Textbooks have been used for a long time as the main source of academic material in colleges. These books have traditionally been in the print format. Recent advances in digitization and web capabilities have introduced a new format for these textbooks in the form of e-textbooks. These e-textbooks are similar in many ways to the conventional print textbooks since they contain the same academic content. There are also some inherent differences such as the inclusion of interactive capabilities in these books. This paper seeks to explore the phenomenon that is e-textbooks. It will ask the important question of the attitudes held by students about the use of e-textbooks for learning. The definition and background of the topic will be discussed briefly, and then a comprehensive discussion of the research will be presented. Understanding the students’ attitudes will help in the development of mechanisms to enhance the adoption of the use of e-textbooks in institutions of higher learning.
Definition of Topic
E-textbooks are a type of e-books that are used in the academic study. Dictionary.com defines an e-book, simply as a digital book (E-book [Def.1]). This means the book is in digital format and can, therefore, be read on digital electronic devices such as computers and mobile phones. Just like regular printed textbooks, e-textbooks contain academic content that is used by students as they cover their courses. E-textbooks have drawn numerous and sometimes diverse attitudes regarding their use for learning. While some have adopted them with haste, others have been slow to uptake them. Both sides cite different issues and factors that have driven them to take their stand. This paper will analyze attitudes from these sides with the aim of developing mechanisms to accelerate the rate of uptake of the e-textbooks.
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The people that often use e-books and especially e-textbooks are students, teachers, and career individuals. As such, there are different e-textbook developed to suit the different niches. The focus of this research would be on students’ e-textbooks. Therefore, the target audience would be students in institutions of higher learning such as colleges and universities. The research will make use of available research papers, other, articles, and any relevant and reliable literature concerning or related to the topic. While the topic has been covered in many platforms before, this research seeks to present a consolidated of all the information regarding the attitudes students have about using e-textbooks for learning.
Background of the Topic
The history of the e-book is closely related to the history of the internet. While there existed some forms of e-books before the invention of the internet, its introduction was a significant step forward for the e-book format (Hsiao, Tang, & Lin, 2015). This is because the e-books could now be easily shared. The first e-book ever downloaded over the internet was a copy of the Declaration of Independence, which was shared by Michael Hart in 1971 (History Cooperatives). Since then, much advancement has been made in the creation and distribution of e-books. Advancements included storage of e-books on floppy disks and finally the creation of websites to sell e-books. As technology grew, so did the interest in using e-books for other functions such as teaching courses in schools. This led to the birth of e-textbooks.
E-textbooks emerged in the late 90s, but the market only experienced dramatic growth starting in 2007 (Baek & Monaghan, 2013). This growth can be attributed to the disruption of the traditional textbook formats that are more bulky and expensive in comparison. According to (DeNoyelles, Raible, & Seilhamer, 2015), over half of all college students in America have used these e-textbooks in at least one course they have covered. The trio cites affordability as the main factor contributing to large e-textbooks’ adoption. The other factor is the convenience with which one can use an e-book over the contemporary print textbooks. Many students prefer purchasing or renting books from online bookstores that buying them physically in bookshops because of these two factors. The costs are down, and the students can access them whenever they want without the need of carrying bulky printed books.
There has been a reduction in the use of e-textbooks, despite their benefits that are outlined above. Greenfield (2012) reported that fewer e-textbooks were bought in 2012 as compared to the previous year. The percentage of e-textbooks bought against all the textbooks reduced to 3% from 6%. Part of the reason there is a reduction in the use of e-textbooks is availability. Most textbooks in institutions of higher learning are only available in the print format. E-textbooks are only available for a course twenty-three percent of the time (Greenfield, 2012). This means while students might prefer to use e-textbooks, they are forced to use printed textbooks because they are the only ones that are available.
Clearly, e-textbooks have revolutionized how students talk about studying. While some researchers hail the benefits of e-textbooks, others are quick to fault them. There are speculations on whether the mind processes words on paper differently from those that are presented digitally. Those that fault e-textbooks argue that holding a text physically enhances comprehension in a way that a screen cannot. A recent study has, however, dismissed the correlation between e-readers and hindered comprehension (History Cooperative). Such and many available research influences the students’ perceptions of e-textbooks and their use in studying.
