Digital Content: Analyzing Demand in the Postsecondary Education Market

A tectonic shift in content use is underway in postsecondary education. Both content adopters and suppliers are in the early phase of the continuum from 100% print content to a significant role for digital content. As postsecondary instructors and other content decisionmakers are increasingly interested in employing new digital formats to enhance teaching and learning, digital content providers, technology vendors, and other companies involved in bringing digital content to colleges and universities are simultaneously shaping a new higher education environment. The most pressing challenges for companies participating in this market are to assess the market opportunities, understand customer requirements, modify existing business strategies, and bring compelling offerings to the market. This report focuses on the demand-side of the market – faculty use and planned use of digital content. It uses primary research of faculty content adopters to identify perceptions and trends that will help shape supplier strategies for digital content. The report analyzes:

- Faculty expectations about adopting digital content, including timing and key content types;
- Benefits faculty perceive for themselves and students, such as student engagement, anytime/anywhere access, and higher-quality content;
- Pricing as a key factor in faculty adoption;
- Barriers to adopting digital content, such as bandwidth, support and training, and copyright issues;
- Essential actions for suppliers developing strategies to provide digital content to the postsecondary education market.