The debate surrounding Literature in the digital environment has now raged for decades to a point where books and the act of reading are now redefined.  Lamb (2011, p. 13) redefines the book as “a published collection of related pages or screens” while reading is “the process of constructing meaning from symbols”.

This redefinition of reading stems from, at least in more recent times, the multimodality affordances of modern computing power. (Walsh, 2012) defines multimodality as “a term that is used in literacy education to explain how communication occurs through different but synchronous modes: language, print, images, graphics, movement, gesture, texture, music, sound”.

The works created using these affordances underwent categorisation by (Unsworth, 2006).  While (Unsworth, 2006) identified three categories of children’s e-literature (synonymous with digital literature) as:”

• Electronically augmented literary texts
• Recontextualised literary texts AND
• Digitally originated texts”,

these categories, when applied broadly, can be relevant to any context, not just children’s electronic or digital literature.

While debate within the media focuses largely on devices whose capabilities allow the use of multimodal media versus the traditional book, it isn’t that simple.  As (Jabr, 2013) points out, there are complex issues within the debate of traditional books versus screens, some of these include:

• Navigability (linear versus non-linear progression),
• Attitudes with which people approach reading,
• Attitudes toward preference associated with the senses (touch, weight, smell),
• The mental energy required to read on screens,
• Discrepancies between accuracy and comprehension (although results are unclear at the moment),
• Environmental issues associated with the manufacture of paper and devices.

Also, in addition to these are the social implications.  Research undertaken by Selwyn (2016) discusses how technology increases the societal gap for members of marginalised groups, a non-intuitive position for many, including myself initially.

For educators, no matter the web 2.0 affordance available, the discussion must centre on the pedagogy rather than the technology.  For example, asking ourselves if students from Non-English Speaking Language backgrounds are better served by electronic literature which has the capabilities of reading aloud, providing dictionary meanings and further context surrounding the text or traditional books.

We also owe it to ourselves and our students to be vigilant when assessing newer technology for use.  One only has to look at the hype surrounding virtual, augmented and mixed reality technology to see an example of bright shiny object overshadowing pedagogical objective.

For educations, as suggested in (tvo.org, 2013) our role about the co-creation, curating the best learning resources no matter the format but “it isn’t about here’s this iPad go use it”.  There has to be professional development for educators so we can collaborate, co-create artefacts and learn the skills required for the 21^st-century.  See video below for a full discussion on Books versus Screens

Within my context as an Industry Trainer educating adults, I often don’t have a face-to-face component, and the story told to students is through developing an integrated multimodal learning resource.  Students self-pace through a learning package gaining assistance through varying levels of resource, explainer videos and virtual demonstrations.  The ability to make contact and gain assistance is available straight from the device, but all of this is a work in progress.

As humans, we’ve continually evolved how we tell stories or impart knowledge to one another, and this is set to continue no matter the affordance.  I particularly loved and agree with the statement from (tvo.org, 2013) “Live in beta mode, test cases.  Lets’s live life in beta.”

References

Annas K, Annas, U. Two pupils leaning on a pile of books while reading on touchpad. Adobe stock images. Retrieved from https://stock.adobe.com/au/39426884

Jabr, F. (2013). The Reading Brain in the Digital Age: The Science of Paper versus Screens. Retrieved from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/reading-paper-screens/

Lamb, A. (2011). Reading Redefined for a Transmedia Universe. Learning & Leading with Technology, 39(3), 12-17.

Selwyn, N. (2016). Is Technology Good for Education? Oxford: Polity Press.

tvo.org (Producer). (2013, 27 July, 2019). Learning 2030: From Books to Screen. Learning 2030. [Video]

Unsworth, L. (2006). E-literature for children enhancing digital literacy learning. London: Routledge.

Walsh, M. (2012). Literature in a digital environment. In A literature companion for teachers (Vol. 34).