College students are rapidly losing the ability to read long texts, university instructors warn

https://preview.redd.it/nbg84nlwmm6h1.png?width=1242&format=png&auto=webp&s=7bbcaae08038579f0dc4b286fab9c42a0accf1d1 University writing instructor Tyler Jagt reported that none of his students could finish an assigned 20-page article, a task he read easily a decade ago. Students admitted they kept losing track of the paper's subject, highlighting a generational collapse in literacy. The 2024 NAEP assessment shows 12th-grade reading scores at their lowest since 1992. Nearly a third of 12th graders scored below the basic level, meaning they cannot draw general conclusions from explicitly presented concepts in a text. A Casey Foundation report found that 70 percent of fourth graders, or 2 million kids, cannot read proficiently. Instructors blame generative AI tools like ChatGPT, which students use for summaries instead of reading and analyzing texts. An MIT study showed that 83 percent of users who relied on ChatGPT during writing tasks could not quote a single line from their own essays. Additionally, a 2017 study found that simply having a smartphone nearby reduces available cognitive capacity. Source: [https://futurism.com/future-society/college-students-losing-ability-read](https://futurism.com/future-society/college-students-losing-ability-read)