Digital Books
Marie Shaw and Robyn McKenney
February 3, 2012
Sixty-two percent of college presidents believe
that more than half of the textbooks used by
students in their institutions a decade from now
will be digital.
PEW Internet: The Digital Revolution and Higher Education, 2011
© Shaw & McKenney 2012
Availability of digital textbooks
• Proprietary vendors with e-readers such as
Amazon Kindle and Apple
• Free sites: Google Books and Project
Gutenberg
• Teacher created assemblages of audio, visual,
interactive, and text resources presented on
the web (Edline, Blackboard, etc.)
• Academic Courseware –course content from
multiple publishers packaged as an etextbook with web access
Digital Textbook Courseware
AcademicPub
(ECAR)
• “Full textbook experience”
(full color and multi-media)
• Digital textbooks continue to
evolve and improve.
• Students rent content,
license varies between 6-18
mos.
• Digital text can be
customized to meet
curriculum standards.
CourseSmart
Benefits of Digital Books
(University of Minnesota )
e-Books
e-Textbooks
• Consumer popularity
• E-books are usually less
expensive than print books.
• Hundreds of e-books on one
device.
• Purchase and download in a few
minutes.
• Searchable for words or topics.
• E-readers support notes,
dictionaries, and printing.
• Same features as e-Books
• Customization
• Some publishers provide "builda-book" options
• Emerging technologies (Apple
textbooks, augmented reality)
• Manageability for students
• Multimedia (nonlinear learning
experience)
Research Findings of Digitalization
(Simmons College, 2009)
Benefits
Challenges
• Anytime, anywhere access
• Support for distance education
• Instantaneous access upon
purchase or rental
• Better searching of text
• Space savings
• Eliminates theft of books
• Platform diversity
• Need for high quality, nonproprietary readers
• Electronic format availability
lags behind print availability
• Licensing management
• Ownership of content
Digital Texts- Slow
reception from academia
(ECAR)
• Initial market of e-readers was for consumers
• Lack standard file formats for e-readers
• Intellectual property rights slowed adoption of digital texts in
academia
• Cultural differences – reluctance of faculty to replace paper
textbooks with e-books
• Requirements for leisure reading differ greatly from those of
academic reading
Academic Reading has specific
functional requirements
(ECAR)
Print “books enable a set of practices that support both individual
learning and classroom interactions :

