Data Analysis

Data Analysis
Melissa Misenhimer
California State University, Long Beach

Data Analysis

2
Research Topic

The topic that I researched had to do with the use of e-textbooks in the classroom and
specifically in an online environment. The school that I teach at is an independent study
program that is conducted online through our Education Management System called Connexus.
Students are able to login and complete their work and also have access to e-textbooks through
Pearson. I wanted to find out if the use of e-textbooks in our environment were helpful to
students or if they hindered their ability to learn. My main focus was on the teachers at my
school and whether they felt like e-textbooks had a positive or negative impact on student
learning and whether the e-textbooks that were available have the necessary resources for
students to be successful.
Methods
For this research, I sent an online survey out to one hundred and forty elementary, middle
and high school teachers that work in an online charter school. The survey consisted of general
questions about the use of e-textbooks in their course, the comments or concerns they have
received from parents and students and their own personal opinion of e-textbooks in education.
From this survey, there were four teachers that volunteered to be interviewed one on one with
me.
Results
The results of both the survey and interviews were interesting as far as the use of etextbooks and printed textbooks in the student courses. Of the twenty-eight teachers that
completed the survey, eighteen said that their course offered both a printed and e-textbook while
ten explained that their course only offered e-textbooks to students. This seemed to be high
school students that were only provided e-textbooks for their courses. Twelve teachers said they

Data Analysis

received positive comments regarding the e-textbook in their courses while the remaining sixteen
responded that they have not received positive comments or any comments at all. An
overwhelming majority, twenty out of the twenty-eight teachers surveyed, said that they have
received concerns from either students or parents regarding the use of e-textbooks in their
coursework. When looking at the responses of the survey, I tried to choose teachers to interview
whose students only had access to an e-textbook so I focused mainly on high school teachers.
Through the survey results as well as the four interviews that I conducted, I found three
prominent themes throughout that may impact student learning through the use of only etextbook in their education. Health concerns were a large factor that students did not enjoy the etextbooks while technology resources were either a positive or negative depending on the student
experience. Accessibility for students with disabilities was a large concern for all teachers who I
interviewed but was also a positive depending on the technology that was available.
Health Concerns
All four of the teachers that I interviewed described that one of the reasons that students do not
want to use an e-textbook in their course is due to eye strain and headaches. Students who are
more prone to problems while staring at a screen for long periods of time do not feel comfortable
doing both their lessons online as well as all of their reading. One teacher, who teaches AP
Government, explained that students have roughly twenty pages of reading to do almost every
night and the strain on their eyes is too much with the e-texts and many complain that they are
not able to have hard copies of the documents. I asked her if the students had an accommodation
through a 504 plan or Individualized Learning Plan if they would have access to a printed
textbook and she said that she not believe so and that none of her students have received one.

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She did say that students who have complained of eye strain or headaches do not typically have a
learning plan that allows for accommodations though.
Technology Resources
Technology resources seems to be one of the biggest factors that either hinders or helps students
with e-textbooks and their learning. One interviewer pointed out that students who have been in
our program for multiple years understand how to navigate our system how to access the etextbooks while newer students may not be as skilled yet. He explained that he typically has to
give tech support to newer students and is helping around 20% of his students at the beginning
of each semester navigate the e-textbooks, how to access them and what the students can do with
them. Three of the teachers in the interviews explained that they have many students who are
involved in extracurricular activities which force them to travel throughout the school year and
enjoy the ease of the textbooks available wherever they are and that they dont have to carry a
large book with them. The only drawback is that students must have their own laptop, tablet or
e-reader in order to access the e-textbooks on the road and the school does not provide this for
them. These students are typically very happy with the e-textbooks in their courses and explain
that they would not want to have a regular textbook again.
All four of the interviewers did explain technical issues with the e-textbooks at some point
during their own lessons or students interactions with them. The students are unable to access
the e-textbook on certain browsers which causes a lot of frustration with the students and parents.
There are also times that the e-textbook is just not available or does not load properly for both
teachers and students. All four teachers I interviewed explained that this a problem with the
publisher and their software and have created issue tickets to get it fixed but it still happens.

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When this happens, the teachers explain that their students get frustrated and just skip the reading
altogether of the material which not does not help them in learning the material.
Students have also complained to teachers about the lack of resources in the e-textbook itself.
The interviewers described that students would like to be able to highlight, add notes and write
into their textbooks in order to be similar to printed textbook. Many students expressed concern
to their teachers that they typically would use sticky notes to be able to mark pages and add notes
to their book and did not like that they werent able to do that with an e-textbook. Two of the
teachers did give a solution by posting Cornell notes and study guides on the Message Boards
that would allow students to take notes as they were reading online. Three of the teachers did
say that students were able to copy and paste information if they viewed the HTML version of
the e-text while one teacher said that he does not believe that copy and pasting allows for as
much retention as physically writing down notes onto a piece of paper. He said that he
encourages students to write their notes onto Cornell notes or into the study guides that are
available.
Accessibility
The accessibility of e-textbooks for students with disabilities is a great one and all of the
interviewers touched on this. The e-textbooks have the ability to be highlighted and then read
out loud for students which is extremely helpful for students with specific learning disabilities or
vision impairments. One teacher explained that she has students that are auditory learners and do
well when the text is read out loud to them as they are reading along.
The main concern in terms of accessibility with teachers is if students with disabilities need
access to printed materials and the school cannot or will not provide them. Two of the teachers I
interviewed said that they are not sure if the school will provide a printed textbook to students

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with IEP or 504 plans, one teacher said that the school will send upon request and one other
teacher said that school will not provide them at all even if they are requested. This troubles the
teachers that I spoke with because they explain that all students need access to different types of
learning documents depending on their learning style. One teacher in the survey said that they
would fight to keep printed textbooks if our school went strictly to e-textbooks because she
didnt feel as though all students can use e-textbooks to learn.
Overall the teachers that I interviewed enjoyed that the school offered e-textbooks for
students and felt that most students benefited from having them. They did not feel as though
most students were hindered from the use of e-textbooks or that their retention levels were less
because of using e-textbooks. One of the teachers I interviewed explained that our students are
enrolled in an online environment so many students expect that their materials will be online and
have adapted the study skills to this type of schoolwork. The main concern from the teachers I
interviewed is that if the school does decide to move to only e-textbooks then the software and
interface needs to be updated to reflect students needs. The textbook company needs to work on
creating a platform that will be stable for students and allow them to open the e-textbooks on
multiple browsers. The teachers also explained that the tools for the e-textbooks need to be
updated so that students are able to highlight, take notes and create sticky posts as they would in
a normal textbook. One teacher explained that she feels as though students like to be able to
view specific pages with their notes rather than having to look back and forth between multiple
pages, tabs and programs which can cause stress and a loss of focus while studying. Overall, the
teachers did not feel as though the students were hindered by the use of e-texts but felt as though
there are things that could be greatly improved to allow students to learn and study to the best of
their ability.