LIBRARY MOBILE

Configuringthe 'Future

Gerald McKiernanAssociate Professor/Science and Technology Librarian

Iowa State University Library

Textbook'In late May 2006, more than 50 educators and publishers, representinga wide range of specialties, gathered at the National Academy of Sciences,in Washington, D.C., to participate in a 3-day National ScienceFoundation-funded workshop titled "Reconsidering the Textbook." 4Through small- and large-group discussions, the attendees "examinedthe current state of the textbook and its relationship to the growingnumber of electronic tools that also serve as learning resources fortoday's students" and sought to envision the textbook of the future.At the conclusion of the workshop there was general consensus that:

[T]he textbook of the future will be more than a static printedvolume. ... It will function as a guide, interweaving andcoordinating a variety of different learning resources includinganimations, simulations, and interactive exercises. ... [It will]be easily searchable, and thus would be learner accessible witha flexible electronic interface.

-http.//bit.Vy/gytdx0

T he group envisioned the "Future Textbook" - whetherprinted or electronic - as "the organizing hub of an inte-grated learning environment [that would] become increasing-ly adaptable, customizable, and responsive." They imagined itas a "Web-linked travel guide" that was modular by design,thus allowing an instructor to configure content to suit thegoals of a particular course as well as the specific needs of in-dividual students. In this view, access to networked resourceswould strongly promote higher-level thinking. The group alsoagreed that the Future Textbook would be integrated withcourse management systems.

The attendees clearly recognized that creating the FutureTextbook would be a collaborative process that involved tech-

nical specialists as well as instructors and publishers. They alsorecognized that faculty and students would have to accept anew learning paradigm and that demonstrating and docu-menting the benefits of alternative textbook models and tech-nologies were critical to their adoption.

Participants agreed that the creation and integration of theFuture Textbook within learning environments would become amajor educational change agent, observing that "the adaptable,flexible textbook will shift the way in which higher education isaccomplished." In their view, the Future Textbook could realignformal education from a faculty-directed focus to a more stu-dent-centered one. In addition, by catering to different learn-ing needs and styles, the Future Textbook could significantly

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increase the audience for "formal as well as informal science

education by making learning far more inviting for distance, in-dependent, and out-of-field learners" [http://bit.ly/gDufmS;http://bit.ly/ekUTl3].

In view of the enhancement and enrichment of digital

learning resources that have occurred since the workshop was

convened, as well as the accelerated development and wide-

spread adoption of mobile devices, platforms, and technolo-gies in recent years, many would consider the attendees' visioninsightful, perceptive, and prescient. However, while some par-

ticipants considered the wiki as the framework for the FutureTextbook, ironically there is neither mention of the ebook as apossible model nor appropriate recognition of the packaging

of textbooks with accompanying CD-ROMs and, more recent-ly, the incorporation of links to companion websites and relat-

ed internet resources. Some did, however, consider the iPod

and cell phone as potential "future" platforms [http://bit.ly/gytdxO; http://bit.ly/g2qeEFl.

While different in some respects, most notably content andpurpose, the digital textbook is similar to the electronic book,

which has been defined as "a text and image-based publication

in digital form produced on, published by, and readable on

computers or other digital devices. ... IEI-books are usuallyread on dedicated hardware devices known as e-Readers orebook devices. Personal computers and some cell phones can

also be used to read ebooks" [http://bit.ly/OWIJDI.

EbooksIn early February 2011, the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative

(ELI), in cooperation with New Media Consortium (NMC), re-

leased its "Horizon Report 2011" [http://bit.ly/fYalBu]. Pub-lished since 2004, the report seeks to identify and describe"emerging technologies likely to have a large impact over the

coming five years on a variety of sectors around the globe,"most notably the "potential impact on and use in teaching,learning, and creative inquiry."

For the past 8 years, each edition of the "Horizon Report"has profiled emerging technologies or practices that its adviso-ry board agreed were likely to "enter mainstream use" within

three adoption horizons over the next 5 years, as well as asso-ciated challenges. The near-term horizon assumes the likeli-

hood of entry into the mainstream for institutions within thenext 12 months, the midterm horizon (2-3 years), and the far-

term (4-5 years).For the current near-term (next 12 months or less), the

board ranked the use and adoption of electronic books and

The report perceptively observes that it isneither the devices nor the texts that are of

greatest importance, but the potential of theassociated technologies and value-added

features and functionalities to transform thereading and learning experience.

mobile technologies as the highest of existing or emerging de-velopments. In its profile, the report acknowledges the rise in

popularity of ebooks in the consumer market and the increasein the variety of their content, as well as e-reading applications,devices, and platforms.

The report perceptively observes that it is neither the de-vices nor the texts that are of greatest importance, but the po-

tential of the associated technologies and value-added featuresand functionalities to transform the reading and learning expe-rience. It notes, the "richly visual interfaces that include multi-media and collaborative elements" are becoming increasinglycommon. More specifically, the report recognizes that "readertechnology has developed to the point that graphs, illustra-tions, videos, and interactive elements can easily be included,

and [that] many enable bookmarking, annotation, commen-tary, dictionary lookup, and other useful functions."

