By: Melinda Duckett

The Future of Textbooks

What problem or need existed that gave rise to e-textbooks? Cost of textbooks The need for multiple delivery forms Easy accessibility Outdated content in a textbook

Research on e-textbooks There were several pilot studies conducted among universities to test this new innovation. Northwest Missouri State University became the first public university to offer all of its textbooks electronically The majority of students indicated through research that e-textbooks outperformed regular tangible textbooks Overall 47% percent of students preferred the tangible textbook over the e-textbook, but were willing to reconsider Cost played a big part in the decision making process

Development Problems Not enough e-reader- Compatible e- textbooks Campus wide No space for note taking Challenging to Navigate inside the e-book Technical supportNo page numbers

Intended Audience The intended audience was college or post high school level students

Commercialization Publishers are eager to be part of the experiment Innovation is considered to be “General Motors Moment” (Young, 2009) Amazon marketed Kindle, but Sony as well as publishing companies have marketed their own version of an e- book.

First novel offered through e-book

Knowledge Stage of Adoption During the pilot study at Northwest Missouri State University, students were offered the rental of e- textbooks instead of the usual textbook rental. Students didn’t care about the e-textbooks, they just wanted textbooks for class under this agreement.

Persuasion Stage of Adoption There were many advantages to adopting the e-textbook. One of the many advantages of the e-textbook that persuaded students to adopt the innovation was the fact that students did not have to carry all of the required books to class. The e-textbooks could be accessed from anywhere at any time and students didn’t have to worry about their books being stolen.

Decision Stage of Adopting Advantages of E-Textbooks copies won’t get stolen Can be accessed anywhere at any time Don’t have to worry about there being enough books in the bookstore to rent Students like the idea of not having to carry around 20 or 30 pound books Key word searching is an important feature Cheaper than a printed textbook Disadvantages of E-Textbooks no page numbers, but location numbers Difficult to make notes within the margin Time consuming to locate sections within chapters Slow navigation Highlighting is not an option Text support Problems with internet servers

Implementation Stage for Adopting Initially the e-textbook was used in one class to determine its usefulness and whether or not students would like it better than a printed copy It proved to be very useful as students were able to be fully prepared for class because all required text were available online Fifth grade students at our school, do not have to take their heavy books home, but can access the book online. Therefore, parents have determined that it is very useful.

Confirmation Stage of Adopting The university mentioned in the study, that they decided to continue its e-textbook rental program and look for other ways to enhance current electronic offerings. Many publishers have decided to offer an e- textbook as an option or an alternative to buying a printed book.

E-book Timeline On Time! 1990-Web boosts the internet Amazon.com is the first online bookstore 2003-E- books sold worldwide Project Gutenberg is the first digital library Bob Stein starts Voyager Company Expanded Books and books on CD- ROMs Zahur Zapata develops the first software to read digital books

E-Book S-Curve Number of adopters

Teaching Tips from Experienced Teachers Institute for Experienced Teachers Complementing our successful Institutes for New Mathematics Teachers Institutes for New Mathematics Teachers

References Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of Innovations (5th Ed.). New York: Free Press. Guess, Andy. (2008). Retrieved September 14, books Diffusion and Integration of Technology in Education. Laureate Education, Inc. (2008). Baltimore: Author

References Continued Rickman, J. T., Holzen, R., Klute, P. G., & Tobin, T. (2009). A campus-wide e-textbook initiative. EDUCAUSE, 32. Young, Jeffrey R. (2009). Six lessons one campus learned about e-textbooks. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 55(39), A18.