The idea of having digital textbooks is not new. Now one publisher has come up with software that will allow college instructors to edit digital editions of textbooks that they use in their classes. Go to the link below and read the article. Write a reflective comment that shows you have read the article, expresses your views, and addresses my questions.
What advantages do you see in having digital textbooks that the instructor can customize? What concerns would you have? Use your imagination and describe a couple changes that could be made to a digital textbook to make it more interesting. What do you think about the price difference between printed textbooks and the DynamicBooks version? If you were the publisher for DynamicBooks, how would you ensure that offensive things and plagiarism are kept out of your digital textbooks?
20 comments:
The advantages i see in a digital textbook that the instructor can customize would be that if something was hard to understand it could maybe be paraphrase for us to understand better or something. But my concerns would be that he could edit things in a wrong well add wrong information or info in his point of view which might not be right.some things that could be change to make a textbook more interesting could be some of the wording sometimes, maybe some of the pictures in it, and some activities or exercise.I think that the price difference is huge, i never knew a printed textbook cost so much but i think that here there price is reasonable and better more affordable for a school.If i were the publisher i would make sure that in the contract of buying the textbook it really says it first clear and obvious then i will regulary go and check the edits and if i find something offensive i will warn the proffesor once and if it happens again then i will get that professor out of the system and he can go back to printed textbooks. so this is what i think about Dynamicbooks.
There are certainly many advantages to having textbooks that digitized but along with those there are also several disadvantages. One such advantage as is evident from the article is that a teacher, professor, or educator can change the order of the chapters to suit the syllabus that he or she has created. But that can also be a disadvantage in that if the chapters order is changed to too high a degree then the students may not be able to coherently transition from one topic to another. For example say a social studies teacher rearranges the textbook so that all of the civilizations that are in the same continent are in the first two units or so. This means that when the class moves to a different continental civilization then the transition from one to another might be quite rocky at best. Another advantage would be that a given professor who finds a certain piece of information in compatible with a recent discovery or breakthrough might alter the information to make it at least more compatible with such. But this means that if such a discovery contradicts the information in the digitized textbook it might (and this is a big might) be the case that the professor might be tempted to either delete the contradictory textbook information or to try to make the two contradictory pieces of information lineup as it were. Another disadvantage would be that the professor might decide to completely rewrite the textbook using nothing but his own experiences to do so. This means that while the information make perfect sense to him or her it might make no sense whatsoever to anybody else.
One of the huge advantages is to be able to correct the wrong information in the textbook so other people don’t misunderstand and spread their misunderstanding to others, but even though this might seem like there are a lot of advantages, infact there are more disadvantages to it, for example look at Wikipedia. If books were to really turn into digital books then there would be a lot of changes to the world, I mean if a book got eletronized then other things such as TV, instruments, or even pen/pencil would turn into something that you can only do in computers also. If that were to happen then everyone would be spending their whole life sitting infront of their laptop because it can do everything. You might think that “Well that sounds good?”, but in my option I don’t think it is. Also the price difference between the printed textbooks and the dynamic books are too wide, everyone would rather buy things cheaper, therefore no one would buy papers anymore. If no one buy paper anymore then paper price would drop. If I were really to publish for Dynamic books, there is no way I can ensure that there will be offensive things or plagiarism in my digital textbook because this is a big world and there is no way anyone can keep track of the system.
There are a few advantages to having digital textbooks that the instructor can customize. One example is like kids who aren’t as knowledge as an average student should be, the instructor could customize the information to be suitable for these kids. What concerns me though, with this idea is that some instructors may have their own view of what they agree and what they don’t agree on- even if its facts that they aren’t agreeing on. The instructor has the capability of misusing this privilege and it could affect the students. Some interesting changes that could be done to a digital textbook are making up your own entertaining activities and exercises. Also you could add fascinating photos you might believe your students would find interesting. I was surprised at how the prices went down so much. There is a big difference and it might be great for many people who want to buy the book from Macmillan but the author of the book may start to lose some money. If I were the publisher I would keep track of all the digital textbooks and the new customized ones but there is not certain way to keep track and ensure that offensive things and plagiarism are kept out of the digital textbooks.
-Maya
The advantages I see in having digital textbooks that the instructor can customize are that the instructor can rewrite the information in an understandable way, (by making some sentences easier to understand for the students), adding illustrations, and that the instructor can remove any unnecessary information. My concern is that the instructor would fix the information, or add information that wouldn’t true, which ultimately can harm the students’ learning. What could make a digital textbook more interesting is adding captivating photos, and videos. Also, having links to interesting websites where learning can be more fun, and there could be some quizzes to do to check if the stuff that has been read was understood. I think that the price difference is very big, and a bit surprising. I can imagine people in the future using digital textbooks instead of real ones for that exact reason. I would ensure that offensive things and plagiarism are kept out of my digital textbook by hiring people who would monitor the textbook changes, or maybe install a software to the system that checks for plagiarism by comparing the changes to a database.
