Implementation Factors and Faculty Perceptions of Electronic Textbooks on the iPad

Abstract

A federally managed university in the United Arab Emirates implemented a one-to-one iPad program. In an effort to increase access to interactive digital learning resources on the iPads, they next transitioned from paper-based textbooks (pTexts) to electronic textbooks (eTexts) on the iPad for all course delivery formats. The goal of this study was to survey and report on faculty perceptions among three university divisions with the intent of highlighting factors and barriers influencing adoption of iPad-accessed eTexts in the classroom. The objective was to enhance understanding of factors that both contributed to or hindered successful implementation of eTexts. The main findings of this study were that increased training was not perceived as needed by faculty, but instead better support of technical challenges, more efficient workflows in implementation, and usability and interactive features of the eTexts were all the barriers to successful adoption of eTexts in the classroom. Suggestions for project management approaches are given, with reviews on specific factors that influenced successful adoption. The results of this study may be used to improve project management workflows and faculty support in similar implementation projects.

Developing Digital Content Production Skills for Mother Tongue Teaching with Web 2.0 Tools in Teacher Education: An Action Research

“…It is presently well established in the literature that online learning resources have become more widespread than printed textbooks (Karcmer-Klein & Shinas, 2012;Estable, 2018). New technological systems and tools are rapidly spreading in parallel with the development of educational technology and are used to benefit educational activities (Joo, Bong, & Choi, 2000).…”

Development of mobile application through design-based research

“…reading a word or PDF file on screen) with print reading; however, not much research has been carried out into examining learners reading behaviors and the educational benefits of recent, more flexible visually presented texts (Rha, 2014, p. 51). Rogers-Estable (2018, p. 48) reported that many faculty members commented that if electronic texts (eTexts) are purely PDF files (or glorified PDFs) then there is no advantage in using them with students.…”

Associations between Social Learning Environments and Students’ Reading Comprehension Skills: An Analysis of PISA’s Saudi Arabia Dataset

“…Textbooks of the past were researched and verified before students were exposed to their content, but the Internet has allowed free publication of information, and it is up to the student to determine their veracity and reliability. It has also influenced reading and memory skills as the concentration required to digest a textbook passage is quite different from that of today's tweets and texts (Rogers-Estable, 2018). Reading for pleasure among teens has decreased in favor of reading to meet practical needs, with an increasing amount of all reading being done online over more traditional forms such as books, newspapers and magazines.…”