Online Reading is Hurting More Than Helping
Do you ever have trouble staying focus while reading online? Do you ever not remember what you have read after reading online? If yes, do not worry you are not the only one. This happens to the majority of users that read online. I am a college student attending Stevenson University studying business administration. I have put in intensive research on the benefits and issues with reading and learning using technology, such as the Internet. The research that I have been looking into has been highly referred articles written by important authors. The Internet is changing the way we read and research and is causing more harm than it is helping us. This is due to being distracted while reading, and also not fully comprehending what we read while online.
The Internet is a very complexed and confusing network to understand. Trying to read and research online has its downfalls and issues. For so long we have been using books as devices to help us learn, research, and read. Deviating away from this is going to have its disadvantages, one being the ability to comprehend what we have read. According to Jabr “Researchers have suggested that people comprehend less when they read on a screen because screen-based reading is more physically and mentally taxing than reading on paper” (“Reading Brain in The Digital Age”). Jabr explains how physically and mentally taxing reading online really is. The reason it is so mentally taxing is because the bright light the computer screens generating causes the brain to only be focused for a certain amount of time. Comprehension is one of the most important aspects of reading. Taking that away from the reader infers with his/her ability to understand the article. The purpose of reading is to absorbed and reflect on the opinion and information of the author, without being able to comprehend you are at an enormous disadvantage. Another reason why digital reading is not beneficial is the way it interferes with the navigation of text and key word search. According to Jabr “In contrast, most screens, e-readers, smartphones and tablets interfere with intuitive navigation of a text and inhibit people from mapping the journey in their minds. A reader of digital text might scroll through a seamless stream of words, tap forward one page at a time or use the search function to immediately locate a particular phrase—but it is difficult to see any one passage in the context of the entire text” (“Reading Brain in Digital Age”). Digital reading vs reading on paper takes away from the navigation of text. The navigation of text allows you to map out the journey while you read and remember certain parts of the text. Digital text is a long continuous stream of words with no points to distinguish where you are in the passage. This is taking away from your ability to understand and comprehend part by part of a passage. Also, people on the Internet will be using key search to find the important parts of the story. Doing this makes you lose all context of the information your pulling out making you not fully understanding it. These two examples just show how much the Internet interferes with our potential of learning. Like taking short cuts to pull out information and when actually trying to read not being able to fully understand what the author is saying.
While I believe that digital text is harmful to users on the other hand people believe that there are benefits to using it. One argument people use is that digital text is interactive while normal text is not. For instance, while reading text online there are the use of hyperlinks to future research information. Susanne Murphy states “That respectful links to work done by other authors will better help the audiences understand the message she is trying to get across. (“Plagiarism Is Dead, Murphy”). I disagree with this statement for a few reasons. Yes, hyperlinks can be helpful at times to help you better understand what the author says, but most times following these hyperlinks are going to get you distracted and off topic. You can start at one link follow that to another then link, then all the sudden you are reading digital text that has nothing in common to the original article you were reading. This therefor wasting your time, distracting you from your reading, and taking away knowledge that could have been gained by just reading what the author wrote. Also, hyperlink can cause confusion to the reader. The author of an article may put a hyperlink in intended for a specific purpose. If comprehended wrong by the reader, their purpose of the whole article is going to waste and clouding up the information that was trying to be presented. Another reason why people say digital text is helpful is due to online media. They think that videos and different sort of media will help you learn. According to Carr “Media and other technologies are playing important roles in shaping how we learn online.” (“Is Google Making Us Stupid”). Media is actually hurting us way more than it is benefiting us. One second we will be reading than all the sudden an email announces its arrival, we glance over stop reading and lose the place we were at. While reading, you want to be as concentrated as possible, having these pop-ups occur is taking your concentration off your work and making you lose your place.
For instance, I have had trouble with compressions and navigations using digital text throughout my life. As a middle schooler, I relied heavy on taped books to help me better understand the material I was reading. I would have a hard copy of the book and a tape player that would read aloud to me. This strategy work very well and had tremendous benefits. As I transitioned to high school instead of using hard copies of the books and tape player they used Online text that read aloud. Immediately I noticed the decline in my comprehension. I was only able to remember certain part of information. I would find myself having to read the article over and over just to try and understand a little bit more of the material. Just like I explained earlier about navigation of text this site we used was just a long continuous stream of word. Being very difficult to make connections and place where you are in the story. After my experiences, I think that digital text makes it more difficult and there are many other beneficial ways to read.
In conclusion, I believe that digital text and using the Internet as a prime source is going to be detrimental to our future. As an education system, we should stop relying on technology and go back to the learning styles that we have already adapted to and that are most efficient. Learning styles such as annotating books and papers and actively reading. Our future generations need to go through a school system that going to allow them to reach their full potential, not hold them back because of comprehension skills and distractions. In the end we need to realize what is important and what we can rely on.
