Week 10: The Shake-Up from Digital Textbooks
Our Reading Circle provided you with several topics for discussion.
After reflecting on the positive and negative potential’s of digital textbooks, do you think the gains of implementing this technology into schools (pre-to-post) secondary outweigh any potential costs?
Posted in: Week 10:
jkotler 3:37 am on November 5, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
In weighing out the pros and cons of digital textbooks, I do believe that it is still worthwhile to implement them into classrooms. For one thing, I think that even though it may be costly at first, these devises tend to have a longer lifespan which allows the cost to be spread over a significant period of time. As well, if teachers were to regularly use them, I think that the response from students would be great both in terms of a higher rate of engagement and interest in learning as well as in their reading ability or in other academic achievements.
tomwhyte1 10:31 am on November 6, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Like you, I believe that this technology should be explored. However, I cannot support a wholesale roll out of this approach until sufficient longitudinal research has been completed. For some this may seem like overkill, however, I am currently living in a Post-SmartBoard era, and wonder how much money was spent on a glorified overhead projector.
Yes, I realize some will counter with the supposed interactivity, and engagement of students. However recent research, by Higgins et al., demonstrated that this technology does not have significant impact beyond the first year, but does increase the perception of enhanced student engagement and enjoyment (Higgins et al., 2005). As well, the perception of engagement can be explained by Thorndikes “Halo Effect”, which is in a sense having our bias’ influence our thoughts on a person or item (Thorndike, 1920).
Might digital textbooks be the same? Is the glossy technology actually effective, or is it just glossy? Like SmartBoards, will this technology create classroom management issues?
Or have we as educators finally got it right? Regardless, sufficient research needs to exist before schools rush headlong into another expensive bandaid, for like the smartboard, and like etextbooks – there is currently no replacement for effective and meaningful technology. For the textbook is but one resource a teacher can access, it is not the resource, nor the instructor.
Thoughts?
tomwhyte1 10:43 am on November 6, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Sorry my brain is not fully functional right now (sickness), I forgot the references:
References:
Higgins, S., Falzon, C., Hall, I., Moseley, D., Smith, F., Smith, H., & Wall, K. (2005). Embedding ICT in the literacy and numeracy strategies. Centre for Learning and Teaching. 1-73
Thorndike, E.L. (1920) A constant error on psychological rating, Journal of Applied Psychology, 4:25-29.
jhodi 8:44 am on November 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
It is interesting to me how students can be engaged by technology. As e-texts evolve, I think that they will have the potential to be much more interactive and include many types of media that will be even more engaging to the learner. In this sense, although it may be initially expensive, it is something that I think will be around for a very long time and over time will become less expensive.
visramn 9:02 am on November 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I fully agree. Any new endeavour is not easy. It takes time and it is costly but in the end it is worth it if it engages the learners. Learners of today are hooked to technology so having a textbook on a digital medium is ideal because it is more accessible and learners are more likely to use it and be drawn to it.
Nureen
tomwhyte1 9:36 pm on November 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Unfortunately, engagement is not learning. As educators we focus on the engagement, and sometimes believe that effective learning is happening. We must force ourselves to separate these two, or else we easily mistake one for the other…
Paula Poodwan 9:12 am on November 10, 2012 Permalink
Good point that we should separate these two things: learning and engagement. However I think they are very relevant. By engaged learning, students use their cognitive processes such as creating, problem-solving, reasoning, decision-making, and evaluation. In addition, students are intrinsically motivated to learn due to the meaningful nature of the learning environment. So I think that students must be engaged first in order for effective learning to occur.
visramn 7:53 pm on November 11, 2012 Permalink
True. However, I believe engagement and learning have to go hand in hand. It is hard for one to happen without the other.
avninder 11:26 am on November 6, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Good points. I recall hearing that pop-up books were also not conducive to learning but I could not find the resource. However I was able to find the following article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jun/07/enhanced-ebooks-bad-for-children.
