Death to Paper

    In the Op-Ed piece “Long Live Paper,” Justin B. Hollander states “…we shouldn't jump at a new technology simply because it has advantages…” Where would society be if this were the consensus when the idea for the automobile or airplane was conceived? Hollander’s primary gripe is that electronic readers (e-readers), applications for smartphones, and other electronic devices for reading and note taking are replacing tried and true methods of education like pencil, paper, and books. While he does raise a couple of points for legitimate worry, his primary argument seems to come more from a place of traditionalism versus innovation. The simple fact is this: electronic devices will be as revolutionary to education as the railroad was to western expansion, and are not only safe, but have actually become an even more effective learning tool than good old paper and pencil.

    Can replacing books with electronic devices really be “extremely dangerous,” as Hollander claims? He couldn't find any evidence to back his claim besides a vague statement by an independent researcher who stated the results of her studies are mixed. In fact, he speaks only of worries and possibilities of potential hazards to students. Nevertheless, the point needs to be conceded that, like in everything else, there must be some danger to the conversion.

    One foreseeable danger to using e-readers could be for those that would do so while driving. According to “Cognitive Distraction While Multitasking in the Automobile,” distracted driving accounted for 25 percent of all crashes in 2008. Keep in mind however, that ‘distracted driving” can encompass more than just texting or changing the radio station. It can also include reading a bumper sticker, changing clothes, or eating a cheeseburger. Unfortunately, people will continue to find new ways to entertain themselves on a busy highway, en route to grandma’s house with or without this new technology. Still, preparations must be made for e-readers to catch some of the blame for a driver’s negligence. As strange as it sounds, a student causing an accident while doing homework behind the wheel may become a part of this terrible statistic. While this may support, in a way, how physical harm can come to a person using the e-reader by proxy, can the Kindle or a Nook injury a person directly?

    With the introduction of Amazon’s Kindle and other e-readers came the birth of Electronic Ink (E-Ink). Reed College, among other institutions, was one of the first to try these new devices in an academic setting. In their report they noted that the device’s mimicry of an actual page was not only “extremely legible,” but also brought less visual fatigue than paper after many hours of reading (Marmarelli 2). This study shows that not only is an e-reader safe on the eyes, but is also even better than a standard textbook. Perhaps the ability to instantly jump from one place in the book to another plays some small part to stress relief, or maybe it is the ability to go from project to research sources in almost an instant. Could this immediate access to the internet and source material develop into a problem as well?

One of the greatest dangers would have to be that to academia—not in a veritable “book-burning,” but more specifically, to the use of credible source material. It is the hope of every college professor and school teacher that students would know better than to trust the word of “SmackBot” and his definition of “spectral bands” on Wikipedia, but it happens time and time again. With the ability to seek out source material and write a research paper all on one device, it is important to instruct students on gathering credible sources that may go beyond the standard one hour block of instruction that most institutions host, to which students may or may not attend. More effort is needed to ensure this issue is addressed within the class at the instructor’s level. It is not enough to tell students “Don’t use Wikipedia.” Students need to be shown how to use the institution’s database, as well as the advanced features that can be found on many of the search engines like Google. Sadly, this is a current problem not unique to e-readers.

    Reading further into the editorial, Hollander claims that while he can see the benefits of such a lightweight device, there really is no need for it with the advent of the rolling backpack. Sure, the rolling backpack has been monumental in making that heavy load of textbooks and notes lighter to move around, but what about the overall clutter when sitting in the classroom? For that matter, why bother carrying all of that stuff at all?

In many cases, classes are already filled to the max, and it can be a nightmare to find room for even the lightest backpacks, much less that airport luggage. E-readers allow students to scan those notes and enter them into the tiny device alongside what would physically be more than twenty pounds of books. Even more incredibly, with the aid of a stylus, notes can even be taken in real time, handwritten. Considering this, the rolling backpack is more of a burden than anything else. As far as security goes, losing papers and even entire notebooks is a sad fact of life that most people have experienced, no matter what kind of bag they use for storage. E-readers and applications provide the option of saving locally to a hard disk, saving to a flash drive, and saving to virtual storage on the web. Forgetting a backpack at home came be pretty frightening when there is a deadline, but with an electronic device there is no longer a need to freak out and rush back home. Today, it is as simple as finding a local school computer, downloading the homework or speech from a cloud server, and printing it off.

