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E-Textbooks: Paper StyleQuentin Flokstra (50567072)
Paper textbooks are a great resource in the classroom. Each
student can have one. The information is there, ready to access at
any time. Students are familiar with using tables of contents and
glossaries, and possibly indexes. The teacher has probably
highlighted and otherwise annotated his or her textbook in order to
clarify pertinent information to the class later on. Regarding any
information that needs to be updated, the teacher can direct the
student to a variety of web pages or they can wait for a new
edition to come out and since a standardized exam will not
discriminate against outdated information of prescribed learning
tools, there is no real harm done. Usher in the saviour: the
electronic textbook. With its searchability, mobility, multimedia,
and constant updates it truly can solve some of the issues noted
with paper textbooks (Wasshuber). So, in this age of Kindles,
iPads, smartphones, Wi-Fi access, etc., why are electronic
textbooks not pervading the education system? They are certainly
more cost efficient and schools seem to be driven by dollars and
bottom lines. In a word: pedagogy. A new tool introduced to a
classroom does not create a new classroom. E-texts have been
introduced into some universities with mixed results. Students
simply do not find them better. This is mostly due to the fact that
instructors use them the same way they would have used a paper
based textbook (McFall, 2005; Schwartz, 2012). Thus, institutions
at any level would be reticent to invest in a new technology if
students do not approve of it.If instructors maximized the
possibilities of e-texts, students would be more engaged (McFall,
2005; Schwartz, 2012). However, the key lies in having the
instructors knowing how to maximize the technology. Often times, a
new technology is thrust upon the education system without a
framework. Discussions between various stakeholders are limited or
non-existent. Moreover, this discussion needs to be beyond just
technical knowledge but also needs to account for online dynamics
(Price & Oliver, 2007). Knowing how to use the e-text features
is not enough. The e-text will be intrinsically linked to the
online world and the teacher, even if the class is in a traditional
format, will need to account for strategies and activities that
exist in the digital world. However, it seems that even if teachers
do not adjust their teaching strategies for e-texts, the e-texts
are going to come anyways. With costs decreasing and e-readers
improving and becoming more cost-efficient, the switchover is
inevitable, albeit at a measured pace (McFadden, 2012). Therefore,
if teachers simply use e-textbook as a digitized version of the
paper one, the education system will not come crashing to a halt
but the possibilities for learning will be diminished. One can
liken it to the way some teachers simply transferred their overhead
notes to Power Point. The technology changed, but the teacher did
not. Things were shinier, and packaged prettier, but ultimately,
unchanged. Thus, the fear remains that the classroom environment
will remain largely unchanged. If students are simply assigned to
read certain sections and watch embedded video clips, what has
changed? The book is now shinier, on a new device, with maybe some
video included (which is probably the same video clip that the
teacher previously used via a digital projector) but fundamentally,
nothing is changed. Students will only benefit by having fewer
physical books to carry.Ryan McFall proposed some key ideas in 2005
for a particular reading platform. Noteworthy ideas included
collaborative and varied annotation of the e-text and interactive
questions and answers based on specific sections of reading. The
collaborative ability of the e-textbook cannot be overstated. It is
this aspect that educators must tap into. Moreover, with the
multiplicity of devices capable of having e-textbooks, publishers,
institutions, and educators must be mindful not to be set on one
particular way of working with the new technology.The textbook is
here to stay. It will manifest itself in a new format which will
require a key shift in how teachers use this valuable tool, but it
is hoped that the e-textbook will not simply result in a lighter
paperweight of its paper brother.
ReferencesMcFadden, C. (2012). Are Textbooks Dead? Making Sense
of the Digital Transition. Publishing Research Quarterly , 28(2),
93-99. doi:10.1007/s12109-012-9266-3McFall, R. (2005). Electronic
textbooks that transform how textbooks are used. The Electronic
Library, 23(1), 72-81.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/02640470510582754Oliver, S. P.
(2007). A Framework for Conceptualizing the Impact of Technology on
Teaching and Learning. Educational Technology & Science, 10(1),
16-27. Retrieved 10 06, 2012, from
http://www.ifets.info/journals/10_1/3.pdfSchwartz, K. (2012, 09
14). Why College Students Still Prefer Print Over E-Books.
Retrieved 09 29, 2012, from Mind Shift: How we will learn:
http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2012/09/why-college-students-still-prefer-print-over-e-books/Wasshuber,
C. (n.d.). Pros and Cons of Ebooks. Retrieved 09 29, 2012, from
Lybrary.com:
http://www.lybrary.com/free_ebooks/pros_and_cons_of_ebooks.pdf