When it comes to learning, there’s been a definite shift toward digital educational materials in school systems. Students don’t have to carry as much in their school bags, they can access materials anywhere, and school systems don’t have to pay as much to buy and catalog textbooks.
But despite what the media predicts, paper and print isn’t a dying technology, and you don’t have to choose between digital and paper when it comes to learning. Researchers have found that paper plays an essential role in learning, which means a future of all-digital textbooks isn’t as close as some might think.
Dr. Naomi Baron, a professor of linguistics at American University and former Guggenheim and Fulbright fellow, studied the relationship between students and their educational materials, in her book, “Words Onscreen: The Fate of Reading in a Digital World.” She shared some of her findings on the advantages of paper for learning with the Paper and Packaging Board for its How Life Unfolds campaign.
