In the last two decades, the digitization It has conquered almost every facet of our lives. It is no longer conceivable, for example, to have a vehicle without an integrated computer, to look for a job in the newspaper’s classified ads or, without going any further, to buy a paper newspaper. These changes have also been strongly felt in the educational world, with the proliferation of use of digital devices as means for learning.
However, the debate about the convenience of screens in the educational field is growing, in view of the numerous studies and reports that point to lower learning performance. More and more families, schools and public administrations are opting to ban electronic devices in classrooms.
The reading does not escape doubts about screens. If Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press was one of the most important inventions in the history of humanity, allowing the dissemination and mass consumption of written texts, the next great technical advance—the Internet and digitization—does not seem to suit him so well. to the reading activity. That is at least the conclusion reached in one of the ‘PISA in Focus’ reports prepared by the Ministry of Education in which the results of the PISA report are analyzed.
Almost two courses difference
Well, in view of the latest data on the issue, the document points out two determining factors for the level achieved in PISA in the reading comprehension competence: the frequency with which it is read and the medium in which it is done. Thus, the report states that the students whoeen more in printed format they obtained 49 points more in PISA than their peers. This difference has also been calculated by adjusting the result by socioeconomic profile, type of center and sex. The figure alone may leave us cold, but if we follow the references given by the OECD, the organization that prepares the report, we observe that it is equivalent to the level of reading comprehension that a student acquires during almost two full school years. In other words, the difference between reading and not reading, and, to a lesser extent, between doing it on paper or digitally, is overwhelming.
As we pointed out, students who read a lot and favor the printed format enjoy a much higher level of reading comprehension than those who rarely or never open a book. But it is not necessary to go to both extremes of the issue to find differences. The students that the report calls “good readers”, that is, those who read a lot and on paper, They are 35 points ahead of their peers who read more on digital devices than in print, also the level equivalent to more than one school year. Finally, the distance with respect to students who read books more frequently on digital devices is 15 points, approximately half a grade ahead.
The more paper books at home, the higher the level
The Ministry of Education report also establishes a evident relationship between the possibilities of accessing books at home and the taste for reading, specifically for the role. Thus, in a home with a significant presence of books, young people have many more possibilities of developing a love of reading, with the consequent increase in their academic level.
Specifically, the study concludes that the number of books at home goes in descending order from those students who read more books and who do so more frequently on paper (195 books) to those who read rarely or never (113). At intermediate levels are those students who also read a lot of books but are divided between paper and digital (179), and those who read more e-books than printed books (131). In short, the more books a family has, the greater the children’s taste for reading and the greater their preference for paper.
Paper is more enjoyable
The report also highlights a greater enjoyment among young people for reading on paper. Although students who read more in printed format and those who divide between both media stated that they enjoy this activity with a practically identical level of intensity, young people who read more in digital format than in paper enjoy reading significantly less.
The PISA 2018 results show that, on average, students who read books with the same frequency in print and on digital devices or more often in paper format stated that they enjoy reading more than those who read books more frequently in digital devices by 0.5 index points (equivalent to a standard deviation of 0.5 of the index), even after taking into account the socioeconomic profile of students and schools, as well as gender.
