My first published academic paper in 1987 explained an elegant experiment I ran using SAT test questions that measure retention to discover if humans retain and understand information better by reading on paper or reading from screens. Of course the overwhelming measurements and evidence indicate that reading from paper is much better than screens. Recently, Amy Tyson published an in-depth study about the use of books and paper versus devices (phones, tablets, computers) in classrooms and looking at test scores. She validated my measurements in school settings. If you have a kid in school, get them to use books and printed materials.
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Even more compelling data and evidence: https://www.afterbabel.com/p/sophie-winkleman-tech-schools?publication_id=1221094&post_id=157960404
No matter how much repeatable and overwhelming evidence that reading retention from paper books is much better than digital media, grades keep declining as a direct result of the mad rush to digitize:
https://restofworld.org/2025/south-korea-ai-textbook/
I speculate my 1987 paper is not the first to publish this discovery.
https://dl.acm.org/doi/epdf/10.1145/28189.28192
However, I still consider my experiment design to be the most elegant and versatile for controlling extraneous (confounding) variables.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/sweden-goes-back-to-basics-swapping-screens-for-books-in-the-classroom/ Sweden is currently, refreshingly "evidence-based science" -driven in many of their policies.
"judiciously establish boundaries around technology’s selective and sequential use over stages of a pupil’s educational development. This means introducing digital technology at later ages after basic reading and other skills have been achieved."
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