Discussion of Research
The world is currently in a digital age where everything seems to be digitized. This includes textbooks which are now presented in the form of a digital material called e-textbooks. Just like with other digital material, there are conflicting attitudes concerning e-textbooks. There have mixed reviews from students concerning the use of e-textbooks. While finding them useful and indispensable for some subjects, many others find them technically difficult or frustrating to use (Falc, 2013). This can be attributed to the fact that some of the students lack access to electronic devices that can be used to read the e-textbooks. These frustrations and difficulties could lead them to hold negative attitudes towards the use of e-books for studying. On the other hand, there are students that praise the e-textbooks because of their affordability, environmental friendliness, availability of a search utility, and flexibility of transferring text to notes (Falc, 2013). One of the key findings of Baek & Monaghan (2013) was also that students most liked a-textbooks’ light weight, keyword search features, and costs. Helping students understand these factors can enable the students to realize the abilities and limitation of e-textbooks and therefore learn ways of maximizing their productivity when it comes to studying.
The supporting features such as availability of search utility and interactive content has enormous contributions to studying. However, the rate of their adoption has not been high as would be expected. Sun, Flores, & Tanguma (2012) set out to examine the experiences of students regarding ways in which the utilization of e-textbook may improve their studying. The research uncovered two main routes through which e-books are considered enhancers of students’ learning experiences. These are direct enhancement of learning outcomes and involvement of learners which determines the outcomes of the students and the help they receive from the e-textbooks. What this means is that to achieve the optimal benefits of e-textbooks, institutions of higher learning need to not only provide the e-textbooks, but also instructions on how to use them and the means through which the students can access them. This view has been echoed by DeNoyelles, Raible, & Seilhamer (2015) who believe further professional development, such as active modeling, increased awareness, and instructions from an instructor are still necessary to improve the uptake and attitudes towards e-textbooks.
There have been numerous studies that seek to quantify the attitudes of students about using e-textbooks. One such comprehensive study was done by Baek and Monaghan (2013). The study recorded the overall satisfaction, perceptions of ease of use, perceptions of recommending the e-textbook and other variables such as comfort and gender that can affect the attitudes towards e-textbooks. Most of the respondents in the study preferred using printed textbooks rather than e-textbooks. The reasons for these were the option to resell them (Greenfield, 2013), their readability, their look and feel, and the permanent ownership (Baek & Monaghan, 2013). This shows that the low prices of e-textbooks alone cannot drive up the interests in adopting e-textbooks. Kissinger (2013) points to ease of use, self-efficacy and utility value as some of the other factors that can improve the attitudes of students towards using e-textbooks. Although a large portion of the student population perceives the use of e-books as being easy, there exists a portion that holds negative attitudes because they find it hard to use e-textbooks. This includes difficulties in accessing them and difficulties in navigation. Students that find no difficulties in handling e-books are more likely to recommend them to others and use them themselves again (Baek & Monaghan, 2013).
Textbook adoption decisions rely mainly on the perceptions towards the books. Students in colleges can use four of either textbook types which are hardback, paperback, loose-leaf, or e-textbooks. Despite e-textbooks costing much less than all the other types, students are still prefer the physically printed versions. Many of the students believe the traditional books are overpriced (McNeil). Convenience and space-saving are the other benefits of e-textbooks that are unmatched by the traditional print textbooks. Selecting the right textbook format is therefore important to the professors to ensure many students acquire the textbooks.
