DIGITAL TEXTS Giving School Book Publishers The Willies! The Days of $100 Course Texts Coming To A Welcome End!
God'sLittleAnus
are supplementing or substituting the heavy, expensive and indelible
hardbound book with its lighter, cheaper and changeable cousin: the
digital textbook."
===========
"In some classrooms, books are a thing of the past"
"Digital texts gaining favor, but critics question quality"
By Ashley Surdin
Monday, October 19, 2009
AGOURA HILLS, CALIF. -- The dread of high school algebra is lost here
amid the blue glow of computer screens and the clickety-clack of
keyboards.
A fanfare plays from a speaker as a student passes a chapter test.
Nearby, a classmate watches a video lecture on ratios. Another works
out an equation in her notebook before clicking on a multiple-choice
answer on her screen.
Their teacher at Agoura High School, Russell Stephans, sits at the
back of the room, watching as scores pop up in real time on his
computer grade sheet. One student has passed a level, the data shows;
another is retaking a quiz.
"Whoever thought this up makes life so much easier," Stephans says
with a chuckle.
This textbook-free classroom is by no means the norm, but it may be
someday. Slowly, but in increasing numbers, grade schools across the
country are supplementing or substituting the heavy, expensive and
indelible hardbound book with its lighter, cheaper and changeable
cousin: the digital textbook.
Also known as a flexbook because of its adaptability, a digital
textbook can be downloaded, projected and printed, and can range from
simple text to a Web-based curriculum embedded with multimedia and
links to Internet content. Some versions must be purchased; others are
"open source" -- free and available online to anyone.
Some praise the technology as a way to save schools money, replace
outdated books and better engage tech-savvy students. Others say most
schools don't have the resources to join the digital drift, or they
question the quality of open-source content.
Hardbound books still dominate the $7 billion U.S. textbook market,
with digital textbooks making up less than 5 percent, according to
analyst Kathy Mickey of Simba Information, a market research group.
But that is changing, as K-12 schools follow the lead of U.S.
universities and schools in other countries, including South Korea and
Turkey. In Florida's Broward County, students and teachers log online
to access digital versions of their Spanish, math and reading books.
In Arizona, classes at one Vail School District high school are
conducted entirely with laptops instead of textbooks. And in Virginia
this year, state officials and educators unveiled a free physics
flexbook to complement textbooks.
California's experiment
California made the largest embrace of digital textbooks this summer
when it approved 10 free high school math and science titles developed
by college professors and the CK-12 Foundation, a Palo Alto-based
nonprofit aimed at lowering the cost of educational materials. The
titles were approved as meeting at least 90 percent of California's
academic standards, with the state leaving the choice to use them up
to individual schools.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) hopes they will. His digital textbook
initiative is meant to cut costs in the severely cash-strapped state.
(Given that the average textbook costs $100, he argued, the state
could save $400 million if its 2 million high school students used
digital math and science texts.) The initiative also aims to replace
aging hardbound books that don't teach students about the Iraq war,
the country's first black president or the Human Genome Project.
"The textbooks are outdated, as far as I'm concerned, and there's no
reason why our schools should have our students lug around these
antiquated and heavy and expensive books," Schwarzenegger said this
summer. "Digital textbooks are good not only for the students'
achievement, but they're also good for the schools' bottom line."
California public and private schools spent more than $633 million on
textbooks in 2007, making the state the biggest spender nationwide,
according to the latest data from the Association of American
Publishers. Schools in Texas spent $375 million; in New York, $264
million. The District spent $13.9 million.
Controlling costs?
Concerns over costs prompted Congress to pass legislation last year
that requires publishers to disclose the price of textbooks when they
sell them to teachers. It also ends a practice in which publishers
sell books and supplemental materials together, driving up costs.
Several states have passed similar legislation.
But some dispute the idea that digital textbooks -- even open-source
versions -- will be cheaper for states, at least right away, or
improve education quality.
"Keep in mind that with open-source materials, you have to ask, 'Where
are they coming from?' " said Jay Diskey, executive director of the
Association of American Publishers' school division. "Is it a trusted
source? Is it aligned to state standards? Is it based on real
research?"
Diskey said traditional textbooks offer a comprehensive curriculum,
while some open-source texts provide only bits and pieces. "There can
be quite a difference of content and accuracy," he said. "In many
cases, you get what you pay for."
Textbook publishers face losing business as free Internet content
expands. But Diskey blames the recession, not free digital books, for
any fiscal hardships facing the industry. "We don't think budgets are
being cut because of open-source materials," he said.
A lack of digital resources
Schools using digital texts say it's too soon to tell how much money
they may be saving. As critics point out, long-term fiscal benefits
require upfront resources that many schools lack: money, teacher
training, bandwidth to support Internet multimedia and, most
critically, computers.
The majority of households have personal computers and Internet
access, according to a 2005 report from the Census Bureau, but access
declines with income. And U.S. schools on average have roughly one
computer for every four students, according to 2005 data from the
National Center for Education Statistics.
"It's going to be a bit of a challenge for schools throughout the
country to implement this new technology," said David Sanchez,
president of the California Teachers Association. "How do you
guarantee all children have access to that kind of textbook?"
Glen Thomas, California's education secretary, questions whether
digital textbooks require a computer for every child. "This initiative
is not about hardware," he said. "I visited a classroom where there
were a couple kids using laptops, several had textbooks, some had a
couple chapters printed out, and the lesson was displayed on a screen
in front of the class."
For now, it appears that digital textbooks are largely a school-by-
school, teacher-by-teacher choice. But converts such as Stephans of
Agoura High School are quick to encourage more.
"If there was a list of math teachers who would have signed up for
this, I would have been at the bottom," said Stephans, who hesitantly
agreed to pilot the textbook-free class this year. To educators
considering the digital possibilities, he now says: "What are you
waiting for?"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/18/AR2009101802360.html
zzbu...@netscape.net
> "Slowly, but in increasing numbers, grade schools across the country
> are supplementing or substituting the heavy, expensive and indelible
> hardbound book with its lighter, cheaper and changeable cousin: the
> digital textbook."
Idiot textbook Publishers are why the people with actual more than
crap for brains invented Reverse Compilers not only Digital
Textbooks,
They also invented 4D Holographics, HDTV, Home Broadband,
Flat Screen Software Debuggers, Blue Ray, mp3, mpeg, and On-Line
Publishing,
not only A-D Converters. And invented GPS, Digital Terrain Mapping,
Data Fusion,
PCM, Atomic Clock Wristwatches, Light Sticks, Compact Flourescent
Lighting,
Cyber Batteries, Biodiesel, Pv Cell Energy, Distributerd Processing
Software,
Self-Assembling Robots and the 21st Century, rather than AM Radio.
And also invented ABS, Self-Replicating Machines, All-In-One
Printers,
and Multiplexed Fiber Optics rather than Loading docks
And also UAVs, AAVs, Microwave Cooling, Thermo-Electric Cooling, and
USB,
rather than idiot Style Section reporters and water coolers.
Also Phalanx and Drones rather than Volcanoes and evolution.
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/18/AR200...