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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of web pages or they can wait for a new edition to come out and since a standardized exam will not discriminate against outdated information of prescribed learning tools, there is no real harm done.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