EBooks: The Next Step in Educational Innovation

Business Communication Quarterly http://bcq.sagepub.com/ EBooks : The Next Step in Educational Innovation Pedro David Martinez-Estrada and Roger N. Conaway Business Communication Quarterly 2012 75: 125 originally published online 2 February 2012 DOI: 10.1177/1080569911432628 The online version of this article can be found at: http://bcq.sagepub.com/content/75/2/125 Published by: http://www.sagepublications.com On behalf of: Association for Business Communication Additional services and information for Business Communication Quarterly can be found at: Email Alerts: http://bcq.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts Subscriptions: http://bcq.sagepub.com/subscriptions Reprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav Permissions: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav Citations: http://bcq.sagepub.com/content/75/2/125.refs.html >> Version of Record - May 11, 2012 OnlineFirst Version of Record - Feb 2, 2012 Downloaded from bcq.sagepub.com by guest on September 26, 2012 What is This? 432628 BCQ75210.1177/1080569911432628Martin ez-Estrada and ConawayBusiness Communication Quarterly Articles EBooks: The Next Step in Educational Innovation Business Communication Quarterly 75(2) 125–135 © 2012 by the Association for Business Communication Reprints and permission: http://www. sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1080569911432628 http://bcq.sagepub.com Pedro David Martinez-Estrada1 and Roger N. Conaway1 Abstract Many people have considered purchasing a tablet device, such as an iPad, Kindle, or Nook, for personal use, yet how many have considered adopting this new technology as a pedagogical tool in the classroom? This article reports on the adoption and use of Kindle eBooks on the campus during the Spring 2010 semester. The authors report on how the eBook supported student learning and course outcomes, and they examine the results of survey assessments of the eBook project. Overall, the university believes that the pilot project conducted proved to be a success, and the campus will continue using tablet devices in the future. Keywords eBook, Kindle, tablet devices, technology-enabled communication EBooks have arrived in institutions of higher learning. Faculty and students who access digital books typically do so through their computers or “eReader” devices or tablets such as the iPad, Kindle, or Nook. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, “One of the biggest stories in publishing right now is the promise and direction of eReaders” (Bauerlien, 2010). Although electronic tablets offer the user a variety of functions other than the reading of books, the technology appears to be widely adopted in the classroom. For successful adoption to occur, DuFrene, Lehman, Kellermanns, and Pearson (2009) assert that “Preliminary research indicated that students’ intention to use technology positively affects student learning and that successful classroom implementation of technology requires active professor support of technology” (p. 147). Thus, faculty who adopt these new technologies and introduce them in the 1 Tecnológico de Monterrey, San Luis Potosí, Mexico Corresponding Author: Pedro David Martinez-Estrada, Entrepreneurial Department, Tecnológico de Monterrey, San Luis Potosí, S.L.P. 78211, Mexico Email: pedrodavid@itesm.mx Downloaded from bcq.sagepub.com by guest on September 26, 2012 126 Business Communication Quarterly 75(2) classroom will certainly face key issues: Does the eBook increase student learning and engagement? Does it further course outcomes? Will it be easy to use for the new digital generation of students? What can we anticipate about the future integration of eBooks or eReader devices in the university classroom? In this article, we examine the classroom impact of an eBook pilot test on our university campus during Spring 2010. We consider the eBook a “radical innovation” in the classroom because of its widespread impact on traditional printed textbooks, its positive motivation for student reading, and its complementary role in the digital platform of a classroom and the university. The portable format of tablet devices appeals to faculty and students, including Internet access and availability of free books. The eBook’s “green” features also appeal to faculty and students. Flatley (2008) wrote about the green benefits of the Amazon Kindle a few months after it was introduced in the United States in November 2007. Flatley emphasized the paperless nature of the eBook and how it “saves trees, gas, and time while making them much more portable” (p. 403). Physical Books or Digital Books Prior to the initiation of the eBook pilot test on our campus, the university administration stated in a press release given to the public in March 2010, Just as the arrival of information technology (computers, Internet, satellite communication, and mobile devices) has transformed the everyday life and habits of most people, educational technology experts predict that before the year 2015 the eReader will be the largest platform used in university education. Recent data tend to support this bold statement. EBooks have broadly affected traditional publishing