[OPLIN 4cast] OPLIN 4Cast #226: eTextbooks are different

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OPLIN 4Cast

OPLIN 4Cast #226: eTextbooks are different
April 20th, 2011

<http://www.oplin.org/4cast/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/etextbooks.png>We 
have certainly written a number of posts on this blog about 
e-books <http://www.oplin.org/4cast/?tag=e-books> in the 
past, but this post is about a specific kind of digital 
book: "eTextbooks." These textbook e-books differ in 
important ways from the novel e-books we've posted about 
previously. Reading a textbook often involves highlighting 
sections of text for later review and taking notes, things 
which few people reading novels do. This difference in the 
reading activity leads to an interesting difference in the 
preferred hardware for eTextbooks: the reading device needs 
to have either a touchscreen or touchpad, like a tablet or 
laptop computer. Most novel e-book reading devices, like the 
Kindle, lack this. And because tablets and laptops are 
/computers/, they can do more things than just displaying 
text, things which are, in turn, beginning to drive changes 
in the way eTextbooks are written and marketed. Will 
students begin to expect similar features when they read a 
novel e-book?

    * eTextbooks and educational apps: iPads enter the
      classroom
      <http://singularityhub.com/2011/04/07/etextbooks-and-educational-apps-ipads-enter-the-classroom/>
      (Singularity Hub/Whitney Ijem) "High school, college
      and graduate students alike are making use of
      eTextbooks from companies like Inkling
      <http://www.inkling.com/> and CourseSmart
      <http://www.coursesmart.com/>. These companies work
      with textbook publishers to provide digital versions
      of the cumbersome textbooks we are so used to lugging
      around. There are also apps available that aid in note
      taking and information gathering. Older students
      aren't the only ones with iPads. In some schools,
      children as young as 5 are using iPads to learn the
      basics."
    * 1 in 4 college textbooks will be digital by 2015
      <http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/1_in_4_college_textbooks_will_be_digital_by_2015.php>
      (ReadWriteWeb/Audrey Watters) "An oft-cited study by
      the Book Industry Study Group
      <http://www.hackeducation.com/2011/01/07/survey-finds-college-students-prefer-their-textbooks-in-print/>
      found that 75% of college students say they prefer
      print textbooks. But Xplana [report
      <http://blog.xplana.com/reports/digital-textbooks-reach-the-tipping-point-in-the-u-s-higher-education-a-revised-5-year-projection/>]
      says that rather than take that study as a sign that
      students will refuse to use digital books, we should
      instead marvel that, at a time when only 1% of college
      textbooks are available in an electronic format, that
      already 25% of college students say they prefer to
      study this way."
    * Publishers back Inkling's iPad textbooks
      <http://venturebeat.com/2011/03/23/inkling-funding-ipad-textbooks/>
      (VentureBeat/Anthony Ha) "But he [Inkling CEO Matt
      MacInnis] argued that everyone else is basically
      adding limited features to a PDF of the textbook and
      that these e-books are basically developed by the
      publishers' business divisions without much input from
      the original textbook creators. Inkling, on the other
      hand, wants to publish apps that feel like they were
      truly built for the iPad, which usually means working
      with the books' authors to create new content. 'It
      only gets interesting when the content itself changes
      and begins to respond to your fingertips,' MacInnis said."
    * Textbook renter Chegg becomes more social
      <http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/24/textbook-renter-chegg-becomes-more-social-embargo-until-w/>
      (New York Times Bits blog/Miguel Helft) "CourseRank,
      which Chegg acquired in August, lets students see
      reviews of courses and professors written by other
      students. Students can also see when a class meets so
      they can plan their schedule online. They can also see
      who among their friends have signed up for a given
      course, the distribution of grades (is this class
      going to be hard or not?) and of course, what
      textbooks are required. (Yes, they can then rent them
      from Chegg.)"

*/Licensing fact:/*

Students often don't purchase eTextbooks; they "subscribe" 
to them for a term long enough to cover the class term, 
usually 180 days.
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