An exploratory study of student confidence in using electronic books as learning tools

This paper examines differences in college student confidence towards using electronic books between 2007 and 2009 based on parental income. This study was done in response to the growing concern over the cost of textbooks and the increase in the use of e-textbooks to counteract that cost. This study shows that despite a lack of a gap between comfort of use of computers, students whose parents income is above the national median income are more confident in learning from electronic books than students whose parents income is not. Not only is this gap existent but it widened between 2007 and 2009 despite the growing confidence in the use of electronic books by both groups.