While observing classrooms, it’s common for me to see students staring at screens during independent reading time.
Chromebooks mainly but also tablets and, in some cases, even phones.
But, why?
Are screens better at improving reading than actual books? Do they deepen comprehension, speed up fluency, or enhance vocabulary acquisition?
No, they don’t. In fact, any use of technology during independent reading time is a bad idea.
Here’s why:
They’re not actually reading.
If students are allowed to access programs that include a narrator or characters acting out the text of a book, then they’re just being entertained.
They may derive some benefit, but it’s terribly inefficient. To improve reading, students must have to engage all areas of the mind needed to decode and comprehend a book at their level.
If they’re able to read at all (and thus have graduated the phonics stage) then a physical book is the answer to maximum rapid improvement.
The research is clear.
From reading fluency to better comprehension, it’s no comparison. More and more research is showing that old-fashion books are better for kids than the images blue-lighting their faces.
Students think they learn better from a screen because they’ve been conditioned to believe that technology is always better. Sadly, many teachers and educational leaders believe the same.
You, however, know better and are in position to buck the trend and prove to students that reading great literature on tree pulp is the best way to acquire a love of reading and see galloping improvement.
They need escape.
If you insist your students read independently on their laptops, know that you’re raising their biological stress response and increasing their anxiety level—as screen time is proven to do.
Your students need escape more than any generation before them. They need to get lost in The Secret Garden. They need to explore Narnia. They need to experience the pastoral rhythms and pure love of Charlotte’s Web.
They need healing time away from the metal, glass, and plastic and feel the natural fibers on their fingertips. The weight and substance alights the imagination like nothing before or since.
Courage
When it comes to improving reading, as well as inspiring the love of reading, new isn’t better.
It’s worse.
Furthermore, you may want to revisit the classics. They’re classics for a reason. To fight boredom, don’t give into the temptation of sugary entertainment.
Instead, give your students the very best literature.
Prove to them with a single book that the experience can be more deeply satisfying than just about anything else in their life.
Even setting aside the academic benefits, it is the alternative view of their world, a perspective unfamiliar and away from screens, that can pave the way to a mentally healthier and happier life.
But you must have the courage to say no.
You must swim against the tide, risk being called a Luddite, and make the tough decisions that are in your students’ best interest.
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My students tell me every year that they prefer to read on paper. They feel they can focus better. They like annotating on paper as well. Annotating on the computer is not the same. I try to use printed sources as much as possible. Unfortunately, we have mandatory reading tests on the computer.
Thank you, great article! There are two things which have really influenced my approach to reading in the classroom. The first of them is Michael’s wonderful article on the joys of reading aloud. Now, I try to make room for it as much as I can. Just yesterday, my class came back from the PE lesson with the PE specialist teacher, and I knew they would be very hot and tired and distracted (a very hot day). So when they came in, I had a short, fun story on the max hub to read them. This comes right down, and they were ready to do good work afterwards.
The other thing really influenced me was a bright idea our then head of English had some years ago. He gave each class an amount of money to create a beautiful reading corner. To be honest, I didn’t really manage to spend much of it, but it did start a hobby for me: for years now, whenever on holiday, I’ve been going into charity shops and picking up lovely books to add to my reading corner. And the children in my class all love reading books. Because I pick the books but I would love to read myself as a child, our the books I did love to read myself as a child. And if this means, as it probably does, that my book corner is slightly skewed towards a certain personality type, the children still love it.
Thank you very much for that wonderful article, Michael, that you wrote about reading aloud. It really has changed how I teach, as well as how I parent.
I have my students use e-readers. They don’t have the internet, I can load 10,000 free classics, and used ones are cheaper than books. If I had the money, I would buy my students each a Remarkable or a Manta Nomad or Kindle Scribe, kill any wifi feature, and let them highlight the books and do their math work on it. It feels like paper, it’s distraction-free, and I can load content directly to them. I bring it up, and the admins want iPads but will settle for Chromebooks.
Here is what I found:📚 Key Research Findings: Paper vs. Screen
🔍 1. Comprehension Tends to Be Higher on Paper
Mangen, Walgermo & Brønnick (2013): Norwegian 10th graders who read a short narrative on paper understood the text significantly better than those who read it on a screen.
Delgado et al. (2018): A large meta-analysis found that reading comprehension is generally better on paper, especially for informational and expository texts, and when students are reading under time pressure.
🧠 2. Cognitive Mapping & Text Navigation Are Stronger with Paper
Paper offers tactile and spatial cues (where something is on a page or within a book), which help build a mental map of the content.
In digital formats, scrolling and swiping can interrupt that spatial orientation, making it harder to recall or refer back to specific parts of a text.
📈 3. Annotation & Interaction Enhance Learning on Paper
Research shows that marking up a text by underlining, highlighting, adding sticky notes, or writing in margins improves:
Engagement
Retention
Critical thinking
While digital tools try to replicate this, students often use them less actively or effectively.
Mangen & Kuiken (2014) point out that kinaesthetic and sensory experiences with paper may help anchor understanding and memory.
