User Engagement Using an Etextbook: A Descriptive Study

Engagement is an integral pedagogical component underpinning effective educational activities and is of importance for educators using online platforms. Carefully designed, technology-enabled learning resources can increase student engagement. We developed an open educational resource etextbook on vital sign measurement using an interactive and multimodal platform to facilitate student learning. The etextbook design was informed by experiential teaching-learning theory. Students progressed through the etextbook at their own pace, following pedagogy informed by the iterative process of read, observe, practice, and test, commonly used in nursing education. The etextbook was introduced as a required reading in a first-year health assessment course at one university and two colleges. In this project, we explored the level of engagement experienced by users of the etextbook. We conducted a descriptive study using the User Engagement Scale to measure students' degree of engagement using the etextbook. Results from participants (N = 455) who used the etextbook in the study indicated a high level of engagement. The responses to an open-ended item on the survey provided context to the results and shed light on effective design practices. Several recommendations for best practices in developing etextbooks are identified for educators to consider.