Raising Readers in a Screen Age: Making Reading Relevant for Every Student

Reading is competing for students’ attention in ways it never has before. For today’s students, a book is competing not only with television and games, but with social media, messaging, streaming, YouTube and an endless supply of digital content designed to capture and hold attention.

So how do we continue to build confident, capable and motivated readers in a screen-filled world? Perhaps the answer isn’t to position books and screens as opposing forces. Perhaps it is to focus on what matters most: getting students reading and helping them want to read.

What teachers are seeing

Earlier this year, Renaissance Australia partnered with YouGov to hear directly from more than 500 teachers across every state and territory in Australia about their experiences with reading engagement, literacy growth and the barriers preventing students from developing strong reading habits. The findings highlighted a challenge that many educators will recognise: getting students to engage with reading is becoming increasingly difficult in a world where their attention is being competed for constantly.

63% of teachers identified a lack of enjoyment or motivation to read as a significant challenge among students. At the same time, 77% identified screen time and devices as a primary barrier to students reading regularly at home.

But these findings point to something more nuanced than simply saying that students “don’t read enough”. Teachers told us that students often need greater relevance in their reading. It’s not reading, per se, that is the issue; it’s what and how they read.

Teachers, too, are ready and waiting to meet students where they are. They need the tools, direction and opportunity to help students develop reading habits that are relevant, achievable and rewarding.

So, where does that leave us?

Does it have to be books?

There is, of course, a strong case for books. Reading develops vocabulary, comprehension and critical thinking. It exposes students to new ideas, perspectives and experiences, while supporting imagination, creativity and empathy. Just as importantly, reading provides an opportunity to slow down and concentrate in a world increasingly designed around constant stimulation and interruption.

Books offer something screens often don’t: a focused experience without notifications, messages or endless links competing for attention. That is both their strength and, when competing for students’ attention, their challenge.

Young people are already living and learning in a digital world. Screens are not going away, and being online does not automatically mean that learning cannot occur. The challenge is capturing the attention of the reader while motivating them to focus on the task at hand, rather than disappear down one of the many digital rabbit holes competing for their attention.

So perhaps the question isn’t whether books are better than screens. Perhaps the better question is: how do we help students become readers in a world where screens are already such a significant part of their lives?

The case for reading

We could shift the focus from reading books to a focus on, well, reading — wherever it takes place. After all, the objective is to create an environment in which students can enjoy and engage with reading in whatever form it takes.

Given the inevitability that young learners will encounter screens throughout their education and everyday lives, could we help them develop the motivation and habits to read on those screens, too? Many teachers would say it is worth trying.

Digital reading can provide access to a much wider range of texts. It can help students discover books based on their interests and reading ability, and it can make reading possible beyond the school day. Our research found that 81% of teachers agreed that digital or e-books are a valuable way to engage students who resist traditional books.

Technology, of course, is not automatically educational. A screen can just as easily distract as it can engage. But when technology is designed around a clear learning purpose, it can remove some of the barriers that prevent students from engaging with reading in the first place.

Relevance, choice and the reader

Our research found that 93% of teachers agreed students are more motivated to read when books match their reading level and interests. This tells us something important: student choice and personalisation are not simply nice additions to a reading programme. They can be important ingredients in building engagement.

A student who struggles to access a text may quickly become frustrated, while a student who finds a book too easy may quickly become bored. And a student who cannot find anything that interests them may decide that reading simply isn’t for them.

The challenge for schools is therefore not just to encourage more reading, but to create the conditions in which students can experience success as readers. That means providing access to texts that are appropriately challenging, relevant to individual interests and available in ways that fit naturally into students’ lives.

Giving students choice – without losing visibility

One of the challenges with reading beyond the classroom is that it can become invisible. Teachers know what they assign and parents may know what they see their children reading, but neither necessarily has a complete picture of what is actually happening once students leave the school gates.

Our research found that 83% of teachers identified a lack of visibility into students’ reading at home as a significant challenge. This creates a difficult situation: teachers are accountable for supporting reading progress, but they cannot see what happens in every home. Students need independence and ownership, but they also need guidance. Parents want to help, but may not know what their child should be reading or how they are progressing.

Technology can help bridge that gap. Platforms such as myON give students access to a large digital library and personalised recommendations, while providing teachers and families with greater visibility into reading activity. Students can choose what interests them while still being guided towards appropriate reading experiences.

The aim isn’t to monitor reading for the sake of monitoring. It is to create a shared picture of reading that allows students, teachers and families to support progress together. In that sense, technology can help address the challenge of empowerment, choice and relevance while still keeping teachers connected to the reading journey.

Teachers need to see every reader

Engagement is only one part of the picture. Teachers also need reliable information about where students are in their reading development. After all, knowing that a student is reading is important, but knowing whether they are reading at the right level, making progress and receiving the right support is even more valuable.

Our research highlighted an important gap between teacher confidence and visibility. 43% of teachers reported that struggling readers are going undetected in their schools. This raises an important question: how can teachers intervene effectively if they don’t have a clear picture of where every student is?

Good assessment should not add another layer of administration. It should give teachers information they can use. Star Reading provides reading-level data in around 20 minutes, helping teachers understand individual student performance and track growth over time. This visibility can help schools identify students who need additional support, recognise students who are ready for greater challenge and make more informed decisions about reading instruction.

From assessment to practice

Knowing where a student is only becomes valuable when it informs what happens next. This is where reading assessment and independent reading can work together.

Accelerated Reader connects assessment with reading practice by helping students choose appropriately challenging books, set reading goals and demonstrate comprehension through quizzes. Students can see their progress, teachers can see engagement and performance, and schools can develop a more consistent approach to independent reading.

When combined with digital access through myON, students have even more opportunities to find texts that match their interests and reading ability. Together, these approaches connect three important parts of the reading journey:

Assess, Practise, Grow

Assess: Understand where every student is.

Practise: Give students opportunities to read regularly and independently.

Grow: Use evidence and feedback to monitor progress and guide the next step.

This is where technology can play a meaningful role — not as a replacement for teachers, books or the reading experience, but as a way of connecting them.

Building a reading culture, not just a reading programme

The most successful reading environments are unlikely to be built through a single initiative. They are built when reading becomes part of the culture of a school — something that students see as relevant, achievable and rewarding.

That means giving students choice while providing appropriate guidance. It means helping teachers see progress rather than relying solely on intuition. It means connecting school and home where possible, and making sure that students have access to reading experiences that reflect both their ability and their interests.

It also means recognising that the way students access information is changing, without losing sight of the fundamental importance of reading. The goal isn’t to make students choose between technology and books. The goal is to help them become readers.

Readers who can find something that interests them. Readers who can choose a text that challenges them appropriately. Readers who can see themselves making progress. And, ultimately, readers who understand that reading opens doors — wherever and however that reading takes place.

A connected approach to reading

Renaissance supports schools with a connected approach to literacy that brings assessment, reading practice and digital access together. Star Reading helps teachers understand every reader. Accelerated Reader helps students develop purposeful, independent reading habits. myON provides access to thousands of digital texts and helps extend reading beyond the classroom.

Together, these tools give schools the opportunity to make reading more visible, more personalised and more engaging, while giving students greater ownership of their reading journey. The aim is not to replace books or teachers with technology, but to use technology purposefully to help more students find their way into reading.

Because in a screen-filled world, the answer may not be to ask students to put the screen down.

It may be to give them a reason to keep reading.