Although interaction and engagement usually contribute to learning, I think it may be possible for students to be engaged with the functionality of the book and not the subject matter itself.
tomwhyte1 1:41 pm on November 6, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I like your point, what are they engages with… the bells and whistles or the content?
pcollins 9:57 am on November 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Definitely a point that needs to be addressed,
Will some of the “enhancements” serve as little more then detractors from the actual information? And with the young students – will these enhancements override the natural abilities of children to be imaginative? In the same way that some of the Waldorf dolls lack faces so that the child’s imagination will do the work – are traditional texts with simplified or absent drawings allowing the full potential of the childs interaction to be reached more then the enhanced? This would be a great research project for a cognitive scientist to look at with brain imaging technology.
rebeccaharrison 1:05 pm on November 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
And to be fair, this happens everywhere within classes. I recently had my sister upload a video about stream health (she’s an environmental technician) and my students listened and viewed with rapt attention. They got some of the content, but the majority of questions and comments after the video were directed to our resemblance and relationship. Even though this was framed within a unit on sustainability, with lots of scaffolding and a worksheet to complete, they did not really pay attention to the content, so much as what was interesting to them. While trying to encourage them with real-life examples of jobs related to sustainability, I wound up distracting them from the content.
So is the key while using these awe-inspiring tools to balance interesting, flashy content with cold, hard facts?
Pat A Son 12:54 am on November 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
The fact of the matter is that kid love the books according to the article and this can be leveraged to our advantage. We have to admit that enhanced e-books are a relatively new piece of technology and it may take sometime for us to understand how to reduce the distraction and increase the learning.
Pat A Son 2:36 am on November 10, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
In addition this study was done on three to six-year-old children and involved recreational reading i.e stories. This begs the question what would the the results be like for students who are using e-books to assist with their study of a particular subject. Here the emphasis would be using the new affordances to ‘illustrate’ the concepts in a way that no other medium can.
We must be mindful that the technology is new and we are still figuring out the best way to make them as is seen in the article below.
The Usability of eBook Technology
http://www.usabilityprofessionals.org/upa_publications/upa_voice/volumes/5/issue_1/ebooks.htm
Pat A Son 5:31 pm on November 6, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Against the backdrop of the technological, theoretical and philosophical shift that is taking place in education today I have to say that the gains certainly outweighs the cost as long as the technology is part of a bigger long term strategic plan to leverage IT in the school’s curriculum. A look at Wesch’s ‘A Vision of Students Today’
@ http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2008/10/a-vision-of-students-today-what-teachers-must-do/
tells us that our charges are at high school are not engaged as we would like them to be because the activities at school are not up to date with the technologies they enjoy out of school. As such we have to lift our game to theirs in the domain of technology and digital books provide us with one means of doing so.
C. Ranson 9:54 pm on November 6, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Tom and Avninder you make some good points about digital textbooks and whether they are actually increasing literacy or just creating engagement through the bells and whistles of the interactive acitivities.
Pat A Son I have viewed Wesch’s video in several of my MET courses, it really makes a statement about Today’s Student. I teach students just like those in the video and my belief has been that technology is what they want, interesting enough I polled my class today and asked them some questions about digital textbooks, and honestly very surprised with the responses that were given. The age of the students in the class ranges from 19 – 25 for the most part, with a few mature students 25-40.
The following was the information reported:
65 of 70 students bought hard copy textbooks and are not interesting in buying digital textbooks.
5 of the 70 students have download their textbooks – 3 are free versions and all other textbooks required are not available in e-textbook.
Most of their textbooks are published with a DVD option that comes with the hardcopy. No students purchased this version. Most said it was due to cost and why did they need both a hard and e-version.
The students report that digital textbooks are too distracting because the device is on and can run and lauch social media, mail and tweets that disengage them in absorbing the content they are trying to read.
Most of the students reported they need a hard copy, it is easier for them to study – I personally think they just haven’t given the digital version a chance.
We discussed the weight of the textbooks and they reported they leave them at home and don’t bring them to class, so this appeared to be a non-health issue.
