Pages Over Pixels: Print’s Lasting Impact on Education

Discover how print engages the student brain in ways that digital formats struggle to replicate.

Up and down the country, classrooms and lecture halls are once again filled with the noise of children and students unpacking their bags and getting ready for a new academic year. While some college and university students may be opening up a laptop to record their notes and search for information, the vast majority of young people will be smoothing the pages of a new exercise book while using a print text book to learn from.

Despite the steady rise of online devices in every area of work and leisure, schools have so far resisted the allure of personal technology, understanding that print and paper offer less distractions, improved learning and long-term recall, all backed up by a growing body of scientific evidence.

The Science Bit

Perhaps the most striking evidence of the advantages of print over digital in education comes from a 2021 meta-analysis in Educational Research Review, which combined data from 33 studies involving more than 100,000 participants. The analysis found that students reading print texts scored significantly higher on comprehension tests than those reading digitally. The effect was especially pronounced with longer and more complex material – precisely the kind of content students encounter in secondary and higher education.

One explanation lies in reading strategies. Studies conducted at the University of Maryland revealed that digital readers are more likely to skim and overestimate their level of understanding. By contrast, print readers report a greater sense of immersion and consistently perform better in recall and comprehension assessments. Since it’s optimised for speed and convenience, digital media appears to encourage surface-level engagement, while print fosters the sustained attention required for deeper learning.

Spatial Memory And Cognitive Mapping

Another line of research points to the importance of spatial cues in print reading. Physical books provide fixed reference points, such as the location of a passage on a left- or right-hand page, the thickness of pages already read versus those remaining and the tactile act of turning the page. These cues help the brain construct a ‘cognitive map’ of the text that aids memory and retrieval.

By contrast, digital texts lack such consistent landmarks, with continuous scrolling and uniform screen layouts taking away this ‘spatial anchoring’. A classic study by Stavanger University in Norway found that students who read stories in print were better able to reconstruct plot order and chronology than those who read the same material on e-readers. The absence of tactile and spatial markers on digital readers places additional cognitive load on the brain, impairing comprehension and recall.

The Distraction Factor

Since they are designed for multitasking, connected devices introduce challenges beyond text presentation. The presence of hyperlinks, notifications and apps can fragment attention, leading to a student’s attention wandering from the educational task at hand. The simple combination of pen, paper and text book allows the mind to concentrate on a single subject, increasing understanding and firmly implanting a lesson in the memory.

Prolonged screen use is also associated with eye strain, headaches and disrupted sleep due to blue-light exposure, which can influence overall cognitive performance and affect learning over time. Print, by contrast, offers a fatigue-free medium designed for extended engagement, resulting in greater satisfaction and lower stress when reading print. Researchers attribute this to the physical nature of books, which conveys permanence and credibility.

The Ideal Combination

Of course, digital technology has a place in education. It offers accessibility and interactivity, and for short, targeted tasks such as scanning for information or engaging with video or audio content, there are clear advantages.

However, the evidence suggests that over-reliance on digital reading for educational content risks undermining comprehension and retention. For teachers, policymakers and the students themselves, the answer is to use digital for what it does best while retaining print as the primary medium for deep, sustained learning.

For more information on the advantages of print in education, download the Two Sides Insight article at bit.ly/Two-Sides-Print-in-Education

Join the community

By signing up for the Two Sides newsletter, you join 70,000 industry professionals getting up-to-date sustainability news from across the print, paper and paper packaging industry.

Sign me up!