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Published in March of 2011, this article reports on the results of a survey conducted of students at the University of Scranton on the strategies used by postsecondary students to gather information using Internet-capable cell phones, or smartphones. The article concluded: Information literacy instructors should become familiar with new search methods (such as quick response codes) to help students use them effectively and efficiently. Students should be encouraged to review a range of search results, particularly when searching for academic information. Information literacy instructors should help students understand how to evaluate information, especially when it is presented in a nontraditional form, such as a native app. Students may need assistance from educators in applying information literacy skills they have learned while searching on a laptop or desktop to the mobile environment.

Divided as researchers sort out whether readers of tablets or textbooks perform better. As well as hidden costs of mobile devices.

I tried sharing comments using Evernote as an experiment. I don't think it worked, so here is what I had posted there: The Future of Education: Tablets vs. Textbooks BY MARGARET ROCK "Publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt tested an interactive, digital version of an Algebra 1 textbook for Apple's iPad in California's Riverside Unified School District. Students who used the iPad version scored 20 percent higher on standardized tests versus students who learned with traditional textbooks." * This is interesting. It's noted later in the article that students who read a more traditional textbook in digital format, without the benefit of the bells and whistles of a book designed to play on the strengths of digital media, did no better than those reading paper books. My thinking on this is that the books that moved beyond just the traditional text and images were more intriguing because they allowed students to interact in more diverse ways with the information. One of the reasons I enjoy reading on my Nook is that it more closely resembles the experience of reading on paper. The advantage over paper is that I can annotate and highlight without damaging the book, plus I like the dictionary feature. Reading a book on a computer is not as rewarding as reading on a good quality reader. The Houghton Mifflin Harcourt folks add much more to the experience through videos, audio links, animations, and links to ancillary information while maintaining the options I mentioned in my Nook experience. It's more engaging because there's more to do and more of the senses are being addressed. "A small but growing number of researchers are uncovering evidence that readers are better able to remember what they read in printed books long-term when compared to materials read via an electronic screen, raising questions about tablets in the classroom." "For example, Kate Garland, a lecturer in psychology at the University of Leicester in England, conducted a study on the effects of e-books

The Future of Education: Tablets vs. Textbooks