Digital textbooks are being introduced in some schools. As California schools begin adopting the state's first digital text, some ask why textbook publishers aren't offering more electronic versions of their hefty tomes. Teacher preferences, technology access as well as state and local policies all play a role, educators and publishers say. Go to the link below and read the article. Then, write a reflective comment about the topic.
Are all of the reasons given for the slow adoption of digital textbooks valid? Which is the strongest reason in your mind? How well would digital textbooks work at our school? How would you train teachers to work with digital instructional materials? As schools increase their expenditures for digital supplemental materials in the future, how should they spend their money? What sorts of things should they buy? What do we need at our school? What do you think about the electronic text reader idea?
Digital Textbooks Article
13 comments:
I think that digital textbooks are the best and easiest way of learning from. Its very hard to carry around 10 kilos of textbooks everyday. I know we have a locker. It would be much easier to use an electronic textbook because it would make life easier and less difficult for us. A lot of people have back problems when they grow up. It might just be from all the textbooks you carry around all day, 5 days a week.
I think these digital textbooks would be very welcome in our school. Kids wouldnt have to carry so much and everybody knows and prefers to work on a computer. I think all teachers know how to use a computer enough to be able to use electronic textbooks. We live in the 21st century dont we? I think we have to go with time. These things are modern now.
Schools that dont have enough money should stay with textbooks. Our school has enough money though to buy these things. We need these electronic textbooks. There should be a laptop for every student that he or she could use at any time. Most students have one and would not need to use one from the school. Life would be a lot easier.
To me all the reasons given for the slow adoption of digital textbooks are valid. In my mind the strongest reason for that is lack of student access to technology. If we were to introduce digital textbooks to our school they would actually do quite well since nearly every student in our school has internet access and if they do not, the school library and computer labs have great computers and internet access. If I were to train teachers on how to work with digital instructional materials, I would hold a workshop on it and teach them how to use the internet/CD-ROM appliances, how to troubleshoot any troubles they face with the internet or CD, and what content and activities to expect from the sites and CDs. As schools increase their expenditures for digital supplemental materials in the future, they should spend their money on trying to get the textbooks with the best content and quality. They should also spend their money on training teachers on how to use these appliances and also they should update their computer lab so that if a student’s internet connection is down, or a CD is not working, they have a solution to their troubles. At our school, I would say that the need for electronic textbooks is not great, but it could be useful in some classes that deal with technology, such as computer literacy or digital media.
On the whole idea of an electronic textbook, I think it’s a nice idea, but it’s an unnecessary luxury. Also, I think it’s much easier for a person to focus and understand if he has a print reference in front of him. If a student needs to answer questions on the topic he is reading, it’s much easier to have a print textbook in front of him since he can just go back to the page in which he read the answer. Also, personally, I would not be able to stand looking at a flickering computer screen for hours at a time everyday. However a convenient thing about the electronic textbook is that, as they said in the article, let us say you’re taking an ancient world history class and an important find had just been discovered, you could possibly be informed at the moment that you are in the class. To me, the electronic textbook seems more of a thing that universities and colleges are most likely to adopt, not schools.
I personally think that the idea of adopting digital textbooks is a great idea. It is a great idea because it is better for the environment and the children. I mean there is so man schools in the states, and if each kid gets a textbook for like eight classes you would have to print so much and so many trees would get cut down to produce paper. No companies print there books in recycle paper. For a kid to carry an 8 kilo text book is not healthy. I have experienced it, your back hurts and you’re already tired when you reach class, it is a pain. I think that all reasons given for the slow adoption of digital textbooks are valid. I could imagine how teachers would be questioned when they’re using a digitalized textbook. If you’re not good in technology like the old teachers then this will be very difficult for the teachers to adapt. My strongest reason on my mid is the one where old teachers which are most experienced teachers would be confused and would not be able to teach as good as they taught with out the digitalized textbook. At our school I think that digitalized textbooks would be fine. Since this school is small and you don’t have to walk like a mile from class to class carrying a textbook isn’t that hard.
