Beyond Text

While reading the article “The Reading Brain in the Digital Age: The Science of Paper versus Screens”, the differences between reading printed and digital texts are pronounced, but also leads to further questioning of these technologies and their place in education.  Research shows that reading printed texts, like books, offer a tactile experience lacking in digital texts.  When reading printed materials, they have geographic qualities and landmarks within themselves, navigating a reader easily.  They offer for physical interaction with the text - writing on it, highlighting it, and even folding it.  These interactions aid in understanding written selections.  Another benefit of printed text is the limitation of page space, so a reader never has to read through endless scrolling, which has been proven to interfere with reading.  (Perhaps this is why so many people call it the ‘scroll of death’?) 

Though printed text has been proven to benefit readers, digital texts have advantages, especially when used in conjunction with devices and apps that enable accessibility.  For example, the iPad has built-in text features that allow for zooming as well as reading selections aloud. Likewise, apps can be downloaded that enable speech-to-text and text-to-speech conversion.  These features allow readers who have vision problems or reading disabilities to access the text in ways books could never allow.  Devices like iPads and Chromebooks also offer apps that support reading instruction beginning with early literacy learning.  For practitioners of Universal Design for Learning, digital tools for reading are an enhancement, providing access to learning that would not otherwise exist; people who design learning following the principles of UDL find that such devices are a necessity for all students.

Here are a few good resources for UDL and literacy:
 http://udlstrategies.wikispaces.com/Technology+and+Reading

http://www.udlresource.com/ios-apps-to-support-reading-and-writing.html

 http://www.callscotland.org.uk/Common-Assets/spaw2/uploads/files/iPads-for-Communication-Access-Literacy-and-Learning.pdf
 

Books are an old technology. I grew up reading books and magazines, so it is no wonder I printed the article “The Reading Brain in the Digital Age: The Science of Paper versus Screens”, although I had a copy of the article saved on my iPad.  I printed it because I knew I could get more from it by interacting with it through tactile experience - I wrote comments, questions, symbols and underlines all over it, having been taught to do so and knowing I learn more through such interaction.  However, ‘digital natives’ are growing with new technology, which makes me question the research subjects.  If subjects of reading research are adult readers, they learned to read on paper; their native technology is paper.  Does one’s native medium impact the navigability of text?  Does physicality look different for ‘digital natives’, like the little girl who tried to ‘pinch, swipe, and prod’ a magazine?  Will ‘digital natives’ who are tested on their reading skills in ten or twenty years have differing results?  Perhaps adults who grew up reading text on paper will score differently than an adult who will grow up reading digital texts.

The end of the article addressed a question that was pressing my mind as I read the text - how will technology replace text as we know it?  Considering paper is an ancient technology, why are we trying to adapt it to modern technology and replicate its functions?  I am sure that when people first started recording symbols on paper, they did not think this is the best medium for interaction and comprehension of texts! What an amazing discovery!  No, I am sure the ancient folks simply found what resource was available and used it.  We have so much more available to us, so we should be finding new ways to disseminate information.  Why do we have to rely so heavily on text, anyway, when we have visual and auditory alternatives that all can access?  The article reminds us that "text is not the only way to read" - reading happens in more contexts than reading texts.  Students already access podcasts and videos for learning.  Will reading become obsolete one day?  We owe it to students to use their native tools, and what works best for them, not us.