Reading the news online: Effects of medium on knowledge acquisition.
The Internet has exerted its influence in the presentation and consumption of news. With many desirable characteristics, the Internet has become a powerful news medium. Nevertheless, studies claim that the online news medium is less effective than print for the learning of news facts. Studies mea...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Conference or Workshop Item |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2008
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://eprints.usm.my/35855/1/Omar_ANZCA2008.pdf |
| Summary: | The Internet has exerted its influence in the presentation and consumption of news.
With many desirable characteristics, the Internet has become a powerful news
medium. Nevertheless, studies claim that the online news medium is less effective than
print for the learning of news facts. Studies measuring knowledge acquisition usually
examine the ability to recall facts - factual knowledge - and often ignore the ability to
connect information - structural knowledge – though the latter facilitates the process
of decision making and problem solving. Employing an experimental method, this
study found no evidence to support the claim that the traditional print newspaper is
superior to online media in fostering factual knowledge. The study equally found no
support for the prediction that the online medium – whose structure resembles the
associative nature of human memory - is superior to print in fostering structural
knowledge. The lack of support for these hypotheses has methodological implications
and invites further investigations. |
|---|