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DesignCanEnhanceeLearningComprehensionbyPamelaS.Hogle:LearningSolutionsMagazine

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Design Can Enhance eLearning Comprehension

by Pamela Hogle
January 12, 2017

Doesreadingcomprehensionsufferwhenlearnersswitchfrompapertoscreens?Thisquestionhas
beenstudiedfrommultipleangles,withvariedfindings.Theresnodefinitiveanswer,butforeLearning
professionals,abetterquestionmightbe:HowcaneLearningdesignmaximizelearningpotentialand
mitigatepotentialbarrierstocomprehension?
AnyoneconsideringimplementingeLearningorconvertingexistingtrainingtoeLearningshould
considerthedifferencesinhowlearnerstakeinandprocessinformationwhenusingdigitalmeans(like
desktoportabletcomputers)versusreadingprintedmaterial,anddesignaccordingly!

Learners perform better on paper

So,whatarethosedifferences?A2013studycomparedparticipantsreadingcomprehensionwhen
readingonpaperversusoncomputerscreens.Itfoundthatpeopleperformedbetteronreading
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comprehensiontestswhentheyreadfrompaper.Theresearchersofferedseveralpossibleexplanations
forwhythisisthecase.
Scrolling:Theresearchersciteseveralstudiesthatsupportthecontentionthatscrolling
interfereswithreadingcomprehensionbecauseitaffectsthereadersmentalrepresentationof
thetext.InsimpleEnglish,thatmeansthatpeopleoftenrecalltextbypicturingwhereonthepage
theysawit.Whenlearnersscrollthroughmultiplescreensoftext,thetextisnotfixedinalocation,
andthelearnerscannotformamentalpictureofwhereaspecificpassageislocated,astheycan
whenreadingonpaper.
Partialorentiretext:Whenholdingbooksorprinteddocuments,learnerscanleafthroughand
skipfrompagetopagetheentiretextisavailabletothematonce.Whenreadingondigital
screens,learnerscanonlyseeonescreenoftextatatime.Theylackthephysicalityofabookor
printeddocument,whichalsogivesthematangiblewaytotellhowfartheyhaveprogressedand
howmuchtheyhavelefttoread.
Mythofmultitasking:Whenansweringreadingcomprehensionquestionsaboutadigitaltext,
learnershavetoswitchbackandforthonthescreenbetweenthetextandthequestion.Thistype
ofmultitaskingplacesadditionaldemandsonthelearners,possiblyinterferingwith
comprehensionofthetext.Considerableresearchhasshownthat,whenpeoplethinktheyare
multitasking,theyareactuallyswitchingbetweentasks,andtheyloseefficiencywitheachswitch.
Butwhenreadingapapertext,whetheransweringquestionsonadigitalscreenoronan
additionalpieceofpaper,learnerscanhaveboththetextandthequestionsinfrontofthematthe
sametime,somultitaskingisnotrequired.
Bias:Theresearchersciteacommonperceptionthatdigitalmediaaremoreusefulforshort
messages,whileseriousstudyshouldbedoneusingpapermedia.Learnersholdingthisbias
arelesslikelytofocusdeeplyonthematerialtheyarereadingonscreen.However,thiscondition
isdifficulttostudyobjectivelyormeasure.
Visualfatigue:Peoplewhospendalongtimereadingatabletorcomputerscreenoftenreport
visualfatigueorheadaches,whichcaninterferewithreadingcomprehensionandrecall,ormay
simplycauselearnerstopreferpaper.Electronicreaders(eReaders),suchasKindles,thatuse
electronicinkandreflectlight,ratherthanemittinglight,causelessvisualfatigue.Sincemost
availableresearchgroupscomputers,tablets,andelectronicreadersintoasinglecategory,
additionalresearchthatlooksateReadersandpapermightprovideusefulinsight.

The good news: eLearning designers can help

Thegoodnewsfordesignersisthattheycanmitigatesomeofthesefactorsbyusingsound,thoughtful
design.
Taketheissueofvisualfatigue,forexample.Thequalityofscreensisimprovingconstantly.Muchofthe
researchwasconductedseveraleven10yearsago,andimprovementsinscreenqualityhave
addressedsomeoftheissuesthatcausevisualfatigue.Moreimportantly,theamountofcustomization
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availabletolearnershasalsoincreased.WelldesignedeLearningallowslearnerstomanipulatethelook
ofascreen:Learnerscanoftenincreasefontsize,adjustthecontrast,andchangecolors.Thisisan
areawhereinstructionaldesignerscancontributebyselectingclear,easytoreadfontsandcompatible
colorcombinationsthatoffersufficientcontrast,makingiteasierformostlearnerstoreadthetext,and
byincludingoptionsthatgivelearnerscontrolovertheappearanceoftext.
Instructionaldesignerscanmitigatetheeffectsofscrollingandothernavigationissuesaswell.Providing
amplenavigationalcuesandchunkinginformationintological,screensizedsegmentscanaidlearners
comprehensionandreducetheirneedtoscroll.Creatingsectionandsubsectiontitlesintext,and
includinganavigationmenuthatlistsandlinkstothesections,canmakeiteasierforlearnerstoboth
findtheinformationtheyneedwhentheyneeditandconsumeitinalogicalwaythataidsin
comprehension.
Designerscanalsoaddressthequestionofmultitasking.Manylearnersworkontwoormorescreens,
soallowinglearnerstokeepmultiplewindowsopencaneliminatetheneedtoswitchbackandforth.In
addition,placinginteractivity,suchasquizquestionsorcheckyourknowledgeexercises,closetothe
texttheyreferencecanaidinlearnercomprehensionandrecallbyreducingtheamountofswitching
andbacktrackingrequired.OfferingexercisesatmultiplepointsintheeLearningcanreinforcelearning
byaskinglearnerstorecallandapplyinformationmorethanonce.