🧘 4. Reduced Distraction & Mental Fatigue with Paper
Screens are cognitively taxing: eye strain, screen glare, and blue light all contribute to fatigue.
With tablets or Chromebooks, temptations to multitask or get distracted are high, especially for younger learners.
Wolf (2018), in “Reader, Come Home”, notes that deep reading requires “cognitive patience”, which is often interrupted by screen-based environments.
📲 Counterpoint: Digital Reading Has Its Place Too
Digital reading can be effective, especially when:
Text is interactive or multimedia-rich
Tools for text-to-speech, dictionaries, or font size adjustment support accessibility
Student motivation increases when using tablets (esp. for reluctant readers)
That said, even then, explicit instruction is needed to support comprehension strategies on-screen.
🧑🏫 Practical Implications for Educators
Paper is often better for first instruction, close reading, deep thinking, and assessment.
Digital can support engagement, accessibility, and re-reading—but should not replace paper entirely, especially in early years or for struggling readers.
Use hybrid models: for example, read the story on paper, then respond digitally.
Thank you for this!
I 1000% agree!!
Every year, I do a 100 book challenge during 2nd semester. The class has to read 100 books, which is about 1 book a month for each student. In order to get credit they have to read a book at their reading level, and do a book review (not report) in front of the class. No graphic novels are allowed, which is usually met with groans. (lol) Each year I have watched self -proclaimed ‘non-readers’ turn into avid readers. It doesn’t happen for everyone but I usually have at least a few.
If we meet our goal (which we always have), we have a raffle at the end of the year. I ask for donations from families, and take whatever I get. Small prizes, like from 5 Below. I teach 5th so they are easy to please. For every 100 pages read, they get one raffle ticket. This promotes the continuation of reading after they have read 5 books. I typically have more prizes than students so everyone could win something. It always starts slow, but as kids begin to realize that reading is fun, it picks up and they work to read well over the 100 books.
An added benefit is that when it comes to state testing my scores are typically the highest on the grade level! Parents are thanking me and I see tremendous growth in reading skills.
It’s a win-win-win to the point that some of my colleagues have picked up on it and we do classroom contests.
NOTHING beats a good book!!
Hi Michael!
Thanks for the amazing article! As a Classical Christian educator, I 100% agree with you. It’s time to revisit the methods of education that stand the test of time. I have to say, after reading your articles for a couple of years, a lot of your philosophy aligns with classical education. I’m just curious about how much you know about classical education and if you have any opinions on it.
Sadly, our state ELA testing has now moved entirely to chrome books in elementary school (3rd-5th grades) and up. We have to have them practice reading and typing on the chrome books.
I also find that many students are not engaged when the class is silent reading. They rarely finish any book and most are just pretending to read until the time is up.
I teach TK students, ages 4 to young 5 year olds. There is pressure to present phonics and other reading skills on the screen in my room, a screen I rarely use. I feel a real person presenting lessons tops more screen time in their young lives.
Much of the info presented on this site involves older students and reading real books. My littles have access to tons of books, which they love. Do you have any research involving large screen use for teaching phonics/reading? My gut tells me it is not that great for the age group I teach, but I wonder if you have any research to back me up?
A story: My first year of teaching 5th grade, I read aloud to my students “A Day No Pigs Would Die” by Robert Newton Peck. After a few weeks of reading we finished the book on a Friday. On Monday, two of my—shall we say—“best” students ran to me and each excitedly held up his own, brand new copy of the book. Nobody had to tell me I was on to something very big and very wonderful.
Dina wrote: “I also find that many students are not engaged when the class is silent reading. They rarely finish any book and most are just pretending to read until the time is up.”
As a sub in elementary, I observe the same thing. Especially, page-flipping through graphic novels, just glancing at the pictures.
I cringe when the lesson-plan calls for them to read on Epic, and often insist that they read real books instead, except when there’s a para in the room who gives me the impression that she will give negative feedback to the teacher.
I subbed 2 days in a 4th grade this spring where almost the entire class was reading chapter books (!). The kids proudly proclaimed that their teacher made them do it, lol
For better or worse, books had a major impact on my life.
Reading a biography of Teddy Roosevelt in elem. school made it seem masculine and acceptable to me to be nerdy and outdoorsy at the same time.
Reading a biography of FDR in elem. school made me want to collect stamps, which helped me get through some solitary time when I was around 12.
Reading “Walden” in HS and college was one of the prime reasons I took a year off from college and lived in my $300 VW camper, working blue collar jobs, which led to a lifetime of working with my hands.
Reading “Zen and the Art of Motorcyle Maintenance” at age 24 caused me to immediately go out and buy a brand-new $2600 BMW motorcyle (600cc), which wasn’t a great move, though thankfully I never got injured (or worse).
Reading a “Big Head” biography of Nelson Mandela from the elem. school library a couple of years ago made me tape a picture of him on my refrigerator.
Reading is good. I wish kids read more biographies, though the results can be unpredictable.