Two PhD Candidates: Opportunities and Challenges in Children's Comprehension of Multiple Digital Texts

As a PhD candidate you will work on the project 'Opportunities and challenges in children's comprehension of multiple digital texts'. Current digitisation has changed the way we consume written text. The project aims to unravel the impact of digitisation on reading development in primary school children. More than ever, readers have to combine information from several digital documents. Yet it is unknown how this impacts comprehension. While it has been argued that comprehension of multiple digital texts (CMDT) may come natural to 'digital natives', concerns have also been raised: digital exposure / overexposure may cause diminishing levels of attention, which is especially problematic in the complex task of CMDT. Together with two postdoctoral researchers, you will investigate (1) how readers differ in CMDT, (2) how features of digital texts play a role, and (3) how CMDT can best be taught in schools. This will be examined in experimental studies (project 1) and in longitudinal, developmental studies (project 2), which provide input for the development of materials for schools. Subsequent intervention studies (projects 1 and 2) will lead to evidence-based materials.