April 8, 2013 at 11:09Electronic textbooks: status and prospects
Currently, electronic textbooks are increasingly gaining popularity - a fact that is difficult to argue with. On many book-ordering sites, it is possible to order electronic versions of books, both artistic and scientific-methodical. This form of presentation of the material is aimed at special devices - ordinary computers, various “readers”, tablets, and differs from a paper copy in that it has dynamic navigation, search capabilities and many other functions. What should be an electronic textbook so that it can be used to effectively, and most importantly, be interesting to learn? You also need to determine the terminology, to understand what “electronic textbooks” are.
My name is Pavel, I am a certified Microsoft teacher and have been teaching courses at the training center since 2009. Since the middle of last year, significant changes have occurred in the provision of teaching materials. Now the corporation provides textbooks only in electronic form. Participants in the courses often ask questions about the appropriateness of such changes, referring to the "former convenience" of working with paper manuals. Almost all books are printed in English and it seems that the "good old" paper allows you to add your comments and notes, stick bookmarks and add your navigation. Another observation that one sometimes hears is the inconvenience of switching between a book and a practical task execution environment when they are on the same screen. In this article I want to give my reasoning on this topic.
Many people, when they hear the phrase "electronic textbook" imagine a pdf file or djvu (substitute any format you know) a book that can be read from a computer screen or other device. This is not to say that this type of information is not popular. Like any modern person, being in the subway or in another public place, I see many people around, with various gadgets in their hands, some of these people just play or watch videos, but many read books. Indeed, it is very convenient, especially for reading fiction. On a small device, the home library will fit freely and there will still be enough free space for a couple of albums of your favorite group. People with familiar books are much smaller. I have great love for printed books, especially large ones, with beautiful design, bright and colorful images, smelling of typography. I read such publications as a child, and now I enjoy reading with my son. But at the moment I have a very dynamic work and reading "for fun" was practically inaccessible to me. In the car for long trips - an audio book, in the preparation of materials - official training manuals in electronic form and Internet resources. I catch myself thinking that I rarely use paper books and, perhaps, from some kind of nostalgic memories. In big cities this is even more relevant, people spend from two hours of their time on the road, standing in traffic jams, why not spend this time to the benefit of their development? But at the moment I have a very dynamic work and reading "for fun" was practically inaccessible to me. In the car for long trips - an audio book, in the preparation of materials - official training manuals in electronic form and Internet resources. I catch myself thinking that I rarely use paper books and, perhaps, from some kind of nostalgic memories. In big cities this is even more relevant, people spend from two hours of their time on the road, standing in traffic jams, why not spend this time to the benefit of their development? But at the moment I have a very dynamic work and reading "for fun" was practically inaccessible to me. In the car for long trips - an audio book, in the preparation of materials - official training manuals in electronic form and Internet resources. I catch myself thinking that I rarely use paper books and, perhaps, from some kind of nostalgic memories. In big cities this is even more relevant, people spend from two hours of their time on the road, standing in traffic jams, why not spend this time to the benefit of their development? from some nostalgic memories. In big cities this is even more relevant, people spend from two hours of their time on the road, standing in traffic jams, why not spend this time to the benefit of their development? from some nostalgic memories. In big cities this is even more relevant, people spend from two hours of their time on the road, standing in traffic jams, why not spend this time to the benefit of their development?
A few years ago I ordered self-study manuals, but I received them only after 2 or 3 weeks. It would seem where to hurry, because the book will come and you can easily read it, but with the methodological literature it often happens that the book is needed urgently in order to start working as quickly as possible. E-books are leading the way. Paid - downloaded, i.e. the time from payment to the start of work is significantly reduced.
Visually impaired people are not comfortable, and sometimes it is even physically impossible to read books in which small letters are enough. Almost all electronic devices have the ability to increase the font or have a backlight that allows you to enjoy reading your favorite book in a place with insufficient lighting.
Do not forget about the production of paper books. Not everyone has the opportunity to make paper from recycled materials, most often the trees are the material - a very valuable natural resource from the point of view of ecology and various "green" organizations. The world is developing, it is necessary to be able to adapt to changes.
The production of paper manuals always cost and costs about one fairly large amount (preparation of material, layout, printing).
Electronic manuals can be more expensive only at the initial stage, the stage of development of the system itself, in which the user will be trained. In the future, it will only be necessary to develop content and simply fill it with systems, and printing costs will become zero.
You can try to figure out what positive aspects this will be displayed on the end user and whether it will be displayed at all. From my point of view, since production costs will be reduced, the manufacturer will be able to provide a more functional product for the “same money” in order to be in demand in the competitive market.
