Books vs Screens for Learning

[gleem]

Over the last decade or so, computers have become the medium of choice in education. Those of us who were brought up with books often found using a computer to read a bit uncomfortable. I believe, even as we acclimate to this new medium, we still find satisfaction in reading a book. Outside of the comfort of a book, is there any advantage to using one? Neuroscience says yes. Comprehension is better when learning from a book.

Jared Cooney Horvath, a high school math teacher turned neuroscientist, explains in a video why using computers to learn in schools is not helpful. Like many tech aids to education, such as movies and video discs, which promised to make learning easier and replace teachers, the internet and computers have not lived up to manufacturers' hype.

Hovath is the author of many videos and two books to help teachers understand the science of learning to improve their teaching. To be sure, if you know how to learn, computers are a great tool for learning.

If you have the time and are interested, you should listen to an interview with Horvath discussing his view on the use of computers in education. It is about his views in his book "The Digital Dilusion." His premise is that computers do not help you learn how to learn.

Remembering that school STEM programs have not lived up to their expectations in producing the number of college grads in STEM fields, one wonders what the problem was. My original speculation was that they made the STEM fields look like a lot of fun without the work needed to be successful. On entering university, they lacked the grit to deal with the work. But now I am thinking that these school programs probably heavily depend on the use of computers. Thus, when the learning requirements were more of the responsibility of the student, they did't know how to handle it.

 

[gmax137]

The ideal college is Mark Hopkins on one end of a log and a student on the other.

In other words, one-on-one dialog between student and teacher.

Mark Hopkins (February 4, 1802 – June 17, 1887) was an American educator and Congregationalist theologian, president of Williams College from 1836 to 1872.

The student beer bar in Williamstown is called "The Log"

Regarding books vs. screens, my feeling is "books" are better. But that might be because that's how I learned. I think they said similar about whiteboards: "Chalk on a slate is proven superior."

 

[Hornbein]

I find them about the same. Computers have the advantage of being able to search the text automatically, so even if I have a book the online text can be useful.

I did however attempt to read Macbeth on a computer and gave up immediately. It felt so wrong.

Hmm Beth, that would be a good name for a computer of a certain celebrated brand...

Different people learn differently (visual, aural). I have never seen any mention of this fundamental fact since Richard Feynman investigated this during his student days. Too bad. Teaching seems to me unimproved since ancient times. Writing on a board and having the students copy it dates from the days that books were too expensive.

As for whiteboards, in a small room those solvents (acetone?) hurt my nose. Mom always said I was too sensitive.

 

[gleem]

Regarding books vs. screens, my feeling is "books" are better. But that might be because that's how I learned.

That was my feeling too, but apparently it is harder to take the knowledge learned on a screen and use it in the real world, that is, to transition that knowledge to another context.

I am reminded of the work of Edward Redish of the University of Maryland, who studied the retention of physics principles taught in general physics courses. He found that students who were able to use the learned physics principles in the course often lost the ability to use them outside the course, reverting to their original, naive concepts. The courses failed to transition this knowledge to their personal world.

I find them about the same. Computers have the advantage of being able to search the text automatically, so even if I have a book the online text can be useful.

Computers are tools most useful to improve productivity, but for learning, not so much. The thesis is that if computers are not better than books to learn and transferring that knowledge to other contexts, why use computers, especially when computers are more often viewed and used by students for recreational purposes and therefore a persistent distraction?

Another thought. Information on a computer is sequestered imperceptibly on a hard drive or in the cloud. My somewhat downsized library shows me what I once knew and understood. When I look at a book that I studied, I am reminded of and know its content not exactly, but I know where to look for specific information that I cannot explicitly recall. Learning from abook has a three-dimensional aspect to it. After all, we generally learn everything else in three dimensions.

Different people learn differently (visual, aural). I have never seen any mention of this fundamental fact since Richard Feynman investigated this during his student days. Too bad. Teaching seems to me unimproved since ancient times. Writing on a board and having the students copy it dates from the days that books were too expensive.

According to neuroscience and Horvath, we all learn the same, and that focusing on one mode of learning is overall detrimental to the learning process. That said, people may have preferences on how they want to learn.

 

[Hornbein]

According to neuroscience and Horvath, we all learn the same, and that focusing on one mode of learning is overall detrimental to the learning process. That said, people may have preferences on how they want to learn.

There are definitely two ways of learning a foreign. I can't do it by ear, I have to learn visually. Those who learn by ear are much quicker but also forget more quickly and can even forget their native language. They can memorize whole phrases without knowing what the words mean. I can't do that at all.

When I was a kid I read the encyclopedia. I tried that with Wikipedia and found that half the entries were histories of USA high schools. It was no use.

I recently went into a cafe and they had a dozen full sets of encyclopedias decorating the walls. People had gotten rid of them. I wish I had one of those sets.

Allowing kids to have smart phones in school is a predictatable fail.