Clicking and scrolling interrupt our attentional focus. Turning and touching the pages instead of clicking on the screen influence our ability for experience and attention. The physical manipulations we have to do with a computer, not related to the reading itself, disturb our mental appreciation, says associate professor Anne Mangen at the Center for Reading Research at the University of Stavanger in Norway. She has investigated the pros and cons of new reading devices.

Mangen maintains that reading on a screen generates a new form of mental orientation. The reader loses both the completeness and constituent parts of the physical appearance of the reading material. The physical substance of a book offers tranquility. The text does not move on the page like it does on a screen.

"Several experiments in cognitive psychology have shown how a change of physical surroundings has a potentially negative affect on memory. We should include this in our evaluation of digital teaching aids. The technology provides for a number of dynamic, mobile and ephemeral forms of learning, but we know little about how such mobility and transience influence the effect of teaching. Learning requires time and mental exertion and the new media do not provide for that," Mangen believes.

"We experience to day a one-sided admiration for the potentials in the technology. ICT is now introduced in kindergarten without much empirical research on how it influences children’s learning and development. The whole field is characterized by an easy acceptance and a less subtle view of the technology," the researcher says.

Reading fiction digitally. When the text becomes digital it loses its physical dimension, which is special to the book, and the reader loses his feeling of totality. (Credit: Elisabeth Tønnessen)

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Surfing the internet, playing games and hanging out on social networks are important for teen development, a large study of online use has revealed.

The report counters the stereotypical view held by many parents and teachers that such activity is a waste of time.

More than 800 teenagers and parents took part in the three-year US project.

"They are learning the technological skills and literacy needed for the contemporary world," said the report’s author, Dr Mimi Ito.

Teens explored creative passions like
gaming, video editing and writing.

"They are learning how to communicate online, craft a public identity, create a home page, post links.

"All these things were regarded as sophisticated 10 years ago but young people today take them for granted," Dr Ito told the BBC.

‘Geeking out’

The study, sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation, was part of a $50m (£31m) project on digital media and learning.

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