College Students’ Attitudes About
E-Textbooks, 2011-12
| Agreement with the statement ‘I would like to be able to get all my textbooks in digital form’ | ||
| Fall 2011 (N=1,625) | Fall 2012 (N=1,588) | |
| Strongly disagree | 21.3% | 19.1% |
| Disagree | 29.2% | 27.5% |
| Agree | 25.0% | 26.3% |
| Strongly agree | 13.2% | 16.0% |
| Don’t know | 9.3% | 8.6% |
| n/a | 2.0% | 2.4% |
| Satisfaction with using a core digital textbook | ||
| Fall 2011 (N=103) | Fall 2012 (N=104) | |
| Not at all satisfied | 10.7% | 10.6% |
| Somewhat satisfied | 44.7% | 48.1% |
| Very satisfied | 44.7% | 41.3% |
| Purchase of a digital textbook for any course in the past 2 years | ||
| Fall 2011 (N=1,625) | Fall 2012 (N=1,588) | |
| Yes | 25.8% | 27.7% |
| No | 74.2% | 72.3% |
| Reasons for preferring a digital rather than a physical textbook, 2012 | ||
| Students who have purchased a digital textbook in past 2 years (N=196) | Students who have not purchased a digital textbook in past 2 years (N=267) | |
| Easy search and reference | 52.6% | 35.2% |
| Costs less than print | 48.5% | 33.3% |
| Easy to carry around | 50.0% | 40.8% |
| Can be obtained more quickly | 47.4% | 35.2% |
| More convenient | 46.9% | 39.3% |
| Allows interaction with content | 43.9% | 33.3% |
| Can integrate with other content | 35.7% | 28.5% |
| Can try out before buying | 30.1% | 21.7% |
| Environmentally friendly | 35.7% | 31.8% |
| Reasons for preferring a print rather than a digital textbook, 2012 | ||
| Students who have purchased a digital textbook in past 2 years (N=306) | Students who have not purchased a digital textbook in past 2 years (N=1,086) | |
| Prefer look/feel of print | 52.0% | 46.8% |
| Easier to bookmark | 43.8% | 42.4% |
| No buyback with digital | 34.6% | 31.6% |
| Lose access to digital content at end of semester | 34.3% | 25.6% |
| Poor experience with digital | 16.7% | 10.2% |
| Limits to sharing/copying digital material | 20.9% | 15.2% |
| Don’t have device | 20.9% | 24.1% |
| Digital doesn’t have enough advantages over print | 28.4% | 24.8% |
| Privacy concerns | 13.4% | 11.9% |
Note: Data for each survey are based on responses from more than 1,500 undergraduate and M.B.A.-program students, at both two-year and four-year institutions. “n/a” indicates no answer.
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