E-books can also improve the efficiency of finding the right information. I pressed a couple of keys, entered the search word and after a few seconds got the result, if any. Various bookmarks, opening, from the moment where I stopped last time, books are also quite useful.
But why is an e-book, as an educational material in this form, not very convenient? We live in the age of information technology and it would be foolish to rationally not use them in the direction of education.
What opportunities should electronic textbooks have in addition to those listed above to make them useful for training?
Often, efficiency is enhanced through collaboration. Imagine a situation when a teacher leads a lesson, being physically far from you. On the computer screen, you can see the slides of the presentation shown to him, for example, via the Internet. And you follow the progress of the lesson in your textbook, which is also accessible via the Internet from any device with a network connection and a browser. The lesson reaches an important point when the trainer asks you to pay attention to some points, makes a note on your slides, and you see this remark in your textbook. In addition, you are also free to add your notes and notes. They are saved and remain with you until you change or delete them.
Now let's try to look a little differently. Imagine that an electronic textbook is not an electronic book in the sense in which we examined it above, but a software product with a certain functionality. For many people, the effectiveness of mastering the material depends on their interest both in the subject of study in the first place and in the learning process in the second. It’s not possible to immediately influence the first, but the second can work very well. Not every material is equally well perceived after reading the text, albeit with the addition of graphs or tables. Software tools allow you to add various visualization tools written. These can be videos (adding any media content can significantly increase the occupied space on disks or memory cards, but the current level of development of information storage systems and their relatively low cost allows you not to worry much about this), screenshots, drawings, animations and much more. What can be improved? One of the options may be a situation in which the graph displays some information and contains text annotations. Technologies do not allow you to display the entire graph at once, as in ordinary images, but as you read the annotations. This will be more obvious, especially in situations where the graphs contain a lot of information. The next step may be the ability to change parameters with automatic rebuilding of charts to view results with other input values. animation and more. What can be improved? One of the options may be a situation in which the graph displays some information and contains text annotations. Technologies do not allow you to display the entire graph at once, as in ordinary images, but as you read the annotations. This will be more obvious, especially in situations where the graphs contain a lot of information. The next step may be the ability to change parameters with automatic rebuilding of charts to view results with other input values. animation and more. What can be improved? One of the options may be a situation in which the graph displays some information and contains text annotations. Technologies do not allow you to display the entire graph at once, as in ordinary images, but as you read the annotations. This will be more obvious, especially in situations where the graphs contain a lot of information. The next step may be the ability to change parameters with automatic rebuilding of charts to view results with other input values. where the graphs contain a lot of information. The next step may be the ability to change parameters with automatic rebuilding of charts to view results with other input values. where the graphs contain a lot of information. The next step may be the ability to change parameters with automatic rebuilding of charts to view results with other input values.
New or important terms are highlighted by a different design, and by pressing a finger or when hovering the mouse, its meaning is displayed in a pop-up window.
In technical courses for IT professionals in the study of technologies, the so-called emulations can serve as a good example, allowing you to follow the steps described in the task to configure a specific system component, etc. The student simply “clicks” with the mouse on the necessary elements of the emulated system. This, of course, is not a real system, but no longer a bare theory, associative memory will work. You don’t have to configure resource-intensive virtual machines that may not always be at hand.
And how to control the assimilation of the material? Of course, questions for self-control and verification tasks. There is nothing easier than implementing such a system in a program, all the more now there are analogues. After completing a module or chapter, the student may be asked questions for self-testing with “intelligent” storing of results, i.e. when performing tests or independent work, the system will automatically raise questions on topics that “sink” to the student. I didn’t answer correctly on the topic - here are two more questions from the same area. After testing, the program will show your results on each topic with recommendations on what you need to “tighten” and what is in order.
For the IT world, there is one more nuance that should not be forgotten - the information market is changing rapidly, and it often happens that books do not have time to reach the release date of a new product or functional update. With electronic textbooks easier, you can quickly update via the Internet. Changes will be displayed in the teaching material and the student will be able to quickly enter the course of things. I still have beautiful and large technology textbooks on the shelf, which have now changed a lot, and some are even outdated, although only about five years have passed. And it’s a pity to throw away such books, but they no longer carry any informational load, so they stand in the background, creating a cozy interior for the IT specialist.
For my part, I believe that such textbooks will also flow very smoothly into distance learning systems. Thus, expanding their methodological potential. But this is the topic of a separate article.
In conclusion, I want to summarize a little. So, if we consider the electronic textbook not as a reading book, but as a professional tool for effective learning, both in the classroom and on its own, then my opinion is that this is a very promising direction.
