INNOVATION DEVELOPMENT DIGITAL TEXTBOOKS MELISSA COLEMAN

INTRODUCTION The significance of digital media in the K-12 area is that it gives the students a chance to interact with technology we engage them on common ground and make learning relevant for them in the 21 st century (William, 2001). Digital Techbooks have their foundations in digital textbooks. The difference in the two is that techbooks are interactive multi media forms of digital textbooks. They are the next generation for educational use.

WHY WAS THERE A NEED TO INTRODUCE DIGITAL TEXTBOOKS (TECHBOOKS)? Schools and students are increasingly using technology more and more. Print material is often viewed by students as unpopular and old (William, 2001). Digital materials gives student greater opportunity to interact with the materials and make a connection to the real world. The cost of print materials continues to soar while school budgets are decreasing. Digital media is becoming cheaper and smaller which makes it easier for schools to purchase.

RESEARCH Publishers have been responding to the increased demand for online resources by developing interactive digital techbooks. McGraw Hill, Pearson Global, WileyPlus, and Discovery Education to name a few of the ones pursuing this innovation. The findings from research studies done by these institutions shows an increase in student acheivement and instructor efficacy. At Hinds Community College one Anatomy course used Connect by McGraw Hill and increase the number of students who pass with a grade of a C or higher by 75% (McGraw Hill 2010). Pearson implemented MyMathLab in 2005 at Lone Star College and saw an increase of 20% in the passing rate of College Algebra Students. Over the next three years they continued to see increases in student achievement (Pearson Global, 2010).

RESEARCH CONTINUED WileyPlus partnered with the University of Tennessee for a study in the academic year. Pre and post test scores were used to determine the effectiveness of the techbook. Post test scores showed a 51% improvement using WileyPlus over students not using the program (Broadview Analytics, 2010). Who were the lead thinkers for innovation of digital textbooks?

DEVELOPMENT What problems were encountered in the development process? Who was the intended audience for digital textbooks?

TIMELINE OF E-BOOKS 1971 Project Gutenberg is the first established digital library The Internet makes digital media widely available 1995 Amazon.com is the first online bookstore 2001 digital books being sold in spanish 2003 ebooks sold globally 2005 Google gets into ebooks 2007 Kindle is introduced 2009 The Nook is introduced and libraries offer digital books for check out 2010 Amazon.com is selling digital books on a massive scale

TIMELINE OF DIGITAL TEXTBOOKS & TECHBOOKS 2007 Initiation of market penetration for digital textbooks that focus on interactive features First introduction to my district of Discovery Science Techbook Data in regards to enhanced ebooks which shows 21% of the market already has some in production. This data persuaded us to adopt the techbook. kowalczyk/ 2011 Many publishers are creating interactive textbooks (Techbooks) Implementation of Discovery Science Techbook The decision to adopt the techbook was completed in May of 2012 and implementation is occurring August of

TIMELINE CONTINUED and beyond The confirmation stage has not yet been reached. Confirmation has been achieved in other organizations within the last school year and the techbook has been a success Mass media and interpersonal means of communication are being used to diffuse the innovation. Cosmopolite channels of communication have been the most effective for Discovery Education and the adoption of their program.

INNOVATORS The key innovators in my workplace are members of our technology team. This team meets monthly to develop and implement new technology to benefit the teachers and students. The members of the team are teachers in the district, led by our Assistant Superintendent, and all have an advanced knowledge of technology. The Discovery Education Techbook being adopted is strictly for the subject of Science. All three teachers at the Junior High that will be implementing the techbook are members of the technology team.

EARLY ADOPTERS Other teachers that are more familiar with technology will be the early adopters of techbooks. Various techbooks are being offered by publishing companies for other subject areas. As the techbook advances in the innovation process more teachers will want to use it. Math would be the early adopters in my workplace. The teachers in the Math department already use a math lab program and it would be an easy transition to a Math techbook like the one offered by Pearson Global. Strategies for early adopters to accept the innovation would be to show them the advantage of the techbook after one year of use in the classroom. When test scores and student interaction improve the advantage will appeal to the early adopters.

EARLY AND LATE MARJORTIY ADOPTERS The teachers that are less familiar with technology, often the older teachers, will be late in adopting techbooks. These users will need to be shown not only the advantage but also the compatablitity and the complexity of the techbook. They will want to see it in action, have professional development, and meetings to discuss the innovation. It will take some convincing to gain their interest in adopting a new program.

LAGGARDS The possible laggards in my workplace will be those teachers that rely heavily on the printed text. Many teachers that show heavy usage of the printed textbook will have concerns for their students having access and will not want to use digital media exclusively. The solution for this would be for them to use the innovation on a trial basis while maintaining access to their printed materials.

PERCENTAGE OF ADOPTION OF TECHBOOKS

PROJECTED GROWTH

COMMERCIALIZATION Process for production, manufacturing, packaging, marketing, and distribution of digital textbooks.

REFERENCES Descy, D. E. (2009). Netbooks: Small but Powerful Friends. Techtrends: Linking Research And Practice To Improve Learning, 53(2), Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). New York, NY: Free Press. William, R. J., Loui Lord, N., Elizabeth, J. A., & George Van, H. (2011). Trading Textbooks for Technology: New Opportunities for Learning. Phi Delta Kappan, 92(7), ST - Trading Textbooks for Technology: New. PDK International.