Which books are better - electronic or paper?
Today, the question of the transition of the educational process to electronic textbooks is being seriously discussed all over the world. This is happening in our country, in Ukraine, and across the ocean , and not quite across the ocean . Absolutely different pros and cons of introducing electronic textbooks are discussed. But, sometimes it happens, they forget to ask the end users of these great technological innovations - but do they need it ?!
I would like to highlight this issue from the user’s part, based on available research. Actually there are 2 questions. The first question is whether e-readers are able to replace paper books (it was already covered in Habré 1 , 2 ), and the second is about the convenience of reading "live" letters and digitized ones.
To answer the first of these, you need to turn to the University of Washington study , which showed that students consider paper books a more flexible tool that supports a wider range of reading and teaching styles than e-books.
')
In the fall of 2009, seven American universities, including the University of Washington, launched pilot programs to assess how good Amazon Kindle DX, the widescreen version of the popular e-reader, is to meet students' needs. At the University of Washington, 39 undergraduates received Kindle readers. The results of using the device were monitored by examining the participants' diaries and interviews. By the end of the school year, nearly two-thirds of students stopped using the Kindle at all or began to work with it only occasionally. Of those who continue to use it regularly, the researchers write, "some try to supplement e-books with paper publications or computers, others become less attentive in achieving their tasks while reading, and still others switch to another, as a rule, less desirable reading style."
One of the key conclusions from this, as well as earlier studies of reading behavior, is that students, and indeed all people, read differently. Sometimes it is important to immerse yourself in the text and read without interruption. Sometimes it is much more interesting to just squeeze their text to quickly get to the meaning or the main arguments. Sometimes books are used to quickly find information only on a specific topic. You can skip part of the text or go back a few sections, compare them. You can make notes in the margins or highlight the places you read. Reading is a deeply personal and very peculiar activity. Every reader is unique.
The researchers point out that in addition to supporting various reading styles, the paper book contains many subtle hints about the structure of the book and its content. We make a “cognitive map” of a solid book when we read it:
“When we read, we unconsciously mark the physical location of the information on the page, as well as its location in the text as a whole ... These mental constructions help us remember where this or that idea is in this text. We use cognitive maps to memorize and reproduce textual information more efficiently, making them a useful tool for students who read academic texts to find specific information. ”
The e-books "hide kinesthetic signals," and this is another reason why so many students have been disappointed with Kindle. When students "do not create cognitive maps on which they can rely," the researchers write, "the process of searching for information takes much more time, reducing mental resources for other tasks. There is also a decrease in the desired level of performance. ” Of course, you can equip the reader with tools such as scrollbars and progress bars that can help create a cognitive map for e-books, but it’s unlikely that a digital book will ever be able to provide a rich and intuitive set of physical signals that a printed book provides.
The researchers cover case studies showing how important cognitive mapping can be:
"[One of the students] used kinesthetic signals, such as folded page corners and the perceptible weight of a printed book, to quickly find the necessary content. He said that" after I spent some time with traditional printed books, I know ... to open it on the right page. ... I kind of visualized where I am in the book. ”His physical experience with the text changed dramatically when he started using the Kindle DX. He lost these kinesthetic signals and spent much more time in searching for information than he needed before. He stopped using Kindle DX for the books he needed for academic work, because he wanted to stay at the level of efficiency that he had before he received the reader. "
The second question is about electronic texts in general (regardless of what they are viewed from), their advantages and disadvantages in comparison with live books. A University of California study is being conducted, demonstrating that students still prefer printed books over electronic ones. Many students complain that they have problems with learning "with the retention and concentration" of information when reading from the screen.
The University of California Library launched a large pilot program for electronic textbooks in 2008. At the end of 2010, more than 2,500 students and teachers were interviewed to evaluate the results of the program. In general, 58% of respondents said that they used e-books (meaning digitized) in their activities. These numbers range from 55% for students, 57% for faculty members, and up to 67% for graduate students. The respondents were interested in their preferences when choosing materials for their research. Overall, 44% said they preferred printed books, 35% preferred e-books, and the rest did not express any clear preference. The preference of printed publications was the strongest among students - 53% against 27%. Preferences among graduate students were divided as follows - 45% (for printed books) to 35% (for electronic). In teachers, these figures were 43% and 33%, respectively.
