Transcript Harnessing the Power

If You Digitize It Will They Read?
Digital Textbooks in the Classroom
The Advent of Digital Textbook Utilization:
A Faculty Perspective
November 1, 2011 from Noon-1:30
Presented by:
Peter M. Eberle, Business Instructor
Anthony J. Hoos, Adjunct Mass Media Instructor
PSU/Fayette Campus
Special thank you to the Schreyer Institute!
The Pennsylvania State University, 2011
Fayette Campus
Transforming Technology & Education:
E-textbooks & Digital Texts
“Students today rely too much on paper. They don’t know how to write on slate without
getting chalk dust all over themselves. They can’t clean a slate properly. What will they do
when they run out of paper?” --Principals Association, 1815

Current Technology
-The Big Picture
-The Student Monitor, Fall 2011

Observations
-Digital Textbook Project & Outcome

Implications
-Faculty/Student Impacts

Q&A
The Pennsylvania State University, 2011
Fayette Campus
Current Technology: The Big Picture
E-Readers | E-text/Digital textbooks | Free E-Texts
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E-Readers
iPad | Kindle | Nook | HP Touchpad | Galaxy | Xoom |
Sony eReader | Blackberry Playbook

E-text/Digital textbooks or Textbook Rental sites
Chegg | Ecampus | BookRenter | Inkling CollegeBookRenter |
CourseSmart | MBSDirect | Barnes & Noble | Amazon

Free E-Textbooks & Supplemental Materials
FlatWorldKnowledge | MITopenCourseware

Content Management Systems
Blackboard | ANGEL | CE6 | Canvas | Moodle (open source)
The Pennsylvania State University, 2011
Fayette Campus
Advantages/Drawbacks
The Big Picture:
E-readers | E-textbooks | Digital Texts
Advantages
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iPad technology (the dominant learning platform) features the ‘full
Web experience’ instead of just being a reader.
Student-Centric – Students just love interactive technology
Kinesthetic – Encourages ‘Active Learning’, increases active recall
Updates and corrections are delivered immediately
Technology-based learning teaches usable skills
An E-text can range from simply a textbook to a full-range
curriculum embedded with a vast array of multimedia links and
online resources/supplements
E-text represents significant value and savings over traditional print
Completely fits into an Online Curriculum/LMS
The Pennsylvania State University, 2011
Fayette Campus
Advantages/Drawbacks
The Big Picture:
E-Readers | E-textbooks | Digital Texts
Disadvantages
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Standardization is questionable. These
are still emerging/transitional technologies.
Digital texts come in many forms and must be compatible/cross
platform with the desired PDA readers or other costly devices.
Bandwidth limitations (slow downloads, no broadband connectivity).
Disrupts cognitive mapping (physical cues to locate/learn material).
PC readers are prone to viruses, hacking, crashing or poor displays.
Content may be flat and not very engaging.
Open source content can be misleading, wrong, or limited access.
Must blend/mesh with syllabi, other available media & infrastructures
Value-added features may be lacking or non-existent
(printing/highlighting/note-taking).
The Pennsylvania State University, 2011
Fayette Campus
Student Responses
The Big Picture:
E-textbooks/Digital Texts in the College Classroom
“Books don’t belong on the computer, iPads or Nooks. Some things
simply should not be tampered with.” - A. Porter
“I think I still like hard books better, but as prices go down and you can
get access to more and more hard-to-find books through E-books, it
will be hard to avoid having E-books be more generally accepted by
every college student out there.” - J. Juras
“As a college student, it is very hard to save money. I would take
advantage of any way I could do that. E-texts on absolutely any
electronic device would definitely make them more accepted.”
-M. Armstrong
“If it saves money how can anyone say no?” -A. Ross
The Pennsylvania State University, 2011
Fayette Campus
© 2011 STUDENT MONITOR LLC
550 North Maple Ave., Ridgewood, NJ 07450
The Pennsylvania State University, 2011
Fayette Campus
 Conducted each Spring and Fall semester
 On campus, one-on-one intercepts conducted by professional
interviewers during the week of March 11, 2011
 1,200 Four Year full-time undergrads
 Representative sample
 100 campuses stratified by:
Enrollment size
Administrative Control
Geographic location (U.S. Census Region/Census Division)
 Margin of error +/- 2.4%
© 2011 STUDENT MONITOR LLC – All Rights
Reserved, Unauthorized Use Prohibited
THE STUDENT MONITOR:
SPENDING FOR PRINTED TEXTBOOKS
Spending for
textbooks continues
to trend down as
students:
1. Acquire their
textbooks from
less expensive
sources
2. Adopt
alternatives to
purchasing
printed, bound
books
(eTextbooks and
renting rather
than purchasing
textbooks)
New
Used
Total
$364
$348
$345
$338
$327
$313
$302
$299
$283
$282
$252
$249
$224
$222
$181
$180
$118
$192
$154
$142
$121
$193
$122
$136
$146
$113
$170
$157
$182
$159
$131
$159
$142
$125
$123
$110
Fall '05 Spring Fall '06 Spring Fall '07 Spring Fall '08 Spring Fall '09 Spring Fall '10 Spring
'06
'07
'08
'09
'10
'11
© 2011 STUDENT MONITOR LLC – All Rights
Reserved, Unauthorized Use Prohibited
9
-NUMBER OF TEXTBOOKS
PURCHASED/RENTED
 During the Fall
2011 semester,
students
purchased or
rented an
average of 5.8
textbooks
Purchasers
%
User
Mean
Total
Mean
New textbooks
69
3.0
2.1
Used Textbooks
77
3.4
2.6
eTextbooks
13
1.8
.2
Rented Texts
29
2.7
.8
Rented eTexts
5
1.8
.1
TOTAL 5.8
© 2011 STUDENT MONITOR LLC – All Rights
Reserved, Unauthorized Use Prohibited
10
THE STUDENT MONITOR
-ETEXTBOOKS
 One in four (25%) are “Extremely” or “Very familiar”
with eTextbooks and about one in five (18%) have
ever purchased an eTextbook
Awareness of
eTextbooks continues
to trend up at a rate
greater than the
number of purchasers