The 5 students that own a device reported it either being an ipade or a kindle.
Pat A Son 11:39 pm on November 6, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Forgive me if I am wrong but your response seems to suggest that digital text books are just soft copies of the printed version. While this is the case for most of the offering that we have now we have to remember that the digital format brings new affordances that makes reading more than just processing text and static images. It is from this stand point that I wrote in my post. Lets bear in mind that millions of dollars are being spent to develop the e-book industry from both the hardware and software level. To this end the president of McGraw-Hill Higher Education has predicted that in three years all of their offerings should be digital. He also indicated that the issues with reading digital books are technological hurdles that will eventually be overcome. In any case it is still easie
Pat A Son 11:45 pm on November 6, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
easier to print the ‘ten’ pages you need than to have the whole five hundred pages in hard copies.
sorry for the incomplete post. It was an accident
C. Ranson 5:28 pm on November 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Some versions of digital textbooks are published as a soft copy with additional functions such as highlighting, note-taking, study cards, and 3D images making it more convenient and user friendly. Other versions do offer additional affordances providing interactive activities, photo galleries with sound and voice. The sales of ipads and eReaders are escalating; and I agree publishing companies are spending millions of dollars developing the e-book industry and this is why I expected that my students would be greater users and more engaged with this technology, but that is not what they shared in their feedback. I seem to be more willing and inspired to make the digital transfer.
Pat A Son 11:50 pm on November 6, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Referemce
http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/7-questions-mcgraw-hills-brian-kibby
tomwhyte1 12:29 pm on November 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I agree that their are potential affordances, most of which I have heard about – much like Flash for mobile devices – but have rarely seen.
Secondly, what does the research say about this extra’s? For we must remember, that just because we can do something, doesn’t mean we should. Education, including those that provide resources should follow evidence based practices.
Thoughts?
Pat A Son 12:38 am on November 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
When last I looked the thought was that teaching with computers does not automatically bring any advantages over any other method. However with theories of multiple intelligences and constructivism along with 21st century learning skills at our feet I am a bit suspicious of how these results were arrived at for how we look for something will determine what we find. Thus if we are using the old methods of evaluation with new technologies and theories the can we trusts the results.For me learning is an experience that simply cannot measured by a test. Furthermore these research ignores the opinion of the learner as to which method they would prefer to experience learning by so in the end it boils down to getting one side of the picture. I am of the opinion that given a choice between static text and the digital format with all its possibilities the average student today will choose digital
tomwhyte1 9:44 pm on November 9, 2012 Permalink
I am sorry, but as I stated, I believe that research – not historical – but modern research should drive what we do. Not our opinions, which yes are sometimes proven accurate by research, but just as much are not.
Research, that would also show if the method is actually effective based upon quantitative and qualitative data, not just what someone wants (which is usually what is easiest for them).
Research, that is also based on the latest methodologies to achieve the best results, for if someone is ignoring the latest research in other fields, makes their research suspect at best.
Many other professions base their profession on Evidence Based Practices… Too many teachers base their practices on gut feelings, feelings that were, in most cases created by their educational experiences… not research…
Thoughts?
Pat A Son 2:03 am on November 10, 2012 Permalink
First let me say that I really like the way you are ‘pushing’ this discussion for it is forcing me to have a closer look at e-books than I ever had.
Here is are two researches that show that e-book (readers) can enhance learning.
How do e-book readers enhance learning opportunities for distance workbased learners?
http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/beyond-distance-research-alliance/mediazoo/media/How-do-ebook-readers-enhance-learning-opportunities-for-distance-learner.pdf
The findings suggest that e-books increased the perceived quality of distance learning for students and make work-based distance learner’s life easier.
effects of technology on learning – Abilene Christian University
http://www.acu.edu/technology/mobilelearning/documents/research/effects-of-technology-on-learning.pdf
This one indicates that a person’s learning via an e-reader device is equal to or greater than a traditional textbook
However at this point in time there are concerns about the designs of e-books as exemplified in the articles below
The Usability of eBook Technology
http://www.usabilityprofessionals.org/upa_publications/upa_voice/volumes/5/issue_1/ebooks.htm
http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERB0921.pdf
Patason
Peggy Lawson 6:51 pm on November 10, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thanks Patason for the research references.
