November+1,+2010

In this Worthy of Note ...
eBooks and eTextbooks Instructional Materials Media Trends

There are lots of signs that digital books are catching on everywhere. Amazon will offer a 14-day lending period for Kindle books later this year. The sale of eBooks is up and there is documentation that people are reading more. And there are signs that eTextbooks are on the rise, too, both in K-12 and higher education. The following sources document the growing use of eBooks, be they eTextbooks in K-12 or higher education, ebooks for the casual reader or ebooks for libraries to provide their patrons.

Several articles related to current Media Trends in K-12 and higher education are also included at the end of the list.

eBooks – Year Two //Kenneth C. Green. digitaltweed, August 15, 2010// The author offers an update on eBooks in higher education.

Beyond Textbooks As the Vail, Arizona school district moved from a district of 500 students to a district of more than 10,000 students, we sought to articulate all the necessary resources to implement the mandated standards-based curriculum. Thousands of hours have been spent by the staff unwrapping, prioritizing and calendaring standards, and developing delivery and assessment strategies. It features four components: curriculum calendars, formative assessments, digital content and professional sharing. The sum of this work is a district-wide instructional program they call Beyond Textbooks™. It has served their purposes well, and it is now available for use outside their district. See the keynote address, Unleashing Teacher Creativity, at FETC 2010.

Key Educational Technology Issues ― a Four Part Series: Using E-Books in School //These best practices are produced by CDW-G and partners and published in T.H.E. Journal// The traditional textbook in some school districts is giving way to digital editions, which can dramatically reduce purchase price, eliminate loss and damage hassles, and open a world of learning to students and new forms of classroom practices to teachers. But during this time of transition, you have to be prepared to negotiate hard with the publishers.

CK-12 Foundation This is a non-profit organization with a mission to reduce the cost of textbook materials for the K-12 market both in the U.S. and worldwide. As examples:
 * CK-12 Flexbooks Resource Series added to the NCLOR (NC Learning Object Repository)
 * Twelve new ebooks from the CK-12 Foundation have been added to the NCLOR as a resource series. CK-12 Chemistry as it appears in the Orange Grove LOR is described here. (A good examples of metadata.)

CK-12 Foundation received a 2010 Microsoft tech award. “The power of the FlexBooks system is that it is useable under any condition and enhances collaboration across district, county, and state lines as well as internationally.”

To Save Students Money, Colleges May Force a Switch to E-Textbooks (or //The End of the Textbook as we Know it//) //Jeffrey R. Young. The Chronicle, October 24, 2010// Will skyrocketing costs of textbooks make electronic textbooks inevitable?

From eBooks to No Books //Stephanie Finlay. MacLeans On Campus// Last month, the University of Texas at San Antonio announced it had built the world’s first bookless library. So far, so good. When they prioritized the needs, “the books weren’t the priority.” While there is no negative feedback and students appear to be studying more, it is still important to remember “it is not just about accessing the information; its how well students are able to navigate through it.”

2010 Campus Computing Project Survey //The Campus Computing Project, October 14, 2010// “Senior campus IT officers appear bullish on the future of eBooks. Well over four-fifths (86.5 percent) agree or strongly agree that “eBook content will be an important source for instructional resources in five years,” up from 76.3 percent in 2009. Additionally, more than three-fourths (78.6 percent, up from 66.0 percent in2009) agree/strongly agree that “eBook readers (hardware) will be important platforms for instructional content in five years.” See related Educause video. Copies of the 2010 Campus Computing Survey will be available for a small fee on December 10th from the Campus Computing Project in Encino, CA (campuscomputing.net).

E Is for Explosion: E-Readers, Etextbooks, Econtent, Elearning, E-Everything //Victor Rivero. MultiMedia and Internet @ Schools, July 1, 2010// This is an overview of digital books and media and recent happenings in the world of ereading devices as well as etexts. It focuses in on more than 15 kinds of electronic texts and content and their producers/providers. Also includes comparison of eBooks and printed books from Wikipedia.

[College] Students Remain Reluctant to Try E-Textbooks, Survey Finds //Jeff Young. Wired Campus, October 26, 2010// The vast majority of students say they prefer print textbooks over electronic ones, and attitudes have not shifted markedly in the past year, according to the results of a survey by the National Association of College Stores. The survey found that 76 percent of students would pick a printed book over an e-textbook if the choice was left entirely up to them. That’s the exact same proportion as in the previous year’s survey.

In the same study last year it was noted that the true "digital natives" are middle school students. "For them, e-books are more normal, once they start moving up into higher-ed, they'll be more acceptive of it."


 * The following topics relate to eBooks in general more than eTextbooks, but they share many common characteristics. These three articles are by Stephen Abram, and they are published in Information Today and MultiMedia and Internet @ Schools between May and September, 2010.**

Books and eBooks: as Different as Night and Day IOColumn_89 This is a look at the emerging e-book marketplace and how e-books differ from traditional books in many ways.

Ebooks, Part 2: Trends and Standards This is a look at the emerging standards as related to Copyright and Digital Rights Management (DRM). (Alternate access: IOColumn_90 Download Word File.)

P-Books vs. iBooks: Death Match? Part 3 ebooks IOColumn_92 This is the author’s thoughts as they currently stand on the emerging e-book marketplace and how e-books differ from traditional books in many ways. textbooksfree.org

There are numerous links to free textbooks, etc. here, prepared by one Willliam Antoniotti, a retired former high school math teacher and college professor.

Curriki is not on this list, but it is has open source electronic text books.

Instructional Materials
//National Association of State Boards of Education (NAS BE) 2009// Rethinking the State Role in Instructional Materials Adoption: Opportunities for Innovation and Cost Savings Late last year, the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE), an organization that helps support state board leaders and provides education on a variety of issues, convened a forum of state board of education members and other state and national education leaders to discuss the role of the states in the adoption of instructional materials and what new opportunities exist, particularly with respect to open-licensed curriculum. As a result of that forum, NASBE published the policy update “Rethinking the State Role in Instructional Materials Adoption: Opportunities for Innovation and Cost Savings.”

This report provides a good overview of the opportunities for OER in K-12, as well as summaries of what states like Indiana, California, and Texas are doing in this area. It is a valuable piece to share with policymakers, public officials, school administrators, educators, and others who could benefit from knowledge about OER in K-12 education.

Media Trends
2010 Horizon Report: K-12 Edition //New Media Consortium, 2010// This report examines emerging technologies for their potential impact on and use in teaching, learning, and creative expression within the environment of pre-college education. Listed: Cloud computing, collaborative environments, game-based learning, mobile learning, augmented reality and flexible displays. Read further discussions of these topics.

SIIA Releases Trends Report on K-12 and Postsecondary Education Technology //Press Release, eSchool News, June 8, 2010// Authored by various members of the education industry, the report highlights industry shifts and emerging trends as they relate to five main topics: K-12 learning management systems, postsecondary learning management systems, online learning, state of the states, and mobile computing. This report is only free to SIIA members. SIIA publications are found here.

K-12 School Computer Networking/Chapter 35/Cloud Computing //WikiBooks, September 2010// Want to know how cloud computing (one of the trends) works? Try this “complete course” from WikiBooks.

Technology Trends Transforming Higher Education //Sarah Sorensen, O’Reilly Community, June 18, 2010// A few of the major technology trends that are playing a large role in shaping the future of education are ubiquity, mobility, personalization and virtualization.