companies and are “rewriting the rules of the book industry, upending the established players which have dominated for decades” (Trachtenberg, 2010b, p. A1). Business plans of textbook publishers have been “turned upside down” by the popularity of eBooks, and the rapid decline of physical books is causing traditional publishers to rewrite their business plans. According to Trachtenberg (2010b), digital books will move from a 3% to 5% market share today to account for one fourth of all unit sales by 2012. This fundamental change in physical book distribution is resulting in other major changes in the publishing industry. The United States’ largest book store chain by revenue, New York–based Barnes & Noble, acknowledged the decline in sales of physical books and offered its company for sale in August 2010. According to Trachtenberg (2010a), Barnes & Noble succumbed “to mounting pressure from shareholder activists concerned about how digital books are eroding the traditional business of the nation’s largest book-store chain” (p. A1). Borders Group, the second-largest bookstore chain by revenue, experienced similar financial troubles during Fall 2010 and refinanced debt and delayed shipments to publishers. To emphasize this trend, Hanna (2010) published an interview, after Apple’s iPad was introduced in April Downloaded from bcq.sagepub.com by guest on September 26, 2012 Martinez-Estrada and Conaway 127 2010, with Harvard Business School professor Peter Olson, who boldly asserted that traditional book publishers are scared and that “the world they have known, of print books and brick-and-mortar bookstores—the whole physical distribution system—is on the cusp of changing fundamentally” (p. 1). Furthermore, Crovitz (2010) identified the “creative destruction” of the printed book business and quoted independent bookstore owner Andy Ross, who pointed to the bleak future of physical book stores, as saying “there is going to be a tipping point where eBooks become the dominant medium, thus ending 500 years of the Gutenberg Age.” Although the first wave of e-textbooks did not attract many adopters, accelerated growth appeared in the industry in 2009. For example, Laster (2010) wrote that CourseSmart, the United States’ leading e-textbook seller, “reported a 400 percent increase in sales for 2009 from the year before.” Similarly, Graves (2010) cited a report from Simba Information, a firm recognized for market intelligence reports and forecasts in the media industry, which projected that “the e-textbook market will grow at an annual rate of 49 percent through 2013, when e-textbooks will command about 11 percent of textbook sales.” With these sweeping changes challenging the use of physical classroom textbooks, business communication educators must address the eBook technology as a potential pedagogical platform in their own classrooms. EBooks in the Classroom Our campus is part of the Tecnológico de Monterrey, a large private, nonsectarian university system in Mexico enrolling over 90,000 students on 33 campuses. An appeal of the eBook project on our campus, which was selected for the pilot project, was to reduce textbook costs for our students by investigating the use of new eReader devices in the classroom. Textbook costs and related transportation and timeliness issues pose significant barriers for textbook purchases by our students. If the eBook project was implemented successfully, student costs may be lowered significantly. We were the first university in Latin America to adopt the Kindle program in the classroom. When our university launched the eBook initiative in Fall 2009, we conducted an informal web-based survey among full-time faculty on campus to determine what percentage of their textbooks were available as eBooks. The brief survey simply asked the faculty’s name, educational division or department, courses taught, and name and year of textbook(s) used in their courses. An 80% response rate was received from all fulltime faculty on our campus. When we examined the brief survey results and compared textbook names submitted by the faculty with those listed on the Kindle book website, we found that only 15% of the textbooks currently being used by the faculty were offered on Amazon as Kindle books. These findings led us to examine characteristics of two other popular devices, Barnes & Noble’s Nook and Sony’s eReader, which were at the time the other major eBooks available in the U.S. market. By comparison, the cost of the Nook and Sony was higher per device, and each offered fewer books online than did the Kindle Downloaded from bcq.sagepub.com by guest on September 26, 2012 128 Business Communication Quarterly 75(2) in Fall 2009. We also compared 3G wireless access, which was offered internationally only by the Kindle, in contrast to the Nook and Sony—which offered WiFi access only within networks. The screen display characteristics were also a factor we examined. The Nook and Kindle each had 7-inch screens, whereas the Sony had a 9-inch screen. After assessing these initial device characteristics, we compared the cost of online books for students. This single factor emerged as a predominate one in our choice of an eReader. While popular printed books sold