The Age of Reason: eTextbooks--Really?

I recently read this in Elliot Masie's Learning Trends: “ iPhone and Textbooks: Just downloaded a new application to my iPhone called CourseSmart eTextbooks. This is one of several movements away from print based textbooks. In this application, a student would have access to all of the textbooks for their registered courses right on their mobile device. I’m starting with a Calculus Textbook to see how it goes.”

I cringed and immediately sent an email responding like this:

"I teach English in Utah. I just don’t like the idea of replacing textbooks with applications or etextbooks. I think it might work in some subjects, but rhetoric and writing isn’t really one of them. Maybe you won’t notice the difference in math, but when I ask you to critically read something—circle confusing words—draw out the main ideas in the article—or make notes in the margins—will you be able to do this on an iPhone? There is something tactile and reassuring in the pages, something that adds to the retention and learning in a student when they have other ways to absorb the material.

Maybe I am just old fashioned, or maybe I just can’t see the other side because my nose is in a book. I guess ultimately, I wonder this—with book costs going up and up—will this save them any money and is the money saved worth their education?"


Well, it got me thinking about training. Specifically, I thought about saving clients money by turning a lot of training into web-based training. Was I on the one hand--refusing to see how online textbooks might benefit both educators and colleges, and two, still thinking a lot of WBT is great for corporations?

Yes, I was. Here's why:

Having an entire textbook online isn't interactive in any way. Admittedly, you can print out the pages you need to read, write in the margins, or leave it online and open up a blank word document to take notes. Some applications even allow you to take notes directly in the ebook. Still, it is counterintuitive to place a book online. You have changed the medium for how students interact with the text without also changing how the text is presented to the student.

If they are really moving textbooks online, then some of the basic principles of online training should be followed. Namely, there should be links that take you deeper into sections, video case studies, knowledge checks along the way, and maybe a mentor for tips and tricks that help you get the most out of the class.

Then, when it is class time (whether online or on site) the teacher can help you obtain a deeper understanding or help you find clarity in areas of confusion.

That is why I prefer blended learning most, but still think WBT has merit. You work to engage your learners--not just take text based documents and turn them into PowerPoint pages a la copy and paste magic.

So, if textbooks can do what online training has done for self-study paper-based documents--I say great--it will save students money and make education once again affordable.

Just do it right the first time and make etextbooks engage the learner/student. Especially because we have so many tools at our fingertips to make it outstanding.

I remember when ...

I was taking pictures of my 18-month-old niece at a family reunion a couple of weeks ago. After every shot, she came up to me to see the picture I just took. She had to see every picture. Her world is so different from mine— I never saw pictures until weeks later when I had already forgotten what pictures had been taken.

She, however, will never know anything different than an instant, fast-paced world of technology that is constantly evolving—becoming faster and sleeker with each upgrade.

It made me think of when I went to a museum in Chicago a few years ago. It had a section that represented the decades of the 20^th century. I was with a group of 14-year-old girls, and they were amazed to see one of the first Macintosh Computers on display. They thought it looked so archaic. My thought? …That is the computer I first used in school—how could something I’ve used possibly be in a museum? I’m not that old.

The thing is, I’m not that old—29 to be exact. I was born in 1980, between Mount St. Helens erupting and the USA boycotting the Olympic Games in Moscow. I grew up wearing neon clothing, hearing my older sisters rock out to grunge music and—unbeknownst to me—participating in a growing technological revolution.

This post is nostalgic and muses on how technology has changed in my short lifespan. By the time my niece is 29 years old, I’m sure she’ll write something like “I remember when we still had desktop PCs or separate phone, cameras, and IPods.”

How far have we come? Indulge me for a minute as I relive a few memories. I know you will be tempted to outdate me—feel free. I would love to hear what you remember as you think back on how technology has changed your life. There was a time when all these things were normal—they were just part of how we lived and communicated. Now, the world will forever be changed by Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Google. But, there were days when life was different. Take a jaunt down memory lane with me, just for fun.

I remember:

• using a real card catalog at the local library
• watching my first movie on a VCR: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
• sending away for information about Scotland for my world report
• using a hardcopy of an Encyclopedia to research
• playing Super Mario Bros. and Oregon Trail
• making music mixes on cassette tapes
• typing school papers on my mom’s old typewriter and using correction strips
• using pay phones to call my mom to pick me up after school
• thinking pagers were cool
• buying and using film for my camera
• writing real letters to people
• using a CD for the first time and not knowing what to do
• signing up for my first email account (as a freshman in college)
• registering for my college classes via the phone (which was still attached to the wall)
• buying and using phone cards
• using floppy discs, then hard discs, then zip drives, and now flash drives
• memorizing phone numbers since I didn’t have a cell phone. (There was a time when people didn’t carry cell phones around—I’m not sure how we functioned without them. We must have been better planners.)
  
  

Here’s your chance to outdate me. I know you want to!