In 2026, education is more digital than ever. Many tests are taken on computers, tablets are common and AI tools are now part of the classroom conversation. Yet printed materials still deliver measurable learning advantages, especially when the goal is deep comprehension, durable recall and sustained attention.

For educational publishers, the takeaway is not “print versus digital.” It is “print where it performs best.” The research continues to show that when students must truly understand and remember what they read, print is often the most reliable format. Digital can be excellent for practice, updates, video and accessibility features, but print remains a high-impact tool for learning.

Print Still Wins for Deep Comprehension

A major reason print remains effective is that “screen inferiority” has not disappeared with better devices. A large meta-analysis comparing paper and digital reading found a small but consistent advantage for paper across studies involving 171,055 participants. The same analysis found the advantage grew when reading was time-constrained and when texts were informational or mixed informational and narrative, which is exactly the profile of most educational content. 

A separate meta-analysis focused on reading from screens versus paper also found a significant advantage for paper across 33 studies. It reported that the gap was larger for inferential questions than for literal ones, which matters because comprehension is where many educational publishers want to move the needle.

Print Helps Students Build a Better Mental Map

One of print’s quiet strengths is how it supports navigation and memory. Printed pages provide stable spatial cues: where something appeared on a spread, how far into the chapter it was and what was above or below it. That physical map reduces cognitive overhead, freeing more attention for understanding and integrating ideas.

Digital reading can absolutely be designed well, but it often introduces extra friction through scrolling, interface controls, notifications and variable layouts. Research syntheses point to the importance of reading context, task demands and navigation as moderators of comprehension differences between print and screens.

For educational publishers, this is why print remains a strong baseline for core instruction: it is the most predictable environment for extended reading and review.

K–12 Evidence Shows Print Matters in Real Classroom Conditions

Classroom reading often happens in groups, under time constraints and with mixed attention demands. A meta-analysis focused on children’s reading of digital books versus paper books found 39 studies with 1,812 children. In school settings, paper books outperformed digital books for story comprehension. 

The same meta-analysis found digital books sometimes helped vocabulary, though the result weakened after adjustments for potential publication bias. The practical lesson here is to use digital enhancements intentionally for targeted outcomes like vocabulary or pronunciation, while keeping core reading and comprehension anchored in print when possible. 

Print Reduces Distraction in a World Built to Interrupt

Digital tools are powerful, but they are also distraction-prone by design. Even a well-managed classroom has to fight notifications, tabs, messaging and task-switching.

A classic experimental study found that students who multitasked on a laptop during a lecture scored 11% lower on a post-lecture comprehension test. Even more striking, students who were simply in view of a multitasking peer scored 17% lower.

More recent synthesis research reinforces that digital distraction is not a minor side issue. A 2025 systematic review of 26 empirical articles on digital distraction in education categorized causes as technology distractors, personal needs and instructional environment factors. 

Print is not “distraction-proof,” but it is distraction-resistant. A printed chapter does not ping, pop up or invite a quick switch to something more immediately entertaining.

Print Improves Metacognition and Study Behaviors

Another reason print still improves outcomes is that students tend to judge their learning more accurately on paper.

In the meta-analysis on screens versus paper, researchers found that readers were more overconfident about their performance when reading on screens. Put simply, screens can make students feel like they understood more than they actually did, which leads to weaker study choices and less review.

Print supports study behaviors that educational content relies on: margin notes, underlining, page flagging, quick backtracking and visible progress through a unit. Those behaviors are not just preferences – they are part of how students regulate effort and build mastery.

Print Supports Reading Stamina and Student Comfort

Sustained reading is physical as well as cognitive. A 2023 peer-reviewed study of university students reported an overall prevalence of digital eye strain of 68.53%, with 11% experiencing severe digital eye strain. 

This does not mean screens are “bad,” but it does support a balanced design approach: if students must read long-form instructional text, assigning at least part of that reading in print can reduce continuous screen exposure and support stamina.

For publishers, print can be positioned as the format for long-form comprehension, while digital supports quizzes, short reference tasks and interactive practice.

Print Protects Equity and Reliability When Access Is Uneven

Even with broad device adoption, access is not universal and access quality is not equal. NCES reporting based on American Community Survey data found that in 2019, 5% of U.S. students ages 5–17 (about 2.4 million) lived in homes without internet access. Rural access gaps were larger, including 7% of rural students without home internet and 11% in remote rural areas. 

Pew Research Center data also shows that even when people have internet access, a meaningful share are “smartphone-dependent.” In a 2023 survey, Pew reported 80% of U.S. adults subscribe to high-speed home internet, 90% own a smartphone and 15% are smartphone-dependent (smartphone but no home broadband).

A print-first option helps ensure every student can access the same core material with the same usability, regardless of bandwidth, device age, password issues or platform outages.

How Publishers Can Design Print for Better Outcomes

Print performs best when it is designed for learning. A few high-impact choices educational publishers can make are:

• Design For Annotation: Generous margins, clear hierarchy and whitespace that invites notes.
• Prioritize Readability: Matte finishes to reduce glare, comfortable line length and type choices optimized for long reading sessions.
• Support Fast Navigation: Thumb tabs, strong running heads, consistent section openers and clear unit structure.
• Build For Classroom Use: Durable covers, reinforced binding and lay-flat formats for workbooks where writing matters.
• Blend Print With Digital Without Losing The Print Advantage: QR codes or short links for video, audio and practice, while keeping the primary reading path linear and page-based.

Print and Digital Work Best as a Deliberate System

The best programs do not treat print as a legacy format. They treat it as the format of choice for deep reading, high-stakes comprehension and structured review. Digital then complements print with practice, analytics, accessibility supports and rapid updates.

If you support educational institutions with printed materials, the opportunity is clear: keep print at the center of reading-intensive learning, then integrate digital where it clearly adds value.

If you want a partner to help execute that strategy across textbooks, workbooks and instructional programs, Walsworth’s educational printing services are built specifically for K–12 and higher education publishers. Ready to learn more? Get in touch with us today.

This article was developed with assistance from OpenAI’s GPT 5.2 Pro Deep Research large language AI model.