In this mediascape, the forms literature can take varies wildly. Whether you want to pop in some headphones and listen to hours of someone reading you a story or if you want to simply pull an ebook up on your smartphone on the train, you can enjoy books from the comfort of anywhere. The dissemination of literature like this seems to be a product of the digital age and has induced many changes in the publishing industry.[1] Although print book sales are currently the most popular form of literature in the U.S. with audiobooks rising steadily in the background, ebooks have continued to maintain a small but substantial hold on readers. According to the Association of American Publishers (or the AAP), in the year 2022, print books made up for 76% of total sales revenue while ebooks made up 20%.[2] Keep in mind this doesn’t account for pirating books electronically (something many college students do for expensive, academic texts) or streaming audiobooks on Spotify, as that was yet to be a service the company offered when the survey was taken. But still, there is a good percentage of people, many of them students, that use e-readers such as a Kindle to purchase ebooks on Amazon and prefer to read that way. There is also the popularity of serial periodical publishing websites devoted to online writers, such as Wattpad, among the youth. Add to that the compass for teenagers known as social media, where they are inundated with content, much of which they have to read, and you’ll see that digital reading has largely consumed much of a modern-day student’s life. But does reading print versus reading digital psychologically impact the reading experience and crucial aspects of it such as information retention and memory recall? Evidence suggests perhaps this is the case.

What is the difference between print vs digital?

Print books refer to the physical, ‘real,’ copy of a book—one that you can hold, smell, annotate, and flip the pages of. Ebooks on the other hand are most popularly read on Amazon’s digital reading tablet device, the Kindle. It’s connected automatically to Amazon’s marketplace in which they have a subscription based service called Kindle Unlimited, where many author’s works can be read unlimitedly for a monthly fee. Obviously, there are a few differences in experience between reading on an electronic tablet that needs to be charged compared to reading from a static, printed book. There is no physical flipping of pages with ebooks, there is no room for written annotation (though the Kindle does allow you to highlight sections of a text and make notes), there are no dog-eared pages, and there are no bookmarks, physically at least. There is also the aspect of discretion when it comes to ebooks, as they do not project the material represented being read electronically, unlike print book covers do when you see someone reading the latest Stephen King book on the subway. Along with discretion, there is the issue of distraction, which often happens when reading on a device that can allow you to switch to the internet or social media.

One landmark study published in the Review of Educational Research leans towards print’s direction in terms of reading comprehension.[3] Researchers at the University of Valencia analyzed over two dozen studies on reading comprehension from 2000-2022 and found various things, the main one being that print reading over a long time can boost reading comprehension skills by six to eight times more than digital reading does.[4] Although this study is focused on leisure reading habits, it does base some of its science on reading anything digitally in general, not just ebooks. A professor at the University of Valencia who co-authored this study commented “the association between frequency of digital reading for leisure and text comprehension abilities is close to 0.”[5] This can be attributed to the fact that the quality of printed texts does not match that of digital ones, like how text on social media is conversational and does not typically have higher levels of complex syntax and reasoning, leaving your brain less trained in applying critical thought. 

The study also indicated that the impact of digital reading on younger children is worse, as they are not equipped to self-regulate their activity during digital leisure reading time. Some governments, like that of Sweden, heeded these results. The nation stands out as one of the pioneering countries reevaluating its digital vs. print balance, and in response to a stagnation in reading comprehension among different age groups, has decisively shifted attention from digital devices to print textbooks.[6] Though, the study also indicated that the impact of digital reading became more positive for secondary school and undergraduates as compared to their younger counterparts because older students have the capacity to navigate the distractions of reading on a digital device. 

Benefits

Although this study and other research leans towards the direction of print books in teaching better reading comprehension than digital reading, it is worth noting that digital reading and ebooks are an accessible and popular avenue towards exposure to literature, which is always a good thing for becoming a better reader. As mentioned earlier, ebook sales figures in America do represent that there is a segment of the reading population that prefers the accessibility and experience that digital reading offers. This is especially the case when it comes to older readers or individuals with visual impairments in which the typeface of a text can be adjusted as necessary for an individual’s visual needs, as opposed to big and costly books in large print.[7] Ebooks are also extremely handy when it comes to travel and mobility, allowing you to access a vast, personalized library from anywhere and with just the tip of your fingers. Yet, despite one’s preference for print vs. digital, it is important for educators and students everywhere to not forget that reading comprehension is—according to the latest research—actualized more with print books than digital ones. 

Publishing Solutions Group

Here at Publishing Solutions Group, we aim to help produce the highest quality educational materials possible as a Pre-K-16 content development company. We believe in helping students succeed through any avenue possible, whether that be through an engaging screen or good, old-fashioned paper.

[1] https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/the-publishing-industry-in-a-digital-age

[2] https://pufferprint.com/e-book-vs-print-book-comparison/#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20Association%20of,by%20audiobooks%20and%20other%20formats

[3] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/00346543231216463

[4] https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/dec/15/reading-print-improves-comprehension-far-more-than-looking-at-digital-text-say-researchers

[5] https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/dec/15/reading-print-improves-comprehension-far-more-than-looking-at-digital-text-say-researchers

[6] https://www.upmpaper.com/knowledge-inspiration/blog-stories/articles/2024/makes-you-learn/#:~:text=Print%20reading%20over%20a%20long,more%20than%20digital%20reading%20does

[7] https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/may/27/ebooks-growth-older-age-groups#:~:text=For%20the%20elderly%2C%20e%2Dreaders,print%20hardbacks%20weigh%20a%20ton

Photos by Henry Be and Alirza Zarafshani free to use under the Unsplash License