and preference for
“traditional, printed”
textbooks continues to
be the most common
reason why students
have not adopted
eTextbooks.

“My professor required me” (35%) and “Less
expensive than a traditional printed textbook” (30%)
are the most common reason for purchasing an
eTextbook. Another 19% mention ‘instant access”
14% are at least “Somewhat likely” to purchase an
eTextbook next semester
 Among those who have not purchased, the largest
group (34%) “Prefer traditional printed textbooks”.
Another 40% mention “I don’t like reading on a screen
for a long period of time”
© 2011 STUDENT MONITOR LLC – All Rights
Reserved, Unauthorized Use Prohibited
11
WIRELESS READING DEVICES
AIDED BRAND AWARENESS
 On an aided basis, more than nine in ten (90%) identify iPad as a brand of wireless reading
device they have heard of
 About seven in ten (74%) mention Kindle and exactly half (50%) mention Nook
Fall 2011
iPad
Kindle
Nook
Galaxy
HP TouchPad
Blackberry…
Xoom
Sony eReader
90% iPad
74%
Kindle
55%
Nook
46%
38%
Galaxy
24%
Sony…
23%
Xoom
22%
© 2011 STUDENT MONITOR LLC – All Rights
Reserved, Unauthorized Use Prohibited
Spring 2011
93%
72%
50%
30%
21%
16%
12
WIRELESS READING DEVICES - OWNED
 Nearly one in six (17%) own a wireless reading device
 Among this 17%, more than half (53%) own an iPad about one in four
(24%) own a Kindle and one in eight (12%) own a Nook
FALL 2011
SPRING 2011
iPad
8%
Kindle
3%
Nook
2%
Galaxy
1%
Xoom
1%
Sony eReader
1%
iPad
9%
4%
Nook 2%
1%
Xoom 1%
1%
BlackBerry… 1%
1%
None of these
83% None of these
© 2011 STUDENT MONITOR LLC – All Rights
Reserved, Unauthorized Use Prohibited
86%
13
Observations
-Digital Textbook Project & Outcome
What the Barnes and Noble digital Textbook Project began
was practical – Will the digitizing of the textbook affect the
percentage of students who read the assigned materials?
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Students did not always read more frequently.
Found that the students often printed the materials.
Students were less likely to bring materials to class to
be able to work on things from the book together.
Students read differently.
The Pennsylvania State University, 2011
Fayette Campus
Additional Observations
-Digital Textbook Project & Outcome
The Digital Project
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What we are learning is that as a culture we are not just
going digital, but there is an expectation of going mobile
which has a profound implication for knowledge,
pedagogy and culture.
A digital text is met with a student expectation that it can
be read like a text message, or an email, while driving, at
a stoplight or when walking.
The expectations of engagement are similar – quick, little
effort and little struggle to respond.
The Pennsylvania State University, 2011
Fayette Campus
Implications
-Faculty/Student Impacts
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Customizable textbooks are optional and accessible to all
Instructors
E-text content much less linear/sequential and can be more
personalized
Sharp increases in free information, open courseware and cyber
schools
Federal and State funding to the institution may soon require a
shift to focusing moreso on the non-traditional classroom and
student outcomes instead of student inputs
Teachers/Professors act moreso as facilitators
The Pennsylvania State University, 2011
Fayette Campus
Q&A… Considerations

How do we adjust the delivery of educational information to make
the most impact on students?
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How saturated should an Instructor be?
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What is this emerging technology’s necessity?
The Pennsylvania State University, 2011
Fayette Campus
References
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Eric Weil, Managing Partner of The Student Monitor LLC, 2011
Thoughts on the Impacts of Digital Textbooks on Students,
www.thefacultycafé.com , 2010
Digital Textbook Sales in U.S. Higher Education – A Five-Year
Projection, Rob Reynolds & Yevgeny Ioffe, 2010
Textbooks Digital Future, www.education.newsweek.com , 2010
Post Textbook World, Tom Vanderark, www.edreformer.com , 2010
E-textbooks: The New Best Sellers, Knowledge at Wharton, 2010
Can Technology Transcend the Textbook,
www.campustechnology.com , 2011
Digital Directions, www.edweek.org , 2011
The Pennsylvania State University, 2011
Fayette Campus