Reading: Paper vs Digital - an archive of resources

I recently entered into a Facebook conversation with a parent who had concerns about how reading comprehension may vary when readers read books and printed materials vs when readers read digital and online materials. I've done quite a bit of reading over the last three years on this subject, and I know what the vast majority of the research says: books beat digital. (Why "the last three years" you ask? The Shallows debuted in 2011. See below.) I have compiled a brief list of some the things that have been written on this topic over the years. To be fair, there is some research (but just a fraction of what exists to the contrary) that indicates books don't necessarily beat digital, but I have not included it here. Enjoy this list of sources supporting books and print over digital sources. If you read all of this and still remain unconvinced about the merits of print, well... perhaps it is because you have neither remembered nor comprehended what you read.

Reading: Paper vs Digital

'The Shallows': This Is Your Brain Online

Nicholas Carr: The Shallows - What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains (video)

Our Cluttered Minds

E-books may inhibit student comprehension: studies

QuickReport: Print Books vs. E-books

Can Students ‘Go Deep’ With Digital Reading?

Readers absorb less on Kindles than on paper, study finds

The Reading Brain in the Digital Age: The Science of Paper versus Screens

Students Reading E-Books Are Losing Out, Study Suggests

Do E-Books Make It Harder to Remember What You Just Read?

Researchers Voice Concern Over E-Books' Effect on Reading Comprehension

Paper vs digital reading is an exhausted debate

Do e-readers inhibit reading comprehension?

Why Books Are Better Than e-Books for Children

Back to school: Leave the iPad at home

Textbooks vs. technology in the classroom

Paper beats computer screens

New study suggests ebooks could negatively affect how we comprehend what we read

Anson Dorrance on the Importance of Reading for Professional Growth

In my research for What Teachers Can Learn from Sports Coaches, I heard over and over from some incredible coaches how much they value reading as a means for personal and professional growth. Perhaps none of the coaches I interviewed talked about reading more than Anson Dorrance, Women's Soccer Coach at the University of North Carolina. His list of accolades truly is too long to list, so I will just mention that he has won the NCAA national championship in women's soccer 22 times (no typo, twenty-two). He attributes is own personal growth largely to his voracious reading. If he can grow through reading, how much can you and I grow?

On Seeking Continuous Self-Improvement Through Reading

Even the best in the business - athletics or academics - seek continuous self improvement. One of the most effective and cost-efficient ways to seek self-improvement is reading. Teachers and coaches certainly should read books written specifically about their respective crafts, but often these two groups of professionals can learn from reading about each other's craft, too. Furthermore, teachers and coaches alike can benefit from reading books on leadership, management, marketing, psychology and more. Read and read voraciously. The list of better and more effective paths to self-improvement is pretty short, so grab a stack of books and get started.

Five Ways to Build Parent Engagement at Your School - Part 1

This is the first in a five-part series on how to build parent engagement at your school.

Parent engagement has never been more important for our schools and our students. Our schools and our students desperately need parents to be engaged and invested in the educational process, truly engaged and not just working the concession stand or serving on the booster club. Our schools need parents who know what's happening at school, who support the process, who want students to be challenged and held accountable, and who seek to partner with the school. Our students need parents who want to know what's going on at school, who support the school at home in front of the students, who model life-long learning, who don't make excuses for their students and who value education. Seasoned education veterans know from experience what a difference parent engagement can make and research supports this (see Amanda Ripley's The Smartest Kids in the World, for example). The challenge, of course, lies in getting parents engaged.

1. Build parent engagement through literature
All students have required reading of some sort. For some students, required reading may be ABC board books or early reader chapter books, for others it may be To Kill a Mockingbird, and for others still it may be a collection of Shakespeare's sonnets. These examples, along with every other reading assignment (excluding textbooks and technical material), provide perfect opportunities for parent engagement. Kudos to parents who would read a chemistry text with their child, but literature lends itself to community reads much better than textbooks. As a school leader hoping to build parent engagement through literature, you should encourage/persuade/beg your parents to do a number of simple but valuable things.

First, you should encourage parents to read every piece of literature their children read. Seriously, every piece of literature. You should do everything humanly possible to make sure parents do the summer reading with their children. You should remind parents every time a new novel or poem is assigned, then urge them to read with their children. You could even provide extra copies in the school library for parents to check out. Whatever you have to do, by hook or by crook, get your parents to read with their children.