Tom, I understand your reluctance to jumping on the eTexbook bandwagon too quickly. Like you, I’ve seen classroom after classroom grab hold of interartive smart boards as the “must have” new toy, only to see them used as expensive projector screens, too often still under the control of the teacher, while the students watch but rarely interact.
However, i see eTextbooks as vastly different opportunities. Placed directly in the hands of the students, eBooks with mutlimedia to support visual and auditory learners, interactive activities to allow students instant feedback on their understanding, the potential – as yet unrealized – to update only portions of texts as they require updates, the ability to put an entire library of content into a single, lightweight device …. There are just too many potential bonus to automatically discount eBooks just because there is not yet enough research to prove their worth. I’m sure there were plenty of detractors who didn’t like the ideas of students even having paper textbooks in the first place – and I believe Aristotle was one. I will have to find that reference.
tomwhyte1 12:30 pm on November 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Interesting Question/Statement – Technology is what they want…
I wonder though, is it what they truly need?
And based upon the results given by your class, I think for now… the answer is limited…
Thoughts?
Peggy Lawson 4:24 pm on November 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Good discussion, and interesting that so far we’ve just focused on one, albeit an important one, affordance of digital textbooks. The ability to pack many, many textbooks on a single lightweight device as opposed to carrying around many textbooks is just one other advantage that digital textbooks have over their paper counterparts.
Since this is my week, we have thought of the other advantages of digital textbooks. Rather than me providing a more thourough list, I’d love to hear what other benefits you can find for eTextbooks.
Colin 9:57 pm on November 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I do agree that the ability to pack many textbooks on a single lightweight device is wonderful. For my last year of UBC i had two of my textbooks as e texts which I was able to pull up on my phone and laptop. It meant I never had to carry any textbooks around with me and I could just pull out my phone to refer to something in the text. Also the cost to have these two texts was much cheaper than a regular textbook.
The negative to this was with a regular text I have a physical copy of the book that I can keep and use in the future or sell to someone else. With e texts you just have access to the book for a specified period of time. For any future UBC courses I still would always go with an e-text.
C. Ranson 1:12 pm on November 10, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Tom missed this comment sorry. Given the discussion our program has with Reps from the publishing companies, our biggest suppliers are Elsevier and Lippincott, the popularity of eReaders, the demands of the ipad and even the newest mini version surpassing expected sales in the first month and all the articles I have read in my MET courses, yes I assume that technology is what this generation wants. The students all have laptops and iPads so again I assumed they would all have downloaded the textbooks that were available. Most travel a good distance on public transit so they could access them anywhere/anytime depending of the version they downloaded and the use of Wifi. It would eliminate carrying several heavy books, but apparently they don’t do that anyway. I asked my daughter who is in 3rd year university and she would prefer to have the digital version but she did mention that for her elective courses she buys used books and sells them once the semester or year is finished. This is a very organized business amongst the student population. I believe my daughter is among the converted as she does have a kindle and constantly buys books to read for pleasure so she is accustomed to the digital text. The student feedback I did find interesting was their concern or their self-awareness that when using a device all the other functions such as twitter, messaging, instagram, etc was too distracting for them. I would like to think that this generation will get a handle on balancing and prioritizing social media interaction with work/school commitments so using these devices is not distracting for them.
BTW, thanks for creating such an interactive discussion in the threads, I really enjoy your posts and perspective on many of the weekly topics.
Catherine
kstackhouse 9:23 am on November 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I think that the use of digital books will be a modest transition in my setting. Currently, as I have lamented before, we have a no BYOD policy in our school. It would be tough for me to switch o digital texts until that is changed.
