Interesting facts about electronic textbooks

Approximate reading time: 1m 46s

Advantages 

Electronic textbooks have many advantages.

• They can be offered at lower prices.

• They make it easier to track students’ progress.

• They are easy to update with new information.

Interactivity

One of the big advantages of the e-textbook is that it gives students the opportunity to access multimedia content such as videos, interactive presentations, links, etc.

Digitization makes education accessible to students with disabilities as well. For example, high-contrast displays or text-to-speech programs can be very helpful for students with vision problems. At the same time, they will use the same textbooks as their classmates.

Devices

Since the e-textbook can be used on an electronic device such as a laptop or an e-reader, schools and universities need to determine how to provide access to the appropriate type of device for all students. An alternative to this plan is for students to bring their own devices to class - the so-called Bring Your Own Device method. It will reduce costs for institutions, but there are two other problems:

• Some students' devices may not be compatible with electronic textbooks.

• Students who do not have their own laptop, tablet, e-reader, or smartphone are automatically excluded from the learning process.

3 myths about electronic textbooks

The debate over whether e-textbooks will replace traditional printed editions is intensifying. See what the main myths are.

Myth No. 1. They cannot be used for a long period of time.

Many people believe that access to the e-textbook is for a certain period of time. That is not true. The student who purchased it can use it for years to come. Moreover, it is much more durable than its paper counterparts.

Myth No. 2. Students learn better with traditional textbooks.

The main problem associated with the usability of electronic textbooks is that the text in them is divided into columns. This makes them much harder to read. Of course, this can easily be changed. Publishers need to take a more appropriate approach, customize the content, and make it compatible with all devices.

Myth No. 3. Without access to the internet, the e-textbook is useless.

Nowadays, almost every home and a large part of schools have access to the internet. In the rare cases where internet access is unavailable, students and teachers will be able to print texts and learning materials for free.

Conclusion

Electronic textbooks are still at an early stage of development. But they would be very useful for students, as they save money and make the learning process much more efficient.

Source: https://www.edsurge.com/news/2015-12-05-facing-the-facts-four-common-objections-to-digital-textbooks.

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