{"id":3681,"date":"2015-09-25T18:41:52","date_gmt":"2015-09-25T18:41:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.learningaloud.com\/blurts\/?p=3681"},"modified":"2015-09-25T18:41:52","modified_gmt":"2015-09-25T18:41:52","slug":"ebooks-in-higher-ed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learningaloud.com\/blurts\/2015\/09\/25\/ebooks-in-higher-ed\/","title":{"rendered":"eBooks in Higher Ed"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have been trying to comment on at least post from some author each day this month in a personal effort to model and contribute to the interactivity of online writing. Through Twitter, I encountered a link to a blog post written by a grad student (now professor) I worked with when she was a student. Her post is\u00a0based on her experiences trying to change the way students experience a traditional textbook. I was unable to comment on the post because it appears her blog allows access only to members of her own college community. So, I decided to comment here. I do encourage you to read Dr. Christopherson\u2019s post<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A little background, Dr. Christopherson is co-author of an Intro Psychology text. My own experience has been with educational technology textbooks. She presently has a book through a publishing company and I have had this experience, but decided to create a hybrid product with the textbook component available through Amazon. We have shared our experiences and both of us are looking to expand \u00a0the scope of the resources offered to college students. We have slightly different perspectives on what this new set of resources might look like. Obviously, my co-author and I are less constrained by the perspective of a host company so I am in a better position to act on my own ideas.<\/p>\n

Here are some comments I offer in response to Kimberly\u2019s analysis of ebooks and paper textbooks. I do not see annotation capabilities of a traditional textbook as superior to what can be done with an ebook. Kindle books, for example, allow highlighting and note taking. These personal additions can also be stored and explored online. I find the accumulation of such personal content as useful over time (I can now search and review my notes from hundreds of books). I also am interested in the potential of exploring the most popular highlights from multiple readers. As an option, popular highlights can be turned on within a Kindle text. As a variation of public highlights, I have highlighted my own textbook and offer this resource to readers.<\/p>\n

My big advantage for ebooks, more potential than actual with ebooks from textbook companies, is the opportunity to continually update the content. One of our disagreements with our publisher was whether we could write continually. While a three-year revision cycle may be appropriate and efficient for Intro Psych, the traditional way of writing a textbook was not sufficient for a rapidly changing field such as educational technology. Kindle books can be updated whenever and pushed out to those who already own the ebooks. While probably not the ideal for a textbook, having an updated book each semester would be practical. With a traditional textbook, the alternative would probably be to offer additional content online. We found the sticking point with a publisher was the notion that authors would be on some kind of content on a continual basis. Publishers want to make a decision every three years. This delay is not good for the students or the authors.<\/p>\n

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I have been trying to comment on at least post from some author each day this month in a personal effort to model and contribute to the interactivity of online writing. Through Twitter, I encountered a link to a blog … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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