Studying Online;Succeeding through Distance Learning at University

60 Studying online 
QUICK TIP: Choose software that will allow you to collect all 
your online reading materials into one place, such as “content 
curation” programs. 
Figure 3.2 
Reading material curated within Evernote 
PRACTICAL TIPS 
y
Take breaks.
Reading online is tiring. It’s better to read in small 
sessions of around 15 minutes at a time. Take a rest for several 
minutes between each short reading session to help your eyes 
and improve concentration. 
y
Use music.
Try listening to instrumental background music 
while reading. For many people, it can improve concentration 
and comprehension, especially if you use noise-cancelling head-
phones. 
y
Print important items.
Print out pages that are complex or which 
have fundamental theories you need to learn. If the ebook 

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Reading online 61 
doesn’t let you print, ask the university library to provide you 
with photocopies from the printed version of the ebook. 
y
Use text-to-speech software.
Get text-to-speech software to 
help reduce the vast volume of online reading you will need to 
complete. Such software can read aloud web pages and docu-
ments while you listen carefully and make notes. 
y
File your reading.
Get content curation software so that you can 
fle away and organise your online reading in much the same 
way as you would use folders to do that with printed documents. 
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REFERENCES 
Bernard, M., Liao, C.H. and Mills, M. (2001) ‘MM: Te Efects of Font 
Type and Size on the Legibility and Reading Time of Online Text by 
Older Adults’, in
 Vol. II Proceedings of ACM CHI 2001.
New York: 
ACM Press, pp. 175–176. 
Buswell, G.T. (1947) ‘Te Subvocalization Factor in the Improvement of 
Reading’, 
Te Elementary School Journal
, 48(4), pp. 190–196. 
Clinton, V. (2019) ‘Reading from Paper Compared to Screens: A System-
atic Review and Meta-Analysis’, 
Journal of Research in Reading
, 42(2), 
pp. 288–325. 
Crowder, R.G. and Wagner, R.K. (1992) 
Te Psychology of Reading
. New 
York: Oxford University Press. 
Dewar, M., Alber, J., Butler, C., Cowan, N. and Della Sala, S. (2012) ‘Brief 
Wakeful Resting Boosts New Memories over the Long Term’, 
Psycho-
logical Science
, 23(9) pp. 955–960. 
Jansen, A. (2019) ‘Increasing Leisure Reading among University Students 
Using e-Readers with Audio | Jansen | College & Research Libraries’. 
Available at: https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.80.3.356 (Accessed: 16 Sep-
tember 2021). 
Kartal, G. and Simsek, H. (2017) ‘Te Efects of Audiobooks on EFL Stu-
dents’ Listening Comprehension’, 
Te Reading Matrix: An Interna-
tional Online Journal
, 17(1), pp. 112–123. 
Kretzschmar, F., Pleimling, D., Hosemann, J., Füssel, S., Bornkessel-
Schlesewsky, I. and Schlesewsky, M. (2013) ‘Subjective Impressions 
Do Not Mirror Online Reading Efort: Concurrent EEG-Eyetracking 
Evidence from the Reading of Books and Digital Media’, 
PLOS ONE
, 
8(2), p. e56178. 
Lehmann, J.A.M. and Seufert, T. (2017) ‘Te Infuence of Background 
Music on Learning in the Light of Diferent Teoretical Perspectives 
and the Role of Working Memory Capacity’, 
Frontiers in Psychology
, 8, 
p. 1902. 

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