Both for work and for self-development, I try to use modern technologies. In training, they have great potential. It is difficult to disagree that such systems will cost more than conventional electronic manuals, because require more intellectual work to implement. But on the other side of the scale lies knowledge, and in most cases it cannot be expressed in monetary terms.
My name is Pavel, I am a certified Microsoft teacher and have been teaching courses at the training center since 2009. Since the middle of last year, significant changes have occurred in the provision of teaching materials. Now the corporation provides textbooks only in electronic form. Participants in the courses often ask questions about the appropriateness of such changes, referring to the "former convenience" of working with paper manuals. Almost all books are printed in English and it seems that the "good old" paper allows you to add your comments and notes, stick bookmarks and add your navigation. Another observation that one sometimes hears is the inconvenience of switching between a book and a practical task execution environment when they are on the same screen. In this article I want to give my reasoning on this topic.
Ideas about electronic textbooks: myth and reality
Many people, when they hear the phrase "electronic textbook" imagine a pdf file or djvu (substitute any format you know) a book that can be read from a computer screen or other device. This is not to say that this type of information is not popular. Like any modern person, being in the subway or in another public place, I see many people around, with various gadgets in their hands, some of these people just play or watch videos, but many read books. Indeed, it is very convenient, especially for reading fiction. On a small device, the home library will fit freely and there will still be enough free space for a couple of albums of your favorite group. People with familiar books are much smaller. I have great love for printed books, especially large ones, with beautiful design, bright and colorful images, smelling of typography. I read such publications as a child, and now I enjoy reading with my son. But at the moment I have a very dynamic work and reading "for fun" was practically inaccessible to me. In the car for long trips - an audio book, in the preparation of materials - official training manuals in electronic form and Internet resources. I catch myself thinking that I rarely use paper books and, perhaps, from some kind of nostalgic memories. In big cities this is even more relevant, people spend from two hours of their time on the road, standing in traffic jams, why not spend this time to the benefit of their development? But at the moment I have a very dynamic work and reading "for fun" was practically inaccessible to me. In the car for long trips - an audio book, in the preparation of materials - official training manuals in electronic form and Internet resources. I catch myself thinking that I rarely use paper books and, perhaps, from some kind of nostalgic memories. In big cities this is even more relevant, people spend from two hours of their time on the road, standing in traffic jams, why not spend this time to the benefit of their development? But at the moment I have a very dynamic work and reading "for fun" was practically inaccessible to me. In the car for long trips - an audio book, in the preparation of materials - official training manuals in electronic form and Internet resources. I catch myself thinking that I rarely use paper books and, perhaps, from some kind of nostalgic memories. In big cities this is even more relevant, people spend from two hours of their time on the road, standing in traffic jams, why not spend this time to the benefit of their development? from some nostalgic memories. In big cities this is even more relevant, people spend from two hours of their time on the road, standing in traffic jams, why not spend this time to the benefit of their development? from some nostalgic memories. In big cities this is even more relevant, people spend from two hours of their time on the road, standing in traffic jams, why not spend this time to the benefit of their development?
A few years ago I ordered self-study manuals, but I received them only after 2 or 3 weeks. It would seem where to hurry, because the book will come and you can easily read it, but with the methodological literature it often happens that the book is needed urgently in order to start working as quickly as possible. E-books are leading the way. Paid - downloaded, i.e. the time from payment to the start of work is significantly reduced.
Visually impaired people are not comfortable, and sometimes it is even physically impossible to read books in which small letters are enough. Almost all electronic devices have the ability to increase the font or have a backlight that allows you to enjoy reading your favorite book in a place with insufficient lighting.
Do not forget about the production of paper books. Not everyone has the opportunity to make paper from recycled materials, most often the trees are the material - a very valuable natural resource from the point of view of ecology and various "green" organizations. The world is developing, it is necessary to be able to adapt to changes.
The production of paper manuals always cost and costs about one fairly large amount (preparation of material, layout, printing).
Electronic manuals can be more expensive only at the initial stage, the stage of development of the system itself, in which the user will be trained. In the future, it will only be necessary to develop content and simply fill it with systems, and printing costs will become zero.
You can try to figure out what positive aspects this will be displayed on the end user and whether it will be displayed at all. From my point of view, since production costs will be reduced, the manufacturer will be able to provide a more functional product for the “same money” in order to be in demand in the competitive market.
E-books can also improve the efficiency of finding the right information. I pressed a couple of keys, entered the search word and after a few seconds got the result, if any. Various bookmarks, opening, from the moment where I stopped last time, books are also quite useful.
But why is an e-book, as an educational material in this form, not very convenient? We live in the age of information technology and it would be foolish to rationally not use them in the direction of education.
