Why aren’t students utilizing electronic textbooks more often?
Tuition and fees are not the only costs rising on college campuses. Textbook costs are rising as well. By some estimates, textbook cost has increased at twice the rate of general inflation in the U.S. economy. Researchers have found that a college textbook costs $125 on average, and that the total textbook cost for a typical year of classes is close to $1,000.
The rising cost of standard hardcopy texts has led to the introduction of electronic textbook alternatives. In contrast with general electronic books, the fastest growing book category, growth in e-textbooks has been slow. National e-textbook revenue in 2010 was just 3 percent of total textbook revenue.
In spite of the rapid growth and development of electronic books in general and the introduction of e-textbooks, little research on either exists. What we know comes from student surveys and anecdotal evidence in the discussion of the pros and cons of e-textbooks and their print alternatives. For example, a report on research sponsored by the National Association of College Stores noted that three-quarters of students surveyed preferred a bound book to a digital version. Student surveys indicate a strong preference for hardcopy texts, even though the current generation of college students is very comfortable with electronic information and communication.
In a paper to be published next spring in the journal “The American Economist,” Lori Baker-Eveleth, Andrew Nutting and I studied the determinants of e-textbook use at the UI. We were interested in answering a number of questions. For example, why have some students used e-textbooks while others have not? Do different college majors influence use? Do students’ backgrounds and socioeconomic characteristics affect e-textbook use?
We collected data via a web-based questionnaire in November 2009, distributed electronically to 11,957 UI students, resulting in about 1,100 complete responses. A total of 44.5 percent of students had purchased or used an electronic textbook.
We found that a strong relationship exists between college of enrollment and use of an e-textbook. Students in four arguably more-technical colleges — Business and Economics, Science, Engineering and Agriculture and Life Sciences — were more likely to have used an electronic text than were students in the College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences. Results are especially strong for the College of Business and Economics, where over 80 percent of the students report use of an electronic text, possibly because some required courses in the college often use electronic text materials.
There are strong, statistically significant results showing that students from larger high schools located in cities and suburbs and students who own desktop computers were more likely to have used an electronic text. These results jointly suggest that experience and technical competence with information technology increase students’ use of e-textbooks. Additionally, students paying for their education with scholarships and loans were more likely to have used an electronic text, suggesting that e-textbooks are inferior goods, in the strict economic sense. Like Ramen noodles, as income falls, demand for e-textbooks rises.
Results also show that professor attitudes toward e-textbooks significantly affect students’ use of them. The high rate of e-textbook use in the CBE likely stems from professors requiring use of electronic text materials.
By contrast, the textbook use literature notes distaste among professors in general for e-textbooks. Based on our research findings, we expect that rising competence with information technology, increased use of student loans and a change in professorial and institutional attitudes toward electronic textbooks could increase rates of e-textbook use over time.
Jon R. Miller is an economics professor at the University of Idaho and can be reached at [email protected]