What Are You Reading?

Chapter 2 begins by considering the different genres of text, particularly narrative (typically fiction) versus informational. It goes on to compare trade sales for print, eBooks, and audio with what’s happening in education, where cost is a major driver towards adoption of commercial digital materials, along with open educational resources (OERs). We also introduce issues around testing and the ways readers move through digital text by paging or scrolling. The chapter then raises the critical question of how much our success in reading on a particular platform (print, screen, or audio) is shaped by the technology itself and how much by the mindset we bring to using it. The issue of technology versus mindset is explored in depth in later chapters.

What Do We Mean by “Reading” and “Reader”?

Chapter 1 sets the stage for talking about the reading process. The discussion opens by considering what we mean by “reading”, including how our understanding of the notion of literacy has evolved in recent decades. Just as there are many types of reading, there’s much variety among readers. We need to be mindful of this variety when thinking about the ways people approach print, screen, and audio. Key factors include age, gender, our reason for reading, motivation, and personal preferences. It’s also important to understand the role our senses play in the reading process. Use of our eyes (and how they move) is obvious, but also relevant is our sense of touch.

Strategies for Effective Reading with Audio (and Video)

Chapter 8 draws upon what we learned about audio and video in Chapter 7 to explore strategies for using these materials in learning contexts. As with Chapter 6’s discussion of strategies for effective reading onscreen, we begin by talking about reading goals and who the reader is, along with application of print strategies, here to audio learning. After brief suggestions for use of audio by young children, the chapter focuses on audio and video strategies for school-age readers. Regarding solo audio, we identify tools for helping listeners focus on what they are hearing. For audio + text, we consider how general readers might benefit from the technique. The video discussion stresses the importance of being realistic about learning goals, as well as pointing out strategies for focusing the mind when viewing. The chapter closes with comments on the value of video annotation tools for enhancing learning.

Print Reading: A Gold Standard?

Chapter 3 looks at how much reading adolescents and young adults are now doing. Their amount of leisure reading is startlingly low. The picture is equally worrisome for completing school reading assignments. After reviewing previous studies of college reading compliance, the chapter presents a study conducted by the author and a Norwegian colleague exploring faculty perspectives on student reading: how much faculty are assigning, how much reading they believe students are doing, and perceived effects of digital technology on both. It’s common to assume print as a “gold standard” against which to measure digital reading. But in reality, most readers most of the time don’t measure up when using print. The chapter concludes by considering a range of traditional strategies for reading print in learning contexts and asks which strategies might apply to digital or audio reading, and which are actually effective for print.

The Road Ahead

Chapter 10 asks us to think about two paradoxes. The first is that while print usage in the trade world has largely stabilized, the education market is aggressively adopting digital textbooks. Moreover, many students now judge print reading to be boring. The second paradox is that as screens potentially become the default mode for reading in schools, one of the much-touted goals of education, critical thinking, is ill suited to digital reading. While the notion of critical thinking remains ill defined, it surely includes reasoned analysis and reflection, for which the evidence indicates print is better suited. Digital tools, which are effective for information-seeking and fact-checking, also appear to be undermining our motivation for using our memory capacity. But readers are not defenseless. The chapter closes with concrete suggestions for mapping a way forward.

Strategizing Reading in a Digital World

Chapter 9 considers how reading practices are embedded in broader societal trends, especially those involving digital technology. One important development is a move from the durable to the ephemeral. This transformation is reflected in progressively choosing experiences over possessions. It also surfaces in acquiring digital over physical versions of possessions, even though users judge the physical as more valuable. Growing use of digital technologies may be leading readers using print to adopt the mindset typically associated with reading digitally. We have seen from the research that digital reading is often shallow and done quickly, frequently while multitasking. Is this the fate of print reading as well? Already some readers report print reading is boring, compared with the potential entertainment opportunities with digital. The chapter closes with suggestions for both print and digital reading in a digital world, including Maryanne Wolf’s model of biliteracy.

What Research Tells Us: Single Texts

Chapter 4 delves into research comparing reading single printed texts versus digital versions. The beginning section considers what we know about using digital books with young children for different purposes: social interaction, linguistic or cognitive development, or engagement. Most of the chapter focuses on research with school-age readers. The discussion is organized around four issues. First, what kind of measures were used? Variables include user perception studies versus experiments, type of experimental questions, and speed. Second, does the length or genre of the text affect results? Third, what is the role of technology, including digital paging versus scrolling, along with adaptive text display? And fourth, how much are experimental results explained by the mindset (metacognition) we bring to reading in print versus digitally? Among the considerations are students’ ability to correctly predict success when reading in the two media (calibration) and motivation for reading.

What Research Tells Us About Audio (and Video)

Chapter 7 explores the potential of audio as a learning platform. We lay the groundwork by looking at the historical relationship between spoken and written language, and at the evolution of recorded audio, from the phonograph up through books for the blind, books on tape, audiobooks, and podcasts. Compared with the research literature weighing reading in print versus digitally, relatively few studies have explored use of podcasts or audiobooks in educational settings, especially measured against reading equivalent written text. We review studies to date, distinguishing between audio files played alone (solo audio) and reading that combines listening to audio with following along in the text (audio + text). Simultaneous audio and text is a common technique with readers having learning challenges and with second language learners. Given rising use of video materials in education settings, we also consider research comparing viewing video versus reading text, and viewing video versus only listening to audio.

What Research Tells Us: Multiple Texts

Chapter 5 opens by looking at the growth of computers in education and of online search technology. Today’s easy availability of online documents is profoundly reshaping the reading students are asked to do, diminishing traditional focus on single texts. Skills for searching online, scrutinizing sources, and synthesizing results are now emphasized in school curricula. One consequence has been a parallel focus on these skills in middle school and high school standardized testing. We examine research on students’ success in mastering these skills and consider how the emphasis on multiple online texts may be changing what we mean by “reading”. Less is known about students’ comparative ability to handle multiple print versus multiple digital documents, though we review some existing research. Our discussion reveals the relevance of document authenticity, distinctiveness, and physical senses in how we comprehend and interpret texts.

Strategies for Effective Reading Onscreen

Chapter 6 draws upon what we learned in Chapters 4 and 5 to identify effective strategies for onscreen reading, with both single and multiple texts. The chapter begins by emphasizing the importance of determining reading goals, along with thinking about who the reader is, how cost factors in, the importance of active learning, and ways of applying print strategies when reading onscreen. The first set of recommendations is for young children, while the rest of the chapter looks at strategies for school-age readers. In discussing use of single texts, we consider such issues as genre, complexity, scrolling, priming a reading mindset, annotation, and concept maps. The section on reading multiple texts includes the challenge of recognizing online fake news and the potential to use skills developed when scrutinizing online documents to advance the larger civic good.