"The bottom line: Boys’ interest and abilities in digital reading could be exploited to start a “virtuous cycle” through which more frequent reading of digital texts would result in better digital reading proficiency, which in turn, would lead to greater enjoyment of reading and better proficiency in print reading, as well."
http://dern.org.au/index.php/comment/gender
Research Reviews
Gender
Posted by Gerry White on 15 Mar 2012 at 04:17 PM
Gender differences in the use of digital devices and the development of digital proficiencies have not been often reported in the literature or educational research. Gender differences have not been significant in many of the studies where gender has been a factor for analysis. However, in a recently released report in which evidence was extracted from the 2009 PISA results, gender would appear to account for some differences in reading proficiency.The PISA 2009 Results: Students On Line: Digital Technologies and Performance (Volume VI), referenced on DERN, did assess student proficiency of print reading and digital reading, among 15 year olds in the 16 OECD countries involved in the PISA 2009 assessments. The recently released analysis of gender differences raises some very pertinent issues relating to reading proficiency.
The OECD PISA in Focus report, Are boys and girls ready for the digital age found that students in Australia, Korea and New Zealand ‘scored significantly higher in digital reading than in print reading’ (p. 1). In fact, Korea has developed a policy to digitise textbooks and assessments by 2015 and the United States also aims to move to digital textbooks within five years. These recent trends signify the importance of close analysis of digital reading.
Are boys and girls ready for the digital age reported that girls outperformed boys in reading in both formats and that the proficiency gap was narrower with digital reading than with print reading. They stated, ‘girls outperformed boys by 38 points – the equivalent of one year of formal schooling – in print reading, by 24 points in digital reading’ (p. 2). These differences can be ‘seen most clearly at the extremes of the proficiency scale, that is, poor performers and top performers’ (p. 2).
Another interesting finding is that in these countries, ‘fewer girls performed poorly in digital reading than in print reading’ (p. 2) and so more girls performed at the higher end of the scale in digital reading than for print reading. Correspondingly, the increased percentage of boys in digital reading proficiency was much greater than for girls and there was a reduction in the percentage of poor performers, especially of boys.
Boys on the other hand outperformed girls in digital navigation which influenced their proficiency in digital reading but boys were less proficient in print reading. Where both boys and girls achieved the same proficiency in print reading, the boys were more proficient in digital reading. That is, boys perform better in digital reading than they do in print reading because of their digital navigation skills.
The report Are boys and girls ready for the digital age report finishes with a valuable conclusion for all educators. ‘The bottom line: Boys’ interest and abilities in digital reading could be exploited to start a “virtuous cycle” through which more frequent reading of digital texts would result in better digital reading proficiency, which in turn, would lead to greater enjoyment of reading and better proficiency in print reading, as well. Parents, educators and policy makers should also take note of girls’ weaker skills in digital navigation. Without those skills, students will find it difficult to make their way in the digital age’ (p. 4).
This short (4 pages) report is very pertinent to the teaching of reading and reading achievement by students using digital devices.
Categories: Digital LiteracyEquity
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