Digital textbooks advantages and disadvantages

5 Advantages of Digital Textbooks

• More environmentally conscious than traditional textbooks, less waste.
• Cheaper than buying a new textbook at a campus bookstore.
• Extremely portable and are not cumbersome like textbooks.
• No longer would require blind students to purchase special editions of books.
• Makes it extremely easy to look up words since dictionaries are included in ereaders and are just a click away on a computer.

5 Disadvantages of Digital Textbooks

• Students can illegally download and share books as has been done with music.
• There would only be one price for etextbooks, students no longer have the option of shopping around or finding other sources.
• Takes longer to read from screen and can increase time spent taking notes.
• Leaves students who cannot afford ereader or personal computer with a harder time to use textbook (computer lab being busy, systems being down).
• May cause further problems for bookstores and libraries and affect their survival.

References

Rockwell, M. 2010. Words Aren't Cheap. Community College Journal, 81(5), 57-61. Retreived Septermeber, 11, 2011 from Proquest Computer. (Proquest ID 2338755661)

Robinson, S. (2010) Students Use of an Online Textbook: Even if it's Free, will they buy it? Allied Academics International Conference. Academy of Educational Leadership. Proceedings, 15(1), 44-50.  Retreived Sepetember, 11, 2011 from Proquest Computing. (Proquest ID 2067209491)