Second, you should encourage your parents to dialogue with their children about what they read. For example, at Open House or Parents' Night you should encourage parents to ask their children questions about the latest reading, discuss the characters or talk about what they like or disliked most about the reading. Remind parents often that having these conversations with their children actually makes their children smarter, makes their children think, and demonstrates for their children how much they value reading and learning. You could even go so far as to have your teachers send home discussion questions so your parents can have more meaningful, guided discussions about what they read.

By getting parents involved with your school's reading assignments, you're doing far more than assuring that students read or reinforcing the idea that reading is important. For starters, you're entering into a partnership in the education of children. Neither the parent nor the school can wholly educate a child. This must be a joint effort. You're also helping parents parent - you're providing a means by which the family can spend meaningful time together. Also of great importance, at least for the sake of this conversation, you're building engagement. When students and parents begin to have positive experiences centered on things at or from school, both students and parents become more likely to value and support the school, it's teachers and it's mission. Using literature as a means to that end is a great way to begin.

T-Minus Seven Days Until Teen Read Week... What's Your Plan?

October 17-23 is Teen Read Week, a week of reading emphasis sponsored by the American Library Association and the Young Adult Library Services Association. This year's theme is Books with Beat @ your library, a theme with special emphasis on "poetry, audiobooks, books about music, and more."

Librarians across the country, in public libraries and schools alike, are planning special activities for the week to get books in teens' hands. You can check out a few such activities at the YALSA Wiki. One of the best Teen Read Week programs around can be found at the Parkview Baptist School (Baton Rouge) library website, the brainchild of a librarian that rocks the library.

Everything you need to know about Teen Read Week can be found at the YALSA Teen Read Week website. If you don't know what your library is doing for Teen Read Week, don't you think it's about time you found out?

The Eagle Experience: A Community-Wide Experience that Began with a Book

One of the most rewarding days of my educational career occurred last week when months of planning and preparation materialized into an unforgettable experience at my school. I'll begin this story in the spring of last school year. I wanted to create a community-building experienced centered on meaningful summer reading for all my high school students, faculty, staff and administration. My vision for this experience, known at my school as The Eagle Experience, was threefold:

• Provide a meaningful book for all students, faculty, staff and administration to read over the summer
• Devote a class session or two in each content area to some aspect of the book during the following school year soon after all returned to school
• Bring the author of the book onto campus to address the high school and then to spend some intimate time with students and faculty

After several meetings with campus leaders to discuss possible books for The Eagle Experience, we decided on a gripping and true story by Ltc. Brian Birdwell, Refined by Fire. The book, initially recommended by one of last year's seniors, tells the story of Birdwell, a survivor of the attack on the Pentagon on 9/11. Badly burned over most of his body, Birdwell overcame incredible odds to survive and to eventually return to work. In the book, Birdwell tells of his agony, his faith and his family's struggles throughout the ordeal.

We contacted Birdwell's publicist, ordered over 500 books and made arrangements for Birdwell to come to our school in August. Everyone in the high school received a book then read it over the summer knowing we would be discussing the book in class and hosting the author for a day. It didn't take long for parents and grandparents alike to borrow their students' books to read. Everyone got in on the act over the summer and in the first few weeks of school.

After much anticipation, Ltc. Birdwell arrived and told his story to an awestruck audience. Tears flowed freely as students and adults sat motionless listening to the miraculous story of his struggles, his faith and his recovery. After addressing the students and adults in an assembly, Birdwell spent time with several students, the student council, the senior class officers and a number of classes.

A number of media outlets sent reporters to document the day. Two television stations ran the story, The Advocate ran a print story and two local magazines are working on their print stories now. The buzz generated by this experience, not an original idea by any means, has been phenomenal.

The Eagle Experience has made an immediate impact on our school community. Additionally, we may never know the long-lasting and far-reaching impact of the experience for our families. The extensive amount of work and planning required to make this happen for our school pales in comparison to the benefits received by all who participated in The Eagle Experience. Now, how to top this next year...

Below: Ltc. Brian Birdwell and I shake hands after he spoke to the students, faculty, administration and families.

The Leader as a Reader: Professional Growth vs Rest and Relaxation

I'm the world's biggest advocate for leaders being readers, especially educational leaders. I recommend, as do so many others who know more than I, all educational leaders read voraciously. Educational leaders should read for self improvement. Educational leaders also should read to model reading for those around them.

