The advent of digital learning has avidly changed the way we consume information. More and more digital technologies are being used to transform the idea of literacy and how text is being read (Templeton 2021). This is not without the challenges of implementing new technologies and ways of thinking in the classroom. (Coombs 2016).
As a Design and Technology (ICT) teacher, I already heavily use digital technologies and text in my classroom – in fact, I could not teach without them. However, as teachers, we do worry about the impacts of digital technologies on our student’s health in well-being ( Graham et al 2021). The implementation of 21st-century digital tools is the reason I chose to retrain as a teacher librarian. More and more Teacher librarians are being asked to bridge the gap between analogue and digital realms (Templeton 2021) as schools become more reliant on the use of digital technologies to display text. (Baron 2015)
There is no doubt that digital technologies are changing the way students consume texts. Digital texts are becoming more accessible as students view e-books, webcomics, digital textbooks and other transmedia to access learning (Wessley 2016) However, we still know that the transfer of knowledge is better with analogue reading (McGeehan 2018) because there is a tendency for aesthetics over function when digital texts are developed (Yokota 2014) often with features that impede rather than help the consumer. I feel it is important to understand that the t role of the teacher librarian is changing – no longer are we just evaluating physical texts, but we also must be experts in the online realm – using our expertise to help evaluate the validity of digital literature (Yokota 2014).
Due to the increase in online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen a boom in the creation and use of digital texts in the classroom (Salhberg 2020) the inclusion of digital texts in the curriculum is an important component of developing students’ ICT and 21st-century learning skills (ACARA 2015) however, the issue has been raised in regards to the effectiveness of these digital texts increasing student literacy (Myberg et al 2015). On one hand, digital texts can allow for increased understanding – especially for those who have learning difficulties – due to the ability to manipulate the information and customise the user experience (Du Temple 2020) but on the other, research currently shows that students still prefer a physical book (Franklin 2016) as the “likelihood of distraction was too high” but not to worry, research also shows that comprehension from both e-books and physical books is the same (Baron 2015).
So is paper dead? I don’t think so –
A study completed in 2015 suggested that the problem with screen reading is more “psychological rather than technological” ( Myberg 2015) meaning that the experience of a paper book had a greater impact on the comprehension of the text for the reader – but preferences did matter, as students who were confident in a digital space did get better results (Myberg 2015). This is definitely a trend that I have seen in my own library – a perfect storm of skills that need to be developed before the integration of a completely paperless society and teacher librarians are and should be at the forefront of this. (Samual 2017).
