Implementation Factors and Faculty Perceptions of Electronic Textbooks on the iPad

Abstract

A federally managed university in the United Arab Emirates implemented a one-to-one iPad program. In an effort to increase access to interactive digital learning resources on the iPads, they next transitioned from paper-based textbooks (pTexts) to electronic textbooks (eTexts) on the iPad for all course delivery formats. The goal of this study was to survey and report on faculty perceptions among three university divisions with the intent of highlighting factors and barriers influencing adoption of iPad-accessed eTexts in the classroom. The objective was to enhance understanding of factors that both contributed to or hindered successful implementation of eTexts. The main findings of this study were that increased training was not perceived as needed by faculty, but instead better support of technical challenges, more efficient workflows in implementation, and usability and interactive features of the eTexts were all the barriers to successful adoption of eTexts in the classroom. Suggestions for project management approaches are given, with reviews on specific factors that influenced successful adoption. The results of this study may be used to improve project management workflows and faculty support in similar implementation projects.

Keywords

• electronic textbooks
• ebooks
• etexts
• faculty support
• digital resources