Comments on: Online Textbooks http://academhack.outsidethetext.com/home/2006/online-textbooks/ Thoughts on Emerging Media and Higher Education Tue, 04 Oct 2011 15:17:17 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: dave http://academhack.outsidethetext.com/home/2006/online-textbooks/comment-page-1/#comment-568 dave Wed, 11 Oct 2006 04:20:12 +0000 http://academhack.outsidethetext.com/home/?p=87#comment-568 David, I agree there are problems with the etextbook, but I am not sure they are intrinsic to the medium, but rather are obstacles to be overcome. No ebook can yet substitute in for a printed copy (its difficult to highlight my screen and underline words, not to mention the mess that white out can make on an LCD screen). But perhaps we shouldn't judge an ebook by the same criteria. For example in a writing class I have in the past required that students by a reference guide. The textbook merely serves as a supplement to the class, not the place from which I get primary material, yet it is nonetheless crucial for them to have. But the online version actually serves this function better (for host of reasons a reference book can be more inclusive, provide wider range of examples etc.) So I would like to suggest it is a matter of context, that these resources can accomplish things a print work cannot, and vice versa. The trick is to figure out how to use each to the best of their respective abilities. On the notion of price I will say that at least here in the United States the price of public education has risen so much, that at this point I would argue that most public institutions are private, that is prohibitively expensive. I have had students who work two jobs just to pay for college, if I can get them cheaper text books (cut out the middle man trying to turn a corporate profit of their education) I am all for this. This is also paralleled by the problem that in many American Universities the bookstores are increasingly owned by large corporations (for example Barnes and Noble or eFollet) that are profit driven rather than educationally driven. The result is a rise in textbook cost. As another example I know many students who make decisions about which textbooks to buy based on which ones they can get money back for at the end of the semester. I would rather them have a free online resource which they will continue "to posses" rather than one that will be in their possesion for only one semester. Again I don't face this problem as much as many academics, especially since English is not particularly prone to using textbooks, but if academics can figure out a way to drive down cost to increase accessability I am all for that. David,
I agree there are problems with the etextbook, but I am not sure they are intrinsic to the medium, but rather are obstacles to be overcome. No ebook can yet substitute in for a printed copy (its difficult to highlight my screen and underline words, not to mention the mess that white out can make on an LCD screen). But perhaps we shouldn’t judge an ebook by the same criteria. For example in a writing class I have in the past required that students by a reference guide. The textbook merely serves as a supplement to the class, not the place from which I get primary material, yet it is nonetheless crucial for them to have. But the online version actually serves this function better (for host of reasons a reference book can be more inclusive, provide wider range of examples etc.) So I would like to suggest it is a matter of context, that these resources can accomplish things a print work cannot, and vice versa. The trick is to figure out how to use each to the best of their respective abilities.

On the notion of price I will say that at least here in the United States the price of public education has risen so much, that at this point I would argue that most public institutions are private, that is prohibitively expensive. I have had students who work two jobs just to pay for college, if I can get them cheaper text books (cut out the middle man trying to turn a corporate profit of their education) I am all for this. This is also paralleled by the problem that in many American Universities the bookstores are increasingly owned by large corporations (for example Barnes and Noble or eFollet) that are profit driven rather than educationally driven. The result is a rise in textbook cost. As another example I know many students who make decisions about which textbooks to buy based on which ones they can get money back for at the end of the semester. I would rather them have a free online resource which they will continue “to posses” rather than one that will be in their possesion for only one semester. Again I don’t face this problem as much as many academics, especially since English is not particularly prone to using textbooks, but if academics can figure out a way to drive down cost to increase accessability I am all for that.

]]> By: David Brake http://academhack.outsidethetext.com/home/2006/online-textbooks/comment-page-1/#comment-565 David Brake Tue, 10 Oct 2006 23:46:48 +0000 http://academhack.outsidethetext.com/home/?p=87#comment-565 An appealling notion but it relies on the idea that an online text can simply substitute for the textbook the lecturer wants you to use. First of all reference is likely to be made to chapters and perhaps to printed exercises in the text that won't have a direct comparison in an etext and secondly of course what is contained (whether in quality or breadth) may not be the same. Considering what students pay for education anyway, shouldn't they be willing to buy (or share) printed textbooks? An appealling notion but it relies on the idea that an online text can simply substitute for the textbook the lecturer wants you to use. First of all reference is likely to be made to chapters and perhaps to printed exercises in the text that won’t have a direct comparison in an etext and secondly of course what is contained (whether in quality or breadth) may not be the same. Considering what students pay for education anyway, shouldn’t they be willing to buy (or share) printed textbooks?

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