Also, I agree with the statements above related to soft versions vs a different version of the text. I am not sure if just providing the same material in eformat is enough. I think that institutions, students, families will jump on board once they realize the level of hypertext and hypermedia that can be embedded within a digital text. Other features, like sharing bookmarks between devices, writing notes and forwarding them by email or uploading them to social networks will be features that people will grow accustomed to and one day we may wonder how anyone learned anything from a print textbook.
manny 8:44 pm on November 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
There is no doubt in my mind that eTextbooks offer an interactive characteristic that its paper counterpart cannot match. Of course there are pros and cons to both options that have been mentioned in the articles and discussion thread above. I am fortunate to have a class set of 30 iPads and I will share my initial experience with using eTexts for different courses.
I predominantly teach Math and Science and Al Gore’s interactive app “Our Choice” has been received positively by most of my students. This app is great for covering renewable resources and students seem to be thoroughly engaged with the content being presented. The downside is that this app was developed in November of 2009; exactly 3 years ago. Since then, there really hasn’t been anything developed to the same scale for other subject areas. I guess this is where iBooks Author comes in and we need to invest time in creating our own digital books.
I also asked our English department to provide me with a list of books they used in their curriculum and downloaded e-versions to iBooks. Initially, there was a novelty effect and many of the students would begin reading the book on the iPad. However, after some time, most of them reverted to the paperback versions as they felt more comfortable with them. This was usually seen among the more “avid reader” population and less within the “learner disabled” population.
Finally, I will mention my experience with e-texts vs paper versions. Upon beginning the MET program, I noticed that there were many articles that needed to be read. I attempted to read many of them online but noticed that the annotating features afforded by apps such as Goodreader simply weren’t working for me. I can’t believe I am confessing this but ever since, I have reverted back to printing out readings as it works better for me. The kinesthetic qualities afforded by both versions seem to be different when annotating text.
At this point it seems as though eTexts are the way of the future but not always the best option. It really depends on the type of text being read and learning preferences of the reader. As long as both options exist (which I think they will, at least during my lifetime), consumers will go back and forth between both.
melissaayers 5:35 am on November 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Just looking at the pros & cons from an environmental perspective I find the statement/fact you highlight “The carbon emissions needed to create one e-book reader equal the carbon emissions from generating 40-50 textbooks “ quite amazing & significant.
I am not sure what others think about this but personally I think only a minority of eReader owners are likely to read 40-50 books before they end up upgrading their eReaders. New products and hardware and better screen technology is currently being released each year. I would imagine only a very few hard working/reading individuals would get an environmental benefit from switching to using an eReader from actual real books.
For the purpose of this point of course I am choosing to ignore all the other benefits brought about by using eReaders such as portability, books price reductions etc and looking at it purely as an environmental impact.
Lisa Nevoral 7:56 pm on November 11, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Melissa,
I was also shocked when I saw the environmental impact that creating one e-book had opposed to generating 40-50 textbooks. I thought that it would be lower, but obviously it’s not.
Lisa
manny 8:28 am on November 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Melissa,
I too was grappling with the environmental impact argument of e-readers vs textbooks. One would think that someone who has invested in an ebook is an enthusiastic reader and may easily read over 50 books therefore outweighing the environmental impact. On the other hand, tablets are more popular than e-readers as they have multiple functions. I think the introduction of the iPad mini will directly compete with e-readers. In this instance, you can make the argument that it is environmentally sound because of the many other tasks you can complete.
