eTextbooks: Future or Fable

Etextbooks will be the future of textbooks. It may not be now but once students get over the threat of change they can save thousands of dollars.

In the NBC news article, Required Reading, author Martha White explained that the textbook monopoly has students paying a steep price. Some student pay as much as $1200.00 per semester on texbooks in addition to growing school tuitions. Students have the option to resell their slightly used text books but see a miniscule return. Since publishers releasing new editions so frequently the value of editions owned by students decrease by nearly 75%. Schools are working on building their own library of online textbooks but it has not yet hit the mainstream. Students are suffering at the hands of these publishers. Leaving some to opt out of purchasing books altogether. Students should not have to forego a complete learning experience for the sake of textbooks. This is a problem for both students and their wallet. Undoubtedly change is imminent.

A problem that students may face if and when online books become widely accessible at a low cost is the fact that they prefer tangible books. In the LA times article author Michael Schaub relays that 92% of college students prefer print books to ebooks in his article of the same name. As a student I find that I agree that a properly bound text book pales in comparison to the ebook but it is a comfort I often forego for the chance to save money. Many students find that etextbooks offer a wealth of distractions. These new books are interactive and engage with readers physically.

In ‘5 Reasons Physical Books Might Be Better than Ebooks’ by Shaunacy Ferro she explains that ebooks could potentially hinder your comprehension of the material. Another point is that the LED screens could decrease your ability to study by tiring your eyes and mind. The points in this article are soft at best. Many of these reasons seemed more sentimental rather than factual. A lot of people wanted to cling on to slavery but look where we are now.

Students prefer physical textbooks because that is all they know. Through their years of schooling they have yet to get the chance to build a tolerance for etextbooks. Provide a student with etextbooks for 5 years and they will undoubtedly get accustomed to it. The iPod was unfamiliar and unpopular when it first hit the market but it singlehandedly changed the music industry.

The fact that students prefer the physical touch of books is merely a personal preference. That I predict will soon be a thing of the past. Just as the 8-track and vinyl records. Most certainly there will always be a niche but it would be foolish to avoid saving thousands of dollars a year. This should not hinder companies from making ebooks more accessible. The market is high for a lower budget avenue

Every year we bringing our human selves closer to technology with voice activated services like Siri and society’s new obsession with self tracking devices, an etextbook dominated circuit will surely be in our futures. According to Edtech Magazine, 32% of students have turned to pirating textbooks illegally online to save money in 2014. Which was a 12% rise from 2010.

If students are partial to the physical text this should not disallow students from accessing the ebook. Why can’t both be an option for all textbooks on the market? The publishers monopolizing the textbook sphere have profited long enough. Why add to student’s debt with steep texts?

I personally have had many courses that I have purchased textbooks for, but have opened them once or twice. The book scam goes beyond publishing houses, but the issue lies with teachers as well. Some teachers assign a multitude of expensive books without the wallets of students in mind. Surely students great reading material but the newest and most expensive literature is not always they best option. Some teachers are catching on and uploading assigned readings for students to access but I encourage those good Samaritans to spread the word amongst the teaching community.

Why is it that adding a new chapter meanwhile rearranging the others merits a new edition of a textbook. The information is virtually the same as its predecessor but students are encouraged and sometimes forced to go with the new.  Why is there no regulation on when and how many times a book can be revamped? If textbooks need to be consistently updated they should be online to decrease the carbon footprint.

Another advantage of switching to ebooks is that it will assist with eliminating waste. All books are not necessarily helping to preserve the environment but according to Slate.com “textbooks are particularly bad, releasing more than double the CO2 equivalents of the average book.”

The plus side to having etextbooks can truly benefit students. Books will never be out of stock.  Hence waiting or a book will be a thing of the past. Text to speech reading is a newer feature of many eReaders which can assist with comprehension and vocabulary.  Ereaders have the ability to search for terms and annotate on the page. In two of the articles the authors mentioned that the interactive widgets in texts can be distracting. If this is a worry or students and or teachers there should be a way to switch them off to increase concentration. But if the majority of students find them distracting, why include them at all if it’s a hindrance.

Publishers will no doubt be hurt if they limited their book supply and sold a fairly priced online copy but if they could come up with some sort of app or subscription service I know many  students would be willing to give it a try.

All in all I stand by etextbooks as the future. I myself have used etextbooks and it was both cost effective and useful. All those who are not ready to board the tech train to the future may stay put, buried by stacks of overpriced and archaically bound books piled high.