Students Prefer Digital Reading: Poll

Not terribly surprising, but it's nice to have firm data: the kids today prefer to read on a tablet, eschewing those musty, dusty page-turning books from the stacks.

And among the 25 percent of all American college students who own a tablet, 63 percent of them are iPads, according to the Pearson Foundation.

The majority of students now prefer digital to print, both here and in the United Kingdom. It was only last year that students still preferred books and lecturer documents over digital reading materials.

The Pearson poll is in its second year, tracking how students are adopting mobile devices. The poll also found that the vast majority of students think that tablets will "transform" education.

The poll's major conclusions:

Tablet ownership has more than tripled for students from a year ago.

Tablets are just as valuable for education as they are for personal entertainment.

Students think tablets will "transform" education.

More students are reading digital books than printed materials.

Contact Us