#etextbooks

october 4, 2019

Becoming Paperless: A Must for Schools to Use Electronic Textbooks

Technology, specifically digital technology, has come so far. According to Cheprasov (2016), the needs of human life have become more complex and hard-to-accomplish using manual methods as time passed by; which could be one of the main reasons leading to the globe’s massive investment in the advancement of technology. Currently, utmost everyone can agree on how huge its role in society has become. From being relevant in communicative and business aspects, it’s also gained a role in education Aleen (2019); proving how much control technology has gained in basic societal processes. Though, focusing on one of its many contributions in learning; digital technology, in particular, has paved the way for the creation of electronic textbooks or e-textbooks which eliminate the need for paper. Considering an opportunity for schools to be eco-friendly; one could wonder, why aren’t they already using them? Though the digitalization of every part of learning isn’t implied, schools should go paperless and use electronic textbooks.

The article, “Can Electronic Textbooks be Part of K-12 Education?: Challenges, Technological Solutions, and Open Issues”, concludes how e-textbooks are much cheaper to purchase, as expensive costs for paper and printing are eliminated (Lee, Messom, & Yau, 2013). This proves how e-textbooks, firstly, gain a huge benefit as they offer eco-friendly learning whilst letting institutions save more money. As e-textbooks saving paper isn’t enough of a reason to make a switch, another key factor to consider would be their capability to reach more students. According to the article, “5 Reasons Schools Should Go Paperless”, e-textbooks allow students to easily access the needed learning resources with everything being accessible online and offline as they are downloadable (Breed, 2019). This is already proven useful, especially in situations like the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that’s making the accessibility of printed materials difficult; as to why online learning was the next best option. It can be seen in online learning, how students and teachers have adapted to the use of digital learning resources, which exhibit the same concept as electronic textbooks. The article, “Textbooks Vs. Techbooks: Effectiveness of Digital Textbooks on Elementary Student Motivation for Learning”; on the other hand, proves with a testing process, how students using e-textbooks improved their involvement and learning during class (Oman, 2013). This article’s conclusion implies another considerable factor, which is how electronic textbooks increase student engagement in learning. Though, considering the other end of the stick, e-textbooks also offer some cons. As e-textbooks make use of electronics, unlike the printed ones, students could be more prone to eyestrains and fatigue as they’re required to continuously be exposed to the varying lighting of their electronics. Moreover, as they offer freedom for learners to scroll through the internet, most also find themselves getting more distracted whilst utilizing e-textbooks, unlike if compared to printed textbooks wherein students are exposed to fewer distractions.

Considering both sides of using electronic textbooks with the main aim of going paperless; identified were how electronic textbooks not only aid in an eco-friendly movement, but they also lead to increased savings for an institution, easier accessibility of students to their resources, and increased student engagement in learning. However, for the use of electronic textbooks to be beneficial for both sides; the health, willingness, and patience of the students need to be given huge consideration to make both ends meet. Hence, although using e-textbooks offers cons that need to be taken into consideration, the benefits point out how going paperless and using electronic textbooks instead of print textbooks prove to be advantageous in more ways than one.

Photo credit:

https://thesunflower.com/8615/news/campus/electronic-textbooks-make-their-presence-on-campus/#

Works Cited

Aleen, M. (2019, November 7). Technological Influence on Society. Retrieved from bctv.org: https://www.bctv.org/2019/11/07/technological-influence-on-society/#:~:text=Technology%20affects%20the%20way%20individuals,and%20it%20impacts%20daily%20lives.

Breed, C. (2019, October 31). 5 Reasons Schools Should Go Paperless. Retrieved from Kami: https://blog.kamiapp.com/5-reasons-schools-should-go-paperless/

Cheprasov, A. (2016, February 18). Why Technology Is Created & Revised. Retrieved from Study.com: study.com/academy/lesson/why-technology-is-created-revised.html

Lee, H. J., Messom, C., & Yau, K.-L. A. (2013, January). Can Electronic Textbooks be Part of K-12 Education?: Challenges, Technological Solutions and Open Issues. TOJET: The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 12(1). Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329016761_CAN_AN_ELECTRONIC_TEXTBOOKS_BE_PART_OF_K-12_EDUCATION_CHALLENGES_TECHNOLOGICAL_SOLUTIONS_AND_OPEN_ISSUES

See how OneNote has helped Cary Academy, a grades 6-12 faculty in North Carolina, take studying to the following degree by facilitating collaboration between lecturers and college students and the usage of digital studying belongings. Academics write their very own textbooks inside OneNote and share with their college students, saving mother and father cash and their college students from heavy backpacks!

