e-books

E-books and Learning
By David Bennet

media type="youtube" key="LZTCsbM7tS4" height="315" width="560" What Are Students Saying about e-textbook adoption? Watch this video. you may be surprised by their thoughts.

=**Literature Review**=

Abstract
The author reviews current research regarding the efficacy of electronic textbooks in relation to quantitative, performance based outcomes. Outcomes are generally found to be equivalent regardless of delivery format, with various minor advantages for digital formats regarding application to students with learning disabilities and in the area of time management. Included is an evaluation of the current research on student perception of electronic textbook usability and convenience. Students are found to have distinct preferences for print textbooks due to better mobility, readability, and non-linear navigation despite lower textbook costs. Keywords: //electronic textbook, e-book, e-reader, test performance, student perception//

E-Book Efficacy and User Preference
The electronic textbook has been around in some format for more than two decades, yet the expected transition away from print textbooks has never occurred. In order to make this transition, certain questions need to be answered definitively. Are e-textbooks as useful and effective as print textbooks? Are students and educators willing to adopt the use of e-textbooks? What will facilitate or hinder this transition? In an effort to begin to answer these questions, the following literature review has been initiated.

Discussion of Key Concepts
The proposed study for which this literature review is being performed will assess the efficacy of e-books in relation to traditional text books in a university environment as well as the student preferences in the same environment for each textbook format. These two broad concepts can be further broken down into more basic concepts as the existing literature is approached. The efficacy of e-books is a general term for which each individual might have a different definition. For the purposes of this study, efficacy will be limited to performance based criteria in the form of grades, concept mastery and concept retention. While the use of e-books in the specialized instruction of students with learning disabilities, to add enrichment to especially skilled students, or to achieve a specific and defined result could all be variations on effectiveness, this review will concentrate primarily on those factors which directly affect the grades of the general population of students.

Despite the fact that e-book efficacy is a far more complex attribute to assess, the focused definition of effectiveness combined with the many potential variables in student perception result in student perception being the less defined concept. E-book price, delivery format, past experience and learning modalities can all feed into user preference.

The majority of current e-textbooks come in two formats: page fidelity e-textbooks and reflowable digital textbooks (Chesser, 2011). Page fidelity formats are essentially pictures of the print version of the textbook based on PDF files with virtually no dynamic media or linking availability. Page fidelity textbooks can be difficult to view, or simply unavailable on handheld mobile devices. Reflowable formats employ a flexible format system allowing the software to modify the layout and features of the e-textbook to suit the display medium. In either case, in order to make a direct comparison of digital to print formats, digital formats should exclude embedded features unavailable in the print version.

Existing Research on E-book Efficacy
Research on the use of e-books as teaching tools is relatively abundant. Due to the close relationship of e-books and technology as well as the rapid pace at which technology has developed and transformed over the last decade, relevant research had to be restricted to the most recent available.

The use of e-books as an educational tool in early childhood has been found to be quite effective. Word comprehension tests on kindergarteners and first graders using traditional textbooks and their e-book equivalents found that student post test performance had little significant variance between the two test groups (Korat, 2010) indicating e-books are viable options to traditional paper books. Similarly, a recent study from Israel’s Bar-Ilan University found that e-books were highly effective with emergent readers developing phonological awareness and awareness of print concepts (Shamir, Shlafer, 2011). The performance of students at risk of learning disabilities was found to have been especially positively effected in the area of concept of print (Shamir, Shlafer, 2011) indicating a greater potential for improvement when e-book use is applied within a learning disability context.

Research concerning the use of e-books at later stages in life is also available though less prolific. A 2008 study of university students found several interesting trends. Students chose either electronic or paper based text according to their own preference. Two trends were indicated in the choice of medium: students that chose electronic texts averaged more years of education, and none of the students that had purchased an e-book for prior classes chose an e-book for the class in this study (Sheppard et al, 2008). The study found that the grades of the paper text and e-book groups did not differ appreciably, but that the e-book students did report less time reading the text than their paper text counterparts (Sheppard et al, 2008) indicating a potential ability to achieve similar levels of performance with reduced effort.

In 2010, a study at the Kennesaw State University in Georgia affirmed Sheppard’s findings. Pretest scores and post test scores were compared for a sample of students taking the same class but using either digital or printed textbooks. Overall post-test score variance was not statistically significant, though interesting trends did surface (Murray & Pérez, 2011). Students in each group consistently answered question correctly or incorrectly in manner similar to their group, indicating that the two text delivery formats were influencing the information assimilation in two distinct patterns (Murray & Pérez, 2011).

Despite the general concurrence of research that e-books are of equal or greater effectiveness than paper text books, it is important to note some caveats. Various researches have indicated that some e-books are better suited to different groups of learners, and that those characteristics of a specific e-book used in a study could skew the results depending on the characteristics of the sample population.

A good example of this concept in action comes from a study out of Estonia. In this study, higher achieving students were found to have benefited most from e-books with greater complexity and flexibility of interaction, while lower achieving students were found to benefit least from these characteristics (Luik, Mikk, 2008). Conversely, lower achieving students were found to have benefited most from minimal complexity and linear direction while higher achieving students benefited the least from these characteristics (Luik, Mikk, 2008).

Current Research on Student E-book Perception
Based on the amount of research available, it would appear that researchers are far more concerned with the student perceptions of e-books than they are with the efficacy of those e-books. Research on this topic is numerous and varied, and can be divided into two basic categories: use in a static location and use in a mobile format.