to the public typically cost between US$19 and US$39, Kindle versions were around US$9.99. Similarly, although the cost of most printed conventional textbooks ranged between US$120 and US$140, Kindle version prices of the same books varied from US$20 to $US70. The Kindle eBook prices averaged lower than the other eReader prices we compared. We also checked Amazon’s Kindle prices of several current business communication textbooks for comparison purposes. For instance, Lehman and DuFrene’s Business Communication, 16th edition (2011), was being offered for approximately US$23 as a Kindle book in October 2010. In January 2011, the Kindle store showed the 16th edition was US$36.45, and new printed versions were priced at US$122 (Amazon, 2011). In contrast to Amazon, the publisher Cengage listed the 16th hard copy edition on its website at US$146, while identifying that particular cost as a “College Bookstore Wholesale Price.” Cengage’s eBook of the 16th edition was listed at US$98.49 (although it rose to US$105.49 later in the year) while each eChapter has been priced at US$11.99 (Cengage, 2011). Obviously, the wide variation in prices serves as a caveat emptor for educators who must exercise caution when adopting either physical copies of textbooks or eBooks. Students can resell printed copies of textbooks to their local campus bookstore, thus reducing the net cost of printed books. However, this practice appears to be less common internationally, especially in Latin America. International editions of U.S. books printed and sold outside the United States tend to cost less than the same books sold inside the country, reducing the need for resell. Implementing the Project Taking together the device characteristics and cost factors, our university adopted the Kindle for our classroom pilot project. Amazon marketing advertisements posted in December 2009 featured the Kindle as “the number one best-selling, the number one most wished for, the number one most gifted product” on the Amazon website (LaVallee, 2009). More than 400,000 Kindle books were available in October 2009, and by Fall 2010 the number has risen to over 750,000. Other practical questions arose as we began the project, stemming from the ones mentioned in the introduction: 1. Will students read significantly more with eBooks, including non–classroomrequired material, than before the eReader technology? 2. Can we consider the eReader a tool that connects to the needs of the digital generation and enhances their learning anywhere and at any time? Downloaded from bcq.sagepub.com by guest on September 26, 2012 Martinez-Estrada and Conaway 129 3. Is the classroom teaching and learning process improved through the use of eReaders? 4. What type of assessments should we use to measure the eReader’s success? For our purposes, we distinguish between eBooks, which are digital copies of textbooks or other books obtained online, and devices, which are tablet computers, eReaders, or tablets that are multifunctional. Ebooks can be read on many electronic devices, including computers, tablets, and phones. Amazon had asked only U.S. universities to experiment with the Kindle in the classroom before our project began. Amazon’s liaison in charge of relations with academic institutions told us that Amazon had initially contacted a group of U.S. universities and colleges in 2009 to participate in a Kindle pilot study. Seven universities chose to become involved: Arizona State University, Case Western Reserve University, Darden School of Business, Pace University, Princeton University, Reed College, and the University of Washington. Reed College’s Kindle project involved 43 students in three upper-level classes. The college posted their results on its website but stated that a decision was made to discontinue use of the Kindle for various reasons (Marmarelli & Ringle, 2009), including the inability of the Kindle to assist individuals with low vision. Princeton University’s project involved three faculty and 51 students, and the results were also posted on the university’s website. Princeton stated the primary goal of the project was to determine if a tablet device would help reduce the use of paper at Princeton without adversely affecting the classroom experience (Princeton University, 2009). Despite mixed responses from other universities, we proceeded with adoption of the Kindle. Advantages and Disadvantages in the Classroom Once we implemented the project, we immediately observed several positive impacts of the Kindle on the learning process, most of which were advertised by Amazon: (a) the lower cost of books than the printed version, (b) the large number of eBooks available through Amazon’s website, (c) the portable characteristics and e-ink technology that looked like an actual book and appealed to students, (d) 3G Internet connectivity that allowed students to download current versions of newspapers and other classroom materials, and (e) battery performance (1 week without recharging. These advantages were particularly important for students in universities outside the United States because copies of student textbooks were downloaded in less than a minute. Moreover, students received newspapers or magazines at a