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Avery Ojeda

Mr. McCoy

ENC 1101

April 23, 2022

[Title] Books of the Future: Are E-Textbooks a Better Resource for Education?

[Exigence] E-textbooks are the future of education; they are popularly known for their

affordability and accessibility to students. The argument for and against these resources is a bat-

tle of cost and efficiency. E-Textbooks have become increasingly more popular in recent year

due to the Pandemic and travel restrictions. More students in all education levels have begun us-

ing online text materials for that reason.  [Problematization] While some say that e-Textbooks

are cost-efficient and highly portable, others say that they can be distracting, and some aspects of

interactivity can be hard to use for students and teachers. [Thesis/Main Claim] E-Textbooks are

a better resource to use over traditional textbooks as way to keep students engaged in learning

material along with making reading fun and convenient. With the benefit to the student comes

ease of access to learning and teaching materials for a variety of learning environments.

  [Reason 1/ Sub claim/ Topic Sentence] E-textbooks make learning material readily

available to the reader from anywhere, along with helping teachers make instruction effortless

and versatile. Convenience and useability are often indispensable qualities to many students and

teachers; that is something e-textbooks can provide for the user. According to Wang & Hartsell

[Data] “The purpose of introducing and promoting e-textbooks in teaching is not to bring heav-

ier burdens to instructors’ instructional activities, but to make their instruction easier and more

flexible…Compared with traditional textbooks, e-textbooks have advantages in many aspects

such as lower cost, lighter to carry, interactivity between teaching and learning, etc...” (94-
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95). [Warrant] Making reading and teaching materials more flexible and easily accessible is

crucial to making learning a more fluent system. The promotion and encouragement to use re-

sources that make learning more efficient and transferable are vital to the future of education. In

another source Masango states that [Data] “The use of electronic textbooks may enhance the ef-

fectiveness of teaching and learning because most electronic textbooks are multimedia-rich and

allow for annotation and remote access” (54). [Warrant] The enhanced effectiveness of teaching

is an overall goal I have witnessed throughout the many articles I have read. It is important to not

only think of the students using the materials but, also the teachers. In recent years with the Pan-

demic, I can see how remote access has become more important to many educators and students.

[Reason 2/ Sub claim/ Topic Sentence] In addition to ease of access and portability is

interactivity, e-textbooks present a variety of multimedia options to the reader. Things like this

help keep students engaged and often offer an incentive to complete readings along with provid-

ing opportunities for reflection on text content. [Data] “The interactive e-books contained com-

mon multimedia and interactive features including, animated pictures, text-to-speech, a sentence-

highlighting feature, hotspots…, a picture dictionary …, page control buttons, 2 word-games …,

an incentive game …, and a voice recorder…” (Lim, et al. 6). [Warrant] As previously stated,

there are a plethora of tools available to the reader. The tools used in this study helped keep stu-

dents engaged and attentive to the reading material. Interactive features available in e-textbooks

help students further their comprehension and connections throughout the text. [Backing] “When

it comes to the percentages, 80% of the students either agreed or strongly agreed that the page

control button and animated pictures were important. 66.7% of them either agreed or strongly

agreed sentence highlighting, picture dictionaries, and text re-reading features facilitated their
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reading comprehension. Additionally, the word game and voice recording features were per-

ceived as helpful tools by 60% of the students” (Lim, et al. 9).

[Reason 3/ Sub claim/ Topic Sentence] Another benefit of e-textbooks use is cost effi-

ciency. E-textbooks provide students with a cost-effective option when purchasing expensive

textbooks. [Data] “Chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests show that students enrolled in paid read-

ing sections are similar to students enrolled in open reading sections …The exceptions are age

and socioeconomic status. Students enrolled in the paid reading sections are more likely to be

middle or high income and traditional college-age (18–24)” (Medley-Rath 913). [Warrant] The

majority of people using these paid readings are more likely to be middle or high income and tra-

ditional college age. Having more open access to e-textbooks is a way to help expand and allow

a variety of people to seek higher education without worrying about textbook

costs. [Data] “These findings suggest that using OERs and open access resources might be a vi-

able choice for reducing textbook costs, thereby increasing access to higher education” (Medley-

Rath 908). [Warrant] Some e-textbooks are open-access and available online for free. If there

were more resources such as this one, higher education would be more accessible for various

groups of people.

