Abstract

Background: Recent technological advances and constant digital innovation provided society various electronic media platforms as convenient alternatives to costly printed materials.

Aim and Objective: This study aimed to determine whether the type of media platform influences the cognitive ability of an individual to construct and extract meaning from written texts.

Materials and Methods: Using a randomized completely block design, students were assigned to one of the four media platforms: printed material, desktop computer, tablet, and smartphone in viewing a standardized reading comprehension test. Mean scores were compared using two-way analysis of variance with media platform and sex as factors.

Results: Mean scores in the different media platforms (P = 0.82), effect of sex as a blocking variable (P = 0.35), and the presence of interaction effect between factors (P = 0.33) on the reading comprehension abilities were not statistically significant.

Conclusion: Cognitive effects in constructing and extracting meaning from written texts across varying media platforms and sex groups do not significantly differ suggesting that technology can be utilized as an alternative by students and teachers to advance reading outcomes.

Key words: Reading Comprehension Ability; Media Platforms; Computer; Printed Material; Smartphone; Tablet