Hello Everyone,
As part of my educational technology integration class this summer, I completed a literature review on the topic of textbooks for the future. Below is the narrative compilation of my article synthesis.
Most educators, school district leaders, and university professors agree that the reliance on traditional textbooks in print form for K-12 instruction is declining, with a possible predictor being that “digital textbooks have become a mainstay in higher education” (as cited in Raths, 2015, p. 16). For example, “one survey of [K-12] teachers reported that 65% said paper textbooks would become obsolete” soon (as cited in Walker, 2010, p. 1), while “the director of technology for the Vail (Arizona) School District” claims the “textbook delivery model is out of gas” (as cited in Salpeter, 2009, para. 9). A professor at Florida State University supports the increased use of digital textbooks in K-12 schools as a vehicle for library media specialists to assume “their place at the digital learning table” because they are “the most qualified for managing [the] constantly evolving environment” (as cited in Hill, 2010, p. 27). Others feel “a prime example of the rigidity and inefficiency that reign in [today’s] public schools is found in [the] use of [printed] textbooks” (as cited in Salpeter, para. 11). These advocates often collectively view the transition to digital textbooks as simply meeting the needs of today’s students who “are coming to school with different skill sets” (as cited in Hill, p. 26) than their predecessors. Their unique skills sets are primarily due to their “lives outside school [being] filled with technology” through which they learn, create, share, and collaborate (as cited in Kennedy, 2010, p. 18). These students also require vastly different skill sets for their future careers than what current educational methods provide since “no job in the world” demands “[reading] the chapter and [answering] the questions at the end of the book” (as cited in Salpeter, para. 9). It is through the use of digital textbooks that students are enabled “to reach their potential through increased access to educational resources,” engaged “in rich, compelling learning experiences,” and empowered “to take responsibility for their own educational destinies” (as cited in Fletcher, Schaffhauser, & Levin, 2012, p. 9).
Formats for digital textbooks vary, including, but not limited to, “online versions of textbooks” (Kennedy, p. 14), “PDF, ePub, or HTML” files sometime needing special eReaders (Fletcher, Schaffhauser, & Levin, p. 19), and “flexbooks, digital textbooks that utilize a web-based collaborative model” (Hill, p. 26). Regardless of the format, there are numerous advantages to adopting digital textbooks. Some advocates primarily focus on the cost-effectiveness for school districts to cease purchasing “textbooks made up of content that is [seven] to [ten] years old” at a rate of “$5.5 billion a year” (Fletcher, Schaffhauser, & Levin, p. 1), especially since “eTexts tend to cost about 40% less than paper books” (as cited in Walker, p. 2). Other advocates appreciate the advantage of a digital resource being revised and updated as often as desired or needed, which is “more responsive than a traditional paper textbook that often [is not] updated for five to seven years, depending on [the] publishing cycle” (as cited in Raths, p. 18). Still others highlight the student-use factors of the digital textbooks, such as being “the technology of the Millennial generation,” including “hyperlinks…that [help] satisfy the innate interest to learn about their content,” “the highlighting, underlining, and annotating features” of some eReaders, the ability of some eReaders to read text aloud to “assist those with reading difficulties and vision issues,” the “social media connections” (as cited in Walker, p. 3), as well as easy word definition without much distraction from reading. One of the primary student-use factors is the portability and compactness of digital textbooks “so the students no longer have to lug around heavy books” (as cited in Walker, p. 2). Even more advocates are interested in the integration of “interactive quizzes and other assessments of student learning” (as cited in Walker, p. 3), which aid in the “differentiation of instruction…away from the static printed page” (as cited in Salpeter, para. 12).
As with any innovation and large-scale change, skeptics to digital textbooks exist and voice a variety of concerns or disadvantages to the phasing out of paper textbooks. For example, some are concerned with the inadequate access to technology students face outside school (as cited in Walker, p. 4) and propose “districts…providing… access at home for those students who need [it] in the same way they provide a free or reduced-price hot lunch for [some] students” (as cited in Kennedy, p. 20). Others worry about the “ongoing training and support” for educators “in the use of eReaders and pedagogy for use of eTexts” (as cited in Walker, p. 4); many existing educators are unknowledgeable of or uneasy about using technology in their daily lives as professionals, and “even the young teachers…may not understand how technology can improve their teaching” (as cited in Kennedy, p. 21). Additional doubters wonder about “the efficiency of reading a paper copy over a computer screen” (as cited in Walker, p. 4), while some purport the lack of clarity in definitions of “textbook” and funding allocations at the district or state level as to “whether school funds used to purchase textbooks can be used for eReaders and eTexts” (as cited in Walker, p. 4).
Nonetheless, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages to K-12 schools adopting digital textbooks. With everything in society becoming “more individualized, consumer oriented, and custom-tailored,” instruction for the twenty-first century learner means integrating “a more hyperlinked, multimedia, and interactive approach to the delivery of content” (as cited in Salpeter, p. 11). It only follows that the textbook industry provide what districts, schools, principals, teachers, students, and parents are realizing is the future of content instructional materials. Major publishers like “Cengage Learning, McGraw-Hill, John Wiley and Sons, and Beford Freeman” all offer texts in an electronic format (as cited in Walker, p. 4). The Fairfax County Public School District in Virginia has used actually its previous experiences with Pearson and their products to fuel Fairfax County’s proposal requests for future digital textbooks; the district is stipulating publishers provide automatic enrollment of student users (as cited in Raths, p. 16), “support phone numbers for students and parents after 5 p.m,” and products that are “platform-agnostic” (as cited in Raths, p. 18). Ultimately, it is growing apparent to all involved parties that the question is no longer if digital textbooks “will permeate all of education [even the K-12 sector], but…how and how fast” (Fletcher, Schaffhauser, & Levin, p. 1).
Enthusiastically,
Ms. Tyler
References
Fletcher, G., Schaffhauser, D, & Levin, D. (2012). Out of Print: Reimagining the k-12 textbook in a digital age. Washington, DC: State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA).
Hill, R. (2010). Turning the Page: Forget about those bulky backbreakers, digital textbooks are the future. School Library Journal, 56(10), 24-27.
Kennedy, M. (2010). Connecting to the future. American School & University, 82(9), 14-21.
Raths, D. (2015). The promise (and perils) of digital textbooks. T.H.E. Journal, 42(5), 16-18.
Salpeter, J. (2009). Textbook deathwatch. Tech & Learning, 30(1), 26.
Walker, K. (2010). eTexts: The wave of the future?. Education Partnerships, Inc.
Below are photographs of student groups working on the investigation.