[Reservations/ Topic sentence] Although e-textbooks seem to be the best option for ed-

ucation, opposers say that they may lack compatibility and useability across platforms. Accord-

ing to K.A. Sheen [Data] “The commonly reported reasons …Eye fatigue, loss of focus when

using electronic devices, increased sentence splitting for the iPhone, screen dimming due to

screen time, and the fact that supporting activities were more difficult to use in the electronic

medium” (4). [Warrant] The type of device and the resources available for text annotation, such

as highlighting and on-screen notetaking, can be distracting and hard to use. Notetaking and
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highlighting are critical parts of comprehension. Ensuring that these tools are easy to understand

and use efficiently is vital in considering e-textbooks as a reliable education resource for the fu-

ture. In another section Sheen states that [Data] “Students created significantly more unique

highlights and notes in terms of numbers of words and different styles in paper format than any

of the electronic devices. In addition, students struggled to use the functions in general and found

them frustrating” (8). [warrant] Meaning that when it comes to paper text the students found it

easier to add their thoughts when notetaking and highlighting. Whereas when they used e-text-

books they struggled to create unique highlights due to user error and frustration with the plat-

form.

[Response/ Topic Sentence] With that said, there is room for improvement among the

platforms providing these e-textbooks, and studies have shown that comprehension differs very

little through translation from paper to e-text. [Data] “No significant differences in comprehen-

sion scores were found… across all groups. The Kruskal-Wallis H test was also conducted on the

comprehension score for each condition with combined groups. No significance was found…”

(Sheen & Luximon 4). [Warrant]. The data from the experiment above found no difference in

comprehension when comparing the paper text to e-text across multiple devices. The challenge

for most students was the screen size and highlighting and annotating tools due to the frustrating

nature of the e-textbook platforms.

[Qualified Conclusion] E-textbooks are a handy resource for education and are benefi-

cial to all parties involved. [So What?] There should be more encouragement to use e-textbooks

in education. There should also be more efforts made toward making these resources available to

everyone. In addition, I think that studies like the ones listed give companies producing these e-

books an idea of what their customers are struggling with and what they can improve on in the
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future. [What now?] We should make e-textbooks available for everyone and encourage teach-

ers to at least attempt to use e-textbooks to help innovate and increase versatility in their instruc-

tion methods. Using e-Textbooks to help improve instruction flexibility and effortlessness for

teachers and students. Interactivity is vital in keeping the student engaged in reading. Ensuring

the student is having fun and enjoying the learning process while gaining knowledge along the

way is an invaluable aspect of education.

Works Cited
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Lim, Jongyun, et al. “Interactive E-Book Reading Vs. Paper-Based Reading: Comparing the Ef-

fects of Different Mediums on Middle School Students’ Reading Comprehension.” Sys-

tem (Linköping), vol. 97, Elsevier Ltd, 2021, p. 1-14, https://doi.org/10.1016/

j.system.2020.102434.

Masango, Michack Mandla, et al. “Electronic Textbooks in Gauteng Public Schools: Pros and

Cons.” International Journal of Information and Communication Technology Education,

vol. 15, no. 4, 2019, pp. 41–57, https://doi.org/10.4018/IJICTE.2019100104.

Medley-Rath, Stephanie. “Does the Type of Textbook Matter? Results of a Study of Free Elec-

tronic Reading Materials at a Community College.” Community College Journal of Re-

search and Practice, vol. 42, no. 12, Routledge, 2018, pp. 908–18, https://doi.org/

10.1080/10668926.2017.1389316.

Ross, Bella, et al. “Print Versus Digital Texts: Understanding the Experimental Research and

Challenging the Dichotomies.” Research in Learning Technology, vol. 25, no. 3 Novem-

ber 2017, Association for Learning Technology, 2017, pp. 1–12, https://doi.org/

10.25304/rlt.v25.1976.

 Sheen, Kimberly Anne, and Yan Luximon. “Effect of in-App Components, Medium, and Screen

Size of Electronic Textbooks on Reading Performance, Behavior, and Perception.” Dis-

plays, vol. 66, Elsevier B.V, 2021, p. 1-9, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.displa.2021.101986.

Wang, Sirui, and Taralynn Hartsell. “Perceived Factors Influencing Instructors’ Use of E-Text-

books in Higher Education.” International Journal of Information and Communication

Technology Education, vol. 13, no. 4, 2017, pp. 87–97, https://doi.org/10.4018/

IJICTE.2017100107.
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