greatly reduced price. Our students experienced disadvantages with Kindle functionality, similar to those cited by Marmarelli and Ringle (2009) and in the “E-Reader Pilot Program at Princeton” (Princeton University, 2009). One negative point concerned difficulty with manipulation of the “five-way controller” device. Students also desired greater ease with moving forward and backward among locations in a document. Kindle devices Downloaded from bcq.sagepub.com by guest on September 26, 2012 130 Business Communication Quarterly 75(2) have locations instead of page numbers, and the locations are measured by chapters or number of words. When Apple, Inc., announced the new iPad in January 2010, our university decided that the Kindle was still the appropriate eBook device for our project, citing the number of textbooks available and the low cost of the device as the primary criteria for decision making. The faculty who used the Kindle found the device to be a good, basic reader, especially for business courses. Faculty who were using the Kindle commented that they believed the e-textbook may not be suitable for courses such as accounting or other scientific, engineering, or mathematics courses, which require extensive paper work with accounting problems or scientific or mathematics problems. We observed one other important advantage for our international students. Our university system requires all students to score at least 550 on the Institutional Version of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) before they can graduate. During the semester we introduced the Kindle into the classroom, about 30% of our business school courses were taught in the English language, and 20% more were not taught in English but used textbooks written in English. Thus, the Kindle complemented the TOEFL requirement by encouraging students to learn and practice English when reading course materials. Many students activated the text-to-speech function on the Kindle, which allowed them to choose the rate of speech, volume, and gender of the voice. When using this read-aloud function, the Kindle automatically scrolls from page to page. Students hear English in the classroom, read it in their textbooks, and listen again on their Kindles, a repetition and reinforcement that we expected in the long term to result in improved TOEFL scores. A built-in dictionary also allowed students to easily look up English words they did not understand. Furthermore, the practical process of transferring faculty documents to the students’ Kindles, such as rich text files, Microsoft Word or PowerPoint files, or Adobe Acrobat files, changed the teaching methodology of the professor. One method we used was to set up a dedicated folder on Blackboard, the course software utilized on our campus, in order to save all Kindle documents in a designated folder. Students used that folder to upload documents onto their Kindles. For example, in one of our courses we asked students to read a newspaper article containing black-and-white photos. The students were not required to subscribe to this particular newspaper but were asked to read articles provided by the faculty. To transfer the articles to the student, the faculty saved the article, including photos, as a Microsoft Word document. These Microsoft word documents first must be converted to the Kindle format before they can be uploaded on the Kindle. The photos embedded in the article transferred nicely to the Kindle once the word document had been converted to the Kindle format. Transferring files directly as a rich text file does not preserve the photos, however. Adobe Acrobat PDF files do not need to be converted to the Kindle format but still are limited in several respects. The lettering in converted Microsoft Word files can be reduced or enlarged by the reader. In contrast, only one entire page of a PDF file will display on the Kindle screen, making the print very small depending on how much was copied on one PDF page. Downloaded from bcq.sagepub.com by guest on September 26, 2012 Martinez-Estrada and Conaway 131 EBook Project Assessment All faculty involved in the eBook project administered a confidential midsemester and an end-of-term survey to their students (N = 88) in order to assess how the Kindle influenced the teaching and learning process. The midterm survey was brief and queried only about the functional usage of the Kindle and any difficulties the students were having with the device itself. Results of the end-of-semester survey indicated that the average age of students was almost 20 years. The number of males and females was almost equal, and 95% were of Latin American nationality. Of the 88 students using the Kindle, nearly 85% (N = 74) indicated that they were reading each week between 1 and 5 hours with the Kindle, and almost 20% were reading between 3 and 5 hours per week with the Kindle. Students indicated they were reading additional material not related to the class. Furthermore, they indicated that the average hours per week they were accustomed to reading had increased by one third. Students evidently had downloaded various novels or books of interest that their friends were reading. Their overall time spent reading had increased