Digital Reading in the University: between Every Day and Scholarly Stuff

Abstract

The inclusion of information and communication technologies (ICT) environment on academic life, both formal and informal, has changed teaching practices - learning and, specially, ways to read. This research aims to investigate the habitus and social representations of university students about reading, including an emphasis on reading in digital media, the latter being a trend that has an increasing impact in education and the sociocultural practices in the university. The methodology used to collect and analyze data was the case study of students of two academic units of the State University of Sonora (UES). As theoretical references some concepts of the theories of Pierre Bourdieu and Serge Moscovici were used. It was observed that students read more than their teachers, so they both agree. Furthermore, most of what  students read on a daily basis is through electronic media and it is to be concluded that it is necessary to also study the ways of reading on print media.  This requires the support and involvement of teachers from different disciplines to strengthen the new students’ reading skills.