Overall, it recognizes that current "advanced forms of elec-

tronic books [offer] self-directed, interactive experiences; easyexploration; collaborative work; multi-modal, immersive activ-ities; and other deeply engaging approaches to learning" thatcan serve as models for future academic and scholarly works.

The report appropriately notes that mobile applications canoffer "social interaction around electronic books [whichl could

be marshaled in support of group study and focused teacher-student interaction. ... "

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SalesAlthough ebook sales were initially lower than those of oth-

er book types (e.g., trade, mass market paperbacks, profession-al), during the past several years, electronic book sales have in-creased significantly. From 2002 to 2003, sales increased nearly170%, and nearly 45% from 2004 to 2005. There was an increaseof nearly 70% from 2007 to 2008 and more than 175% from2008 to 2009. Overall for the period 2002 to 2009, there was acompound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 70%, a ratehigher than the 1.1 % averaged CAGR for all tracked book cate-gories [http://bit.ly/ellph6].

Indeed, during the first half of this decade, the demand forebooks is expected to continue to increase significantly. TheYankee Group, a market research firm, recently forecast thatAmericans will purchase more than 380 million ebooks in 2011,approximately more than four times the number purchased lastyear ("2011 US E-Book Forecast: Get Set for the Next Best-Sell-er" [http://bit.ly/fAgUYzl). Another market research firm, For-rester Research, predicts that U.S. ebooks sales will nearly tripleby 2015 to $ 2.8 billion ("eBook Buying Is About to Spiral Up-ward: US eBook Forecast, 2010 to 2015" [http://bit.lylatklKi]).

By 2014, it is estimated that 25%-50% of all books sold in theU.S. will be ebooks ("e-Book Will Soon Be More ImportantThan Print Books" [http://bit.ly/hlctSVl).

Digital Textbooks

Definition

As defined by Wikipedia, "Digital Textbooks" are:

core textbooks for students, with which students can learncontents that are tailored to their abilities and interestsland that] offer various interactive functions, and providethe learner with a combination of textbooks, referencebooks, workbooks, dictionaries and multimedia contentssuch as video clips, animations, and virtual reality ...

-http://bit.ly/eloxuv

History

According to one noted authority, there are five major stages ofdigital textbook development and marketing: experimentation,early markets, proliferation and integration, profitability and so-cial learning, and standards and disaggregated distribution.

Experimentation (2000-2003)

During this period, major textbook publishers partneredwith startup vendors "to create non-PDF, non-standard, cus-

tom-reader products," each producing 50-100 titles, but dis-covered that there was no market for these products and thatthe technology could not be adequately supported [http://bit.ly/dzl6aB].

Early Markets (2004-2006)

While publication continued, many publishers returned tousing the lower-cost PDF format. The development and prolif-eration of online learning technologies among higher-educa-tion institutions and demand for specific subject content (e.g.,mathematics, science, world languages) fostered a more stablemarket. During this period, Flash became the predominanttechnology for digital books. By the end of this phase, majorpublishers launched a variety of initiatives to create and/ordistribute ebooks.

Proliferation and Integration (2007-2008)

In this wave, the cost of etextbook production dropped sig-nificantly, and publishers began to integrate ebooks into theirrespective homework management products. During the pe-riod, most major publishers supported multiple etextbook

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formats and readers. While XML became more prominent,

Flash continued to be a popular option.

Profitability and Social Learning (2009-2011)

By 2009, the size of the etextbook market had increased sub-

stantially, due in large part to the proliferation of for-profit vir-

tual universities (e.g., University of Phoenix) and the signifi-cant growth of distance-learning programs offered by

brick-and-mortar colleges and universities. Concurrently, the

widespread adoption of a variety of mobile devices and the in-

creased use of e-readers, and subsequently tablet computers,prompted publishers to offer more digital texts. During this pe-riod, digital textbooks offered not only media-enhanced inte-gration with a variety of technologies, but integration within

social learning environments as well.Perhaps equally significant was the emergence and expan-

sion of the open textbook initiatives which sought to providefree or low-cost access to textbooks [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-textbookl.

Standards and Disaggregated Distribution (2012-2014)

This future phase will be marked by several key develop-

ments, notably the emergence of a common standard for digi-

tal textbook XML and the reconfiguration of the digital textbook"from a single, cohesive product into a collection of malleable

The widespread adoptionof a variety of mobiledevices and the increaseduse of e-readers, andsubsequently tabletcomputers, promptedpublishers to offer moredigital texts.

content assets that can be disaggregated and mashed up easilywith other digital products."

This wave will also witness greater focus on smartphone and

tablet access and use, the further promotion of open textbooks,and broader integration of social components.

