Paper or Electronic Textbooks? Students at Texas A&M University Discuss Their Preferences

From an article titled, “Students differ in preference of textual aids,” appearing in the Texas A&M student newspaper, The Battalion.

“It’s easier to carry around a device that has electronic books on it than to carry around textbooks,” Kelli McCosham, sophomore animal science major said. “It’s also more ‘green’ and is probably cheaper overall than textbooks.”
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Mikaela Hugo, junior biology major, said she buys textbooks on her tablet whenever they are available because she can store multiple on one device.
“Tablets weigh less than a textbook and can have multiple on it, so I don’t have much of an excuse to leave it at home,” Hugo said. “A lot of times buying the textbook on a tablet is more affordable than buying the physical copy.”
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“I am used to studying with textbooks and I don’t see a reason to break tradition,” Heather Martindale, junior education major said. “Not to mention studying with my iPad gives me full access to the distractions of the Internet.”
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Acacia Jarvis, junior mechanical engineering major said that she would rather have the material physically in front of her, as opposed to on a screen.
“I just like flipping through the pages of a book,” Jarvis said. “There is something about reading a book that a computer screen doesn’t have.”

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