What opportunities should electronic textbooks have in addition to those listed above to make them useful for training?
Opportunities that e-textbooks must have in order to be useful for learning
Often, efficiency is enhanced through collaboration. Imagine a situation when a teacher leads a lesson, being physically far from you. On the computer screen, you can see the slides of the presentation shown to him, for example, via the Internet. And you follow the progress of the lesson in your textbook, which is also accessible via the Internet from any device with a network connection and a browser. The lesson reaches an important point when the trainer asks you to pay attention to some points, makes a note on your slides, and you see this remark in your textbook. In addition, you are also free to add your notes and notes. They are saved and remain with you until you change or delete them.
Now let's try to look a little differently. Imagine that an electronic textbook is not an electronic book in the sense in which we examined it above, but a software product with a certain functionality. For many people, the effectiveness of mastering the material depends on their interest both in the subject of study in the first place and in the learning process in the second. It’s not possible to immediately influence the first, but the second can work very well. Not every material is equally well perceived after reading the text, albeit with the addition of graphs or tables. Software tools allow you to add various visualization tools written. These can be videos (adding any media content can significantly increase the occupied space on disks or memory cards, but the current level of development of information storage systems and their relatively low cost allows you not to worry much about this), screenshots, drawings, animations and much more. What can be improved? One of the options may be a situation in which the graph displays some information and contains text annotations. Technologies do not allow you to display the entire graph at once, as in ordinary images, but as you read the annotations. This will be more obvious, especially in situations where the graphs contain a lot of information. The next step may be the ability to change parameters with automatic rebuilding of charts to view results with other input values. animation and more. What can be improved? One of the options may be a situation in which the graph displays some information and contains text annotations. Technologies do not allow you to display the entire graph at once, as in ordinary images, but as you read the annotations. This will be more obvious, especially in situations where the graphs contain a lot of information. The next step may be the ability to change parameters with automatic rebuilding of charts to view results with other input values. animation and more. What can be improved? One of the options may be a situation in which the graph displays some information and contains text annotations. Technologies do not allow you to display the entire graph at once, as in ordinary images, but as you read the annotations. This will be more obvious, especially in situations where the graphs contain a lot of information. The next step may be the ability to change parameters with automatic rebuilding of charts to view results with other input values. where the graphs contain a lot of information. The next step may be the ability to change parameters with automatic rebuilding of charts to view results with other input values. where the graphs contain a lot of information. The next step may be the ability to change parameters with automatic rebuilding of charts to view results with other input values.
New or important terms are highlighted by a different design, and by pressing a finger or when hovering the mouse, its meaning is displayed in a pop-up window.
In technical courses for IT professionals in the study of technologies, the so-called emulations can serve as a good example, allowing you to follow the steps described in the task to configure a specific system component, etc. The student simply “clicks” with the mouse on the necessary elements of the emulated system. This, of course, is not a real system, but no longer a bare theory, associative memory will work. You don’t have to configure resource-intensive virtual machines that may not always be at hand.
And how to control the assimilation of the material? Of course, questions for self-control and verification tasks. There is nothing easier than implementing such a system in a program, all the more now there are analogues. After completing a module or chapter, the student may be asked questions for self-testing with “intelligent” storing of results, i.e. when performing tests or independent work, the system will automatically raise questions on topics that “sink” to the student. I didn’t answer correctly on the topic - here are two more questions from the same area. After testing, the program will show your results on each topic with recommendations on what you need to “tighten” and what is in order.
Work with electronic textbooks in the IT world
For the IT world, there is one more nuance that should not be forgotten - the information market is changing rapidly, and it often happens that books do not have time to reach the release date of a new product or functional update. With electronic textbooks easier, you can quickly update via the Internet. Changes will be displayed in the teaching material and the student will be able to quickly enter the course of things. I still have beautiful and large technology textbooks on the shelf, which have now changed a lot, and some are even outdated, although only about five years have passed. And it’s a pity to throw away such books, but they no longer carry any informational load, so they stand in the background, creating a cozy interior for the IT specialist.
For my part, I believe that such textbooks will also flow very smoothly into distance learning systems. Thus, expanding their methodological potential. But this is the topic of a separate article.
In conclusion, I want to summarize a little. So, if we consider the electronic textbook not as a reading book, but as a professional tool for effective learning, both in the classroom and on its own, then my opinion is that this is a very promising direction.
Both for work and for self-development, I try to use modern technologies. In training, they have great potential. It is difficult to disagree that such systems will cost more than conventional electronic manuals, because require more intellectual work to implement. But on the other side of the scale lies knowledge, and in most cases it cannot be expressed in monetary terms.