significantly, and they were reading a greater variety of books in addition to course material. Respondents also were asked to indicate whether the Kindle had improved their classroom learning experience. Sixty-six students (75%) reported their experience was better, one fifth were indifferent (23%), and 2% reported the Kindle experience made it worse. Ninety-four percent said they would recommend use of the Kindle to other students. When asked their preferences between a printed textbook and the Kindle format, 72% of the students preferred the eBook version. Finally, students were asked to indicate the importance of the various benefits of using the Kindle, responding with either 1 = relevant or 2 = irrelevant. Table 1 displays the results ranked by the most relevant characteristics appearing first. Interestingly, the characteristics that faculty assumed would be most relevant to students and the characteristics students actually considered relevant were very different. Faculty, for instance, thought cost would rank high on the list of relevant factors, yet students ranked cost 8 of 12 on the characteristics list. Faculty also assumed the ability of the Kindle to “read aloud” would be relevant to students, yet they ranked this characteristic next to last. Having access to the Internet and the Kindle’s ability to store many books appeared as the most relevant to students. The battery life and readability of the screen also were important to the students. Implications and Conclusions We posed four important questions in the introduction, which we suggested are critical to the adoption of tablet devices and use of eBooks in the classroom. First, we asked whether the eBook increases student learning and engagement? The results of the questionnaires and examples from faculty experiences demonstrated that learning and engagement in the classroom were enhanced. When the pilot project had concluded, we were pleased that the survey results indicated that nearly three fourths of Downloaded from bcq.sagepub.com by guest on September 26, 2012 132 Business Communication Quarterly 75(2) Table 1. Relevance of eBook Characteristics to the Students (Most Important First) Relevant Irrelevant Characteristics N Percentage N Percentage 1. Internet access anywhere 2. Ability to store many books on the device 3. Readability of the Kindle (antireflective, clarity, resolution) 4. Battery life of 7 days in daily use and 14 days without the wireless option 5. Access to the Amazon.com online store to purchase materials 6. Flexibility to access content on laptop/iPhone/Blackberry 7. Cost of Kindle books 8. Annotate the material 9. Bookmark this page 10. “Reading aloud” material 11. Covers the content 82 75 74 72 93.2 85.2 84.1 81.8 6 13 14 16 6.8 14.8 15.9 18.2 65 73.9 23 26.1 63 58 50 42 41 32 71.6 65.9 56.8 47.7 46.6 36.4 25 30 38 46 47 51 28.4 34.1 43.2 52.3 53.4 58.0 the students participating had reported that the Kindle improved their classroom learning experience. Likewise, nearly all the students (94%) indicated that they would recommend use of the Kindle to other students. Student learning and engagement apparently had increased in the classes where they used the device. Although these results are preliminary and limited to our university, we recommend further investigation by scholars to examine how the eBook increases student learning and engagement in the classroom. Of profound significance for educators are the differences between the way students approach and learn the subject matter in a course using tablet devices and those using traditional printed textbooks. Although our study did not address these specific differences, future business communication research may provide educators with practical pedagogical suggestions for using tablet devices in the classroom. Second, we asked how the eBook furthers course outcomes. We assumed that the process of student learning and engagement precedes course outcomes and that outcomes involve end-of-course student satisfaction, successful learning, and grades. In one of the author’s classes that used the Kindle, students were asked to respond to the following statement on the survey: “The fact that you had a course using the Kindle made your learning experience either better, the same, or worse.” Students overwhelming reported the Kindle made the experience better (94.3%). Only 5.7% reported their experience was the same, and none thought it was worse. Although we did not assess whether final grades were affected by the Kindle, we believe the Kindle made a significant, positive impact on the outcome of the course in our study—particularly with regard to student engagement and learning. Downloaded from bcq.sagepub.com by guest on September 26, 2012 Martinez-Estrada and Conaway 133 Third, we queried whether the eBook and other tablet devices would be easy to use for the new digital generation of students. Nearly three fourths of the students in our study indicated that they preferred the eBook version of their textbook to the printed version. When interpreting this finding, we considered that students may have enjoyed the portability of the tablet, which led them to answer positively on the survey question. We also considered