Turn on the book

Using affordance theory to understand the adoption of digital textbooks by university lecturers

Abstract

Adoption of digital textbooks in higher education has been slower than was expected. This paper presents preliminary findings from a study conducted at a small Australian university looking into how lecturers use digital textbooks. The pilot research indicated that the slow uptake may be explained by academic perception; participants indicated a strong preference for printed books, particularly related to capacity for accessing content. This pointed to a definitional property in that they largely conceived of an eTextbook as a digital replica of a printed book. Not all lecturers were aware of enhanced digital textbooks, but generally agreed that it could be advantageous to have such content integrated into a central resource. Lecturers furthermore acknowledged the need to understand the affordances of educational technologies and their application to learning and teaching. Affordances theory is used to consider the knowledge required to effectively implement the full range of resources available in digital textbooks.