May 2007 — Features
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Digital Publishing :: Out of Print
Traditional textbook publishers are having to adjust to a changing market, as K-12 educators show a growing interest in digital content.
When Anita Givens first began teaching elementary
school students to use computers back in the mid-1980s,
there were few digital learning materials available and little
demand for electronic textbooks. In fact, parents and
educators worried that the advent of computers in schools
would result in students' spending too much time in the company
of computer monitors, and not enough time with real books.
"Many people were saying, ‘We don't want kids sitting in front of a computer all day at school,' as though they were television sets," recalls Givens, who serves the Texas Education Agency as the senior director for instructional materials and educational technology. "Look at how many of us now sit in front of a computer all day at work. It's how we do business. It's how we communicate through e-mail. It's how we accomplish tasks using the web. And it's important to leverage that technology-that now common experience- so it's a seamless part of the learning experience for students."
A lot has changed in 20 years. Teachers, parents, and especially students are embracing electronic educational content today in growing numbers. Givens' agency, for one, has made deployment of digital learning tools and content a priority. The TEA has adopted electronic instructional materials and educational technologies from a range of publishers and "depositories"- which store and distribute instructional materials for publishing companies-including Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, Pearson Scott Foresman, Harcourt, and Classroom Connect, among others, and from websites such as Learning.com. The influx of alternative digital content has actually altered Texas' formal definition of "textbook" to include electronic media. This reconsideration and redefining of the textbook and how it relates to teaching is occurring across K-12.
The consensus definition, however, is still aborning. What now can correctly be called a textbook? For some, printed materials scanned as a PDF file qualify; for others, a certain level of interactivity and even multimedia is required. If little else, there is agreement on this: It's no longer printed pages in a bound book.
"We define an e-book as a digital book that is available for download, reading, and printing from a connected PC, Mac, or notebook- and for a variety of our materials, PDAs and smart phones," says Steve Potash, CEO of digital content provider OverDrive. "When you talk about an e-book or a digital book, with the exception of digital audio books, you are still talking about text, about reading."