-Q
The advantage that I see in having digital textbooks that the instructor can customize is that he would be able to change it according to the class he has, and at the pace that the class would go. He would also be able to choose what materials to study according to what he would want to focus on. The concerns that I have are that if the internet is out, a person would have a hard time to find the digital textbook. To make it more interesting, the teacher could add some pictures and videos on the topics to make it interesting and fun. Also he can add effects between pages to make it more exiting. What I think about the price difference is unbelievable! IT is a lot more affordable, and people would not struggle at all to buy. If I was the publisher for DynamicBooks, how I would ensure that offensive things and plagiarism are kept out of your digital textbooks is that I would warn the professor is that he should not have anything offensive on his online textbook, or have any plagiarism or else he would suffer severe consequences.
There are a few advantages to having digital textbooks that the instructor can customize, such as it gives more freedom for the instructor and the student, the instructor can make things easier to understand for the students, by adding examples, videos, illustrations, and that the teacher can decide on what he wants to have in his material for the course. Concerns I have is that the instructor can right facts that they are not 100% précis and true, their own view of something.
My imagination would describe a couple changes that could be made to a digital textbook to make it more interesting is the good illustrations, videos, and interesting websites that will give the students better understanding in an easier fun way. I was surprised about the price difference between printed textbooks and Dynamic Books version because the price difference is big that will make people save money. If I were the publisher for DynamicBooks, how would you ensure that offensive things and plagiarism are kept out of your digital textbooks by employing many employs to ensure that there is no offensive things and plagiarism are kept out. –Ayaa
A customizable textbook would be useful if there were any errors, or if the instructor simply wanted to add something to the textbook, a lesson or fact that was not there for instance. I would be concerned that the instructor might be biased, and change the information to support his/her argument or point of view. Images, videos, or animations could be added to digital textbooks to make them more interesting, or maybe a digital “tour guide” to walk and talk you through the textbook. I think that the price of DynamicBooks is a major asset for this company, I believe that they are headed in the right direction, and need to continue making education more affordable. If I was the publisher for DynamicBooks, I would add an auto-sensor to make sure that no offensive things get in to the book, and I would make a copy-paste option unavailable with the exception of the instructor edition.
Digital textbooks can have many advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are that the textbook is in the format the teacher likes it, since it can be customized. Since every teacher has a different teaching style this is definitely very useful. Also for the students the textbook can be viewed everytime they have a laptop or an iPhone with them. Another important advantage is that a lot of paper is saved. The disadvantages are that the complete school work will be completely digital, so at sometime no paper will be used anymore. My concern is actually that at some stage everybody will only be focused on the screens of the devices where the textbook is being viewed. The human body may get used to it but it is still kind of a waste of life. When having the chance of editing an online textbook I would first look at all the chapters and topics. I would delete all the topics where I am sure that I will not use them for the course. After that I would look at the different chapters and edit them so that it also fits with my teaching style. Maybe I would add some pictures or some flash animations as examples. I think the digital version of the textbook would definitely be cheaper. The costs of all the paper can be saved and also the purchase would definitely be easier. If I would be the publisher for DynamicBooks, I would program the service so that it automatically can scan pictures, videos or others that are inserted into the textbooks. If they are offensive they would then automatically be deleted and a message would be sent to DynamicBooks about the offensive information and the user so that he can be excluded from further purchases.
If you have a digital textbook that the instructor can customize than you can fix errors. I would be concerned if the information is accurate, out-of-date, or biased. If I could make a digital textbook more interesting, I would put pictures, videos, and diagrams. I was very surprised when I got to know the price differences between printed textbooks and the DynamicBooks version. If I were the publisher for DynamicBooks, I would ensure that offensive things and plagiarism are kept out my digital textbooks by preventing the use of right clicking with your mouse, copy righting my page, and I would make the site only usable with an account that verifies who you are.
This is the thing we need in the future. I find that digital textbooks allow professors to change something to make the text clearer and they can maybe create their own textbook for his/her own class. What might be a disadvantage is that soe professors might change something but might be wrong but to fix that is like wikipedia. They can add information but it has to be approved by someone who is strong on that topic. To make the online textbo more interesting i to add interactie activities, with maybe some movies in t, or give it a modern and cool look to it instead of text and text and text. The price is reasonable and its a good attention grabber. If I was a publisher of DynamicBooks, I would add a program which will instant create MLA, and other citation to help you get the and make it more safer. I would add a really sophisticated program that allows you to cite anything on the digital textbook and the only thing you have to do is to tell the title of the book, or website and answer a couple of questions to get the rite citation.