How would I train teachers to use the digitalized textbooks? Well I would give two lessons after school from 3 to 4:30 this would give the teachers plenty of time to see how this digitalized text book works. I know that there are many schools in the states but if they spend there money at once it would be a bad choice. I think that they should test some schools around the country to see how things workout. I f they don’t then simply don’t buy it. If you had already bougth the digitalized textbooks then it would be a waste if test results go low. I think that the schools should buy some portable computers that are specially meant for the digitized textbooks. You get one at the beginning of the year and then you return it. Each computer has all the textbooks you will need for that grade. Since our schools already have the laptops I think that we should use them more often. And instead of printing we use the laptops which already have the worksheet saved on to there. I think that the electronic text reader is perfect if it only cost 100 dollars. I think this would give schools an easier way of studying and taking notes.
I think digital textbooks are the rite thing to use in schools that have the money to buy it. They are the easiest way contributing from, providing the student with more neatness, more time, and more understanding. It would make the global impact (Global Warming)reduce, buy not cutting trees to use paper for. The only problem with digital textbooks is,(cost*#students)(schools money
The idea of the use of any paper used material is dying. People are starting to think that books are nothing but a waste of time. Well, they are wrong, the biggest museum in the world is the museum of Franck fort for book's. That is one of my reasons why i still support the use of paper in our days. Passing between ancestors is a tradition done for millions of years, and it is not constitutional to break that precedent away.
In conclusion my final thought of digital notebooks and paper notebooks, i prefer the digital for me. It contains all the information found in book, in all directions. summarized, detailed, and edited editions.
In my opinion, digital textbooks are not very good for teaching. Nothing beats the book I belive. You will always need a book by your side. Textbooks are better in many ways. They are portable, you have an index and when you need to type something out it can be right next to you. When you use a digital program, you need to minimize the worksheet or program to be able to use Microsoft word. Also for some people like me, reading long articles from the computer is tough. For every article or essay or typed out documents, I need to print them out. I just can�t read it from my laptop. Although it is easier to have a digital textbook, in schools you might need to bring your own laptop. I am very confident our school will adapt to digital textbooks in 3-5 years because our school is very high in technology. Almost all the computers in school are the latest. There are about 24 desktops in the high school computer lab and 24 middle school/ elementary lab. There are also 25 laptops in the high school and 25 laptops in the middle school. 10 of the laptops in each of the 25 in the middle school and high school were bought this year and are Mac book pro�s, they contain pc and Mac. The other 15 were bought two years ago and are still very good. This is the main reason our school will adapt to digital textbooks. The second main reason is that all middle school and high school students in our school do have this option of using the internet.
I do personally believe that the reasons for slow adoption to me are valid. The biggest one that rings in my head is that not every student has the technology we have. Like not all people have connected internet to their computers or laptops. But using digital textbooks should not be used over the internet but in a CD or flash drive. The internet is not always trustworthy because your internet might be out, the electricity is off, you wireless LAN is not operating well, and your dad forget to pay the internet bill. These are all possibilities. In our school everyone can afford laptops, computers, internets, phones etc� Schools like ours, or Kings Academy, should offer these types of developments in the future, they should be able to provide both a textbook and digital textbooks. Some private schools have a requirement of each student having a laptop that they are able to bring to school. This should also be used at our school but only for high school students for they are in need of computers more than any other section.
To teach the teachers how to use digital textbooks, well there should be a program to do that, with the teachers edition textbook there should come a CD with the instructions. As one of the teachers or professors said in the article, the CD�s that come with the textbook are hard to download and complicated. In each textbook, there should be 2-3 CD�s. Textbooks are pretty large so they should be divided into two sections, the first to be taught in the first semester, the second to be taught on the second semester. The third CD should be instructions of how to use the software. Schools should spend their money on textbooks that provide CD�s. Private schools should be able to afford a computer or laptop to provide for students. We have about 100 students in our high school and about 50 computers to use for the students in the high school. This ratio will show how many computers should be available for the amount of students, for ever computer or laptop 2 students should use it. For every 100 students, there should be 50 computer devices. This will give an opportunity for all school students to have digital access. Not every class needs the computers or laptops at the same time. We do not need computers in P.E or in choir, or in Arabic class for example. I do not think that our school needs more technology than it already has. We have enough to keep us updated. I think that the text reader is a great idea. It is like a paper you can write on and use it every day and save your assignments and print them out. This device should be bought by the student or added to the tuition. It is a very valuable resource in my opinion.
