Is it time to say goodbye to bound textbooks?
Brief Abstract
There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally changed higher education. One such change has been the accelerated acceptance of (and even preference for) digital course materials. This presentation uses large-scale national survey data to examine this trend and speculate on what the next few years will show.
Presenters
Extended Abstract
The pandemic has impacted the criteria that faculty use in selecting their course materials. After an initial period when the rush to convert courses for remote instruction forced all other activities to the side, faculty are once again taking the time to research and select the most appropriate materials for their classes. This process remains much the same as before the pandemic, with faculty evaluation of textbook content at the core. There has been one fundamental change, however: Faculty, now more than ever, prefer materials in digital formats.
During the pandemic, the large-scale adoption of digital materials provided faculty and students with a real-time laboratory. Their experience was compelling — they now overwhelmingly prefer increased use of digital course materials.
This presentation draws information from multiple Bay View Analytics surveys to trace the growing acceptance (and preference) for digital course materials. Results include those from the Digital Learning Pulse Survey (DLPS) project, which examined changes in teaching and learning in six surveys from Spring 2020 to Spring 2022, and the ongoing series of higher education Open Education Resources reports.
Growing acceptance of digital course materials is not new. Prior Bay View Analytics research demonstrated increasing faculty adoption, with faculty opinion becoming more optimistic about digital materials than traditional print products. What is new is the pervasive nature and magnitude of the recent change.
Results from the Spring 2022 DLPS survey showed that 46% of faculty were now more optimistic about using digital course materials than before the pandemic, compared to only 8% who were more pessimistic. Results for academic administrators mirrored those of the faulty, with 51% more optimistic and only 7% more pessimistic.
Even more compelling is faculty data on their intentions for using digital materials, and student preferences for the same. For example, in the Fall of 2021 faculty were asked about their future use of digital materials. More than two-thirds (70%) of faculty agreed or strongly agreed that their preference was for increased use, with only 10% disagreeing. The results for students were similar, with 63% reporting that they preferred to have more digital materials included in their courses. This result is not surprising: 48% of students reported being more optimistic about digital than before the pandemic.
The result is clear; both students and faculty agree: digital materials are at the core of the future of education.