How does technology help in greater learning in comparison to textbooks

Schools are increasingly shifting away from traditional textbooks in favor of e-books. This study will investigate whether the use of technology helps in greater learning experience than traditional textbooks. There is no doubt that technological devices such as iPads, mobile phones, and tablets that come with their respective multiple applications combined online resource can bring amazing experience in the learning environment (Catone, 2013). The introduction of technology, especially e-books and tablets in classroom learning has completely altered the learning environment. The man is literally dependent on technology, and the challenge brought about by traditional textbooks seems to be in the past. Objective – spell out the steps towards achieving the aims • The first objective is to identify the existing participants • The second objective is to administer questionnaires focusing on getting the students perception on the use of e-books over printed textbooks • The third objective is to conduct an analysis to establish whether there is a correlation between students’ perception and increased use of e-learning materials, particularly e-books in place of textbooks.

Literature review There is a greater body of research linking digital learning and learner’s attainments in many academic areas. Higgins et al. (2012) reviewed experimental studies that used meta-analyses to investigate how effective digital learning is to learners aged between 5 and 18. Their findings suggest a consistent but small variation in terms of positive learning outcome as far as digital learning is concerned. Moreover, it is argued that because digital learning tools speed up the learning process, learners end up “with more time for active learning in and outside the classroom” (Liao et al. A number of studies have been conducted to investigate the overall impact of using e-learning tools on developing the literacy skills of children. Results from these studies suggest a positive correlation between e-learning tools and resources to children's literacy skills development.

However, the positive outcome is not as big as it is on the use of digital e-learning tools to develop numeracy skills of children. Nevertheless, ICT helps improve both reading and writing skills of learners, and more importantly help them “develop speaking and listening skills” (Earlier, Liao et al. The most poignant outcome was a significant improvement among learners who used e-readers than those who used traditional textbooks. Moreover, the gap between girls and boys was narrowed in terms of literacy performance. Similarly, Lysenko & Abrami (2014) sought to understand the impact of using “two digital tools on reading comprehension for elementary school children aged between 6 and 8 years in Quebec, Canada” (Lysenko & Abrami, 2014). First they employed “multimedia tool which linked learning activities to interactive digital stories” (Lysenko & Abrami, 2014).

The process involved the use of the multimedia tool as an engagement platform with games, reading and writing activities, accompanied by instructions to promote oral and listening skills. The quantitative research method will be used for this study as the generated hypotheses will be tested using instruments such as reliability tests in order to generalize the results. Quantitative data often give room for ‘macro’ view of things as they happen, even in scenarios where the data is large and complex (Buchanan & Bryman, 2009). Study and sample population: The population of this study will constitute students in my departments because accessing them would be easier for easy data collection. Even though questionnaires will be conducted digitally, it is easier to remind them face-to-face when we interact.

The target sample size is 25 departmental students. What this means is that the college learning environment is not fully covered, and thus may require more scrutiny as the effect may not be anywhere near to that of elementary learners in terms of learning outcome. Second, even though e-books may be effective, the opinions of learners, especially at higher levels of education like colleges have not been fully investigated. Because the truth is test output or performance index is not the same as the feeling of satisfaction/ dissatisfaction or comfort/discomfort amongst learners. This study will, therefore, endeavor to investigate the perception of learners on the use of e-learning tools such as e-books and other e-resources against the print copies of the traditional textbooks.