This article turned my concentration toward the rising technology for learning. It talks about how textbooks are slowly being replaced by digital textbooks and other non- printed documents. Before the complete switch, several experiments are taking place in the United States of America. Two states, it is being experimented in, are New York and California. Through the experiments serious problems arose and may delay the switching process. Schools in the United States consist of a large amount of people. The average amount of students in each school ranges from two thousand to four thousand students. This is a large amount of students to purchase this new technology for. Moreover, schools own small computer labs that do not supply enough of the students. Furthermore, most students do not have internet at their home or even a computer. This would cause a problem for the individuals because of their inability to use the new technology.
This article was very interesting and caused me to look at how the technology in school is rising. As I read through the reasons used to prove the slow adoption of digital textbooks, I checked the validity of the reasons. Student families that can not purchase technology as expensive as this and schools unable to supply students with the materials to run the programs are both valid in a variety of countries. I believe the use of digital textbooks in our generation, is both a difficulty and an expensive thing to do. Based on experience, most students need a long period of time to learn how to use the program. Moreover, errors and mistakes in the digital textbook program and its installation are common. If I was a principle or a leader in a school, I would first introduce this program to teachers and give them one to two years to explore through the program and understand how it works. Moreover, I would hold lessons lead by a professional in this field, to teach the teachers how to use it correctly and effectively. Then I would allow the teachers to introduce it to their classes and show them how it works. But, I would not allow teachers to use the digital textbook program, until the students become experienced and used to the program. Through the process, textbooks will be still widely used. The digital textbook program would only be used for special circumstances. As a student, I do not believe this is the best way to learn. We should base our learning on textbooks and printed documents. The digital textbook program will have errors and will break down frequently, stopping us from learning. Our school should focus most of their purchases on books, enlarging the school, and adding more areas to be used for sports. Spending money on this new technology should be spent after these adjustments are made. The electronic text reader idea is a smart idea and will prove useful. But, we should not make the adoption process too quick and we should never cut the usage of textbooks. I believe the adoption of the digital textbooks will be a tough and brutal conversion.
All the reasons for the slow adoption of digital textbooks are valid to me. The strongest reason in my mind is that not everyone can have an access to technology. Many students all around the schools especially public ones do not have internet access or even a computer at home. Therefore if the books would be digital they would have a hard time financially. I think digital books would work well in our school because most of our students have a computer at home and an access to technology. I think teachers will easily learn how to use those programs. For example, in our school even now the new teachers always have some lessons on how to use Blackboard for instance. Few lessons would do the trick, and all the teachers would be ready to teach through those digital books. Schools would obviously spend their money in almost the same way they do now. The only difference would be instead of schools buying books they would be replaced by digital books. But in the same time schools should be careful in controlling their budget and not forgetting about other school activities because those digital books cost a lot, therefore they need to balance their money more. If the digital books system expands, more schools would definitely buy this new technology. I think our school should try the electronic text reader; it seems like fun and an easy way to study. We can definitely buy those digital books and try this new way of education. I think electronic text reader is a great and easy way of learning.
In my opinion adopting those new technologies now would be not so good because their prices are still too high. Those digital books would be too expensive and schools would not even think about buying them. I think that this system would expand in the future, and be more common in schools. Because students now are into technology and they like everything that has to do with technology so people are trying to add education to technology so students will learn and enjoy it at the same time. But in my opinion, this new way would totally harm your eyes. I mean now with the regular textbooks and you still use the computer so much. And if the textbooks become part of the computer too you would get too tired of that and wouldn’t enjoy it anymore.
The major reasons why we are slowly adopting to digital texts is that, one publishing companies would profit more from textbooks than from e books and that the pricing at the moment is too much for most school districts. In my opinion I believe that the publishing companies are the biggest reason most school districts don't have e books because they don't stand to profit as much as they could and they hold the text that digital textbook would need.
I think digital textbooks would work well at our school because our students are so connected to technology. And because digital textbooks are a new thing they might come with a tutorial or teachers could just teach like they've always taught the only difference being that their books can be upgraded faster and more efficiently
I believe before a school starts spending money on digital textbooks they should focus on the basic things they don't have, for example heating. Then if enough money is left over to easily buy and install digital text books into the curriculum you should go for it, because the digital textbooks are an easy alternative but not the main focus of the academic world. At our school I believe we should 1st focus on getting new textbooks before we worry about digitizing our lives.