I believe the digital textbooks have good advantages for people. Like for example a teacher could customize the lesson for a better understanding for their students to comprehend and understand easier. The only concern is what about the original author that wrote the book, and maybe that certain teacher might add words or other information that might not be relevant or incorrect. To make a digital textbook more interesting I think it could be nice to have homework or regular exercises with the lesson that the teacher has made or has modified. I think the price between the two textbooks is a huge difference since DynamicBooks is technology you would think that they would cost more then the regular textbooks. To ensure offensive things and plaguarism I think a teacher should remove it so nothing bad goes happen then could possibly notify the original author if he wanted to! Or he could even just skip part of that section out the lesson.
The advantages in having digital textbooks that the instructor can customize would be the fact that they can change the order of the chapters to match the way they want to instruct the course, also many times instructors tend to give out other forms of information to add to the textbook, having everything the instructor wants in a textbook would make it a lot easier to teach a course. The concerns I would have would be the fact that the instructor may change some information based on a biased opinion, or based on false information that the students may take in the wrong way. Some interesting changes to add to a digital textbook would probably be some sort of digital animation, or activities and exercises; also some interesting pictures always help. I think the price difference between printed textbooks and the DynamicBooks is convenient, but may cause the publishers and authors to lose money. If I were the publisher for DynamicBooks to ensure that offensive things and plagiarism are kept out of the digital textbooks I would have some people constantly review the textbook, if anything is found offensive or plagiarized then a notification would be sent to the editor of the specific version of the textbook. -Leen
The advantages I see in digital textbooks that the instructor can customize are that the instructors can specifically pick out topics that he/she knows will benefit the students on a specific topic. The concerns that I have with this digital textbook is that instructors can change it so much that the real information will no longer be there or, the wrong information will be there. It is almost like when bunches of people touch the same food and the last person wants to eat it, that person doesn’t not what he/she is getting herself in. Is this person going to be sick? Is he or she going to contact a disease? The same effect will happen if to many instructors have the ability to change the textbooks. The students may no know what type of information that are using or learning from. If I had the chance to change a textbook I would try to change grammatical errors or switch up a sentence to make it more understandable. Really, I don’t want to change any piece of information because I have that fear that more people are going to disagree thus, I would be more that happy to change small things than being things. I think the price difference between the two is very good, this makes me personally want to bye the digital version other than the real textbook because it saves money and plus I’ll basically learn the same things. If I were a publisher I would keep eye on everything. I’ll set up of software that will show me if anyone plagiarized or said offensive things.
The advantages I see in a digital textbook that the instructor can customize would be that if something was hard to understand he can change up the words and make it easier for us to understand. But my concern is that we will loose the old-school pencil and paper. When the instructor changes it up, it will loose it original context (that was really what we are supposed to be learning). I would create games that go along with the text information to make learning more fun. text book are known to be expensive, the school can save up a lot of money if they use digital text books. I will create something not letting the student copy paste, in other words they won't be able to do that.
A teacher could take out shorten or go into more detail on a pacific subject. My concurrences are that the teacher might add something in that’s not true or take out something that is critical. To make a textbook more interesting I would shorten words and sentences reliving stress on the readers. The price difference is great and will reduce the price of collage and it also saves the planet by going paperless. I would put a lock on it and reserve a right to remove anything that I find offensive.
There are many advantages in online books for the instructor because he/she get to edit or delete any thing they want. My concerns about digital books are that the editor might mistakenly add wrong information. Some changes that can make a digital book interesting is that it could be designed better than normal books and it can include better describing pictures and some links for websites for better understanding. I found that textbooks hugely costs more than dynamic books, also those dynamic books can be read for free. If I am the constructor of a dynamic book, I would make sure that no one can change information in the text other than me.
advantages in being able to re-write a digital customize, is that if a teacher doesn’t want to teach something, or want to teach something that isn't in the books they can re-write it for it to be in the book. Some of the disadvantages are that if teachers get too comfortable changing things whenever they like, then the information might not be as accurate anymore. Some things that could make the books more interesting by adding pictures and/or animations. The price difference is significant, but I don’t think it’s fair for the traditional textbooks. If I were the publisher, I would install a censor that blocks out any inappropriate things or plagiarism from going on the books.
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