The Swedish government recently imposed restrictions on devices in classrooms and a return to physical textbooks . This policy was prompted by concerns about declining student test scores and the negative impact of increased screen time . Is this anxiety reasonable? To address this issue, it’s important to remember that the notion of reading as easy is a fallacy. […] … learn more→

The history of human evolution is inextricably linked to that of technology. Each new tool facilitates or enables the acquisition of new skills, which contributes to our progress as a species. Therefore, technological advances often arrive in the field of education with great promise. This is the case with digitization: the incorporation of devices, educational […] … learn more→

Recently, I worked with a group of elementary teachers in Iowa to select new reading textbooks and software. They wanted new materials to improve their district’s stagnant reading scores. After several days of reviewing materials from a state-approved list, one of the teachers asked me, “Will any of these help my students learn to read?” […] … learn more→

Most academic writers are regular readers. There is of course a strong connection between reading and writing. Reading and writing feed each other. But I’m not focused on the connection right now. No, I’m thinking about how hard we often find it to prioritise time for reading. And how maybe the reality is that most […] … learn more→

Imagine a child reading the story of a refugee girl who crosses the sea to flee a war. By the end of the book, that child has not only learned new words: they have felt fear, hope, anger, relief… This is one of the powers of literature: its ability to make us experience other people’s […] … learn more→

For four centuries, the Catholic Church banned the reading of hundreds of works deemed subversive—from Galileo Galilei to Simone de Beauvoir. Beginning in 1966, censorship was officially lifted, and popes increasingly valued reading as a spiritual and intellectual act. Francis’s pontificate marked a new era: it refocused the focus on reading as a tool of […] … learn more→

Artificial intelligence (AI) is gradually infiltrating the world of education, particularly in the teaching of reading. More and more digital tools are offering to help budding readers decipher their first texts. While official data shows large gaps in achievement between students and significant difficulties for some students entering sixth grade, what can we expect from […] … learn more→

The number of people who read for fun appears to be steadily dropping. Fifty percent of UK adults say they don’t read regularly (up from 42% in 2015) and almost one in four young people aged 16-24 say they’ve never been readers, according to research by The Reading Agency. But what are the implications? Will people’s […] … learn more→

We start from a recent event that occurred in the Swedish elementary education system. After decades of investing in a public education policy based on the use of digital and virtual tools – which has made the country a global reference in the sector – the Swedish government is now striving to convince the current […] … learn more→

I often say, following John Wagner, that a paper, chapter or book ought to reduce a reader’s ignorance. In other words, when they’ve finished reading what you’ve written, a reader ought to feel that they know more about the topic than when they started. I like the modesty of reducing ignorance. It has none of the hubris […] … learn more→