Over the years, the e-books vs. textbooks for college education debate has been a heated one. Some people prefer paper-based textbooks, while others swear by digital books. Some say that both printed textbooks and e-textbooks are beneficial.
When E-books Are Free Or Cost Significantly Less Than Paper Books, People Do Read Them
In general, the cost of a Kindle book typically ranges between $4 and $15. The average price of Kindle books is around $11. Some Kindle books are also available for free or at a substantially lower price (like $0.99). Kindle books are usually cheaper than hardcover or paperback books.
The good news is that the Kindle books are usually cheaper than the hardcover or the paperback versions of the same book! So, you do save money by reading books on a Kindle. Plus, there are ways you can read books for free on your Kindle (which I will discuss later in the article).
But the devil may lie in the details. When researchers have altered the testing conditions or the types of questions they ask, discrepancies have appeared, suggesting that the medium does in fact matter. For example, Ackerman and Goldsmith (2011) observed that when participants could choose how much time to spend on digital versus print reading, they devoted less to reading onscreen and had lower comprehension scores. Schugar and colleagues (2011) found that participants reported using fewer study strategies (such as highlighting, note-taking, or bookmarking) when reading digitally. Kaufman and Flanagan (2016) noted that when reading in print, study participants did better answering abstract questions that required inferential reasoning; by contrast, participants scored better reading digitally when answering concrete questions. Researchers at the University of Reading (Dyson & Haselgrove, 2000) observed that reading comprehension declined when students were scrolling as they read, rather than focusing on stationary chunks of text.
In general, e-textbooks are more affordable than regular college textbooks. In some cases, digital textbooks may cost 40-50% less than physical copies, although savings are not always this high. Most texts can be viewed with a standard laptop, phone, or e-reader.
Physical textbooks for college usually cost more than e-textbooks, but learners can find some savings by purchasing used books. Students can also resell their books once they finish a course, or simply rent them in the first place. Check out our guide on renting versus buying textbooks for more information.
Many users report having more eye strain reading digital editions than physical books. In addition, it is much easier to work with multiple books and sources (for example, to write a research paper) when dealing with physical books. Is it also usually easier to keep track of specific pages or passages in physical books since the pages never change.
Patricia Alexander is a psychologist at the University of Maryland in College Park. She studies how we learn. Much of her research has delved into the differences between reading in print and on-screen. Alexander says students often think they learn more from reading online. When tested, though, it turns out that they actually learned less than when reading in print.
I think novels are great and I hate it when people say they are not useful to read. I tend to read historical fiction novels, which make history stick in your head better than the textbooks in my opinion, and classics such as the works of Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, etc. I choose the novels I read carefully and try to find ones that expand my world view and ones with inspiring characters who make me want to be a better person. Novels are great for getting people started who hate reading. Just let it be a worthwhile one cause there are plenty of trashy novels, there are just plenty of great ones too. :)
I believe the tipping point will come when e-readers work and feel like real books, i.e. double page touch screens. Then all us commuters will buy them for lightness and portability, and the cheepness of downloaded novels compared to printed versions.
I have, however, been writing e-books for 4 years. I finally acquired so many that I bought a Sony, since most of my reading is done in waiting rooms. My whole family took to it, including my non-reading 8 year old. We have about 120 books on it and less than half of the memory is full.
Another study of young children between the ages of three and five revealed that kids had lower comprehension of the story when their parents read to them from an e-book as opposed to a print book. Researchers theorize this arises because children get distracted by the electronic device and have a harder time focusing on the story itself. In another study, students who had read a short story on a e-reader were less engaged and had a harder time remembering the exact order of events. 2ff7e9595c
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