A study suggests that students reading e-books learn just as good as those reading printed books.
Jim Johnson, lead author of the study and a doctoral student in the Bayh College of Education, Indiana State University, facilitated a quiz to over 200 students after having them read a chapter of a book. Half of the class used an iPad 2 while the rest were given a printed copy of the chapter. The quiz composed of 16 questions with a difficulty level of easy to moderate.
His overall analysis revealed that those who used the iPad and read the printed material had the same average of scores regardless of their gender and age.
Reading comprehension scores
Men had an average score of 80.44 while women had 85. The 21-year olds scored 86.69 while those over 25 got 84.38. This information showed that the women was 5 percent better in comprehension while those younger than 25 years old were 4 percent better as well.
E-book versus printed book
There was no significant difference on the scores of the students. The average for both groups was the same.
Johnson also examined the students' device preferences.
88 percent of the students had read e-books using laptops, desktops and netbooks but only 51 percent had used a tablet. In fact, 36 percent was using their mobile phone to read most of the time.
The students were also asked to select the main factors that may affect their decision in choosing a device: 74.7 percent chose browsing experience, 70.4 percent for emails, and 62.7 percent price. Four out of ten students said that the price should not exceed $200. Only 16 percent were willing to spend up to $249. This makes the Android devices a popular option among students.
