Item saved to your backpack!

As new technologies emerge--mobile devices, e-readers and digital media of all sorts--the study habits of college students are evolving according to a recently released study by ebook specialist CourseSmart and market research group Wakefield Research.

"The survey proves that mobile devices and technology have changed the traditional college experience and the role technology plays in students' academic abilities and success," said Jessica Nelson of CourseSmart. "Today's students are truly carrying a digital backpack."

The study found that 98 percent of students now own a digital device, and 27 percent of students listed a laptop as the most important item in their bag. Eleven percent of students said their cell phone was the most important item in their bag. Students also say technology makes studying more efficient; 85 percent of the survey respondents said technology saved them time when studying--an average of two hours per day.

Digital devices and media are finding use in almost every aspect of academic life, including writing papers (82 percent), conducting research (81 percent), taking notes in class (70 percent) and making class presentations (65 percent).

And it's not just students who are making use of digital technologies in and out of the classroom. Professors are also increasingly using digital media to enhance the courses they teach.

"The survey found that both students and faculty are utilizing technology to communicate more effectively," CourseSmart's Nelson said. "Ninety-seven percent of students reported receiving digital class materials from their professor and students reported checking an average of three different digital devices each day, proving that both groups are technologically savvy."

"Last semester, I took a speech language development course and for every class the professor had PowerPoint presentations that she would send out to us through Blackboard, which is the way the professors communicate with us," said Nicole Fitting of Brooklyn, New York. Fitting is pursuing a master's degree in Speech Language Pathology from Brooklyn College. "The really cool thing was that we were in the computer lab for the class, so we were able to go to a few Web sites to listen to the different sounds that people make in different languages."

Fitting said she often uses her smartphone to pull up the slides provided by her professor so she can study whenever she has a few moments of downtime throughout her day.

eLearning

Fitting is also pursuing some of her degree prerequisites through elearning with the University of Iowa. She is currently taking a course on anatomy and physiology for speech and hearing. Describing herself as a visual and auditory learner, Fitting said there are advantages to taking the lecture-based course online.

"The thing that I like about having the lectures online is that I'm able to play them over and over again," she explained. "If I didn't quite catch something, I'm able to go back and listen to it later."

She added that the professor is able to pull PowerPoint presentations, Internet sources and even Flash movies into his lectures and integrate them seamlessly, helping her to really learn the material.

eBooks

Even the textbook is getting a digital facelift. According to market research firm Simba Information, which specializes in media and publishing, the overall digital course materials market (including etextbooks) is expected to reach $1.93 billion by 2013. The firm noted that sales of digital offerings like textbooks and course materials attained double-digit growth for large higher education publishers in 2010, and the emergence of new platforms for content delivery is creating new businesses in the college space.

"Platforms are the key medium for increasing the interaction of content and service providers with instructors and students," said Kathy Mickey, senior analyst and editor of Simba Information's Educational Marketer newsletter. "Publishers are adapting quickly and have begun repositioning themselves as learning companies."

CourseSmart's Nelson added, "Adoption of digital etextbooks is growing rapidly, and CourseSmart continues to experience triple digit growth, which can be attributed to the benefits of our etextbooks combined with the proliferation of mobile devices."

From the student perspective, Fitting said she uses ebooks for some of her classes.

"This semester I have been able to download both my anatomy textbook and my speech and hearing textbook, which allows me to read my texts wherever I happen to be without having to carry a bunch of books around," she said. "I found that to be helpful because it's nice not to have to carry around a bunch of books and notebooks and pens and all of that. I think it makes it a lot more accessible. I know that I don't have as much of an excuse for not studying. It allows me to take advantage of my time as much as possible. I can quickly and easily access information that I don't understand by looking it up."

She noted that she still likes print texts for their tactile quality and the ability to write notes in the margins, but also said that ebooks are closing the gap, at least with the ability to highlight passages and make notes about them.

That said, don't count print texts out just yet. While sales of ebooks showed dramatic growth in 2010, Simba Information found textbook rental programs outpaced etextbooks in terms of growth over the same period. However, even in the rentals market, ebooks are beginning to gain ground. The firm said analysis of the trend reveals a strong preference for print textbooks with traction slowly gaining in digital rentals.

"Two solid years of revenue growth in this industry has bolstered confidence in the format and delivery evolution," Simba Information's Mickey said. "The anticipation of continued growth in 2011 will test both online and campus rental programs."

Office hours

Students are also increasingly turning to digital media to communicate with professors outside of the classroom. CourseSmart's survey found that 91 percent of students seek extra help from their teachers via e-mail, 13 percent use cell phones and eight percent use social networking sites.

Fitting, who said her elearning course gives her access to live chat sessions with her professor during his office hours, said she feels she gets more individualized attention that way. However, she also noted that because she's able to replay her professor's lectures, she has fewer questions that require his attention.

For related news and other information from Schools.com, see:

• How college professors use Facebook (infographic)
• 4 'stupid myths' of online education
• More than a third of college students say they use mobile apps while driving
• Colleges deploying mobile learning apps