Static Location
Research concerning e-books usage in a static environment is plentiful but efficacy in a static environment is largely unavailable. Studies performed at libraries, often in an effort to justify expenses through cost analysis, have provided comparisons regarding e-book usage and print text usage. One such study determined that e-book usage and print text circulation were virtually the same, with publications considered to be local having a slightly greater electronic usage than print usage (Slater, 2009).

In the Sheppard et al study mention previously, the e-textbook had been distributed on a CD and was required to be installed on a computer, removing the potential to use on handheld devices and, in essence, anchoring the product to a static location (Sheppard et al, 2008). Students who used the e-book rated the usability positively but rated convenience as unfavorable due to the lack of mobility (Sheppard et al, 2008).

Among students that have used e-books, specific features were viewed as attributing to the positive attitude toward e-books. Instant desktop access was attributed positively by 27% of students, a potential to search the text for keywords by 25%, portability by only 15% and environmentally friendly by a mere 7% in 2009 university study (Shelburne, 2009).

The interaction of readers with e-books in a static environment also differs from that of readers with print books. Eye fatigue is more severe with e-books than with print books while reading comprehension was greater with print than with e-books (Kang et al, 2009). It is important to note at this point that the delivery of the e-book in the 2009 Kang study was via a handheld LCD device considered old in 2009 and would be considered virtually obsolete in 2012.

Mobile Format
As is demonstrated in the preceding paragraph, delivery devices for electronic media have transformed in the last three years spectacularly. Current mobile display options for most e-books include laptops, net books, tablets, smart phones, e-readers, and even book simulating e-ink readers. These mobile formats have dramatically transformed the interaction of students and e-books in the last few years.

New research has accompanied these new technologies. An older Chinese study evaluated the student perceptions of three of these delivery types: personal digital assistant (PDA), an e-reader, and a notebook computer. Eye fatigue was diminished using the Notebook computer in comparison to the PDA and e-reader, while reading speed and comprehension were not appreciably different (Wu et al, 2007). The study found that the most limiting factor in the use of the e-reader was the small screen size and small font size, causing the e-reader to less desirable to the students despite the perception of optimal mobility and flexibility (Wu et al, 2007).

E-reader products developed more recently seem more suitable to academic use, however research in this area is limited and the student adoption of the technology still appears slow. A 2011 study found that one of the major drawbacks in older e-readers was the limited ability to navigate in a non-linear fashion, which is a vital ability when studying academically (Foasberg, 2011). The same study found that e-book use was below 25% of the sample population, and that among those, only 15.7% were using a dedicated e-reading device (Foasberg, 2011). Even among those that had dedicated e-readers, only 38% used them for academic pursuits, which was attributed by the authors of the study to the limited availability of e-textbooks in formats for dedicated e-readers (Foasberg, 2011).

Even with the fast development of new interface technologies, student perceptions of e-books do not appear to have changed. A recent study involving the e-book perceptions of university students revealed that students still prefer paper based text books regardless of gender, age, computer use, computer comfort, or previous exposure to e-books (Woody et al, 2010). The study did find that students are more likely to utilize extra features of print textbooks, such as summaries or review questions, than they are to use them in e-books (Woody et al, 2010).

The number one driving consideration of students, when considering an e-textbook purchase, was listed as the cost of the textbook (Murray & Pérez, 2011). Despite the fact that e-textbooks tend to be slightly less expensive, the perceived value has not been enough to overcome the perceived disadvantages, and warrant extensive adoption by students (Foasberg, 2011). Regarding E-book Efficacy

At the base level, current research appears to indicate that e-books are viable options to paper text books but offer only small academic advantages at the university level. There is a potential for improved efficiency of time (Sheppard et al, 2008) and some advantage may be achieved for students at the lower end of the performance spectrum (Shamir, Shlafer, 2011). Additionally, when specifically targeting the improvement of lower achieving students, general required use of specific e-books could impede the potential academic success of the higher achieving students (Luik, Mikk, 2008) and potentially shift the patterns within which students have habitually absorbed information (Murray & Pérez, 2011).

Regarding Student Perception of E-books
Student perception of e-books is mixed. Students find digital textbook formats to be generally usable (Sheppard et al, 2008) but not convenient due to lack of availability in mobile formats and restricted linear navigation inherent in the majority of mobile e-reader devices (Foasberg, 2011). Cost is a primary factor in the decision making paradigm for students (Murray & Pérez, 2011) yet the perceived disadvantages have failed to convince students that the true value lies in e-textbooks (Foasberg, 2011). They key to widespread adoption of e-book technology appears to rely mostly on the development of mobile devices which are flexible in display of multiple file formats, incorporate a large display that reduces eye fatigue, displays full color, and allows easy non-linear navigation of the e-book. The second element is publishers generating a large selection of textbooks in flexible, non-proprietary formats than can be displayed on multiple device types.

Final Exam Questions
1. Which of these is not a significant variable affecting student adoption of e-books? a. Mobility b. Not aware of the option. c. Cost d. Availability of non-linear navigation

2. Describe the relationship between student evaluation of e-book usability and rates of student e-book usage.

3. Based on course post tests, student academic performance using e-textbooks is compared to students using print textbooks. a. Significantly lower b. Slightly lower c. The same d. Slightly higher e. Significantly higher

4. In which of the following areas did e-book students outperform print book students? a. Efficiency of study time. b. Early childhood Students with Learning Disabilities c. Both a and b d. None of the above.

5. Is the current level of research on e-textbook efficacy adequate? Why or why not?