The  University of Stellenbosch Business School has teamed up with online retailer Kalahari.net to investigate the impact and value of making content available in eBook format to academic institutions. The project aims to ensure that South African academic institutions base future decisions around the adoption of eBooks as a viable alternative to printed text on fact rather than hype.

The project, details of which will be officially announced to the media on Monday, will seek to “determine what the extent of the consumption of e-books in the academic environment is and how it impacts on student learning.” Kalahari.net will be sourcing the digital content and appropriate software.

Senior Lecturer at USB, Martin Butler, will drive the project. Butler says research will focus on “both the business model for future distribution and profit/cost sharing from an author/publisher/distributor/consumer perspective and the academic perspective on the suitability for student consumption and how it impacts student learning.” Butler hopes the researchers gain insights on the entire ‘content value chain’ as well as how students react to digital content.

According to Butler, print continues to be the preferred medium for academic content at his institution. Even within the pilot project the students’ printed textbooks will not be replaced by eBooks, merely supplemented or duplicated. “Students receive all core textbooks in printed format, some in electronic format as well and then some additional textbooks in eBook format only,” says Butler.

Cultural norms of both students and faculty will play a role in the adoption of eBooks and is this is one of the aspects the project will also explore. “At this very early stage we are pleasantly surprised that 100% of the students, from 14 different countries and across all demographics, have opted to participate in the project,” says Butler. “Faculty support has been encouraging.”

Butler believes that if the research project is both sufficiently critical and scientifically robust enough to allow for informed business decisions to be made, decisions that are also in the interest of the students, the schools full faculty will come aboard.

If eBooks take on more interactive features Butler agrees it could play an important role in aiding educators. He also agrees that academic institutions should push for such interactivity in eBook products offered by Publishers.

“You have to appreciate that our business students are all about application, not regurgitation of content,” says Butler. “Interactive content (embedded links to cases and even ‘live’ financial information) promises a richer learning experience and ultimately a better application of knowledge.”

The research project will run for four months with its first feedback sessions scheduled for early August. Finding relevant digital material for the project which includes prescribed and additional content, digitised course content, etc. is the main challenge facing the research project, according to Prof John Powell, Director of the USB.

The study constitutes an important first step in articulating the value eBooks can offer and the challenges that need to be overcome for it to be widely adopted at academic institutions in South Africa.