The majority of faculty members nationwide are increasing their use of technology in the classroom. That's great news for your store.
Campus Technology released the findings of their first Teaching with Technology survey last week. The survey polled faculty members nationwide "about their use of technology for teaching and learning, their wish lists and gripes, their view of what the future holds and more." Foreword Online has reviewed the findings, and broken out the main takeaways your store should understand about tech in education today: that by promoting your store as the official place to obtain the exact materials they need, whether print or digital, you can showcase your ability to offer students convenience, peace of mind and price savings over competitors.
Fewer classrooms use eBooks, but the numbers could rise significantly
On the software side of things, just 68% of educators reported that eBooks are in current use in their classrooms. That's a sizable decrease from the 87% of classrooms that utilize learning management systems and online gradebooks, and the whopping 96% of classrooms that use essentials like word processing and presentation tools.
What your store needs to know
That 68% may seem relatively unexciting, especially when you consider that other studies this year have found that most students still prefer print to digital. However, Campus Technology also found that 5% of instructors reported that eBooks would be in use within one year, while 6% said they weren't in use, but on their personal "wish lists." With over half of all technology-enhanced classrooms utilizing eBooks and the number expected to increase next year, your store could increase sell-through on digital titles without sacrificing market share on print books by promoting their features, capabilities and cost-savings, similar to Chemeketa Community College. And by working to educate faculty about their adoption options, you could potentially convert your campus' share of that 6% who have eBooks on their wish lists into actual adopters and promoters of your store's offerings.
Mixed-use course materials are proving popular
About 74% of respondents said they used a mix of electronic course materials in their classrooms, while just 13% said they used exclusively digital and 13% said they relied exclusively on print.
What your store needs to know
Though the results don't make it clear exactly how 74% of respondents split their course materials between print and digital media, access codes are a popular way of doing so. Access codes often come bundled with print textbooks and give students access to assignments, labs and other supplemental materials. The ordering process for titles with access codes can be difficult for students trying to manage it on their own, as used titles or older editions often won't include these codes on sites like Amazon, forcing students to pay more to buy a new code from the publisher than they would have by simply buying both the book and the code from your store. This is a point you can make in your own marketing and communications with students: you've got the exact materials they need in the exact editions and bundles your professors use, so there's no risk of inadvertently only buying one component of a course material and scrambling or paying more to acquire the rest.