The most illustrative part of the review tells the respondents about the reasons for their preferences. From the statements of the participants it becomes clear what caused their choice. Electronic books are often used when you need to look for a particular fact in the book, but if there is a need for mandatory reading for a deeper, more careful study of the material, preference is given to printed publications. Here are some typical explanations: “e-books disperse attention,” “paper ... makes me more focused and saves from various distractions that can arise when using computers”, “I have some difficulty concentrating on long passages when I I use a computer ”,“ reading on a computer makes the perception of information harder ”,“ I am a much better reader if I have a paper book before me ”.
One of the participants, specializing in the social sciences, gave a more detailed answer and spoke about the strengths of print publications and electronic books in various situations:
I replied that I generally prefer prints. However, it would be more correct to say that prints are better in some situations, while e-books are better in others. Everyone has their own roles - e-books are more suitable for evaluating acquaintance with a book, relatively quick search, like in an encyclopedia, or checking facts, checking bibliographies for correct quoting, as well as reading individual chapters or introductions. If I need to work closely with the text, I prefer to buy a book to take my own notes, if I read the book from time to time, I will try to print books from the library if there is such an opportunity. All options have the right to exist. I study in the humanities / social sciences, so print publications still occupy a large part of my research life at the moment.
Several respondents noted that they often use both electronic and printed versions of the same book, “for finding and detecting a task and moving to the corresponding copy of a document for reading, writing notes, comparing text, and in-depth research”. Two thirds of the students said that it is important for them to have access to the printed version of the book, even if an electronic version is available.
Anyway, we can see that it’s too early to bury paper books.
The main thing that can be understood from this article is not that using electronic books and electronic texts is bad or too early. Not! The idea (albeit not the freshest) that I wanted to convey - you need to find the best place for tools. And this, as we have seen, concerns not only devices, but also technologies in principle.
Are you ready to imagine a situation when you, having spread out several readers in front of you, are putting together some information? Or when you search the paper book for an exact phrase? Or when you, having just bought a new e-book, cautiously sniff it (some of my friends are not ready to trade paper books because of the smell !!!)? ( more pros and cons of readers )
In the meantime, I can congratulate you, some publishers in Russia, have increased the prices of their products, due to the growing popularity of readers.
- Study times ;
- Study two .
I would like to highlight this issue from the user’s part, based on available research. Actually there are 2 questions. The first question is whether e-readers are able to replace paper books (it was already covered in Habré 1 , 2 ), and the second is about the convenience of reading "live" letters and digitized ones.
To answer the first of these, you need to turn to the University of Washington study , which showed that students consider paper books a more flexible tool that supports a wider range of reading and teaching styles than e-books.
')
In the fall of 2009, seven American universities, including the University of Washington, launched pilot programs to assess how good Amazon Kindle DX, the widescreen version of the popular e-reader, is to meet students' needs. At the University of Washington, 39 undergraduates received Kindle readers. The results of using the device were monitored by examining the participants' diaries and interviews. By the end of the school year, nearly two-thirds of students stopped using the Kindle at all or began to work with it only occasionally. Of those who continue to use it regularly, the researchers write, "some try to supplement e-books with paper publications or computers, others become less attentive in achieving their tasks while reading, and still others switch to another, as a rule, less desirable reading style."
One of the key conclusions from this, as well as earlier studies of reading behavior, is that students, and indeed all people, read differently. Sometimes it is important to immerse yourself in the text and read without interruption. Sometimes it is much more interesting to just squeeze their text to quickly get to the meaning or the main arguments. Sometimes books are used to quickly find information only on a specific topic. You can skip part of the text or go back a few sections, compare them. You can make notes in the margins or highlight the places you read. Reading is a deeply personal and very peculiar activity. Every reader is unique.
The researchers point out that in addition to supporting various reading styles, the paper book contains many subtle hints about the structure of the book and its content. We make a “cognitive map” of a solid book when we read it:
“When we read, we unconsciously mark the physical location of the information on the page, as well as its location in the text as a whole ... These mental constructions help us remember where this or that idea is in this text. We use cognitive maps to memorize and reproduce textual information more efficiently, making them a useful tool for students who read academic texts to find specific information. ”
The e-books "hide kinesthetic signals," and this is another reason why so many students have been disappointed with Kindle. When students "do not create cognitive maps on which they can rely," the researchers write, "the process of searching for information takes much more time, reducing mental resources for other tasks. There is also a decrease in the desired level of performance. ” Of course, you can equip the reader with tools such as scrollbars and progress bars that can help create a cognitive map for e-books, but it’s unlikely that a digital book will ever be able to provide a rich and intuitive set of physical signals that a printed book provides.
