A study on awareness acceptance and adoption of e books among anagement students and faculty

Abstract

E-books the digital version of its print counterpart has been in the educational segment for decades. E-books offer numerous advantages such as accessibility, searchability, portability, cheap, ability to highlight, take notes, share, to zoom and read and much more. In spite of their presence in the educational market for a long time and offering various benefits to user’s, ebooks have not been popular in the academic circles specifically in the textbook segment. Publishing companies have been trying to promote e-books across institutions and have tried to modify their product offerings. This research has made an attempt to understand the factors influencing the students and faculty of management institutions. The research also aimed to understand the awareness, adoption and usage of e-books among students and faculty. Another objective was to understand the benefits preferred by students and faculty. The research also aimed at understanding the challenges faced by students and faculty preventing them to use e-books. The research design was descriptive in nature. It adopted a mixed approach in which both qualitative and quantitative methods was adopted. The study was conducted from July 2014 to July 2019 in the state of Tamil Nadu. The state is ranked top among the country in terms of higher education with respect to student enrollment and the number of institutions. This study is significant as it aims to address the requirements of the current generation of students known as "millennial students" to integrate technology into their day to day lives. It also gains its significance from the fact that publishing companies have agreed that the industry has reached digital tipping point and phase out print textbooks. Using Multi-stage sampling, respondent students and faculty were selected and contacted for survey. Data was collected through administering questionnaires and the overall valid responses obtained were 918 responses from students and 459 from faculty. Data analysis revealed a high level of awareness among students and faculty. In spite of high awareness, the adoption was relatively less in the textbook segment. Technological readiness was a major factor influencing the perceived ease of use of e-books and perceived usefulness among faculty and students. While the students considered the cost of e-books as a major factor influencing them, for faculty it was when the institute or faculty recommend them to use e-books.The ability to access e-books for students and the ability to browse and cite for faculty was the top benefits. The top common barriers for both stakeholders was lack of feel of holding a print book and the strain on eyes. With the increasing technology dependent students and the benefits it offers to stakeholders, Publishing companies have an huge opportunity in the form of e-books in the textbook segment. Key words: E-books, Publishing, Intention to use, ELearning, Adoption of E-books