Learning from Paper, Learning from Screens

Abstract

Electronic screens on laptop and tablet computers are being used for reading text, often while multitasking. Two experimental studies with college students explored the effect of medium and opportunities to multitask on reading (Study 1) and report writing (Study 2). In Study 1, participants (N = 120) read an easy and difficult passage on paper, a laptop, or tablet, while either multitasking or not multitasking. Neither multitasking nor medium impacted reading comprehension, but those who multitasked took longer to read both passages, indicating loss of efficiency with multitasking. In Study 2, participants (N = 67) were asked to synthesize source material in multiple texts to write a one-page evidence-based report. Participants read the source texts either on (1) paper, (2) computer screen without Internet or printer access, or (3) computer screen with Internet and printer access (called the “real-world” condition). There were no differences in report quality or efficiency between those whose source materials were paper or computer. However, global report quality was significantly better when participants read source texts on a computer screen without Internet or printer access, compared with when they had Internet and printer access. Active use of paper for note-taking greatly reduced the negative impact of Internet and printer access in the real-world condition. Although participants expressed a preference for accessing information on paper, reading the texts on paper did not make a significant difference in report quality, compared with either of the two computer conditions. Implications for formal and informal learning are discussed.

The consequences of media multitasking for youth: A review

“…Seven experimental studies investigated study time (see Table 3), and three correlation studies investigated the ability to focus on an academic activity (see Table 2). First, four of the seven experimental studies on study time found that youth who used media while studying needed more time to complete an academic task, r range = .26 to .44 (Bowman et al, 2010;Fox et al, 2009;Pool et al, 2003a;Subrahmanyam et al, 2013). The other three studies found no relationship (Cool et al, 1994;Pool et al, 2000Pool et al, , 2003b.…”

“…In addition, six of ten studies found that media use while reading interfered with reading comprehension, r range = À.24 to À.51 (Armstrong & Greenberg, 1990;Furnham, Gunter, & Peterson, 1994;Jeong & Hwang, 2012;Pool et al, 2000Pool et al, , 2003aPool et al, , 2003b. The other four studies found no effect (Bowman, Levine, Waite, & Gendron, 2010;Cool, Yarbrough, Patton, Runde, & Keith, 1994;Lee, Lin, & Robertson, 2012;Subrahmanyam et al, 2013). In addition to examining reading outcomes, two experimental studies examined how math performance is affected by television use while working on a math assignment (see Table 3).…”

“…To date, studies have only focused on contextual factors that are related to the academic context. For example, studies have focused on contextual factors, such as task relevance (Srivastava, 2013), task difficulty (Fox et al, 2009;Pool et al, 2000), and note-taking (Subrahmanyam et al, 2013;Wei et al, 2014). Although task difficulty does not moderate media multitasking effects on academic performance, the studies have indicated media multitasking is more disruptive when task-relevance is high and youth do not engage in note-taking.…”

“…Media multitasking is especially prevalent among these age groups (Carrier et al, 2009;Rideout et al, 2010;Voorveld & Van der Groot, 2013). Moreover, these age groups may be particularly vulnerable to the effects of media multitasking because important aspects of cognitive, academic and socioemotional skills continue to develop during this period (Arnett, 2000;Crone & Dahl, 2012;Steinberg, 2005).…”

Ocio, Redes Sociales Y Estudiantes Españoles

“…Dos de cada tres estudiantes españoles de educación secundaria postobligatoria publican en las redes sociales las experiencias de sus actividades de ocio más importantes, lo que refuerza las conclusiones emanadas de estudios previos (Almansa et al, 2013;Espinar y González, 2009;Llamas y Pagador, 2014;Subrahmanyam et al, 2015) que constatan que las redes sociales se constituyen en un medio de comunicación de gran importancia entre los jóvenes actuales, ya que significan un punto de encuentro fundamental para este colectivo.…”