Manny
jhodi 8:40 am on November 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
As with most things, there are positives and negatives to implementing e-texts. For me, I like to consider that in our world today, technology and technological skills are becoming more and more necessary. Therefore, I think that e-texts have a lot of potential for students. The potential interactivity and pleathora of resources outweighs the potential negatives to me. However, my personal preference is to use an eReader that has a matte finish screen rather than an illuminated screen. After reading for a long time on an illuminated screen, my eyes can feel stained. However, this is a minimal problem as I can conpensate using such things as additional lighting. I do however think that a combination between print and e-texts can be the most beneficial approach. It is important that students become well-rounded learners and learn to adapt to all types of resources. As was pointed out, the voice-over that can accompany an e-text for small children is not always an acceptable substitution for reading with a parent. It is important that students learn how they learn best and which resource works best in certain situations.
joeltremblay 11:22 am on November 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
As far as obscure or different softwares for electronic reading, I actually use a fairly old, but open source reader called .cbr reader for most of my online reading. It started off for just comic books, but because of it’s versatility I gradually started using it for other things. Most of us of course use adobe reader for online documents, but for modifying .pdfs I use either Adobe Illustrator or Foxit pdf editor.
I think that when weighing the pros and cons of different readers, I prefer online reading for every time except when I want to read something for pleasure or when I have to do research. In those cases I prefer a physical copy because of their durability and accessibility. In online courses I actually prefer to download and print the readings so that I can pick up where I left off easily.
As far as the environmental impact, I think that it all depends on where your electricity is going and how far sighted the information in the book is because if the same book is relevant for 30 years, (grey’s anatomy or dictionaries comes to mind), then constantly using electricity to access them might actually be more harmful than using one printing of a book consistently.
coralk 5:17 pm on November 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
CourseSmart this week announced a new feature that will allow E-Textbooks to Report Back on Students’ Reading Habits: The book will be integrated into the college’s course-management system. It will track students’ behavior: how much time they spend reading, how many pages they view, and how many notes and highlights they make. That data will get crunched into an engagement score for each student. Some critics feel that this is a bit too ‘big brother’, but the company maintains that it will benefit students as it will allow faculty members to reach out to students showing low engagement. http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/now-e-textbooks-can-report-back-on-students-reading-habits/40928?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
C. Ranson 1:35 pm on November 10, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Interesting article. This might be a strategy for student success, there are a large number of students that arrive to college or university and have under developed studying skills and studying ethic. Some will say they skim the content, this might force them to dive into the content.
Thanks for sharing.
Catherine
Scott 3:20 pm on November 10, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Should we use digital textbooks? Are they worth it? I say absolutely, use them and in fact, I’m not sure how we are going to avoid them in some cases. Until we have a substantial shift in teaching practices, which move away from textbook use, then why wouldn’t we use an interactive book which offers so much more than a static printed page? For ETEC 500, I researched this very topic and concluded that there is limited research at the moment on the real impact of etextbooks, however the technology is still in its infancy and in general, it has great potential.
As long as teachers find value in using textbooks, either for convenience, academic value or simply as requested by a school board, institution or government; then why would we not begin to implement electronic textbooks? In my opinion, of the books I have sampled, the digital iterations of printed textbooks are superior in many regards.
Other mainstream media have all gone through these same evolutionary technological rebirths: music, photography, film making, printing in general. Why should plain old textbooks be immune to an inevitable digital transformation? With so many competing interests and requirements, I have a hard time imagining an etextbook ‘standard’ at this point in time – the technology is simply too new still. What is clear to me, is what has been clear to mainstream book publishers for many years, the printed book is on the decline.
How Adolescent Student Learning is Impacted by the Use of Electronic Textbooks:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/r8714vgul4pchxc/ETEC500%20-%20Research%20Proposal%20-%20eTextbooks.pdf
jenbarker 4:36 pm on November 10, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
From my little interaction (mostly just this week) I would say that I am big fan of digital textbooks. The main reason why I like them is that they allow for students who learn in various ways to view the material through different modes such as through listening (audio) and watching (visual). As a primary teacher I tend not to use textbooks very often. I find that they lack the hands-on, concrete learning that can be gained through problem based learning and inquiry. I know that some textbooks have questions such as these and encourage teachers to provide the materials but more often than not, I have seen teachers skip these pages and instead move to the traditional question and answer pages. I believe digital textbooks could find a way to fill this void by including spaces where students can interact with materials in digital ways, creating and problem solving. Similar to how students interact with an app, this could be part of the learning in the digital textbook – “practice pages”.
