Etexbooks

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E-textbooks

• Opportunities, innovations, distractions and
  dilemmas
• Tom Davy
• Thomson Learning

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What is a textbook?
A synthesis of current knowledge

• Teaching aid and learning resource

Learning objectives
Matches course requirements
Includes supplements
Case studies
Follows a logical sequence
Pedagogical features
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Textbook Supplements
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Textbook cost elements
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Textbook cost elements
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Teaching Philosophies

• A bi-product of research
• Learning shouldnt be fun
• Students shouldnt be spoon-fed
• Discovery not prescription
• Learner-centred Vs teacher-led

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Student expectations

• Get me through the course
• Grab my attention
• Highly visual
• Better than Google
• The bits I need when I need them
• Built-in links for further research

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Publisher Objectives

• Win market share
• Build a superior product
• Better syllabus match
• Authoritative author
• Latest thinking
• New material
• Makes course delivery easier
• Value-adding supplements

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Its an arms race
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Diminishing returns

• More returns, less ROI
• Reducing sell-through
• New edition cycles
• Second-hand sales
• Web resources are free

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US Vs ROW price differentials

• Kotler, Armstrong Principles of Marketing

• UK Edition 42.99

US Edition 160 80.00
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• US Edition UK Edition
• 141.98 70 39.89

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Economics of textbook publishing

• High initial investment
• Supplements
• High Price
• In the US
• If discretionary purchase for students
• Used books, leakage, buying around, piracy
• Inefficient supply chain
• Multiple intermediaries
• High wastage
• Unsuccessful first editions
• Too much content
• Returns

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Corporate exodus from education
Education slow to adopt digital solutions
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Textbook Vs Digital

• Textbook
• Portable
• Tactile
• No equipment required
• Text better on paper
• Organising framework
• Linear
• Single medium
• Too much or too little
• Single learning style

• Digital
• I-pods, mobile phones
• I-pods, mobile phones
• Ubiquitous items
• E-paper, print on demand
• Learner journeys
• Interactive
• Multiple media
• As much as you need
• Individual learning styles

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Context

• Faculty
• Tutor contact hours are reducing
• (www.williseemytutor.com)
• From sage on the stage to guide on the side
• Students
• Access to huge amount of content
• Students will accept good enough
• Students have become Googleized

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Is there a better way?

What would we invent today if the textbook did
not exist?
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The Learning Pyramid
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Book Centric
Case Studies
Companion Website
Learning Assessments
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Objective Centric
Learning Objective
Learning Assessments
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Dilemmas

• Print pays our salaries
• The bleeding edge is a painful place
• Selling direct to students
• Digital rights management

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Distractions

• E-books
• Bookshops
• Digitalist zealots

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Innovations

• The demise of content silos
• Customised content
• User created and sharing

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Opportunities

• University management offer your customers a
  more compelling learning experience
• Go digital
• Librarians market your services more effectively
• Move into the campus bookshop space
• Publishers
• Look beyond the textbook
• Start thinking objectives and digital learning
  objects