Last week I shared with you the Grattan Institute’s report on reading entitled ‘The Reading Guarantee: How to give every child the best chance of success.’ This week, I’d like to draw your attention to another recently released report on reading, which has also attracted significant attention. Undertaken by academics from Macquarie University, this study determined that ‘reading on screens is a less effective way to absorb and retain information than reading the old-fashioned way’.

Macquarie University researchers, Dr Sixin Liao, Dr Lili Yu, Dr Jan-Louis Kruger, and Professor Erik Reichle recently conducted a review of reading in the digital age. The title of their report says it all: ‘Screen test: Paper still wins in the reading stakes’. This research study strongly suggests that when we read text on a screen, we understand less than if we read the same text on paper, and this applies across languages and writing systems. This is referred to as the ‘screen inferiority effect’. Dr Yu says that screen inferiority may have implications for learning, both online and in classrooms when screens are used. She states, ‘We know people who are less skilled readers are most affected, which means the greatest impact is likely to be on the people who already need more help to succeed’. Dr Yu poses an interesting thought, ‘Something we don’t yet understand is what effect it will have on children who are learning to read primarily on screens, and we are not likely to find out for another ten to fifteen years.’

Anecdotally, I support the findings of this study. I know that students studying English for their Higher School Certificate prefer paper copies of texts and supporting academic material. Cognition and memory retention are enhanced by reading text on paper. The efficacy of this mode of reading and learning is demonstrated year after year with the academic results achieved by students engaging with texts in this manner.

As teachers, we aim for our students to become accomplished, focused, and determined readers, receptive to the kinds of satisfactions and rewards that can flow from an immersion in texts. We know that reading capability impacts significantly on an individual’s life opportunities as well as their happiness and wellbeing. It is therefore critical that we are constantly questioning how we go about enabling our young people to develop the necessary skills and knowledge to read in ways that are creative, interpretive, critical, and powerful.

Clare Murphy

English Coordinator and Literacy Instructional Coach