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The average college student in America spent an estimated[估算] $700 on textbooks last year. The National Association of College Stores reported more than $5 billion in sales of textbooks and course materials. Association spokesman Charles Schmidt says electronic textbooks now represent just 2-3% of sales, but he says that is expected to reach 10-15% by 2012.
Online versions are now available for many of the most popular college textbooks. E-textbooks can cost half the price of a new print textbook. But students usually lose access after the end of the term. And the books can not be placed on more than one device so they are not easy to share.
So what do students think of e-textbooks?
Administrators at Northwest Missouri State University wanted to find out. Earlier this year, they tested them with 500 students in 20 classes. The university is unusual: it not only provides laptop computers to all 7000 of its full-time students, it does not require students to buy their textbooks either. They rent them to save money. The school aims to save even more by moving to e-textbooks. The students in the survey reported that downloading the books from the Internet was easy. They liked the idea of carrying lighter backpacks, and 56% said they were better able to find information. But most found that using e-textbooks did not change their study habits. And 60% felt they read more when they were reading on paper. In all, almost half the students said they still liked physical textbooks better. But the survey found that cost could be a big influence.
55% said they would choose e-textbooks if using them meant their textbooks rental[租赁的] fee would not increase.
Roger Von Holzen heads the Center for Information Technology in Education at Northwest Missouri State. He tells us that administrators are disappointed with the e-textbooks now available because the majority are not interactive. He thinks growth will come when more digital books include video, activities, games and other ways to interact with the information. The technology is improving, but for now, most of the books are just words on a screen.
据统计,去年美国大学生平均每人花费700美元购买教科书。美国全国学院商店协会称,超过50亿美元的消费款项被用于购买教科书和课程资料。协会发言人查尔斯·施密特指出,现在电子教科书的销售额仅占总额的2%到3%,不过他预计,到了2012年,这个比例将上升至10%到15%。
很多最热门的大学教科书都推出了在线版。电子教科书的价格是新印教科书的一半。然而学期一结束,学生们的在线版图书通常就会失去连接。而且这种在线教科书不能存放在多台设备上,资源很难共享。
那么,学生们是怎么看待电子教科书的呢?西北密苏里州大学的行政管理人员试图探个究竟。今年早些时候,他们对20个班级的500名学生进行了测试。这所大学不走常道——它不仅为全校7000名全日制学生提供笔记本电脑,也不要求学生购买教科书。校方把教材出租给学生以节省成本。这所学校甚至试图通过改用电子教科书来节省更多费用。参与调研的学生表示,从互联网上下载图书非常便捷。他们很乐意给背包“减负”,56%的人认为自己变得更善于搜集信息了。不过,大多数人发现使用电子教科书并没有改变自己原有的学习习惯,而60%的人认为自己在阅读纸质图书时会读得更多。总体来说,近一半学生还是比较喜欢纸质教科书。调研也发现成本是一个很大的影响因素。55%的学生表示,如果使用电子教科书意味着教科书租借费不会增长,他们会选择电子教科书。
罗杰·梵·豪森是西北米苏里州教育信息技术中心的领头人。据他表示,学校的行政管理人员对现有的电子教科书并不满意,因为大多数电子教科书都缺乏互动性。他认为,当更多电子书中添加视频、活动、游戏和其他信息互动方式的时候,电子书才能实现销售增长。科技在进步,不过就目前来看,大多数电子书仅仅是显示在屏幕上的文字而已。
The average college student in America spent an estimated[估算] $700 on textbooks last year. The National Association of College Stores reported more than $5 billion in sales of textbooks and course materials. Association spokesman Charles Schmidt says electronic textbooks now represent just 2-3% of sales, but he says that is expected to reach 10-15% by 2012.
Online versions are now available for many of the most popular college textbooks. E-textbooks can cost half the price of a new print textbook. But students usually lose access after the end of the term. And the books can not be placed on more than one device so they are not easy to share.
So what do students think of e-textbooks?
Administrators at Northwest Missouri State University wanted to find out. Earlier this year, they tested them with 500 students in 20 classes. The university is unusual: it not only provides laptop computers to all 7000 of its full-time students, it does not require students to buy their textbooks either. They rent them to save money. The school aims to save even more by moving to e-textbooks. The students in the survey reported that downloading the books from the Internet was easy. They liked the idea of carrying lighter backpacks, and 56% said they were better able to find information. But most found that using e-textbooks did not change their study habits. And 60% felt they read more when they were reading on paper. In all, almost half the students said they still liked physical textbooks better. But the survey found that cost could be a big influence.
55% said they would choose e-textbooks if using them meant their textbooks rental[租赁的] fee would not increase.
Roger Von Holzen heads the Center for Information Technology in Education at Northwest Missouri State. He tells us that administrators are disappointed with the e-textbooks now available because the majority are not interactive. He thinks growth will come when more digital books include video, activities, games and other ways to interact with the information. The technology is improving, but for now, most of the books are just words on a screen.
据统计,去年美国大学生平均每人花费700美元购买教科书。美国全国学院商店协会称,超过50亿美元的消费款项被用于购买教科书和课程资料。协会发言人查尔斯·施密特指出,现在电子教科书的销售额仅占总额的2%到3%,不过他预计,到了2012年,这个比例将上升至10%到15%。
很多最热门的大学教科书都推出了在线版。电子教科书的价格是新印教科书的一半。然而学期一结束,学生们的在线版图书通常就会失去连接。而且这种在线教科书不能存放在多台设备上,资源很难共享。
那么,学生们是怎么看待电子教科书的呢?西北密苏里州大学的行政管理人员试图探个究竟。今年早些时候,他们对20个班级的500名学生进行了测试。这所大学不走常道——它不仅为全校7000名全日制学生提供笔记本电脑,也不要求学生购买教科书。校方把教材出租给学生以节省成本。这所学校甚至试图通过改用电子教科书来节省更多费用。参与调研的学生表示,从互联网上下载图书非常便捷。他们很乐意给背包“减负”,56%的人认为自己变得更善于搜集信息了。不过,大多数人发现使用电子教科书并没有改变自己原有的学习习惯,而60%的人认为自己在阅读纸质图书时会读得更多。总体来说,近一半学生还是比较喜欢纸质教科书。调研也发现成本是一个很大的影响因素。55%的学生表示,如果使用电子教科书意味着教科书租借费不会增长,他们会选择电子教科书。
罗杰·梵·豪森是西北米苏里州教育信息技术中心的领头人。据他表示,学校的行政管理人员对现有的电子教科书并不满意,因为大多数电子教科书都缺乏互动性。他认为,当更多电子书中添加视频、活动、游戏和其他信息互动方式的时候,电子书才能实现销售增长。科技在进步,不过就目前来看,大多数电子书仅仅是显示在屏幕上的文字而已。