Pro: Print textbooks provide advantages online textbooks lack

Grumbling about back pain at the ripe old age of 16, students often complain about the additional weight of textbooks they must carry at the start of the school year. It seems they would rather read millions of words on a screen than on a physical page.

Traditional textbooks may seem unnecessary: They are often heavy, expensive and less accessible than online textbooks.

But online textbooks are not always more convenient to use. They place strain on the eyes because our eyes blink differently when they stare at screens — the upper eyelid does not completely move down, according to Time Magazine. As a result, our eyes dry more quickly.

Other symptoms of Digital Eye Strain, caused by prolonged screen use, include blurry vision and pain in the shoulders and neck, the American Optometric Association reports.

Digital textbooks may hurt time management as well. “Reading a textbook” online can spiral into hours spent on social media or other sites a few clicks or taps away, making it difficult to avoid distractions and more tempting to indulge in procrastination.

With print textbooks, readers can create a distance between themselves and potential distractions. Students also have more freedom to decide when or where to read, unrestricted by internet availability.

If internet connection is poor or a website crashes, such as Pearson for AP Biology, the text and homework are difficult to access. Repeatedly disconnecting and connecting to a WiFi network that refuses to cooperate, refreshing a page over and over hoping that a bug has been fixed or trying to read a chapter online during a potential power outage does not exactly help frustrated students learn.

Studies also reveal that print texts may result in better reading comprehension for key points, according to the research paper “Reading Across Mediums: Effects of Reading Digital and Print Texts on Comprehension and Calibration.”

The paper describes a study conducted on 90 undergraduates who read passages either on a computer or in print, then responded to questions after reading each passage. In response to a survey, the students said that they preferred reading digitally and thought their reading comprehension was better for digital texts.

But the actual results suggest otherwise. While students had a similar understanding of main points regardless of medium, when it came to key points, those who read print passages performed better. Print helps students better absorb the detailed information they need to know.

Although a number of correct responses might not be the best indicator of understanding a text, the paper also explains how a screen can hurt reading comprehension. Possible reasons for poorer performance include the way scrolling and hyperlinks interfere with the reading process or the way a screen limits access to the text.

Students can access the whole text more quickly and easily when they read in print, while students reading digitally usually have access to only one or two pages at a time.

When reading from a screen, it can be more difficult to remember where information is located as well. Readers often think about the location of a piece of information, a 2013 paper reported, forming a “spacial mental representation” of the text.

Reading print leads to stronger “mental representations” of a text’s structure. Thinking about the location of information on a page helps readers remember a sequence of events more accurately. People who are strong at reading comprehension can better recall and locate where information is.

And of course, there is something irreplaceable about books as tangible objects, as lines of ink contained within a cover. Readers can see their progress, as what is read accumulates on the left and the number of remaining pages decreases on the right. Handwritten notes or added sticky notes allow readers to interact with the text. It is easier to digest words from a page, and information sticks with the reader, rather than dry eyes and a stubborn headache.

Opting for online textbooks might only trade back pain for eye strain. Instead of requiring even more hours spent staring at pixels, print textbooks give students a chance to step away from the screen, open a physical textbook and read. There’s no need to shift everything online.