Survey: ASCD educators believe digital textbooks are on the way

But Maybe They're Wrong

This from the San Antonio Express-News:

A survey of educators attending a national conference here shows they believe printed textbooks will soon be obsolete but few feel prepared for a shift to digital learning.

The survey asked educators questions about social networking, digital textbooks and district spending on interactive learning methods. Sixty-five percent said they believe textbooks are going away. Just 19 percent said their school or district is “totally prepared” for the digital age.

“We touch a lot of schools on a regular basis, and most are not ready,”said Eric Loeffel, CEO of CompassLearning, an Austin-based educational software company that paid for the survey. “I think that what it says is we need to take a long, hard look at how are we going to get ready. But there are some pockets of innovation in America, and we need to find them and begin to replicate them.”

Some local districts are already experimenting with digital learning tools, though traditional textbooks remain the norm...

But is it really about readiness to adopt an innovation? I think the pros and cons of any innovation should be assessed without an assumption that newer is necessarily better.

In an informal survey last week, of 150 EDF 203 students at Eastern , 65% said they preferred traditional texts.

I conducted the midterm survey to assess how well the students liked our course - and the text, which is half traditional hard copy and half eBook. Most students didn't like the technology.

Some even printed out their eBooks before reading them, which virtually eliminates the cost savings I had hoped they would enjoy. Some also complained that they could not preserve their eBook to study for their PRAXIS exams a couple of years from now, as they could a traditional textbook.

On the positive side, students liked the ability to text search the eBook.

In a related note, the class was split 50:50 as to whether they would prefer the course in person or online. It all came down to personal style and work schedules.