Generative AI tools are increasingly present in education, offering help, answers, and efficiency. Learning depends on more than convenience, and the key question is whether AI supports how people learn and improves outcomes. Research using millions of higher education student interactions in digital course materials indicates that active reading is central. Active reading involves testing understanding, highlighting key ideas, asking questions, taking notes, and revisiting difficult concepts. These behaviors are linked to better comprehension, retention, and academic performance. Digital environments and many AI tools can instead encourage skimming and outsourced thinking. In analysis of nearly 80 million interactions, students using AI study tools in eTextbooks were far more likely to engage in active reading behaviors, especially when tools were integrated with instructor-led platforms and assessment features.
"Active reading is a well‑established concept in learning science. It describes how effective readers interact with text: testing their understanding, highlighting key ideas, asking questions, taking notes, and revisiting challenging concepts. These behaviors are strongly associated with better comprehension, retention, and academic performance. Reading, after all, is not a passive act. It is cognitive work."
"Yet digital learning environments, and now many AI tools, too often encourage the opposite: Skimming. Outsourced thinking. Letting the machine do the synthesis and interpretation work for the learner."
"An analysis of nearly 80 million student interactions across Pearson eTextbooks aligned to college courses over two semesters helps us understand how students actually behave when AI tools are built responsibly into learning materials. The findings were striking. Students who used these AI study tools were dramatically more likely to engage in active reading behaviors than those who did not."
"When students used AI study tools in their eTextbook, they were three times more likely than non-users to be active readers. Further, the data showed that students who used AI tools built into instructor-led digital platforms with assessment features and other interactive tools were over 20 times more likely to be classified as active readers, compa"
#generative-ai-in-education #active-reading #learning-science #digital-learning-platforms #student-engagement
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