New Report Provides Comprehensive View of K-12 Educators’ E-book Usage, Attitudes and Intent to Purchase
A comprehensive survey of K-12 educators shows that school librarians are leading the way in bringing E-books into our nation’s schools – in large part because, unlike classroom teachers, they have funding available to them to support their E-book purchases. The study, written by John Fredricks, Ph. D., former Director of Global Market Research at Reader’s Digest, shows that 40% of K-12 teachers and 50% of school librarians have purchased E-books for either personal or professional use.
New York, NY (PRWEB) December 10, 2010
A comprehensive survey of K-12 educators shows that school librarians are leading the way in bringing E-books into our nation’s schools – in large part because, unlike classroom teachers, they have funding available to them to support their E-book purchases.
The study, written by John Fredricks, Ph. D., former Director of Global Market Research at Reader’s Digest, shows that 40% of K-12 teachers and 50% of school librarians have purchased E-books for either personal or professional use. Of the K-12 educators who bought E-books for professional purposes, however, 70% of teachers say they funded the purchases with their own money, while only 8% of school librarians reported paying for the E-books out of their own pockets.
These findings are but a small part of the detailed data generated from a survey conducted among 700 K-12 teachers and 600 school librarians, the results of which appear in the newly published report, eBooks: K-12 Educators’ Usage and Attitudes. The survey was fielded by educational consulting firm Egremont Associates, with support from co-sponsors edWeb. net, MCH Strategic Data and TecKnoQuest Inc.
“Before we conducted this study,” said Neal Goff, President of Egremont Associates, “the most basic information about K-12 educators’ usage of E-books in schools and attitudes towards them didn’t seem to be available anywhere. We believe this survey provides more information about how K-12 educators use E-books, what they think of them, and what their future purchase plans are than any other study yet conducted.”
In addition to providing data about K-12 educators’ E-book purchases and usage patterns, and non-buyers’ future purchase plans, the study includes extensive quotes from educators describing what they do with E-books in their classrooms and what their students think of them.
“I was really struck by the fact that the teachers who have bought E-books expressed such positive attitudes about them,” said Lisa Schmucki, founder and CEO of edWeb. net, a professional social network for the education community. “Not all educators have gotten on board the E-book train, but those who have seemed very happy with the experience.”
Download a free executive summary of the report at http://www. dedicatedteacher. com/ebooksurvey. The full report can be purchased for $99.
Join the community “Exploring eBooks for K-12 Community,” sponsored by Egremont Associates, at http://www. edweb. net/ebooks to participate in an ongoing discussion about e-books. When you join this community on edWeb, you will be eligible for a 30% discount on the full report.
About the Sponsors
Egremont Associates helps publishers and technology companies respond to — and stay ahead of — the changes that are reshaping educational and consumer publishing in the 21st Century. Drawing on the expertise of its founder, Neal Goff, Egremont Associates assists clients on a variety of projects, with particular focus on digital product development, market expansion through both online and off-line channels, direct marketing strategy and tactics, and development of strategic alliances. For more information, contact Neal Goff at 917-541-4034 or visit http://www. EgremontAssociates. com.
EdWeb. net is a professional social network for the education community that makes it easy to connect with peers, share information and best practices, spread innovative ideas, and create professional learning communities. The user-friendly interface includes a wide range of Web 2.0 tools that support online collaboration and professional development. edWeb members are developing new models and best practices for integrating social networking into education. edWeb. net is free for all individuals and educational institutions. Sponsorship opportunities are available for other organizations involved in education. edWeb. net was founded in 2008 by Lisa Schmucki, CEO, and is located in Princeton, NJ. For more information, call 800-575-6015 ext 100 or go to http://www. edweb. net.
MCH Strategic Data is a leading source of compiled data on education, health, and government institutions in the United States. MCH is a privately owned company that has been in the education market for over 80 years. MCH is a strategic partner of edWeb. net and is helping to spread the word about the edWeb to the preK-12 education community. For more information, contact John Hood, president, at 800-776-6373. Visit the MCH Strategic Data website at http://www. mchdata. com.
TecKnoQuest Inc. operates the TecKnoQuest Digital Distribution Network, an innovative, unique and timely way for publishers, content developers and retailers to take full advantage of the growing demand for digital products such as eBooks and whiteboard applications. TecKnoQuest has been selling and distributing digital materials in the K-12 space for over ten years. It currently features products from over 200 publishers; its current collection contains more than 25,000 digital products. In addition to being a retailer itself, TecKnoQuest offers other retailers around the world the option of selling digital products through its network. For more information about working with TecKnoQuest, please contact Kevin Davies, president and CEO, at 1-866-330-8818.
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