Data Collection

The data for this study were collected at Clayton College & State University, in Atlanta, Georgia. CCSU has been a leader in using technology to improve classroom instruction. It was the first public university in the Southeast to make laptop computers mandatory for all undergraduate students in 1997. Since that time, CCSU has been open to technological innovation.

A random sample of 137 junior and senior students was taken to investigate the general perceptions that students had of digital textbooks. The students sampled had never taken a class where they had to use a digital text. The following semester two classes at CCSU used a digital textbook. Approximately 100 of the students that attended these classes responded to a questionnaire, reporting on their general satisfaction with the digital text. The two samples were not paired, and they were independent of each other. The first sample reflected the general opinions of the business student body towards digital texts, while the second sample reported the opinions of students that had used a digital text.

Following the administration of the two surveys, the data were tabulated to see whether any significant differences in the student perceptions had been observed. Out of 137 students never exposed to digital texts only a fairly small minority, approximately 18 percent, were very unwilling or somewhat unwilling to use a digital textbook.The rest of the students showed a fairly high willingness to try a digital textbook. Table 1 (below) shows the attitudes towards digital texts of the students that had never been exposed to a digital text.

TABLE 1

Students not exposed to digital text

Table 2 (below) shows the responses towards digital texts of students that had taken a course where they were required to use a digital textbook. The results are radically different when compared to the previous survey. Seventy-two percent of the students declared that they are very unwilling or somewhat unwilling to ever again use a digital textbook. Interestingly, not a single student marked that he or she is very willing to use a digital textbook. It appears that the experience of using a digital textbook for a whole semester was not a satisfying one for the students and caused a radical change in their attitudes. Table 3 shows a t-test of the students’ willingness to use a digital textbook. It reports a highly significant perceptual difference between the two groups of students.

TABLE 2

Students exposed to digital text

TABLE 3

T-test of students’ willingness to try a digital text

The four tables (below) examine whether several demographic student characteristics have an impact on their perceptions of digital textbooks. These demographic characteristics are household income, age, ethnic background, and gender. Household income, shown in Table 4, was broken into two broad categories, families making more than $40,000 a year and families making less than $40,000. The $40,000 number was selected because it approximates the national median household income. No significant differences between the two groups were discovered. In both samples, students not exposed to digital texts and students exposed to digital texts provided similar responses, regardless of income. These findings were surprising because the researchers had hypothesized that poorer students might be willing to try a digital text based on the considerable savings associated with its adoption.

TABLE 4

 T-test of household income with students’ willingness to try a digital book

The next table (Table 5) shows the interaction between the age of the respondents and their perceptions of digital texts.  Students were classified in two broad age groups, the ones 25 and older and the ones younger than 25.  The dividing point of 25 was selected because in many studies students 25 and older are classified as non-traditional students, while younger students can still be classified as traditional students.  No significant differences in the perceptions towards digital texts were observed in the two groups.  Again, this was a surprising finding because the researchers had hypothesized that younger students familiar with computers would be more willing to try digital textbooks.  A possible explanation of this finding is that the studied population, CCSU students, have used personal computers for a long time and as a result all of them are comfortable with computers. 

TABLE 5

T-test of age with students’ willingness to try a digital book

  Table 6 (below) reports on the interaction of a student’s ethnic background and his or her willingness to use a digital textbook.  While the respondents were members of five different ethnic groups, White, African American, Asian, Hispanic, and Multiracial, large enough numbers were collected only for two of the groups, White and African American. Therefore,  the subsequent table only reports differences in the two largest groups.  In the sample of students that have never been exposed to digital texts white students are significantly more willing to try a digital textbook in comparison to black students.  However, in the group that has been exposed to digital text, these differences in viewing digital texts do not exist.  Both groups express similar views. 

TABLE 6

T-test of ethnic background with students’ willingness to try a digital book

The last table, Table 7 (below), reports on the relationship of a student’s gender and his or her willingness to use a digital textbook. In looking at the samples of students not exposed to digital texts and students exposed to digital texts, similar results were discovered. No significant divergence of opinions between female and male students was observed.

TABLE 7

T-test of student’s gender with students’ willingness to try a digital book

Conclusion and Recommendations

The rapid growth and change in technology that we have experienced in recent years have transformed many aspects of the educational experience. With the increasing usage of computers in higher education, many publishing companies have been tempted to replace the traditional printed textbook with a new electronic version. The main motivations that companies have towards this change the tremendous pressures to cut costs and to offer students a new richer learning experience by utilizing the many advantages of information technology.

However, while no one can deny that digital textbooks possess certain advantages over traditional printed textbooks, the perceptions that students have of digital textbooks have to be examined. 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.

These findings tend to show that publishing companies have to be very careful before they start replacing printed textbooks with digital ones. While many students may have positive views of digital textbooks, lured by the attraction of lower costs, students that had the experience of using digital texts tend to have very negative feelings. In the future, the technology may change and reading from a digital source might be as satisfying as reading from a printed page. Until then, publishing companies have to be very careful before they introduce digital products that will not satisfy their customers.

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