transcribing

note taking

referencing

…rapid navigation necessary in a group discussion”
Requirements for successful
implementation in academia
(ECAR)
Features of digital texts:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Accessibility
Navigation
Documentation
Writing
Notation
Legibility of equations
Multiple language and script
ability
• Text-to-speech
Support needed for:
• Faculty-generated content.
• Enhanced images/graphics
• Course reserves
• Support for audio content
• Continued access to content
after the course is over
• Protect intellectual property
• Compliance with copyright)
Research Findings:
Reading digital textbooks
Concerns:
• Children perceive reading on
the web different than reading
books (Sutherland-Smith,
2002).
• Digital media does not
promote in-depth reading (Liu,
2009)
• Multimedia digital textbooks
require a different kind of
reading across interactive
layers consisting of visual
clues, hypertext, digital paper,
and image (Thomas, 2005)
• Despite the improvements to
e-readers, users read 20%-30%
more slowly, use more effort,
and are more tired than when
reading on paper (Asmodt,
2009).
• Digital textbook user
interfaces do not seem
designed for sustained
reading. Readers prefer digital
text for shorter tasks like
verifying facts (JISC, 2009).
What devices support the use of digital
textbooks?
• Netbooks and computers
• iPad, iPhone, iPod: apps
support ibooks, PDF,
EPUB, Kindle, and other
file types
• Tablets & Phones: various
tablets and cell phones
have apps that support
acquisition of e-books
• Emergent technologies:
devices continue to evolve
and improve
Digital Textbooks: True Savings?
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Will schools be required to purchase devices for all students?
•
How will IT support one-to-one devices?
•
Home connectivity: Will schools be required to provide print texts to students
who do not have access to high speed Internet or readers?
•
Mobile devices are limited in their educational use (small screens, data plans
are expensive, limited image size, keyboard and mouse functions, etc.)
•
Will this exacerbate the digital divide?
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How will the use of digital texts impact current content delivery (Edline?)
•
Teachers who have already integrated these systems into their teaching may
be reluctant to switch to digital textbooks.
Kindle for K-12
Features:
Concerns:
• Kindle wireless is independent
and robust
• Content less expensive than
textbooks
• Purchased books can be lent
to other Kindles (interesting
sharing arrangement)
• Content managed in Amazon
through the owner’s library
• The reader cannot move
rapidly around a text in a nonsequential manner.
• Quotation, annotation, and
summary tools are not robust.
• Not all digital content is Kindle
compatible.
iPad
Features:
• Kindle app for compatibility with
Amazon library
• ibooks content
• Interactive , multimedia textbooks
• Academic tools
• Multipurpose
• Cost
Concerns:
• Cost
• Multi-purpose
• The reader cannot
move rapidly around a
text in a non-sequential
manner.
Our recommendations for
East Lyme Public Schools
Immediate:
Ongoing:
• Initiate a pilot of e-readers at
each school
• Use e-books in classrooms for
narrative reading; consider
whether images and color are
requirements for
comprehension.
• Compile data on our students’
learning
• Provide ongoing PD for staff in
use of e-readers
• Determine where digital
textbooks would most enhance
student learning
• Preview digital textbooks for
content, readability, multimedia,
and other functions and features.
• Explore multiple devices for
content delivery
• Understand licensing, intellectual
property and copyright
• Ongoing cost/benefit analysis
(fluid pricing, discount
purchasing, state contracts, etc.)
Questions?
• Do we rent or purchase content?
• Will changing file formats make
the content inaccessible in the
future?
• Will we have incompatibility
issues with e-readers?
• Can we offer simultaneous use in
multiple classrooms?
• What are the limitations of
licensing and ownership –
transferability among devices?
• Can our infrastructure support
the use of digital textbooks?
• Who provides the e-reader?
• What devices are most
appropriate and flexible?
• What alternate provisions will
be made for students who do
not adapt to e-readers?
• What supports for teachers
(developing content, teaching
reading)will be offered?
• What supports for students will
be provided?
• How will all teachers adapt to
teaching with digital texts?
How will digital books and
textbooks change the way
we engage with content?
Works Cited
Anson, Catherine, and Ruth R. Connell. E-book Collections. Washington, D.C.:
Association of Research Libraries, 2009. Print.
Campbell, Alex. “New digital tools let professors tailor their own textbooks for
under $20.” The Chronicle of Higher Education (Oct. 2011): A11. Print.
DeSantis, Nick. “E-Textbooks saved many students only $1, a college
determines.” The Chronicle of Higher Education (Jan. 2012): 15. Print.
The digital revolution and higher education. Pew Internet & American Life
Project. Pew Internet, 2012. Web. 28 Jan. 2012.
<http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Collegepresidents/Report/Part-2.aspx>.
Foster, Gavin, and Eric Remy. E-books for academe: a study from Gettysburg
College. Gettysburg, PA: Educause Center for Applied Research, 2009.
Print.
From paper to pixel: digital textbooks and Florida schools. Tallahassee, FL: The
PALM Center, 2010. Print.
Hwang, S. “ Using e-textbooks in your class?” Technology enhanced learning at
the University of Minnesota. University of Minnesota, Dec. 2010. Web. 28 Jan.
2012.
“New survey: students who own tablets more likely to favor digital textbooks.”
Pearson Foundation. Pearson, 23 May 2011. Web. 28 Jan. 2012.
<http://www.pearsonfoundation.org/pr/new-survey-students-who-own>.
Rachlin, Natalia. “Digital textbooks slow to catch on.” ASU Online. Arizona State
University, 2010. Web. 28 Jan. 2012. <http://asuonline.asu.edu>.
Richman, Jon. “A campus-wide e-textbook initiative.” EDUCAUSE Quarterly.
EDUCAUSE, 2009. Web. 28 Jan. 2012.
Works Cited: Images
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Books and ipad [Online Image] available @ http://asburyseedbed.com/theme/images/articles/134820068.jpg
Books [Online Image] available @ http://chipchase.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/textbookblog1.jpg
Bug Text [Online Image] available @ http://photos.appleinsider.com/textbooks-120119-1.jpg 1/29/12
Coursesmart [Online Image] available @
http://www.whfreeman.com/Catalog/uploadedImages/Content/WHF/Discipline/CourseSmartMobile_Freeman_w
eb%20.jpg 1/29/12
Five Little Monkeys [Online Image] available @ http://eduscapes.com/fluid/monkey.jpg 1/29/12
Google[Online Image] available @ http://tech.massivelinks.com/uploads/Google-eBooks.png 1/29/12
ibooks: [Online Image] available @ http://www.dailyifix.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/iBooks.jpg 1/29/12
Kindle [Online Image] available @ http://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/wp- content/uploads/2011/09/kindletouch.jpg 1/29/12
Kindle Reader [Online Image] available @ http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4096/5441103471_6aa0793f0f_z.jpg
1/29/12
Portrait [Online Image] available @ http://gigaom2.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/4826939037_3c18d7cc92_z.png
1/29/12
Students with Tablets [Online Image] available @
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375376414 1/29/12