on
wriSen
assignments

Are
you
more
like
to
read
comments
carefully
if
they
are
  Online
comments
in
a
document
file
  HandwriSen
comments
on
physical
submission

Biggest
advantage/disadvantage
of


Reading
onscreen
Reading
in
hard
copy
12

Course
textbooks





62%
sell
at
end
of
semester
51%
ren>ng
hardcopy
textbooks
this
semester
7%
ren>ng
electronic
downloads
of
textbooks
11%
purchasing
electronic
downloads
of
textbooks
Annota>on
habits:
underline/highlight/make
notes




Most
of
the
>me:
Some>mes: Occasionally: Never: 22%
30%
30%
17%
13

Medium
Preference:
Academic
Work/Pleasure
HARD
COPY
ONSCREEN
DON’T
READ
Course
text
98%
/NA
2%/NA
0%/NA
Non‐fic>on
(serious)
89%/86%
7%/2%
4%/12%
Non‐fic>on
(light)
88%/82%
7%/7%
5%/11%
Fic>on
(serious)
94%/84%
5%/7%
1%/8%
Fic>on
(light)
94%/89%
4%/7%
2%/3%
Academic
journal
43%/NA
57%/NA
0%/NA
News
magazine 54%/53%
45%/39%
1%/8%
Newspaper
46%/41%
54%/52%
0%/7%
14

Re‐reading
habits

Academic
:

Pleasure:
  BUT:   BUT: 
65%
more
likely
to
reread
if
in
hard
copy
39%
reread
“most
of
>me”
or
“some>mes”
74%
more
likely
to
reread
if
in
hard
copy
Memory
for
what
read




42%
reread
“most
of
>me”
or
“some>mes” More
if
read
onscreen:
2%
More
if
read
in
hard
copy: 52%
Same
for
both
media:
46%
Reading
and
mul>tasking



More
if
read
onscreen:
90%
More
if
read
in
hard
copy: 1%
Same
for
both
media:
8%
15

Prin>ng
material
available
onscreen



Academic:
Pleasure:
39%
print
out
and
read
hard
copy
15%
print
out
and
read
hard
copy
Doing
the
reading:
more
likely
to
read
if



Available
online:
Handed
hard
copy:
No
difference: 6%
55%
39%
16

Receiving
comments
on
wriSen
assignments




Prefer
comments
using
Track
Changes:
Prefer
handwriSen
comments:
No
preference:
16%
58%
26%
Reading
comments
on
wriSen
assignments




Read
more
carefully
online
comments:
6%
Read
more
carefully
handwriSen
comments:
36%
Response
is
same:
55%
Don’t
usually
read
comments:
2%
17

Onscreen



Advantages
Disadvantages
Hard
copy


Advantages
Disadvantages
18


Of
21
codable
addi>onal
comments,
19
described
advantages
of
reading
in
hard
copy
Sample
Comments




“Highligh>ng
and
making
notes
in
the
margins
helps
me
maintain
aSen>on
and
retain
the
informa>on”
“I’m
more
produc>ve
and
efficient
with
my
>me
by
far
if
I’m
reading
in
hard
copy.”
“I
don’t
want
everything
to
go
to
an
online‐only
version,
because
I
will
then
ignore
a
great
deal
of
my
reading.” Trees
versus
pedagogy


“I
know
it’s
a
waste
of
paper,
but
I
really
prefer
reading
a
physical
book
or
ar>cle
to
reading
it
online.”
“I
prefer
hard
copies,
but
think
they’re
bad
for
the
environment.”
19

Changing
rela>onship
with
academic
materials

Many
no
longer
see
textbooks
as
personal
property
  1/2
‐
2/3
rent
for
semester
or
sell
at
end
of
semester
  1/2
don’t
annotate


Preferences
for
hard
copy
over
onscreen
reading







1/2
don’t
generally
reread
academic
materials
For
course
texts,
non‐fic>on,
fic>on
(academic
&
pleasure)
More
likely
to
reread
if
read
in
hard
copy
More
likely
to
remember
if
read
in
hard
copy
More
likely
to
read
ar>cle
if
handed
hard
copy
Many
print
out
material
before
reading
Prefer
handwriSen
comments
on
papers
(not
Track
Changes)
Mul>tasking

Far
more
common
when
reading
onscreen
20
Presently,
even
“digital
na>ves”
(18‐24
years
old)
perceive
print
to
have
advantages
over
onscreen
reading
However,
will
reading
onscreen
become
increasingly
common
(and
domes>cated),
for
reasons
of
(a)
convenience
(b)
cost
(c)
assump>ons
by
universi>es
about
what
students
want
If
so,
what
are
the
implica>ons
for
what
it
means
to
read?
21

WriSen
text
(even
“serious”
text)
progressively
seen
as
ephemeral,
with
implica>ons
for
reduc>on
in




rereading
memory
“deep
reading”
Prime
culprit
in
undermining
no>on
of
reading
being
a
linear,
reflec>ve,
sustained
process
will
be
the
tempta>on
to
mul$task
while
we
read

cf
historical
arguments
that
literacy
makes
possible
analy>cal
thought
(Eric
Havelock,
Preface
to
Plato)
22

Caveats

“The
technology
is
s>ll
new,
and
users
will
adapt”
  BUT:
We
would
expect
the
“digital
genera>on”
to
already
have
adapted

Concerns

Once
we
lose
a
concep>on
of
what
it
means
to
read,
do
we
know
it
is
gone?
Compare
  spelling
and
proofreading
skills
  mental
math
(or
simple
wriSen
arithme>c)
  handwri>ng
23
Naomi
Baron
American
University
Washington,
DC
USA
nbaron@american.edu
24