The effects of reading in digital environment on students' reading habits: A case study

In the digital world of the 21st century, instead of many traditional applications, a trend towards modern and technological applications, which can now be considered the new normal, has begun. It is seen that today's students spend a lot of time with digital media, mostly in their out-of-school time in digital environments. In this context, the main purpose of this study is to determine the opinions of students, teachers and parents on the effect of digital reading on students' reading habits, and to document them by supporting them with the relevant sample literature readings and results. The research was designed and conducted according to the case study pattern, which is one of the qualitative research methods. Criterion and appropriate sampling methods were used to determine the study groups. The study group of the research consists of a total of 36 students, 15 Turkish teachers and 15 parents of students studying in the 7th and 8th grades of a public school in the 2021-2022 academic year. The research data were obtained through face-to-face interviews using the personal information form and semi-structured interview form prepared by the researcher. The data obtained from the research were analyzed using descriptive and content analysis from qualitative data analysis. As a result of the analysis of the data obtained, it was concluded that reading from the digital environment had positive effects on the reading habits by the majority of the students, and that the majority of the teachers and parents stated that reading from the digital environment; it can have positive effects on reading habits if students' basic reading habits are established, digital literacy skills and digital competencies are at advanced levels, and conscious and purposeful readings are made; Otherwise, it has been concluded that it will not have any effect on reading habits. Based on the results of the research, suggestions were presented regarding the effects of digital reading on students' reading habits.