I think that the electronic text reader would be a great idea because it's cheap and easy to upgrade if publishers would agree to provide the information.
Yes, I believe that all the reasons given for the slow adoption of digital textbooks are valid. I believe the strongest reason for that is students' not having access to technological devices. I believe the use of digital textbooks in our generation, is somewhat difficult. But, since technological devices, when introduced to the new world are always at a high price; gradually over time the prices lower, and that’s what people could wait for.
Introducing digital textbooks to our school definitely is first-rate. I'm sure at least more than half of students in our school have internet access! Students would find it a lot more helpful, since the argument about heavy books in backpacks are giving students' problems with their shoulders. If I had the chance to train teachers on how to work with digital equipment, it would be affective if meetings were held every other day for it to show them how to use the internet and computer applications, how to use CD's and know how to differentiate good and bad sites. As schools increase their expenditures for digital supplemental materials, they should spend their money on trying to get the textbooks with the best quality and the most accurate information. Another way to spend their money is to buy better types of computers that have more applications to make your work easier. Also to have a better network coverage, because sometimes too many students are using the internet at the same time and that blocks the connection with a lot of the other students.
The electronic textbook is a new idea to me; I think it’s much easier to have it around. Even though I would find it a lot easier, it's not exactly the healthiest way to treat your eyes; looking at a screen like that for hours, it would hurt my eyes. However a good thing about the electronic textbook is that, it’s a lot less weight on your shoulders for the day, and prevents some people with problems as their older. Another thing is you also get informed with important finds at that rite moment.
I do believe that all the reasons given for the slow adaptation of digital textbooks are valid. This is because all the reasons are things that we have to go through today. For example accessing the internet or actually carrying laptops to school. But in my opinion the strongest reason would have to be actually having to type and print things out. I don’t mean that this is going to be a hard thing to do, but it is actually useless. I mean, if we already have textbooks that provide us with information, then why would be need to type everything up and then print it again. It would just be like making the textbook all over again, if we keep printing everything we do in class. At our school, I don't think that digital textbooks will work any time soon. First of all, it costs too much money to provide everyone with a laptop instead of a textbook, and we would have to pay even more than we are right now! Also, sometimes the internet is down and you can’t access anything you are doing, since probably most of it is online on your email. This would just waste the entire class period, because no one was expecting to bring paper or even a pen.
As schools increase their expenditures for digital supplemental materials in the future, I think that they should spend their money training the teachers on how to teach using a computer. They should know exactly what to do if someone's computer broke down, or if the internet went dead. This is really important because then the student would take advantage of saying they had no internet access at home, and avoid doing their homework. Also, they should buy things like better quality textbooks. Our school would not need to use digital textbooks for everything, but just some subjects. For example like the article said, history class, because you can update it every once in a while and that is crucial because history is always changing. But in other subjects like math and chemistry, I think we should just stick to the printed textbooks.
In my opinion I think that the electronic text idea would not be a very good idea. First of all, you are always taking risks when you teach on the computer because you always have at least one or two students playing around and not listening to the teacher. Also, it is a lot easier to cheat during tests when you are using the computer because not only can you email each other answers, but you can open the internet for answers as well. Another reason that electronic text is not a good idea, is because when people get too skilled in computers they start learning a lot of things they shouldn't be learning, like how to hack someone's email or computer. So this is truly why I believe that the electronic text might not work, but to be honest I kind of like the idea. The last comment I want to make is that I do wonder about the little primary kids, and how they are going to use computers. Because if they are going to use computers when they grow up, then why are we teaching them to write! Would the new generations to come forget to write and depend only on computers?? I guess only time can tell!
As I was reading this article I realized that I was agreeing with every thing that they said to support digital textbooks. I think Digital textbooks are a great idea because of many reasons, one would be that a digital textbook would have all your textbooks for every class in one. So that means it would not be so heavy anymore. Another reason is that you won't have to go to your locker to get your stuff because your always going to need the same textbook. And that way you will not be late for class.
I think our school should start using these digital textbooks because life would be a lot easier for every one. And I dont think that any one cannot afford them because we can afford this expensive school. I also think that we should'nt have to pay for these just like we don't pay for our textbooks. So it would be the exact same thing but the textbook is digital instead.
I started thinking that I wanted to move to California just for that reason. That is how much life would be easier with digital textbooks.
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