Perceived enjoyment, ease of use, and perceived usefulness have been indicated in various studies as the main factors that influence attitudes towards the use of e-textbook. Research by Hsiao, Tang, & Lin (2015) sought to investigate these factors that affect the adoption of e-textbooks by college students. The study proposes a modified technology acceptance model (TAM). The study was able to provide an explanation of how the various factors affect the adoption of e-textbooks by college students. The findings were that perceived enjoyment was critical in influencing perceptions. The other factors were ease of use and perceived usefulness in decreasing influence (Hsiao, Tang, & Lin, 2015). The result of this study gives a glimpse of the areas that need to be improved in order to improve the attitudes towards e-textbooks. Students tend to enjoy using print textbooks more due to their lasting appeal. Students are more likely to opt for e-books because they have not been impressed enough by the e-textbooks. Despite the availability of e-textbooks, most students stay away from them claiming that the some of the available formats are strenuous to the eyes (Yu, 2015). These factors that reduce the enjoyment also dent the attitudes. Ease of use can be enhanced by the inclusion of features such as text-to-speech readers, note taking, integrated dictionaries, and integration of media such as videos and online content into the e-textbooks (McNeil).
The rising cost of education as forced people in the educational sector to device ways to reduce the cost. One of the ways to reduce the costs of textbooks has been through the use of e-textbooks. Students and professors have moved to the use of e-textbooks to reduce the stress on the students’ budgets. The advantages of e-textbooks are also enormous. E-textbooks suppliers have jumped into the bandwagon owing to the profits that stand to be made as e-textbooks’ popularity increases. E-textbooks cost approximately half the cost of print textbooks (Falc, 2013). Faculties should be able to survey the e-textbooks’ distribution companies for the best quality and affordability and in turn advise their students on which ones to acquire. This would prevent the problem of students purchasing substandard e-textbooks due to the lure of low costs. The distributors also need to make it easy for the students to order and acquire the e-textbooks. For instance, some distributors have made their own platforms and even devices through which they can distribute the e-textbooks. In order to improve the perceptions towards e-textbooks and therefore increase their adoption, the institutional administrations in conjunction with the e-book distributors need to provide the students with adequate information on how to select and use e-textbooks.
In conclusion, students hold different attitudes towards the adoption and use of e-textbooks. While some hail them, others fault them for not providing some of the benefits of the traditional print textbooks. These attitudes are affected by various factors among them being the usability of the e-textbooks, costs, availability of the e-textbooks themselves and the resources necessary to use them, and the availability of additional features that increase the ease of use. Some of the additional features that can be implemented in e-textbooks to improve students’ attitudes include the inclusion of advanced search features, interactive features, videos and music, questions with instant feedback, text-to-speech narrations, and links to external content on the internet that can enable the student to understand the course material better. Many students also find difficulties in using the e-textbooks due to their unfamiliarity with the book formats. Some of them also lack the necessary resources to access them and read them. This makes them have negative attitudes towards the e-textbooks. Instructors and institutions can prevent this by giving the students simple instructions on how to use the e-textbooks and providing the necessary resources such as computers and the internet to enable the student's access and use the e-textbooks effectively. Implementation of these factors will help boost the attitudes of students about e-textbooks and thus increase their uptake and use in institutions of higher learning.
References
Baek, E. O., & Monaghan, J. (2013). Journey to textbook affordability: An investigation of students’ use of eTextbooks at multiple campuses. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning .
DeNoyelles, A., Raible, J., & Seilhamer, R. (2015). Exploring Students' E-Textbook Practices in Higher Education. EDUCAUSE Review .
E-book [Def. 1]. (n.d.). Dictionary.com. In Dictionaty.com . Retrieved November 15, 2016, from http://www.dictionary.com/browse/e-book
Falc, E. O. (2013). An assessment of college students’ attitudes towards using an online e-textbook. Interdisciplinary Journal of E-Learning and Learning Objects , 9, 1-12.
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History Cooperatives. (n.d). A History of E-books. History Cooperatives . Retrieved from http://historycooperative.org/a-history-of-e-books/
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McNeil, A. (n.d). Print Textbooks Vs. E-Textbooks. Investopedia . Retrieved from http://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0912/print-textbooks-vs.-e-textbooks.aspx
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Yu, R. (2012). Technology, costs, lack of appeal slow e-textbook adoption . USA Today . Retrieved from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/story/2012-01-16/ebook-textbook-sales/52603526/1
