The Use of Various E-Books among Statistics Students In Libya - Thesis Proposal Example

Use of E-Books among Statistics in Libya: Current Trends and Future Directions The Use of Various e-Books among Statistics Students In Libya: The Current Trends and Future Directions of this Practice 1. Literature Review Electronic books have variously been described as being pieces of often portable electronic equipment that have been specifically been designed with the aim of allowing the reading of a number of content that has been presented in a digital format. The term “electronic books” have also variously been used to describe the range of content that is generally presented in a digital format and can only be read by humans via the aid of computers. It is primarily as a result of this reason that Rao (2005) points out that the “e-book” expression can generally be simultaneously used to describe contents, reader apparatus and reading software. Through the title of their book, “E-books or textbooks: students prefer textbooks” Woody et al. (2010) are seen to indicate that they reached a similar conclusion of the general preference of textbooks to e-books among students. In a study designed to try and investigate the general attitude of millennial students towards e-books and books Nicholas and Lewis (2008) found that millennial students despite having a vast array of technological advancements at their disposal, still preferred the use of print to e-books (p. 23). This position was further affirmed by 75 percent of college students who indicated that they preferred print to e-books in a study conducted by Knutson and Fowler (2009). To further support this position, only 10 percent of the 392 introductory psychology class students interviewed in a study by Shepperd et al. (2008) indicated that they happened to generally preferred e-textbooks to their printed versions. Although users in a study conducted by Shelburne (2009) considered e-books to be better in term of convenience, 57% of the 1,547 respondents indicated that they had previously never used e-books, 10 percent of these respondents did not know how to find any e-books while about 15% of these respondents did not like reading text from a screen. This was similar to the findings of a research by Noorhidawati and Gibb (2008) that showed about 60% of the respondents at the Scotland Higher Education Institute did not use e-books. Although the e-book usage increase to 13% and usage of 52.3% among University students that was indicated by a survey conducted by Chong et al. (2008), is generally deemed as being rather not encouraging as it is relatively low for respondents who happen to have a generally high exposure to both technology and computers. The acceptance and usage rate of e-books has been shown to be relatively low as indicated by research conducted by Roesnita and Zainab (2005) in which only 39% of the 250 students at University of Malaya, interviewed revealed that they had used prior to the study, the low prevalence was reflected the results of a study conducted by de Olivera at Andrews University (2012) in which only 61(12.1 percent) of the 503 respondents indictated that they had used e-books, this high value however decreases in light of the fact that 41 of these respondents had been expressly asked by their tutor to use e-books a factor that reduces the relatively high value to a low of only 20 students (4 percent) who had chosen to use e-books. Studies by different researchers such as McCarty (2001), Noorhidawati and Gibb (2008), Healy (2002), Gunter (2005) and Long (2003), have been instrumental in revealing that e-books are mainly used by students for research purposes and for finding relevant material. In what is considered to be one of the biggest ever e-book surveys, Nicholas et al. (2008), found that an impressive 61.8% of the interviewed 22,437 students in the UK were using e-books on a regular basis in their everyday scholarly work. 2. Background 2.1 What are E-books? The term E-Books is commonly used in reference to any textual documents that essentially been digitized and converted into a digital format that allows them to be displayed in a format that is found to be readable on computers, e-book readers and a number of other electronic devices (Duncan, 2010). Students can be able to easily access and effectively utilize e-books at relatively little to no cost by using the already available technological resources that are available to them such as computers and an existing internet access, by using these resources it is possible for students to easily download or even design their own e-books (Grant, 2004). 2.2 The Problems and Benefits that are found to Usually be Associate with E-books The intricate benefits of e-books are found to fundamentally be familiar to most teachers and librarians (Educause, 2006; Pastore, 2008). Some of proponents of e-books point out that among other benefits e-books help in the conservation of trees, provide readers with the ability to give the much needed feedback to the publishers and authors, are lighter, more portable and easier to use as compared to printed volumes, provide an easy method for new writers to publish and distribute their work. E-books are also easier to revise and correct errors as compared with printed books. Although E-books have been attributed as having a number of advantages, they have also been seen to have several disadvantages such as there are a number of constant inconveniences to using reading devices due to the need to charge them, the devices at times proving to be too small and the constant fear of damaging or breaking them. The quality of the displayed text may at times be too poor while the size of the screen may be too small. E-books have also proven to lack a general standard both in publishing rules and development platform (Siracusa (2009). E-books are also being constantly being plagued by issues pertaining to not only piracy (Spring, 2010: Rivero, 2010) but also, digital rights management (DRM) that normally encompasses copyright, open access and property rights (Williams, 2011). 3. Objectives This research is crafted fundamentally with the aim of attempting to determine the challenges, enablers and characteristics of the standard educational settings as seen to be relating to the use of e-books in the country of Libya at the higher education level. To effectively do this, the research will pose a number of questions that will try to ascertain if students in the country think that e-books are easier to use in research as compared to printed books, if at all they perceive the same comparable influence to their learning when they use e-books as when they are using printed books and what both the potential and actual users of e-books generally happen to think about the use of e-books. The recommendations made by this study will serve as a vital tool in providing critical information that will aid higher education instructors and decision makers in implementing helpful initiatives and strategies that will promote the use of e-books in higher education institutions in the country. 