Electronic Textbooks: Antecedents of Students’ Adoption and Learning Outcomes

Abstract

Faculty and students are increasingly faced with the opportunity to use electronic versions of textbooks (e-texts). Despite the advantages of e-texts and recent advances in technology, evidence suggests that students are still reluctant to adopt and use e-texts. This situation leads us to investigate two research questions: What factors contribute to students’ acceptance of e-texts? Are there differences between hardcopy texts and e-texts when it comes to course grade? We draw on a variety of perspectives (i.e., psychology, management information systems, economics, environmental studies) to build a framework that allows us to determine the motivations of students for adopting e-texts, and the learning outcomes of e-text adoption. Data was collected via a survey administered in the business school of a metropolitan university with approximately 20,000 students, located in the western United States. Results suggest that perceived ease-of-use and the price of e-texts relative to hardcopy texts are two key motivators in e-text adoption, while perceived usefulness, Internet self-efficacy and environmental concerns are not significant motivators. However, there was no significant difference in the grades of e-text adopters compared to hardcopy adopters. We conclude this paper by discussing the implications of our findings for educators

Effects of e-textbook instructor annotations on learner performance

“…The e-textbooks in these studies are mere replacements of the paper textbooks; thus, none of these studies employ an instructional method that can capitalize on features of the e-textbooks. Consequently, and not surprisingly, they do not report any significant difference in learning due to the media, regardless of whether learning is measured with test scores (Daniel & Woody, 2013;Siebenbruner, 2011), course grades (Shepperd et al, 2008;Terpend et al, 2014), or self-reported learning gains (Giacomini et al, 2013;Ji et al, 2014;Rockinson-Szapkiw et al, 2013).…”

“…Although there have been a number of studies focusing on the learning effects of etextbooks, most of these studies compare overall impact of e-textbooks to paper textbooks (Daniel & Woody, 2013;Giacomini et al, 2013;Ji, Michaels, & Waterman, 2014;RockinsonSzapkiw, Courduff, Carter, & Bennett, 2013;Shepperd, Grace, & Koch, 2008;Siebenbruner, 2011;Terpend, Gattiker, & Lowe, 2014). The e-textbooks in these studies are mere replacements of the paper textbooks; thus, none of these studies employ an instructional method that can capitalize on features of the e-textbooks.…”

“…The majority of research on the learning effects of e-textbooks has thus far compared the difference in mediums (i.e., textbooks delivered on paper vs. on screen) rather than examining how the features offered by e-textbooks enable different instructional methods (e.g., Daniel & Woody, 2013;Siebenbruner, 2011;Terpend, Gattiker, & Lowe, 2014). Consequently, previous research has not reported any significant difference between paper and electronic textbooks because the media alone (paper versus screen) have few distinctions when it comes to learning (Ackerman & Goldsmith, 2011;Connell, Bayliss, & Farmer, 2012).…”

Searching for New Answers: The Application of Task‐Technology Fit to E‐Textbook Usage

“…As with textbooks, the key function of e‐textbooks is to facilitate student learning (Terpend et al., ). Some studies have found that e‐textbooks and traditional textbooks yield equivalent learning outcomes (e.g., Weisberg, ), while others have found that e‐textbooks enhance learning for students (e.g., Sun et al., ).…”

“…A key underlying assumption of previous research is that e‐textbooks are reasonable replacements for traditional textbooks. A review of the literature suggests that this assumption is not necessarily true because prior e‐textbook studies focus on student adoption behavior not how students perceive e‐textbooks fitting their needs (Gattiker, Lowe, & Terpend, ; Lai & Chang, ; Saadé & Bahli, ; Stone & Baker‐Eveleth, ,b; Terpend, Gattiker, & Lowe, ). Indeed, e‐textbooks and textbooks exhibit different features and benefits (Wu & Chen, ).…”