In the educational field, we witness profound transformations in generations' relationship with reading, which is the path to knowledge. There appears to be an almost direct correlation between technological advancement and the decline of traditional reading. This observation is not unique to the Arab world. Most developed countries today complain about the decline of deep reading among young people. However, the problem seems more acute in our Arab region, and it is more pronounced among some segments of Gulf students.

The student who once spent hours in the library now settles for a small screen in his pocket, and the book that required days of reading and review now reads itself!

Arab education in recent decades has witnessed a gradual path of knowledge reduction, starting with reliance on study summaries, then moving to summaries of those summaries, until reaching today a new stage based on almost complete dependence on artificial intelligence tools. The student has become able to write lengthy reports, prepare presentations, and even formulate seemingly coherent research without going through the mental process that was the essence of learning.

Knowledge is the ability to understand, connect, analyze, critique, and compare. These skills are not usually formed through ready-made answers, but through reading, reflection, doubt, and questioning. The machine can provide information, but it cannot grant the mental experience that arises from the journey of research itself.

The Gulf paradox deserves special attention. For more than half a century, the Gulf Cooperation Council countries have invested huge sums in education, established modern universities and colleges, and sent large numbers of their students abroad. Yet some estimates indicate that spending on education does not equate to building a reading society. We no longer suffer from illiteracy of letters, but from illiteracy of knowledge. A student can access any information within seconds, but finds it difficult to read a complete book, follow a long intellectual argument, or distinguish between opinion and information. We have succeeded to a large extent in teaching the alphabet, but we have not succeeded to the same extent in instilling the habit of free reading and love of knowledge for its own sake. Notably, an increasing number of countries are cautiously reviewing their previous rush toward full digitalization in education. Some educational systems have moved to limit the use of digital devices in classrooms.

They have restored the status of the paper book and handwriting, after educational studies confirmed that manual note-taking helps understanding and retention better than complete reliance on keyboards and screens. At the same time, other countries have begun enacting legislation restricting minors' access to social media.

And they hold producing companies more legally responsible, with heavy fines imposed. The reason is not hostility to technology, but a growing realization that excessive use leaves negative effects on concentration, mental health, and academic achievement.

The irony is that we in the Arab world, including the Gulf, have not yet taken similar steps sufficiently, even though the harm may be greater here. We are societies where the historical habit of reading has not been entrenched to the same depth as in some industrial societies. Hence, the rapid transition from book to screen and from library to phone occurred before the process of building a reading culture was even complete. Here lies the difference between alphabetical illiteracy and cognitive illiteracy...

The first means inability to read words, while the second means inability to understand the world despite the ability to read. The first can be addressed with a school, a teacher, and a book, while the second requires an entire culture that encourages questioning, discussion, and independent thinking.

When the student gets used to the machine doing the searching, summarizing, and writing for him, he loses the most important thing the university is supposed to give him: the ability to think independently. We have relatively triumphed over illiteracy of letters, but we have not yet triumphed over illiteracy of minds.

Source: Al Bayan

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