that the novelty a new digital device in the classroom simply may have appealed to students and led to positive findings. Perhaps the built-in dictionary appealed to them, and they were able to look up the definition of a word instantly when reading their material. Ultimately, we believe all of these reasons and others were important to students. Further investigation may be required to distinguish among students’ specific reasons for preferring an eBook to the printed version. Finally, we asked what can be anticipated about the future integration of eBooks or eReader devices in the university classroom. Innovative educators who are early adopters with new technologies in the classroom may quickly choose an eBook as the primary source of course materials. Other educators may wish to wait but may receive increasing pressure from university administration to adopt electronic tablets. The new devices undoubtedly will affect the learning and teaching process in the future. Educators must carefully consider which device is right for their classroom, the characteristics of the device, and the course content in which the eBook will be used. We conclude that the tablet device increased student engagement in the learning process in our study, improved student satisfaction and experience in the courses using the Kindle, appealed to the new digital generation of students, and changed positively faculty teaching methodologies as they exchanged information with the student, including immediate access to newspapers or updated material for the students. Although accelerated growth of e-textbooks exists, slow acceptance of the tablet devices in the classroom may persist because of nascent technology. A recent news release by the University of Washington reported on “the first long-term investigation of e-readers in the classroom” (Hickey, 2011, ¶1). The university’s 9-month study using the newer large-screen Kindle DX involved 39 first-year graduate students in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. By the end of 7 months, fewer than 40% of the students did their schoolwork on the Kindle. Students wanted improved support for note taking, reference checking, and viewing of figures. Inkling, a new start-up supported by textbook publishers, provides e-textbooks for the iPad with interactive features of note taking, reference checking, and viewing of figures. The number of titles listed on Inkling.com is currently limited, yet their technology seems to offer what the University of Washington students wanted. Predicting the technological future of the university classroom is risky at best. Our study is limited to one campus in a large university system, and the reader must consider the context of our conclusions. Yet many indicators point to future radical innovation with eBook or e-textbook applications. First, the tumultuous upheaval of traditional textbook publishers and the declining sales of printed textbooks are strong indicators. Second, the growing shift toward use of eBooks personally and in the Downloaded from bcq.sagepub.com by guest on September 26, 2012 134 Business Communication Quarterly 75(2) classroom is another indicator. Finally, students and faculty are personally drawn toward using electronic tablets by characteristics such as mass storage of portable books, reduced costs, Internet access, paperless nature of eBooks, and other factors that make their use attractive. We believe the next step to tablet devices as a primary source of classroom materials is a short one, and business communication educators may soon confront the choice of adoption. Declaration of Conflicting Interests The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Funding The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. References Amazon (2011). Kindle Store › Kindle eBooks › “Business communication Lehman” Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/Business-Communication-16th-Edition-ebook/dp/B003XMWSZM Bauerlien, M. (2010, December 14). The future of e-books. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/blogs/brainstorm/the-future-of-e-books/9201 Cengage. (2011). Product overview. Retrieved from http://www.cengage.com/search/ productOverview.do?Ntt=Lehman+and+DuFrene%2C+16th+edition||9780324782172& Ntk=all||P_Isbn13&Ns=P_CopyRight_Year|1&N=+16 Crovitz, G. (2010, August 8). From Gutenberg to Zoobert. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703748904575411301668405756 .html DuFrene, D. D., Lehman, C. M., Kellermanns, F. W., & Pearson, R. A. (2009). Do business communication technology tools meet learner needs? 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The Wall Street Journal, p. A1. Bios Pedro David Martinez-Estrada is a lecturer in the Entrepreneurial Department at the Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus San Luis Potosí. In his work, he is directly concerned with teaching business communication and entrepreneurship. Roger N. Conaway is a professor in the School of Business at the Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus San Luis Potosí. He is directly concerned with teaching courses in entrepreneurship and international business. Downloaded from bcq.sagepub.com by guest on September 26, 2012