Reading Habits Among Students in the Digital Era

Abstract

Reading has a significant number of benefits and the effects of reading practice have been proven in most developed countries. The revolution of technology plays a significant role of unpredictable changes and pervasive effect that has transformed the society nowadays. Indeed, it can fundamentally change the reading habits and indirectly boost efforts in maintaining lifelong reading since Malaysia is now moving towards Vision 2020. Thus, the rapid development and demands of the technology has reinforced the challenges of making reading habits consistent and grows intensively. This study sought to identify and measure the reading habits among students which are their trends and behaviours toward reading that reflect on the impact of digital sources made available through the Internet. This study was conducted in Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak, limit to Semester One students, aged between 17-21 years by using a survey method involving 2340 from 10060 diploma students with the questionnaire as the research instrument. The random sampling for the students is involving 14 faculties in UiTM Sarawak branch. Taken together, QR code has been used as an initiative platform in order to conduct and monitor the survey efficiently. Data analyses were collected using Google Sheet and the study found that majority of the students (44%) like reading on websites compared to other choices such as print books, e-books, magazines, comics, novel and newspaper. Fiction is the most preferred type of literature read by 68% the students, followed by non-fiction (32%). The findings also found that majority of the students (49%) preferred reading from their mobile phone, whereas others preferred reading from a print book (44%) and reading from a computer (7%). Findings of the study revealed that the rise of information and technology has extensively changes the trends and behaviors of the student’s reading habits, which slowly moving away from printed books to online source materials.

Becoming Mobile Readers-Narratives of Zimbabwean Teenagers’ Mobile Reading Experiences

“…The findings from this question revealed that 80.6% (nineteen out of twenty-three) of the adolescent participants affirmed that MRDs had changed the way they approach and perceive reading. Yusof (2021) in a study on the reading habits of Malaysians also reported a higher percentage of participants shifting and being more inclined to digital reading.…”

The culture of reading for acquisition and learning of content knowledge for English language and literature in English in higher education

“…In this study, the researcher explored the existing literature on the reading culture in higher education to find the trend, gaps, challenges, and solutions, thus constructing new knowledge in the field. This critical review of the global literature on the phenomeneon is for the past six years from the studies by Ogunbodede and Sawyerr-George, (2023), Marianita (2023), Kumar (2022), Marquez, Lambert, Ridge, and Walker (2022), Yusof (2021), Pabro-Maquidato (2021), Akkaya and Akkaya and Çıvğın, (2020), Çıvğın (2020), Widiyawati (2020), Kim (2019), Demirci, (2019, Dukper et al, (2018) and Greene, 2018).…”

“…The findings also established that most university students used digital readings (DRs) daily, and the internet resources were used mainly by students who positively perceived the impacts of DR usage on their reading habits. As a result of technological advancement and the explosive rise of digital resources (DRs), undergraduate students' reading preferences are shifting from print to digital sources (Yusof, 2021).…”

“…The same attributes are prerequisites for habitual reading in higher education. Furthermore, another literature-related finding is that the majority of the students in Nigerian universities, for example, use and prefer digital reading as opposed to print (Akkaya and Çıvğın, 2020;Yusof, 2021). Digital readings positively impact on students' reading habits globally; therefore, there is a significant relationship between DRs and the reading habits of university students (Ogunbodede, and Sawyerr-George, 2023).…”

Reading Habits in the Era of Digitization and Persuasive Technology: Analyzing Contemporary Readers of Different Age-groups from Indian Perspectives

“…Gone are the days when readers used to visit libraries in their pursuit of knowledge. In a study by Abang Yusof (2021), he claims that students spend more time reading online and prefer fiction as the genre of their reading materials. Reading emphasizes the need for a sound foundation of vocabulary and linguistic competency and the influence of educated families on the learning process, which impacts e-reading habits and readers' confidence and knowledge.…”