Do students read their textbooks when available on a tablet? Gutenberg Technology conducted an extensive survey of over 4500 students, equipped with tablets, in three countries over ten consecutive weeks.
 
Statistical data on tablet use highlighted several key points:

1. Students refer to 18 pages a week when using a tablet.
 
As the following figures show, this study objectively highlights that significant student interest exists in reading digital books on a tablet:
 

 
Our study found that the digital book is quickly adopted by students and teachers in the classroom where the use of digital media averaged 44.23% for the last five weeks of the study. Actually, the use of digital media is similar to that of paper books after three weeks of use (58% on average, according to the French reports from the IGEN : printed textbook : situation and perspective - march 2012).
 
The number of pages students read on a tablet continued to increase from an average of 18 pages per week to a peak of 23 pages per week.
 
2. Interactive features help students retain knowledge.



 
Students enjoyed becoming familiar with the interactive features of the various books. For example, highlighting functions were used on average by 47.7% of students. The average number of highlights increased during the study from three highlights per student per week during the first week to six highlights per student per week during the tenth week.

3. Students deepen understanding of their lessons through digital media.


 
Combining the use of statistics with the content of digital books promotes a gradual increase in the duration of study for each unit. This approach permits a more in-depth study of previous courses for advanced students. 
 
4. A strong new perspective of values for publishers is possible.

" Every company has become accustomed to knowing how many people visit their web site everyday since the beginning of the Internet. But, since the time of Gutenberg, no publisher ever had a clue about who is reading what or even if someone opened the book. Our technology will allow the publishing community to better understand the use of textbooks," states François-Xavier Hussherr, Gutenberg Technology CEO.
 
Whether or not a chapter is used by teachers provides valuable information to publishers to be able to optimize their content in real time.