Bibliotastic Users Expect US School Books to Go Digital in 5-10 Years
In a recent survey of bibliotastic.com users, around half expected the majority of US school books to be electronic within 5 years while 40% thought it would take 10 years and 10% thought paper would remain the dominant format forever. If these estimates are accurate, the US is set to trail some other countries in the adoption of ebooks in the classroom.
San Francisco, CA, October 06, 2011 --(PR.com)-- South Korea recently announced plans to abandon paper text books in all elementary and high schools and switch to ebooks by 2015. The cost of this initiative is expected to be around $2.4bn, covering the ereader devices and the digitization of existing scholastic content.
In other parts of the world digital textbooks are being adopted, albeit more gradually, partly as a means of reducing costs and partly to try to better engage with students that have grown up on a diet of computers, game consoles and other electronic gadgets. In the US for example, Clearwater High School, in Pinellas County (FL), distributed Kindles to every student during the 2010-2011 school year. In Virginia the Department of Education ran a pilot program to explore the use of digital textbooks running on iPads.
Given the increasing interest in ebooks for education they ran a poll on bibliotastic.com asking users when they thought the majority of school text books in the US would be accessed digitally (as opposed to on paper). Just under half of respondents suggested a 5 year time frame, around 40% said 10 years while 10% believed ebooks would never replace paper books for education.
Bibliotastic co-founder Bernard Gerard noted "The picture will vary by country but generally speaking it is not clear that publishers will make electronic copies of their text books available at a big enough discount to justify the investment in ereaders that education authorities will need to make. While a lighter school bag is a clear advantage for students, the limited size of computer screens, as well as the potential eyestrain from LCD displays, are major disadvantages over traditional paper books. Still I expect that textbooks will be completely digital at some point in the future. I think we just need some improvements in display technology, such as flexible displays and full colour e-ink, before the paper book can be completely retired."
Bibliotastic survey: Do you think the majority of school text books in the US will be accessed digitally (as opposed to on paper) in:
* 5 years = 49%
* 10 years = 41%
* Never = 10%
The survey was conducted from July to Sep 2011 and involved 188 participants. Details can be found here: http://www.bibliotastic.com/content/ebooks-for-education
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In other parts of the world digital textbooks are being adopted, albeit more gradually, partly as a means of reducing costs and partly to try to better engage with students that have grown up on a diet of computers, game consoles and other electronic gadgets. In the US for example, Clearwater High School, in Pinellas County (FL), distributed Kindles to every student during the 2010-2011 school year. In Virginia the Department of Education ran a pilot program to explore the use of digital textbooks running on iPads.
Given the increasing interest in ebooks for education they ran a poll on bibliotastic.com asking users when they thought the majority of school text books in the US would be accessed digitally (as opposed to on paper). Just under half of respondents suggested a 5 year time frame, around 40% said 10 years while 10% believed ebooks would never replace paper books for education.
Bibliotastic co-founder Bernard Gerard noted "The picture will vary by country but generally speaking it is not clear that publishers will make electronic copies of their text books available at a big enough discount to justify the investment in ereaders that education authorities will need to make. While a lighter school bag is a clear advantage for students, the limited size of computer screens, as well as the potential eyestrain from LCD displays, are major disadvantages over traditional paper books. Still I expect that textbooks will be completely digital at some point in the future. I think we just need some improvements in display technology, such as flexible displays and full colour e-ink, before the paper book can be completely retired."
Bibliotastic survey: Do you think the majority of school text books in the US will be accessed digitally (as opposed to on paper) in:
* 5 years = 49%
* 10 years = 41%
* Never = 10%
The survey was conducted from July to Sep 2011 and involved 188 participants. Details can be found here: http://www.bibliotastic.com/content/ebooks-for-education
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Bernard Gerard
+44 (0) 20 7760 7487
www.bibliotastic.com
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