People prefer paper

Learnerpreferencebiasisanimportantconsideration.SwedishresearchersCarolineMyrbergand
NinnaWibergpositthatproblemswithscreenreadingaremorepsychologicalthantechnologicala
biasorpreferenceforpaper,ratherthantechnicalbarrierstolearning(seeReferences).Evenyounger
learners,whoareregardedasdigitalnatives,showastrongpreferenceforreadingonpaperoverdigital
screens.However,youngerlearnersusedigitalmediamoreoftenandformorepurposesthandoolder
learners,andeducationfromelementarygradesthroughhighereducationisincreasinglyreplacing
paperwithdigitalmedia.Severalresearcherssuggestthatthatthebiastowardpaperwilldisappearas
youngergenerationsusedigitalandpapermediainterchangeablyorprimarilyusedigitalmediain
school.
Studiesofuniversitystudentsbearthisout:Studentswhoareexposedtoandusewelldesigned
eLearningmaterialsshowalesspronouncedpreferenceforpapertextbooksthanstudentswhodonot
regularlyuseelectronictexts.
Instructionaldesignisasignificantfactorinlearnerpreference.MyrbergandWibergpointoutthatmuch
ofthetextlearnersareaskedtoreadondigitalscreenshassimplybeentransferredfrompaperto
digitalwithoutusingdesigncharacteristicsthattakeadvantageoftheinherentfeaturesofdigitalmedia
thatmakethemvaluable.Onceagain,designerscantackletheproblem:

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Incorporatingquizquestions,matchinggames,andotherformsofinteractivitywiththetext,rather
thanpresentingpageafterpageoftext,thenastandalonetest,canimprovecomprehensionand
engagement.
Hyperlinkingcanenhanceordetractfromcomprehension.Hyperlinksthattakelearnersaway
fromthetexttheyarereadingcaninterferewithcomprehension,asthelearnersareconstantly
interruptedduringtheirreading.However,linkedlistsofresourcesthatarepresentedattheend
ofarelatedtextcanofferadditionalhelpandinformationthataidscomprehension.
Youngerlearnersexpectdigitalexperiencestobefullydigitalexperiencesnotsimplydigital
copiesofapaperpage,accordingtoMyrbergandWiberg.Thismeansshorttextsthatare
integratedwithvideo,sound,quizzes,games,andotherinteractivity.Theyalsowantintegration
withsocialmedia.Researchdatashowthatlearnersarenotsimplyexpressingapreferencefor
papertheypreferpapertopoorlydesigneddigitaltextbooksthattrytomimicpaper!
AfinalissuethatMyrbergandWibergdiscussisaccesstodigitalmaterials.Digitalrights
managementsystems,orDRM,canmakeitdifficultforlearnerstousedigitalmediaefficiently.
Sharingisdifficult.Sometimes,alearnersdigitalrightstoatextexpire,andevenifshecanrenew
access,hernotesandhighlightingwillhavedisappeared.Learnersusingpapermediacan
highlight,writenotesinthemargins,dogearpages,insertbookmarks,anddomanyotherthings
thatcustomizethepapercopytoaidtheirlearningandretentionofthematerial.Theycanshare
textbooks,copyarticles,andlookatapagetogether.Wherehighlightingandbookmarking
featuresexistindigitalmedia,theyareoftenhardtouseorlearnersdonotevenknowtheyexist.
Asresearchonotherdigitalfeatures(suchascaptioningofvideos)shows,learnerswhoknow
thatthesefeaturesexistoftenusethemandbenefitfromthem.Thisistrueevenforfeaturesthat
wereaddedtobenefitlearnerswithdisabilitiesmanyorevenmostofthelearnerswhousethem
andbenefitfromthemdonothavedisabilities.
Thequestionofwhetherdigitalisbetterorworsethanpaperistoosimplistic.Welldesigned
eLearningcanovercomelearnerpreferenceforpaperandmitigatemostperceiveddrawbacksofa
digitalenvironment.

References
Jabr,Ferris.TheReadingBrainintheDigitalAge:TheScienceofPaperversusScreens.Scientific
American.11April2013.
Hogle,Pamela.ImproveEngagement,Focus,andComprehensionwithClosedCaptionsforeLearning
Videos.LearningSolutionsMagazine.5January2017.
Mangen,Anne,BenteR.Walgermo,andKolbjornBronnick.Readinglineartextsonpaperversus
computerscreen:Effectsonreadingcomprehension.InternationalJournalofEducationalResearch,
Vol.58.January2013.

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Myrberg,Caroline,andNinnaWiberg.Screenvs.paper:whatisthedifferenceforreadingand
learning?Insights,Vol.28,No.2.July2015.
Shank,Patti.WhatDoYouKnow:DoWeLearnLessfromScreens?ATDScienceofLearningBlog.7
December2016.

Topics Covered
DesignStrategies,InstructionalDesign,LearningResearch

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