Abstract:
E-textbooks are becoming more prevalent in today’s digital and mobile environment, and many school systems are conducting trials to evaluate e-textbook effectiveness (Miller, Nutting, & Baker-Eveleth, 2013). Utilizing Hall, Loucks, Rutherford, and Newlove’s (1975) Levels of Use (LoU) for analyzing innovation adoption as the framework, this study sought to determine instructors’ LoU of e-textbook features, whether there was a difference in instructor LoU across programs of study, and what factors were related to LoU at an institution conducting an e-textbook trial. Furthermore, this study evaluated the effectiveness of e-textbooks compared to paper textbooks on student achievement and sought to determine any differences based on student demographics. This study revealed e-textbook features were used at a low to non-existent level by instructors. Instructors either had no knowledge of or involvement with the features or had acquired some information about the features and were considering whether they would be useful for their classes. The average LoU by instructor showed no difference by program of study. The relationship between LoU and the variables of instructor age, gender, rank, years of college-level teaching, and number of e-textbook professional development experiences was studied. The number of e-textbook professional development experiences was found to be a significant predictor of LoU. Course comparisons revealed no significant difference in grade average between text formats. Analysis of the student grade data further revealed interactions between text format, age, and gender. Findings suggest the institution could benefit from professional development interventions aimed at increasing the LoU of e-textbook features among instructors. The college could also explore alternative e-textbooks that offer more interactivity and multimedia functions. The e-textbook trial demonstrated that students could be equally successful with electronic or paper formats. While the trial period did not have a negative impact on student learning, the low LoU of e-textbook features indicates there is a potential to have a positive impact as the features and functions of e-textbooks and mobile learning are leveraged for student success.