As this school year began, I saw myself reading as much professional growth material as anything. I had a huge list of authors to read, authors like Jim Collins, Annette Breaux, Todd Whitaker, Howard Gardner, Ken Robinson and more. As the year has progressed, I have read quite a few professional growth books to help me and to help my school. However, as the year has progressed I have noticed something interesting about my reading habits. In the last few months, as the wear and tear of the year has taken its toll on me, I find myself seeking escape on the streets of Jerusalem's Lot, wandering the dangerous streets of Afghanistan, running from the mob in Memphis, rooting for Edward and Bella to finally get hitched, and the list goes on. While books have always been a way for me to stretch my mind and grow intellectually, I find myself turning to books more and more as a means of managing stress.

When the board, the parents, the budgets, the grades, the reports and the detentions get to be too much, grab a book, settle into that old leather chair your significant other wants to throw out, and get lost.

Add Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Saga to Your Reading List... Seriously!

If you're in education and if you're paying even the least bit of attention to the kids walking your halls, surely you know Stephenie Meyer and the Twilight Saga. The books, Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn (my favorite of the four), are only the hottest set of titles since Harry Potter and most teenage girls either have read or are reading this series at breakneck speed. It seems like kids in every middle and high school in America are hooked on Twilight, especially the girls. Why wouldn't they be? Quirky Bella and Adonis-like Edward, who happens to be a vampire, are star-crossed wanna-be-lovers dealing with trivial things like parents, peers and evil vampires out to destroy everything they hold dear. When is the last time you saw teenagers devour 2,000-plus pages like reading had just been added to the "things that are now cool to do" list?

OK, so the books are teen lit. Before you dismiss them as merely the latest fad, however, let me give you some reasons why you, as an educational leader, should read these books. Seriously, you must read at least the first book if not all four. Why? Let me explain why every educational leader must read the Twilight Saga.

First, you should know what kids are into these days. Kids, especially girls, are into Twilight like nothing I've ever seen. What's all the fuss? Read them and find out.

Second, you know those girls in your school who don't really fit in with any of the cool kids, that march to their own drummer, that are quirky? You know the ones. When is the last time you felt at ease striking up a conversation with them about something they are interested in? Here's a secret for you. They've all read these books and they'd love to talk about them with you. Just ask them, "Which book is better, Twilight or Breaking Dawn?" Or, ask them, "What is the deal with Jacob?" Or, ask them, "Why would Bella be willing to give up being human to live forever with a vampire?" Instant conversation starter. Truth be told, most of the middle and high school girls, quirky nerds and popular cheerleaders, have read these books. If you want to get to know your kids and build relationships with them, meet them where they are and go from there.

Third, if you know a teenager (particularly a girl) who just really isn't into reading, say, "I know just the book for you. Try reading Twilight and let me know in a week what you think." This works. 100% guaranteed. I've recommended these books to a few kids, all of whom have read the entire series. Remember, these were non-readers. Girls like the books better than boys like them but I have known some guys who have read all four books, too.

Finally, when people start talking about adding the series to your school's library, you need to know the content so you can have an educated discussion and make an educated decision. In my library, I added the set to our holdings at the beginning of the school year and we can't keep them on the shelves. I've even known a student who bought the books, read them, then donated them to our library so her friends wouldn't have to wait to read them after the buzz dies down. How great is that?

"Nonsense," you say? "This junk isn't Joyce or Faulkner or Hemingway," you say? Again, I say, when is the last time you saw a teenager read over 2,000 pages and then get bummed when the reading is done? I see it all the time and I know why they're bummed... I've read them. You should, too.

Modeling Reading for Our Students

One of the four things we are emphasizing on our campus this year is reading. One of the many ways we, as adults, will emphasize reading this year is by modeling reading throughout the year. We have placed a large bulletin board with the title "What We're Reading" in a hallway with maximum exposure to our student population. On that board, managed by our National Honor Society, every teacher and administrator name is listed along with what each is reading. As the titles change periodically (we update titles on the 1st and 15th of each month), the color of the paper used changes, too.

This has achieved a number of things for us. First, it has shown our students that the adults on campus are reading, some voraciously. Second, it has celebrated our readers. Third, it has given our students an insight into who our teachers are outside the classroom; this is helpful when building relationships with our students. Fourth, it has given our students a chance to see some titles they might be interested in reading.

Students haven't been the only ones affected by this small addition to our hallways. A number of teachers have mentioned that they might not have picked up a book this year if it weren't for the bulletin board. Also, a few teachers accidentally got left off the board initially and they went to the NHS rather upset because they wanted their names and titles included, too. There have been numerous conversations already this year between teachers about the things they are reading, a dialogue that may not have been present in years past.

There is a quantifiable feeling of excitement and enthusiasm when it comes to reading and it seems to be contagious. At the request of some students, we have started a similar board for students with their names, photos and titles they are reading (titles that are not included on required reading lists for classes).