Most U.S. College Students Now Prefer Digital Reading

[Sandford, Mark]

Among our students, the most popular format is, by a good margin,
whatever is cheapest.  Our bookstore rents textbooks for a semester and
that is the most popular option.  

 

I'm curious what, if any, effect the format has on comprehension and
retention of subject material.  Using a tablet as a reader introduces
any number of instantly-available distractions, which is very dangerous
to a generation that generally believes their brains are capable of
efficient multitasking.  Is anyone aware of any studies that have looked
into that?

 

 

Mark Sandford

Special Formats Cataloger

Cheng Library

William Paterson University

(973) 720-2437

 

 

 

From: Web technologies in libraries [mailto:WEB4LIB at LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On
Behalf Of McKiernan, Gerard [LIB]
Sent: Saturday, March 17, 2012 10:35 AM
To: WEB4LIB at LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: [WEB4LIB] Most U.S. College Students Now Prefer Digital Reading

 

*** Apologies for Receipt of Duplicate Postings ***


Colleagues

 

IMHO > Transformative !

 

/Gerry 

 

The majority of U.S. college students now prefer digital formats whether
they're reading textbooks or "fun" books, according to a new survey from
the Pearson Foundation.

"Survey on Students and Tablets 2012" polled 1,206 U.S. college students
and 204 college-bound high school seniors. Some findings:

-College students prefer digital over print for "fun" reading (57
percent) and textbook reading (58 percent), "a reversal from last year,
when more students preferred print over digital." Pearson says the trend
is also apparent among high-school seniors (though it doesn't break out
which format the majority prefer), "and is mostly driven by an increase
in the preference to use tablets for reading." The study doesn't ask
whether students are using tablets or e-ink e-readers for reading.

-A quarter of college students now own a tablet, compared to just 7
percent last year. Seventeen percent of college-bound high school
seniors own a tablet, compared to four percent last year.

-Thirty-five percent of college students who own a tablet also own "an
e-book reader or small tablet device." (Not sure what a "small tablet
device" is! Asking Pearson.)

-Among college students who own tablets, the iPad is the most popular
(63 percent), followed by the Kindle Fire (26 percent) and Samsung
Galaxy Tab (15 percent).

 

Source and Links Available Via 

 

[ http://bit.ly/yGtqh5 ]

 

Gerry McKiernan

Associate Professor

and

Science and Technology Librarian 

Iowa State University 

152 Parks Library 

Ame IA 50011

 

http://digital-textbooks.blogspot.com/

 

 

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