ETEC 522- DIGITAL TEXTBOOKS
CHALLENGES
1) Cost
- Many K-12 costs for replacing their print curricula with digital versions are daunting
- K-12 schools must absorb yearly subscription and upgrade costs
- Digital subscription model used by most publishers requires a yearly lease payment ($15 and up), for each digital text, which over time can prove more expensive than the hardcopy textbook.
- University programs have the option of putting this cost on students
- Competition market with free, high-quality, digital Open Educational Resources (OER) continuing to grow
- Getting ownership from district curriculum leaders for the selection and adoption processes for digital curricula remains a challenge
- School districts that have been most successful in adopting and integrating digital curricula in classrooms are those where the academic and technology departments are closely aligned
- Proponents laud the interactive, adaptive and dynamic potential of digital textbooks, and point to the potential physical consequences of students hauling 20-pound book-laden backpacks
- Opponents cite research showing students have greater retention of content when they read from paper and how students actually prefer reading from books rather than screens both tech advocates and educators have not been able to agree on the effectiveness and affordability of digital curricula
- Most Ebooks are designed for reading books from beginning to end even though students don’t use them in this order.
- E-readers still have small black-and-white displays and there is a still a lot of technology in development. Staring at a lit screen can be tiring for the eyes and the brain. Staring at LED screens at night can disturb sleep patterns.
- Digital textbooks, like DynamicBooks, let professors reorder and rewrite textbooks. Some writers, academics, and students have expressed concern that professors might change books to reflect personal beliefs or bias
- For example, a science teacher might change a chapter on evolution to instead promote intelligent design.
- Digital textbooks, unlike peer-vetted articles, still need a way to provide a built-in way to peer-review check it
- Most digital textbook claim they rely on students, parents and other instructors to help monitor changes to content
Is the digital textbook btter than a physical Book?
Why physical books still outsell e-books | CNBC Reports
BookWars: E-books vs. Printed Books - Infographic Video
Print Textbooks vs E-Textbooks
Campus Voices: Textbooks vs eBooks