The Pros of Print

Hey everyone, welcome back to my blog! I know there has been a lot of chaos in the world lately, so I am very happy to be back writing to you all now! These past few weeks have brought drastic changes to all of our lives, but I think one of the most significant is the way we are carrying on in the world of education. Suddenly all schoolwork is now done over video conferences, emails, and virtual discussion boards- which makes my blog topic for today more relevant than ever.

Is reading online the same as reading on paper?

In my own life I am a fan of good old printed text. To me there is something more engaging about flipping pages than scrolling on a screen, and I never quite knew why I felt that way until I read some articles on the paper vs. screen debate. It turns out that there are a few reasons why many people prefer reading on paper.

The first reason is that paper allows greater opportunity for annotating. With paper you can highlight, write notes, and dog-ear your pages. This interaction helps us go beyond simply skimming, and lets us dive deeper into the text. I know some of you are probably saying, “well can’t you annotate online?” and yes, in some cases you can, but not always, and the sites that do have annotating capabilities are not always as easy to figure out as picking up a pen and quickly jotting a note. Paper has a much greater range in what we can mark-up than online sources can currently offer.

Further, seeing page numbers on a printed text gives us the ability to recall and track down information quicker than scrolling through a seemingly endless webpage.

And last but not least, reading on paper minimizes distractions. When we read online, there are so many opportunities to get off task, because the internet is full of so many interesting things- things that are wayyyyy more appealing than that excerpt from Plato’s Republic you are supposed to be reading for class- whoops. I am guilty of getting distracted this way all the time. Reading online has more temptations than seeing a book in front of you because paper is meant for reading off of and writing on, that's what it does! The internet on the other hand has millions of other purposes other than reading, hence the chance for distraction.

Whether you prefer to read online or on paper, there is no wrong way to read! While paper does have some advantages like the ones I mentioned, as always it is all up to personal preference.

Stay tuned for next week’s blog! Thanks again for reading my post, and remember to stay safe and healthy everyone!