College textbooks digitally on your iPad - anyone tried it yet?

[Luv2Scrap]

I am seriously considering buying my next two textbooks digitally, but would first appreciate some feedback from anyone who has already done it. Did you find it to be easier or harder to use? I would be able to read my chapters a lot more places if I can do it on my ipad/iphone (only one works on my iphone, but both work on my ipad), but I was wondering about having to search for answers for my open-book tests. At first I thought it would be an issue, but I do see there is a search function. My assumption is that would actually make the tests easier, am I correct?

I don't end up reselling most of my books anyway, so that's not really a deciding factor... price is about the same for digital vs. hard copy. I just want to know if I am fooling myself that this is a good idea?

Thanks!

 

[Lorelei Lee]

My daughter loves it.

Just be careful. Sometimes the electronic version made from a different edition of the book than the professor is using. My daughter had to borrow a friend's textbook because the electronic edition omitted a chapter that the professor used for an assignment.

 

[Luv2Scrap]

My daughter loves it.

Just be careful. Sometimes the electronic version made from a different edition of the book than the professor is using. My daughter had to borrow a friend's textbook because the electronic edition omitted a chapter that the professor used for an assignment.

Thanks for the heads up, I will be careful what version I'm buying!

 

[turkeymama]

I have done the textbooks online a few times. I found it to be effective for the most part. A friend and I actually split the cost for a few of the books that we both needed. We also worked together, so that made it even easier. If you are already tech-savvy, I don't think you'll have any problems.

 

[Luv2Scrap]

I have done the textbooks online a few times. I found it to be effective for the most part. A friend and I actually split the cost for a few of the books that we both needed. We also worked together, so that made it even easier. If you are already tech-savvy, I don't think you'll have any problems.

Good to hear!

 

[Pigeon]

I'm an academic librarian and have been to numerous presentations on this topic from people at institutions who have studied student satisfaction with e-textbooks.

There's no one answer. The features of e-textbooks vary widely, so things like searchability and note-taking vary widely. Some people seem to find they don't process information the same way when reading it online. Some find them hard to navigate. Some people love them. Some people think the ease of carrying is more important than anything.

I saw one presentation where the library got a grant to give students free e-texts. Some of the students were so unsatisfied that they went out and bought the expensive print copy anyway.

 

[disneychrista]

I would love to have audio versions. That way I could list to the content while driving or walking etc.

 

[LilyWDW]

I greatly dislike them. They did not work well for my style of studying and I found, for whatever reason, I did not absorb the information as well. I had trouble focusing. No idea why. Nothing else about my habits changed besides trying the Etextbooks.

I do read Ebooks all the time on my NOOK btw. So it wasn't an issue with not enjoying the format in general.

I would try it with on textbook this time and see how you like it before doing all of them.

 

[Anri]

I did not like e-textbooks when I was in college, but my study style just wasn't good for using them. I tend to destroy my books with with marginal notes, highlighting, and rereading, it's just easier for me to have a physical book instead. I agree with a PP that it greatly depends on your personal learning style. If you're fairly tech savvy and find that you can absorb information the same as you would a regular book then you may prefer using e-textbooks. I certainly did not enjoy using them.

 

[Robinrs]

I did not like e-textbooks when I was in college, but my study style just wasn't good for using them. I tend to destroy my books with with marginal notes, highlighting, and rereading, it's just easier for me to have a physical book instead. I agree with a PP that it greatly depends on your personal learning style. If you're fairly tech savvy and find that you can absorb information the same as you would a regular book then you may prefer using e-textbooks. I certainly did not enjoy using them.

I was going to mention this.

It depends on one's study style. If you are a visual learner you might be able to work better with this. A tactile person like the PP and myself, needs a physical book to highlight and make notes in. My son had one book last year that was ONLY offered digitally and he really didn't like it. He prefers real books, also.

 

[Miller1412]

I love them, and they save me quite a bit of money as you can rent many through Amazon. I like the highlight feature, as you can view your highlights alone if you want. The only caution is that some of the ebooks don't give page numbers, just locations. This can make things difficult for citing (I have to use APA citations often).

 

[indygirl99]

DH is almost finished with his bachelors degree. He did all online classes and his books were all online also. He is NOT tech savvy and had been out of school for 37 years when he went back to school. He LOVES the online books.

He loves to read and likes the physical aspect of books for reading which he does on his breaks at work and when we fly or take a road trip. BUT he really likes the difference of online textbooks.

 

[ThisIsJason]

This past semester of grad school all the books I needed for classes were e-books on Amazon. It was great to be able to rent them all for just under $150 instead of buying them for over $500.

Some of them were great. They were spot on with the print edition and you could use it jump around like any other e-book. Others flat out stunk! Pages were way off, couldn't skip to a certain page or chapter. One was even missing a chapter.

 

[rachiedough]

I would love to have audio versions. That way I could list to the content while driving or walking etc.

This! I spend so much time in the car and if I could listen to some of my case studies on my way home and then take a look at the hard copy visuals, charts, etc. once I got home .... If only

 

[Luv2Scrap]

This! I spend so much time in the car and if I could listen to some of my case studies on my way home and then take a look at the hard copy visuals, charts, etc. once I got home .... If only

OP here - and I totally agree with you, I would *love* audio text books! I learn best by hearing it out loud, I really really do!!!

I downloaded the first chapters of two of my books, and I really like reading them this way so far. I'm going to take the plunge with at least one of them, maybe both! I didn't think about renting them for cheaper, I will have to look and see if that's an option for mine! (UPDATE: I just looked and one is available to rent for half the price, but the more expensive one isn't.)

Hopefully in a month I won't be coming back here crying about how frustrating online textbooks are!

 

[dawnhaze]

I love digital format for reference books, but not for stuff I have to "study." I highlight, underline, take notes in margins, etc in a paper textbook and those things are integral to my retention of the material.

It's great to not have to carry around, say, my giant medical dictionary and the ICD-9 in dead tree format though. Those things make you feel like a packmule.

 

[HM]

I haven't bought any for my son. The biggest factor in keeping from doing so, is that it's not as easy to flip through an ebook looking for something you need that through a cloth/paper edition. We rent books through Amazon or Chegg for him.

 

[clutter]

My dd's high school is going digital. She's done History for two years and math for one.

The first year of History was fine. The second year - I bought a used book. If you're just reading and reviewing, it's great. Trying to find stuff - not so much. This year's teacher had the kids doing flash cards for key points. The list was long and not in any order. So you have maybe 80 terms you're looking for. Trying to manipulate between the index and the text was tough. And, of course, the index didn't correlate to the ebook, so you ended up looking for the book's page number, which didn't relate to the ebook's schematic.

For math, it was also a difficult time, flipping between the text, the problems and the answer key in the back.

For my kid, who is a visual learner, the flipping through hard pages works better than scrolling through a screen.

 

[IbeAbitGOOFY]

I used e-books for several of my online classes. One of the biggest issues is that professor, during is live, on-line lecture, would refer to pages within the book. Because the page number of the e-book is not the same as the print book, I would often have trouble following along.

 

[Senor_Jorge]

One thing to keep in mind when going digital is the possibility of having to replace your device. I have an employee whose daughter had her iPad fail while cramming for a test. She was able to borrow a device, and replace her's later. Another employee had a son that had his iPad stolen from his dorm. Based on those lessons, I'd factor in possible replacement cost/ability for the device.