New study links digital devices to poor reading comprehension

Bookworms have better reading comprehension and greater ability to stay on task, a global study of children’s reading habits reveals.

A new study shows that children who read traditional books have better comprehension than those who read online.

Kids who spend too much time online can exhibit a symptom of ADHD, a new global study shows.

The American Educational Research Association has published an academic review of 25 research studies of the reading habits of nearly 500,000 children in more than 35 countries.

It found that reading online for leisure fails to improve children’s reading comprehension – and can even hinder their ability to focus, which is one symptom of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Children who read printed books have better reading comprehension, the research found.

Reading on smartphones is inferior to reading books, a new study shows.

The study, published in the Review of Educational Research on Thursday, found that reading printed material helps children build comprehension.

“If a student spends 10 hours reading in print in their free time, their ability to comprehend will likely be six to eight times higher than if they read on digital devices for the same amount of time,’’ the authors concluded.

Study co-author Lidia Altamura, from the University of Valencia in Spain, said that reading online for leisure “does not pay off’’ for children still learning to read.

She said teachers and parents should encourage students – especially young children – to read in print more often than on digital devices such as laptops, ipads and smartphones.

“We expected that digital leisure reading for informational purposes, such as visiting Wikipedia or other educational web pages, or reading the news, would be much more positively linked to comprehension,’’ Ms Altamura said.

“But even that was not the case.’’

The researchers said the internet featured “short and fast-paced stimuli, lower quality content and less sophisticated vocabulary’’.

“Low linguistic quality texts may detract early readers from building a strong reading foundational base,’’ the study found.

“Early readers engaging in frequent digital reading may learn less academic vocabulary and syntax … or develop to a lesser extent the ability to keep focus on a task.’’

The study follows an OECD warning last week that digital distractions may be driving a global drop in student achievement in maths and reading.

One in three Australian students failed to meet the minimum standard for reading in this year’s NAPLAN (National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy) testing.