According to my research, students prefer traditional textbooks to
online textbooks.
Below you will find excerpts from articles and studies discussing this matter.
?The Feb. 11, 2005 edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education
contains an article titled "Online Textbooks Fail to Make the Grade."
The article highlights factors that make online textbooks a very
unattractive idea for students. Although new concepts for online
textbooks make them available for half the price of a printed book,
the Chronicle reports that online textbooks would be too limiting to
be fully utilized by students.?
Daily Targum
http://www.dailytargum.com/news/2005/02/16/Opinions/Easy-And.Cheaper.Online-865398.shtml
Excerpts from the original article:
?Last year the National Association of College Stores released results
of a survey of more than 4,000 students at 21 campuses across the
country. Among students polled, 73 percent preferred buying textbooks
in a traditional format, while only 11 percent preferred electronic
versions.?
"Generally, our research shows that students seem to be very slow in
embracing this," says Laura Nakoneczny, a spokeswoman for the
association. However, she adds that electronic materials are used more
frequently in elementary and secondary schools. "It could be that
today's students, who were educated using traditional textbooks,
aren't really embracing electronic books because the format is not
familiar to them," she says. "And it could be that up-and-coming
students could embrace them."
?But the association's study revealed habits among college students
that could make marketing electronic books difficult. The study found
that only 43 percent of students buy all of the required books for
their courses. Many students borrow textbooks from a classmate or from
a friend who has taken the class in the past. And more than 45 percent
of the students surveyed said they keep their books for future
reference, and among engineering, vocational, and science majors, as
many as 60 percent save their books.?
?Unlike paper books, many electronic books cannot be given to friends,
sold to used-textbook dealers, or kept on shelves for later reading.
Passwords for some online books expire within a year, and publishers
have devised various mechanisms that prevent students from sharing
passwords with friends or swapping downloaded versions of books on,
say, peer-to-peer networks.?
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Section: Information Technology
Volume 51, Issue 23, Page A35
http://chronicle.com/free/v51/i23/23a03501.htm
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Accordin to The National Association of College Stores, 73 percent of
the students surveyed favor traditional textbooks--but Pearson
Education says 51 percent of students actually would welcome the
digital variety.
Excerpts from the Detroit News: College books go digital
?A fall 2003 study by the National Association of College Stores,
which represents 3,000 college bookstores nationwide, shows college
students are still attached to traditional textbooks.
The survey of 4,300 students on 21 campuses nationwide found 73
percent preferred regular textbooks to digital ones. They also
preferred buying books in a store as opposed to online.?
?But Pearson Education, the educational company launching the 300
online books in subjects ranging from humanities to business, says its
studies show the opposite.
?Our research shows 51 percent of students would be interested in this
kind of a product,? said Gary June, the company?s chief marketing
officer. ?It?s all about the students. Students have wanted more
choice and more value for a while.?
College books go digital
They reduce cost, but some still prefer turning the pages
The Detroit News
http://www.detnews.com/2004/schools/0405/10/c01-147655.htm
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According to market research firm, Student Monitor, students prefer
print over online versions of campus news.
?Only 30 percent of schools even have an online edition, and of those,
only 29 percent of students had read at least one of these online
issues during the previous month. By comparison, 44 percent of
students read at least three or more print issues the previous month.?
Young Money
http://www.youngmoney.com/lifestyles/campus_life/030205_03
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Student Perceptions of Digital Textbooks: An Exploratory Study
This paper investigates students? perceptions of digital textbooks.
?This study attempted to measure the opinions that students have of
digital textbooks before and after they were exposed to them. It
discovered that students hold fairly positive views of digital
textbooks if they have never been exposed to them, but their
satisfaction seems to diminish after they had to use and study from a
digital textbook for a whole semester. These findings tend to be true
regardless of the students? household income, ethnic background, race,
or gender.?
University of West Georgia
http://www.westga.edu/~bquest/2003/digital.htm
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?Some digital-textbook experiments have shown that students facing a
lot of reading prefer printed books, said Gary Shapiro, senior vice
president for intellectual property at Follett, a company that manages
college bookstores. Follett, for example, has conducted focus groups
to test students' reactions to online or CD versions of textbooks.
Based on the company's findings, Mr. Shapiro said, "It is unlikely
that a student will sit in front of a computer and read a textbook.?
Bookbag of the Future
http://www.indiana.edu/~aainfo/FurtherReading/InfoGeneral/NYT/Bookbag%20of%20the%20Future.htm
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Universities, publishers and students alike have shown little
enthusiasm for online versions of textbooks and related material, even
though their use can reduce costs. Publishers say there is no market
for online versions; colleges say students prefer paper texts.
Fort Valley State University
http://www.fvsu.edu/News/clippings_details.asp?RecordID=162
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Search criteria:
Students prefer to read online OR digital textbooks percent
I hope this is helpful.
Best regards,
Bobbie7 |