I also like their lightweight nature and the fact that they can be updated more easily than reprint a 2nd or 3rd edition of a printed textbook. Additionally I find idea of teacher’s creating their own digital textbooks and sharing these very appealing. I am all for Open Source Education and this provides a means of doing just that.
The biggest negative I see is the cost. I am surprised that the digital textbooks are still priced so highly. As the price of mobile devices continue to drop, this will have an effect on the overall costs.
How much memory do these digital textbooks take up? I know that video, and photos take much more than text. This could be a concern, depending on how much memory student mobile devices hold.
Lisa Nevoral 7:48 pm on November 11, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
In education, teachers must look at the pros and cons of anything they use in their classrooms. Does the new technology being implemented help aid in their students’ learning? Best practices should always win out over the newest gimmick or technology. Yes, online textbooks could provide a means for different presentation styles and have interactive capabilities that engage students. But does this mean that meaningful learning is occurring? It all depends on how teachers layout their projects or problems and how the textbook is used.
I do like that an online textbook can be updated more easily and quickly therefore keeping it current. And I do see benefits of having online textbooks in post-secondary courses. But I think ultimately, the use of online textbooks and meaningful learning depends on how the teacher uses that resource.
Lisa
Eva Ziemsen 8:19 pm on November 11, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
After engaging with this week’s presentation and all the resources, I am convinced that digital textbooks will become the norm in the near future. My colleagues have summarized the pros and cons very well and I thought I would add one comment about the video possibilities of digital textbooks.
I believe, that books such as the one featured on your intro page, which incorporated “An Inconvenient Truth” will catch on very quickly. I work in the film industry (and education of course) and filmmakers and the NFB, for example, are always looking for ways to engage more viewers with their works. The film industry already has incorporated ‘transmedia’ into all funding. In other words, you can no longer have a film funded without TWO other modes of delivery (so for example, a website and a game). In the context of most documentaries, an ebook is the IDEAL way to create a work of media with the content of the film. The reason this is asked for at the funding stage is because most often you must produce work for this element. So, in the case of that book, perhaps, they had to shoot certain kinds of stills, perhaps have the writers provide copy for sections of the book, etc. In the future, you could include a proposal for an ebook and this would trigger your ‘transmedia’ funding.
In fact, this has given me ideas of what and how to pitch the NFB on my next proposal. Thank you for that.
frank 1:40 am on November 12, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
The costs as listed, seem to me as more barriers to be overcome – be they environmental considerations of technology production, or greater eye strain etc. – rather than costs, in terms of what we have to give up to further push out the technological frontier of what is possible. The latter, almost sounds like an oxymoron, though I am sure some seemingly logical argument could be made in its favour.
For me, while technological evolution is ripe with opportunity and excitement, what’s lacking often is a vision. We are running around like chickens with our heads cut off if our primary focus is on how to push technological opportunities to their next logical step, without thinking about why we are doing it all in the first place and what such innovations will mean for us.
The ideas behind Richard Baraniuk’s talk on open-source learning have the potential to be evolutionary and revolutionary. Open source already exists in many areas and the case for making it apply to educational content seems a logical evolutionary step. Synthesizing new hardware use with, open source and content development to completely reinvent our learning and education model – what Richard deems ‘create, rip, mix and burn’ – is altogether revolutionary. And though Richard’s ideas on what this might lead to are exciting, if not only for their novelty and the potential opportunities they seem to entail for our collective future, I ask why we do it? As in, what does the architecture we are trying to build look like? And how do channel the energy we have available towards that goal?
David Packard once asked a similar question about the existence of companies, stating “Why are we here? I think many people assume, wrongly, that a company exists solely to make money. Money is an important part of a company’s existence, if the company is any good. But a result is not a cause. We have to go deeper and find the real reason for our being.” I believe it is time we ask the similar questions of advancements in education technology, or risk worshipping false idols in educational technology, in the same way we did with our materially obsessed system of economy.