Who gets lost? How digital academic reading impacts equal opportunity in higher education

Author(s)
Axel Kuhn, Annika Schwabe, Hajo Boomgaarden, Lukas Brandl, Günther Stocker, Gerhard Lauer, Ina Brendel-Kepser, Marion Krause-Wolters
Abstract

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, providing digital texts as learning material had become a common practice in academia. But little is known about who profits from and who loses out when moving from print to digital reading in higher education. In this study, we connect digital reading to digital divides, and draw on a unique data set of university students digital reading practices obtained by a quantitative survey during the lockdown semester in three European countries. Based on the statistical results for digital reading access, attitudes, motivation, skills, behavior, and support, we argue that varying digital reading experiences of students are linked to inequalities in higher education opportunities. In conclusion, our results contrast current digital policies of merely improving access to digital texts in academia to democratize higher education.

Organisation(s)
Department of German Studies, Department of Communication
External organisation(s)
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Pädagogische Hochschule Karlsruhe, Universität Paderborn
Journal
New Media & Society
Volume
26
Pages
1034-1055
No. of pages
22
ISSN
1461-4448
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448211072306
Publication date
01-2022
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
508007 Communication science, 509026 Digitalisation research, 503018 University didactics, 602014 German studies
Keywords
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/0a26576d-807b-4a31-8239-6ab6be186523