Monday, June 23, 2014

Electronic Textbooks Anyone?

Today I started my face-to-face PLS class on Student Engagement and Standards Based Learning. As you know, one of the best parts of PLS classes is networking with fellow teachers. The Middle-School Math teacher from Nashville, Illinois, who sat next to me today told me how they got rid of all of their textbooks and will issue each student a laptop with e-books instead. They are saving so much money on textbooks that it will pay for the laptops.

Now I love my Kindle and would never trade back for reading real books, but I am wondering about the feasibility of e-textbooks. Here are some questions that maybe you could answer:

  • Does your school use e-books, if yes for what percentage of classes?
  • Do you think the students will want to print out pages and use up our paper and toner?
  • How will we know if they are working on our class or looking at Facebook?
  • Will this work for all subjects? What about teaching Math without a text?


I would love to require my students to all buy the same Windows tablets at the beginning of their program. My Dean is not a big fan of the e-Textbook idea.

Here is an interesting article from the Chicago Tribune that discusses the Pros and Cons of digital textbooks. Pros and Cons of Digital Textbooks

Another article I liked was from the Chronicle of Higher Education. This article talks about colleges forcing students to switch to digital texts. The End of the Textbook As We Know It


I will be interested to hear your thoughts on this issue.

17 comments:

  1. Hi Mary,

    Overall, I like the idea of starting to use digital tools and e-books as a source for students to use. My school does not currently use e-books, but we are supposed to go to 1-to-1 student-to-computer ratio next year. I have a feeling that e-books are not far after supplying each student with a computer or tablet. One thing I did notice this year (as opposed to any other year that I have taught) was a huge increase in the percentage of students who had a personal iPad or tablet. I would say that number was about 40% of my students this year!!!

    In terms of kids getting on websites like Facebook and game sites … well … they are going to do that, and they already do it on their personal tablets and phones while in school. At times it can be frustrating to constantly monitor their activity on these devices, but that is way the world is moving. I have an iPad, and I love to take it with me wherever I go. It is convenient.

    Overall, I think that computers and tablets would be a great asset to students, but each subject area (English, math, science, etc.) might have its own advantages and disadvantages. For example, I teach chemistry, which involves a lot of math. It can be difficult to use digital text to show equations and problem-solving techniques, but it would also be a great advantage for every student to have the capability to use a graphing program to plot an accurate representation of data from a laboratory experiment.

    The topic you chose is a great one. I have a feeling this topic will be around for a long time!

    Tiffany

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    1. A lot of my 4th graders have e readers and download materials from the library onto devices. The best part is no late fines.

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    2. I agree, Tiffany. I have been sitting with a Math teacher this week at my face-to-face class, and we have been trying to think of ways for her to let her students "write" problems out on the computer--she doesn't have a touch screen. So I can tell that Math might be a subject that would be harder to get rid of texts.

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  2. My school does not use e-books, but we do have a digital component to our reading and math series. All of the students have their own log-in accounts, but they rarely every use them. I do know that some parents have printed off workbook sheets if their child forgot the book at home.

    I think that if districts go this route, they would have to block some sites, and Facebook might be one of them. They would have to have restrictions on the computer for student safety reasons. There would have to be clear and enforced guidelines on proper usage.

    I think teachers would be guilty of using up the toner and paper. I really believe that a lot of teachers would not do well with this transition. I feel that they still need something they can hold in their hands and pass out and collect. Even with the e-books, I think teachers will still be printing a lot, at least the first year.

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    1. With my college classes that I teach, I don't use any paper. All of my handouts are in our course management system (Blackboard). It has saved me so much time. The students all know that the handouts are there and I am not asked for copies of things that are lost.

      My face-to-face class this week is at a middle school. We have had lots of sites blocked by their filter.

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  3. Although our Middle School has a 1:1 iPad program, teachers have not yet embraced electronic textbooks. Our school is not one that uses a lot of textbooks of any kind. Materials are drawn from many print and media sources.
    I like the idea of electronic texts being current and up-to-date because of more frequent and easier revisions. If texts need to be replaced frequently, like history books, I think e-books would be more cost effective in the long run.
    A school, discipline department, or district compiling electronic texts sounds appealing to me. I think it would create more engagement from those who helped put it together if many voices had input.
    The article on eye problems I can relate to and often need to take more frequent breaks from a tech device because of strain or pain. I also worry about (and have experienced) inability to do tasks because of power outages and device malfunctions.

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    1. Yes, when the power is out or the Internet is down, my class is out. We can do nothing without the Internet and power.

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  4. Too funny, here is an e-mail I received from one of my online students this afternoon. He has great timing. By the way, I told him no.

    Mary, I just purchased the hardcover of our book. I don't know if you realized when they offered the class that the online version of the book is terrible. I was speaking to another student and they informed me that I could get a refund on the E book and purchase the hard back. Since I have the hardcover book, do you think it would be possible for me to take the test over. If not are they any extra credit points that I could do to bring my grade to an "A" in the class.

