Student Preferences For Ebooks Versus Print Books

[caption id="attachment_1729" align="aligncenter" width="280"] Curses - the leading cause of death in patients age 120 years. (From Med'Toons, by S. Goldberg, Medmaster)[/caption]

Previous posts (A, B, C) discussed the pros and cons of digital versus print books.  A survey of students by Bowker Market Research (June 11, 2013) indicates that only 3% of college students in the previous semester used a digital textbook as their main course material.  Publishing Business Today  (Jan 21, 2015) confirms the student preference of print books over ebooks.

The Bowker survey of 1,540 undergraduate college students found that students overwhelmingly prefer print, at both four-year and two-year institutions of higher education.  The reasons include students preferring “the look and feel of print,” the greater ease in highlighting and note-taking, and the fact that they can’t re-sell digital textbooks.

Among those few students who prefer digital textbooks, the reasons include price, ability to search the text, and ease in carrying around.

As of March 2013, laptop computers are by far the most popular device for students reading digital textbooks. The iPad is No. 2:

Laptop computer: 51%
iPad tablet: 21%
Desktop computer: 8%
Android tablet other than Kindle Fire: 6%
Kindle Fire tablet: 5%

The topic continues to evolve.  We welcome your continuing thoughts on the use of ebooks in medical student education. In the meantime, Medmaster is working on the best ways to present its books in both print and ebook formats.