Pearson, the world’s largest education publisher, recently announced plans to phase out physical textbooks in the US, instead moving into a "digital-first" model with e-textbooks as its focus. Although this is currently announced for the US only, Pearson also confirmed that the model may be rolled out to other markets, including the UK. Harris Interactive conducted a survey in the UK to gauge responses to this potential move.

The decision to phase out printed textbooks is divisive: 39% expect this to negatively impact students. Perhaps surprisingly, students are more likely to see this move as negative (44%) than parents (39%), suggesting we have not yet truly reached a generation ready to go "digital-first". This hesitation reflects reading habits: on average, parents, students and others access physical books more regularly than e-books. This is similar for both education e-textbooks and books for pleasure. If Pearson does roll out its plan to phase out textbooks in the UK, it will be forcing a change in behaviour, rather than reflecting demand.

Printed textbooks are still seen as having key advantages over e-textbooks:

Printed books are considered more reliable (both in terms of giving authoritative content and not crashing).

Printed books have tangible/interactive benefits: being easier to annotate, bookmark and navigate.

Printed books are felt to encourage deeper reading than e-textbooks.

However, the key barrier Pearson is likely to face is physical comfort: 47% feel less comfortable reading digital books than printed books. To overcome this barrier, Pearson (and other e-textbook providers) needs to communicate the advantages of e-books. Eighty-one per cent expect them to be cheaper than print (a key selling point in Pearson’s digital transition), and they are also considered more environmentally friendly, more practical to carry and more readily updated (tackling the idea that print is more authoritative). There is also strong agreement that digital textbooks are better at encouraging shared engagement, a key pillar of Pearson’s move.

Crucially, this is a market where there is potential for publishers to capitalise: direct purchase from a publisher’s website is the third-most common method of accessing e-books (after Amazon and Google Play). Thirty-four per cent of people who access educational e-textbooks do so via publishers’ websites. By phasing out physical textbooks and directly selling e-textbooks to students and parents, Pearson has a real opportunity to become an even stronger player in the e-textbook market.

Laurie Eaves is research manager at Harris Interactive, a full-service, digital consultative custom market research agency.

“There’s a famous phrase: The first step in solving a problem is recognizing you’ve got one,” says Pearson CEO John Fallon. And for education company Pearson, the problem is also one of its key products: the textbook.

Since the 1970s, the business model for textbook makers has been to sell very expensive books to students, updating them every few years with new material to keep students paying top dollar. But online textbook rental services from companies like Chegg and Amazon have made it much easier to pay much less, and as a result Pearson’s revenues have fallen from $2 billion in 2013 to $1.3 billion today, Fallon said on the latest episode of Recode Decode With Kara Swisher.

So instead of selling giant hardcover textbooks like Calculus: Early Transcendentals (list price for a new hardcover copy: $277.20), Pearson is going to start renting digital textbooks for $40 to $80, updating them over the air. Next month, it will launch the first of a new series of mobile apps called Aida — a portmanteau of AI and Ada Lovelace — that will let calculus students take a picture of their homework and, Fallon said, get step-by-step corrections.

The model that higher education textbook publishers have been using for decades is just not working anymore—neither for publishers nor for students. As a result, higher education is the publishing segment that’s undergoing the most disruptive changes today. Change is coming from everywhere, and it’s an exciting time for business model innovation.

The textbook publishing business has been under multiple threats for years. Publishers have increasingly been competing with used textbooks sales and third-party textbook rental services such as Chegg and Amazon. Textbook sales have also been suffering more and more from course instructors using open educational resources and other free online materials. Piracy of publishers’ titles has also eaten into sales.Publishers’ primary strategy in coping with these forces has been merely to keep raising prices. For example, Paul Samuelson’s Economics (McGraw-Hill), one of the most enduring textbooks of all time, currently retails for $220 in hardcover—up from its $10 price 50 years ago. Even when adjusted for inflation, the price has more than tripled since 1969. But that strategy has stopped working: the AAP reported that sales of higher educational materials fell 7% in 2018 compared to 2017.

The first major publisher to rethink its textbook delivery model was Cengage, the number-two publisher in the U.S. market. Last year, it launched a subscription service called Cengage Unlimited, which offers students access to all e-textbooks in its catalogue for $120 per semester or $180 per year. It even provides a calculator so that students can determine whether they can save money by signing up for the plan vs. purchasing textbooks individually.

FOR SEVERAL DECADES, textbook publishers followed the same basic model: Pitch a hefty tome of knowledge to faculty for inclusion in lesson plans; charge students an equally hefty sum; revise and update its content as needed every few years. Repeat. But the last several years have seen a shift at colleges and universities—one that has more recently turned tectonic.

In a way, the evolution of the textbook has mirrored that in every other industry. Ownership has given way to rentals, and analog to digital. Within the broad strokes of that transition, though, lie divergent ideas about not just what learning should look like in the 21st century but how affordable to make it.