Digital technologies are changing how people consume news and information. People now get news on smartphones and tablets, leading to more scanning and less in-depth reading. This new digital reading is more fragmented and distracted. However, compelling and well-written content can still engage readers and help them focus despite various distractions.

1. The New Age of Digital Reading for News
Monica Bulger, Oxford Internet Institute
Oxford Tablet Summit, May 2010

2. table
electricity
radio
aardvark
Cognitive
pencil
Load
book
Oxford
stone
mirror

4. table
electricity
radio
Cognitive aardvark
Load pencil
(chunking) book
Oxford
stone
mirror

5. table
sit
legs
floor
Cognitive
seat
Load
soft
arm
rest
desk
Roediger & McDermott, 1995

6. table
sit
legs
floor
Cognitive
seat
Load
soft
arm
rest
desk
Roediger & McDermott, 1995

7. story matters

8. table
sit
legs
floor
chair = seat
soft
arm
rest
desk
Roediger & McDermott, 1995

9. whatʼs the story?

10. what does pinball
have to do with
reading?

11. + + + +
+ + + + +

12. ≠ story
≠ sustained attention
= cognitive overload

13. not really a phone

14. this is the worldʼs greatest distraction

15. cognitive containers

17. “With iPods and iPads and Xboxes and PlayStations, -- none of which I know how
to work -- information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of
entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of
emancipation.” May, 2010

18. strong content can combat distraction