4. Methodology To effectively carry out this research and sufficiently realize its objectives, the researcher will: 1. Carry out an extensive review of available literature discussing a number of different aspects pertaining to technology-based education in some of the Arabic countries such as Libya. Outcome: the outcome of this literature review will be to enable the researcher gain a better understanding on the state of technology based education in all Arabic countries. As an extensive literature review covering several aspects of technology based education across several Arabic countries inclusive of Libya has already been conducted, the prime focus of this research will be concentrated on: Highlighting the various learning and teaching paradigms that are normally associated with the use of e-books at the higher education level, the identification of the necessary support and technologies required to for proper implementation of these paradigms, the characteristic attributes of successful e-learning initiatives, the challenges facing e-learning and the perceived e-learning setting enablers and barriers as applies to developing countries. Conducting further literature review will serve to help the experiences and perceptions of using technology among the technical staff, tutors and students at the higher education level in developing countries. 2. Finding and analyzing information form key stakeholders in the selected institutions concerning their perceptions and experiences as relating to technology-based learning. Outcome: The outcome of this initiative will be the development of a well-documented of the willingness of the stakeholders to accept and use technology such as e-books in their learning and teaching. Mixed methods of data collection involving the use of interviews and surveys will be used for data collection. According to Teddlie & Tashakkori, (2003), this research method will enable the researcher to view the research work from different perspectives. Information from the statistics students will be collected by use of a structured questionnaire. An average of about 20 or more people will be used in the distribution of the questionnaires and conduction of the interviews. However, the researcher will visit the country of Libya for a time period of about five weeks to aid in conducting interviews and in the illumination of the survey responses. With the aid of an Arabic to English translator, the researcher will develop a survey instrument primarily using the English language, however, this will be translated into Arabic to aid the participants who might have a rather limited command of the English language. This will necessitate the researcher makes and adequately documents a number of translation related decisions (Birbili, 2000). 3. A critical examination of the current status and background of the higher education institutions in Libya that have been selected for the case studies. Outcome: The outcome of this examination will aid in the provision of a well-documented overview of the activities / context of the integration of technology in these institutions in both the present as well as in the past. The research design will be structured in a manner that will cause it to be a multi-site case study analyzing three different kinds of Libyan higher education institutions. These institutions will be: Institution A. (the Tripoli University) having a total student population estimated to stand at 115,000 and is widely regarded to be the largest and oldest university in the country of Libya. Institution B. (Al-Jabal Al-Gharbi University) with an estimated student population standing at 20000, this is a regional university that happens to be located just outside of Tripoli. Institution C. (Al-Zawia University) which is a regional university located just outside Tripoli. The selection of the case study methodology to be used in this research was hinged on its suitability for the conduction of an exploratory research (Burns, 1994). The suggestions developed from this research will be useful for advancing developments in the integration of e-books in the various Libyan institutions of higher education that might happen to have a similar profile with the institutions in this study. 4. The development of a number of recommendations relating to the general integration and use of e-books within not only the institutions participating in the research, but also in similar Libyan institutions having similar profiles. Outcome: The creation of a recommendations rubric. A number of recommendations will be developed that will aid the Higher education sector in Libya in adequately integrating the use of e-books. These recommendations will essentially be based on both an extensive analysis of the stakeholder preferences and experience in relation to technology-based learning as well as on an overview of the key institutional contexts in respect to the same. 5. Needs Analysis A number of both financial and human resources will be required to enable the research to be effectively carried out and completed. Some of these are seen to include: A translator who can help in translating between the Arabic and English languages. The translator will be sourced from the academics among the students at the School of Engineering and Science. The cost of hiring the translator’s services is expected to amount to an average of about $800. A trip to Libya that will serve to enable the researcher to effectively conduct the research. A Libyan sponsor will settle the expenses for the trip. Stationery, laptop, library and internet access, Minitab and SPSS. These will be provided by the School of Engineering and Science. 6. The Significance of the Research If successful, the proposed research project will: Serve as a key information source for academics, decision makers as well as the administrators concerned with general implementation of e-learning in the country of Libya. Contribute to the currently limited knowledge on the prospects, status as well as challenges faced in the efforts to integrate e-books in the Libyan higher education system Provide an analysis of the general willingness of Libyan educational institutions to adopt the use of e-books. The findings will primarily serve as a critical nucleus that will aid other future researches on the subject matter within Libya. References Birbili, M. (2000). Translating from one language to another. Social Research Update 31, University of Surrey. Retrieved on 26 June, 2013 from< http://sru.soc.surrey.ac.uk/SRU31.html > Burns, R. (1994). Introduction to research methods (2nd ed.). Melbourne: Longman Cheshire. Chong, P.F., Lim, Y.P. & Ling, S.W. 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