    According to “Long Live Paper,” American society is quick to toss out the old ways in exchange for the new. Hollander even compares the rail system that once dominated the United States and its dismantling of it to make way for automobiles to America’s impending conversion to electronic devices. Is that so bad? The fact that many people wake up of their own accord when they are supposed to in lieu of being jolted awake by the rumbling of tons of steel and passenger cars could be considered a benefit to technological advancement. The same could be said with paper and electronic devices. The decrease in desktop and backpack clutter is done away with, leaving a workspace that is neat and tidy, and eliminating the noise of students that tend to pack up early and interrupt an instructor’s lecture. This only lends credence to Hollander’s traditionalistic stance, and his reluctance to let go of an outdated system.

    Is this a “technology-inspired extinction” as Hollander claims? Hardly—it is more of a revamping or a transformation of something that was good into something that is better. Hard copies will still be printed, cataloged, and stored for safekeeping so that traditionalist may still have access, or in case of a catastrophe, it can be easily retrieved. If the e-reader revolution takes off in-full, think of all of the paper waste that could be negated. How many trees could be saved with this technology?

    The dependence these items have on a power source can be seen as a drawback, but with continued advances in technology, solar powered systems are just around the corner. Until then, keep in mind that the charge on the basic Kindle e-reader can last for up to a month or more. Nothing comes without some maintenance. After all, pencils need to be sharpened, papers have to be stapled, and books wear out and must be reprinted. All things considered, charging the device seems a rather small price to pay in comparison to the benefits.

    A study in 2002 on twelve eighth-grade students was conducted to determine if using e-readers or traditional books would be more beneficial in the areas of comprehension, engagement, and reading strategies. Before the experiment, all of the students scored at least two grade levels below what they should have on the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Comprehension Test. After four weeks, the students were retested, and those that had used the e-readers, showed significant gains in engagement and comprehension strategies, thanks in part to the easily accessible functions for defining unknown words (Poage VII).

    While using traditional books has become a comfortable norm for some, the positive results to using electronic devices cannot be ignored. To do so would be blatantly irresponsible to a generation that has been proven to excel with it. For most people, change is a terribly frightening thing in and of itself. This fact is only compounded with knowing that this change will reshape a system that has been in place for millennia. What must remembered however, is that this will be a change made in the best interest of all, just as thousands of years ago, the first oral communication was transcribed onto a delicate piece of papyrus. Things must move forward. These devices offer education on a global scale. Via a virtual Alexandrian Library, humanity will have access to vast amounts of cultures, sciences, and mathematics. To halt this advance because of unnecessary worries that have absolutely no merit besides a stubborn sense of traditionalism is madness. By knowing what e-readers and applications can bring to the world and the new discoveries that will certainly be made using them as a tool, is this really something that should be halted?

Works Cited

Hollander, Justin. "Long Live Paper." Editorial. The New York Times. 9 Oct. 2012. Web. 14 Oct. 2012.

Marmarelli, Trina. The Reed College Kindle Study. Diss. Reed College, 2002. Portland: Reed, 2010. PDF file.

Poage, Cheryl Lynn. What are the Effects of eReaders Vs. Print Text on Struggling Eighth Grade Readers in the Language Arts Classroom? Diss. Wichita State University, 2002. Wichita: Wichita, 2011. PDF file.

Strayer, David, Jason Watson and Frank Drews. "Cognitive Distraction While Multitasking in the Automobile." Brian Ross. The Psychology of Learning and Motivation. Burlington: Academic Press, 2011. 29-58. PDF file.