The researchers cover case studies showing how important cognitive mapping can be:
"[One of the students] used kinesthetic signals, such as folded page corners and the perceptible weight of a printed book, to quickly find the necessary content. He said that" after I spent some time with traditional printed books, I know ... to open it on the right page. ... I kind of visualized where I am in the book. ”His physical experience with the text changed dramatically when he started using the Kindle DX. He lost these kinesthetic signals and spent much more time in searching for information than he needed before. He stopped using Kindle DX for the books he needed for academic work, because he wanted to stay at the level of efficiency that he had before he received the reader. "
The second question is about electronic texts in general (regardless of what they are viewed from), their advantages and disadvantages in comparison with live books. A University of California study is being conducted, demonstrating that students still prefer printed books over electronic ones. Many students complain that they have problems with learning "with the retention and concentration" of information when reading from the screen.
The University of California Library launched a large pilot program for electronic textbooks in 2008. At the end of 2010, more than 2,500 students and teachers were interviewed to evaluate the results of the program. In general, 58% of respondents said that they used e-books (meaning digitized) in their activities. These numbers range from 55% for students, 57% for faculty members, and up to 67% for graduate students. The respondents were interested in their preferences when choosing materials for their research. Overall, 44% said they preferred printed books, 35% preferred e-books, and the rest did not express any clear preference. The preference of printed publications was the strongest among students - 53% against 27%. Preferences among graduate students were divided as follows - 45% (for printed books) to 35% (for electronic). In teachers, these figures were 43% and 33%, respectively.
The most illustrative part of the review tells the respondents about the reasons for their preferences. From the statements of the participants it becomes clear what caused their choice. Electronic books are often used when you need to look for a particular fact in the book, but if there is a need for mandatory reading for a deeper, more careful study of the material, preference is given to printed publications. Here are some typical explanations: “e-books disperse attention,” “paper ... makes me more focused and saves from various distractions that can arise when using computers”, “I have some difficulty concentrating on long passages when I I use a computer ”,“ reading on a computer makes the perception of information harder ”,“ I am a much better reader if I have a paper book before me ”.
One of the participants, specializing in the social sciences, gave a more detailed answer and spoke about the strengths of print publications and electronic books in various situations:
I replied that I generally prefer prints. However, it would be more correct to say that prints are better in some situations, while e-books are better in others. Everyone has their own roles - e-books are more suitable for evaluating acquaintance with a book, relatively quick search, like in an encyclopedia, or checking facts, checking bibliographies for correct quoting, as well as reading individual chapters or introductions. If I need to work closely with the text, I prefer to buy a book to take my own notes, if I read the book from time to time, I will try to print books from the library if there is such an opportunity. All options have the right to exist. I study in the humanities / social sciences, so print publications still occupy a large part of my research life at the moment.
Several respondents noted that they often use both electronic and printed versions of the same book, “for finding and detecting a task and moving to the corresponding copy of a document for reading, writing notes, comparing text, and in-depth research”. Two thirds of the students said that it is important for them to have access to the printed version of the book, even if an electronic version is available.
Anyway, we can see that it’s too early to bury paper books.
The main thing that can be understood from this article is not that using electronic books and electronic texts is bad or too early. Not! The idea (albeit not the freshest) that I wanted to convey - you need to find the best place for tools. And this, as we have seen, concerns not only devices, but also technologies in principle.
Are you ready to imagine a situation when you, having spread out several readers in front of you, are putting together some information? Or when you search the paper book for an exact phrase? Or when you, having just bought a new e-book, cautiously sniff it (some of my friends are not ready to trade paper books because of the smell !!!)? ( more pros and cons of readers )
In the meantime, I can congratulate you, some publishers in Russia, have increased the prices of their products, due to the growing popularity of readers.
Related Links
- Study times ;
- Study two .
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/123647/
All Articles