10/08/2017

Books and screens and the reading brain - conference in Vilnius

E-Read, a scientific project financed by COST organised a major conference in Vilnius, Lithuania on 27-29 September 2017. A stakeholder round table was held as part of the conference, focusing on textbooks and other reading material used in and by schools, and EPA was invited to present the parents' view.


Textbook publishers presented their survey results showing that although both children and parents are more open to using digital learning material, 90% of teachers are committed to using paper books.  They also emphasised that the goal is not only to remove paper and underlined the fact that scanning books into pdf is not making e-learning material.

There was an agreement between parents, researchers and publishers' perspectives: while there is a clear danger of simply stopping printing, there is a need to join forces to promote digital material. It has to happen paralel to promoting new pedagogies, the fact that in today's reality students, parents and teachers are all educators and learners at the same time. With non-specific content is readily available for everybody and becoming more and more common in the school context, there is a need to focus educational efforts of critical thinking.

On top of this it has also been emphasised that digital material is not enough for a learner-centred pedagogical approach. Very often the highly service-oriented approach of school material publishers make ready-made, easy-to-apply material readily available for teachers and this works against focusing on diverse learners' needs. However, there is a need to focus on the topics of digitalisation and digital learning material. With suitable technical equipment becoming available at a very low cost, digital learning material is clearly an element towards equitable access to eduation.

You can read more about the conference here: http://www.eread.kf.vu.lt/

Evolution of reading in the age of digitisation (E-READ) is an COST Action with goal to improve scientific understanding of the implications of digitization, hence helping individuals, disciplines, societies and sectors across Europe to cope optimally with the effects. E-READ comprises a number of projects and initiatives at different levels and scientific scope.

Eszter Salamon
EPA President

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