Sales

To date, digital textbooks sales have been a fraction of over-

all textbook sales. While the current market is less than 3% ofnational course materials sales, the National Association of

College Stores (NACS) [http://www.nacs.org] predicts that thedigital textbook market will increase from 10% to 15% by 2012.

Among the factors that the association believes will affect fu-ture digital textbook adoption are an increasing awarenessamong students of etextbook availability, their promotion and

effective use by instructors, and the incorporation of greaterinteractivity within these electronic texts [http://bit.ly/gMBadn]. One can expect that the ever-increasing popularity of

ebook content, dedicated e-readers, and ebook applicationson a variety of mobile platforms will also have a major effect onetextbook adoption in a variety of venues.

Xplana, Inc. [http://info.xplana.coml, a service that oper-ates Xplana.com, a "social learning platform," predicts that

U.S. digital textbook sales over the next several years will sur-pass 18% of combined new textbook sales for the higher-edu-cation and career education markets. This 5-year projection

assumes a current market share of 0.5% and an average yearlyincrease in sales growth of approximately 150%-200%, with atapering to 30% to 50% annual growth for the ensuing 5 years

(2015-2019).The firm expects that such growth "will also create avenues

for new content publishers to enter the textbook market, leadto fundamental shifts in purchasing patterns around learningmaterials, and expedite the formal adoption of open educa-tional resources to augment premium digital content" [http:/!

bit.ly/99GHvY].

Current and Future Activities

Academic Bookstore Community

1 While many may consider forecasts and projections as only

potential scenarios, the presentations delivered at the recent

annual meetings of the NACS and the Independent College

Bookstore Association (ICBA) [http://www.icbainc.com] indi-

cate significant interest by the associations and their members

in digital textbooks.

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One can expect that the ever-increasing popularityof ebook content, dedicated e-readers, and ebookapplications on a variety of mobile platforms willalso have a major effect on etextbook adoptionin a variety of venues.

Independent College Bookstore AssociationThe ICBA is a "professional cooperative dedicated exclu-

sively to institutional collegiate retail stores." At its most recentannual conference held in early February 2011, the associationhosted a range of presentations that focused on digital text-book developments. Its ICBA 2011 Strategic Direction Programtrack [http://bit.ly/h9vodu] offered an update on the CanadianCampus Retail Associates, Inc. (CCRA) and NACS Media Solu-tions LLC (NMS) Digital Content Platform and the CampusE-Bookstore.com service.

The latter is a joint project between the CCRA and the NMSto develop and deploy "a common digital content platform(DCP) for electronic books and print-on-demand content, de-signed with student friendly terms and reflecting the academ-ic nature of the collegiate marketplace" [http://bit.ly/ekLDat].The former, the Campus E-Bookstore [http://www.campusebookstore.com], is a project by U.S. and Canadian collegestores that seeks "to develop affordable alternatives and com-plements to traditional course materials."

The track also included presentations on two major statedigital textbook projects, the California State University sys-tem's Digital Marketplace [http://www.calstate.edu/ats/digital_marketplacel initiative, "an innovative one-stop-shoppingplatform for the discovery, selection and authoring of digitalresources," and the Ohio Digital Bookshelf lhttp://ohiodigitalbookshelf.ning.com], "a pilot project of Ohio Textbook HQ thataims to provide quality textbook options for faculty and betterlearning outcomes, while also saving students money."

In addition, the track offered a general session that includ-ed presentations by representatives from Blackboard Mobile

[http:/ /www.blackboard.com/Platforms/Mobile/overview.aspxland Digby Mobile Commerce lhttp://www.digby.com/mobile-commerce-software-platform] about the impact of mobile tech-nologies on communication, learning, and collegiate retailing.

National Association of College Stores

Based in Oberlin, Ohio, the NACS is a professional trade as-sociation that represents the collegiate retailing industry. Itsmost recent annual conference, CAMEX: The Campus MarketExpo 2011 [http://www.camex.org], included presentationthemes similar to those of the ICBA conference.

A panel session, "Course Materials: Online, Mobile, and Part-nering Solutions," included presentations on etextbook trends,online buying, and brand awareness and loyalty. This session,as well as one titled "The Past, Present, and Future of OpenEducation Resources: Implications for Campus Stores," alsofocused on open education resources [http://www.oercommons.org]. A session titled "NACS 2011 Digital Update" offeredpresentations on recent developments and current initiativeson digital content delivery, notably the CCRA-NMS Digital Con-tent Platform project. The NACS conference also included a ses-sion devoted to "Mobile Technology and Retailing," whichaddressed the potential of smart mobile devices such as theiPhone, BlackBerry, and iPad as platforms for generating salesand disseminating information [http://bit.ly/i38cUb].

A future column will review current digital textbook ini-tiatives by individual academic bookstores, as well as recentprojects undertaken by colleges and universities throughoutthe U.S. In addition, several major digital textbook vendorswill be profiled. *

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