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  5. Mary,
    I know that many of our districts within my IU region have not gone to e-books. They are just starting to move toward the use of iPads for student learning but have not moved past the hard copies of textbooks.
    There are students who are unable to use textbooks and instructional materials in a traditional way that may need accessible instructional materials (AIM) in order to have meaningful and equal access to the general education curriculum. There are guidelines to follow for determining access but specialized formats include braille, audio, enlarged print, and digital (electronic) text. So we are using e-books for our students who have print disabilities.
    Years ago when my son was in college he decided that texts took up a lot of his tuition money and decided he was not going to buy another book. He accessed all of his books online and found it to be very cost effective and efficient for him. My youngest is currently studying for his MCATS and all the course reviews are accessed through e-books. He embraced the use of e-books at the college level. I'm sure there are students out there that would find this challenging. It's much different to read a book for pleasure on an iPad, Nook, or Kindle than to study content material. I'm sure there are students on either end of this spectrum, some who would be just fine with e-books and others who would still benefit more from the hard copy. Hopefully districts have different options geared to students' learning needs.

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  6. In the past few years, our school has switched to e-books. All students have access to digital text (if required) through Pearson Education. In addition to the e-books, students may request a hardcopy. Many of my special education students prefer the e-books for convenience. For example, they can enlarge the print. I am still “old fashioned” and prefer the actual book but I am pushing myself to use the digital teacher edition more and more. Our students are not allowed to make copies of hard copy text or digital text. They can only print notes from the teacher or Pearson. I think that it is possible for e-books to work for all classes. My only caution would be that courses would need to provide many additional opportunities for enrichment and extra practice since students would not have a text to use as an additional resource. My experience with online teaching is that students are favoring e-books. I would be interested to see more statistical information on the positive and negative effects of using digital texts (this may be the math geek in me though!).

    Brittany

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    1. That makes me feel better that you aren't printing a lot...

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  7. We have a classroom set of textbooks, but they can access an electronic version for home use. I think it works out quite well. I do work in a middle to upper class district where most people have access to a computer or electronic device.. I'm not sure how that would work out for some of the lower socioeconomic districts. Hopefully as this becomes the norm across classrooms, students won't feel quite as compelled to check out the latest tweet or post!

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    1. I think that if we are going to only e-books, the schools will have to provide the device for students who can't afford to buy one. I know several schools in our area are doing that.

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  8. My school uses ebooks in a limited way, in conjunction with the textbooks they purchase. Students have some access online to material from the publisher, but not the whole book. Teachers have CD's with resources available also. I'm not sure if ebooks would see a costs savings or not. I'd be interested in seeing the numbers. With a textbook you can use if for 20 years as some subjects, such as Algebra and English, will always have the same information. PI will always be 3.14 and a noun a person place or thing. Will the cost of the yearly site license be cheap enough to take that into account. Also, will publishers of ebooks raise their prices once they take over the textbook market. As has been proven publishers charge for the textbooks what the market bears and sells the same books overseas at sharply reduced prices.

    http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/03/20/supreme-court-sides-against-textbook-publishers-resale-imported-works#sthash.iWC8U3ec.dpbs

    As for student use and preference, I think things will shake out as normal. There will be those who do their work and those who don't. The excuses will be different but the outcome still the same.

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  9. My youngest daughter attends a high school that is going 1:1 this year. They are getting rid of all of their textbooks (sold them to another school) and have purchased all online versions of their texts. They have run the numbers and have determined that it will actually save them money in the long run and pay for the cost of the Macbooks. I will be curious to see how the students like them. My oldest is actually taking a college class this summer and we purchased her textbook and it had the optional online version available for 30 days. She used it until the textbook arrived. This is the kid that reads off of her phone or kindle constantly. However, she HATED the eBook version. She said it was hard to scan for information as she would scroll too fast. I think there will be a huge learning curve as students learn to highlight or bookmark items on the eBooks. As a parent, I am thrilled as my youngest is constantly forgetful and always leaves her books at school. Hopefully this will eliminate the forgetfulness!

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    1. Four of the 20 students in my face-to-face PLS class this week got the digital textbook. It has been a pain for them. The page numbers are all different, and the instructor had to print out lots of the activities sheets so they would have a hard copy. I'm not convinced that this is the way to go yet.

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  10. The middle school that I work at does not use e-textbooks. As a matter of fact, our social studies department just purchased new textbooks with little to no discussion on the possibility of e-textbooks. The hard copy textbooks that were purchased do have an online supplement with additional information and activities, but with no way to guarantee that all students have Internet access at home, teachers and administrators viewed the online supplement as a perk, but not a deal maker or breaker when it came to purchasing the new textbooks.
    The only way to ensure that students have equal access to e-books would be to issue each student a computer or tablet to use. I know many schools are looking to move toward a one-to-one computer/student ratio. If that’s the case, then e-books would be a huge asset. As Mary mentioned, textbooks are extremely expensive, so buying licenses for e-books instead of hard copies of textbooks could produce a significant cost savings which in turn, could be used to purchase more computers/tablets. I would love to a cost comparison and cost would definitely be the deciding factor in the school board’s eyes (in most cases!).
    - Courtney

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