| Portability is a key advantage to digital textbooks. |
Digital textbooks or electronic versions of traditional textbooks have evolved from their earliest beginnings in the 1990’s to become multimedia experiences that provide additional audio and video resources to help the reader assimilate and learn textbook information. Digital textbooks use electronic files that are quickly and easily updated allowing information to be as relevant as possible.
"Textbooks Enter the Digital Era: High-Tech Options Can Save Money and Boost Learning" is one article that explores the benefits of digital textbooks.
Demonstration of a Digital Textbook
Demonstration of a Digital Textbook
Digital Textbooks in My Instruction
Aside from the obvious student benefits of portability, flexibility, and financial savings there are some other benefits of digital textbooks that I would use to enhance learning as part of my instruction. One of the interesting aspects of text in digital format is audio conversion, as students are able to turn sections of text into speech using a text to speech program. Obviously, students who are better auditory learners would benefit from this feature. Additionally, the use of digital text books would allow students to use auto-summary tools in their word processor to adjust the text to different reading levels for content, an adaptation that also allows for differentiated instruction.
Advantages and Limitations of Digital Textbooks
Advantages:
- significant cost savings due to lower overhead cost -- electronic files are cheaper to reproduce than paper textbooks
- traditional textbooks are bulky and heavy whereas digital books are obviously thin and light
- light digital textbooks are more environmentally friendly as small changes in content can be made from edition to edition without having to trash a large heavy textbook
Limitations:
- there are many different competing digital textbook formats and a huge number of textbook publishers that don’t all use the same format
- if students feel that they don’t actually own the textbooks they purchase, or that their books might be taken away before they are done with them (or that their notes might be damaged), they’re unlikely to embrace electronic textbooks
- for many students, the idea of reading words on a screen is not as appealing as on a printed page, as well as slow boot-up times often found in today's electronic books are very irritating
References
British Educational, Communication. and Technology Agency. (2003) What research says about interactive whiteboards, retrieved October 9, 2011 from http://www.becta.org.uk/research/research.cfm?section=1&id=4971
Cavanaugh, T. W. (2011). Getting to know a digital textbook. Tech and Learning, February 9, 2011 issue, retrieved October 9, 2011 from http://www.techlearning.com/article/getting-to-know-a-digital-textbook/47632
Ferriter, W. M. (2011). A pen that remembers. Educational Leadership, 68 (8), 88 - 89.
Kingsbury, A.& Galloway, L. (2006). Textbooks enter the digital era: High-tech options can save money and boost learning. U. S. News and World Reoprt, October 8, 2006 issue, retrieved October 9, 2011 from
McCrea, Bridget. (2010). Opening up digital textbooks. Tech and Learning, February 9, 2011 issue, retrieved October 9, 2011 from http://thejournal.com/articles/2010/09/02/opening-up-to-digital-textbooks.aspx
Smart Technologies Inc. (2006). Interactive whiteboards and learning: Improving student learning outcomes and streamlining lesson planning. retrieved October 9, 2011 from http://downloads01.smarttech.com/media/research/whitepapers/int_whiteboard_research_whitepaper_update.pdf
Smart Technologies Inc. (2009). Creating classrooms for everyone: How interactive whiteboards support universal design for learning, retrieved October 9, 2011 from http://downloads01.smarttech.com/media/research/whitepapers/int_whiteboard_research_whitepaper_update.pdf
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