Digital Textbooks

RESUMO Este artigo trata das possibilidades de personalização características das tecnologias digitais, que se estendem aos livros, cujo projeto gráfico pode, muitas vezes, ser alterado pelos usuários. As questões que encaminham o texto dizem respeito à relação dos leitores com os livros digitais, com ênfase no uso, das possibilidades de customização dos livros digitais. Para abordar o tema, partimos de uma revisão bibliográfica sobre o design editorial, após a qual apresentamos os resultados de uma pesquisa junto a leitores, realizada através de questionários online. O texto termina com uma reflexão sobre o papel do designer frente às possibilidades de customização do livro digital. Palavras-chave: "design editorial", "e-book" e "tablets". INTRODUÇÃO Ao longo dos séculos que compõem a história do livro, diversos padrões de composição legitimaram-se e passaram a ser considerados sinônimos de conforto e eficácia de leitura ao usuário-bem como da capacida...

Zusammenfassung: Die veränderten Rahmenbedingungen des kompetenzorientierten Geographieunterrichts stellen gemeinsam mit den technischen Möglichkeiten digitaler Medienträger wie Tablets und Smart-phones das Verbundmedium Schulbuch vor Herausforderungen. Während die ersten iBooks bereits auf dem Markt sind, setzte sich die Geographie-didaktik bislang weder in Forschung noch in der Praxis (z.B. in Form von Bewertungsrastern für Praktiker und Praktikerinnen) mit iBooks aus-einander. Vor diesem Hintergrund nahm sich diese Arbeit vor zu prüfen, inwiefern digitale Schulbücher oder iBooks den fachspezifischen Erwar-tungen des kompetenzorientierten Geographieunterrichts bei gleichzeitiger Ausschöpfung technischer Möglichkeiten entsprechen. Der Schwerpunkt lag zunächst auf dem letzteren Aspekt. Zwei iBooks für das Fach Geographie wurden einer qualitativen und quantitativen Analyse unterworfen. Eine erweiterte und adaptierte Fassung der gängigen Raster zur Schulbuchbe-wertung bildete das Instrument. Neben den allgemeinen und besonderen Merkmalen von iBooks wurden Aspekte der Gestaltung und Ausstattung bewertet. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass eine grundsätzliche Neukonzipierung der Lehrwerke unter der Berücksichtigung der Funktionen von Tablets noch nicht erfolgt ist. Auch zeigen die Ergebnisse die Herausforderungen, denen sich Autorenteams mit homogenem fachlichem Hintergrund stellen müssen. Abstract: Educational media are challenged by a number of new factors shaping formal education, such as skill-based constructivist paedagogies and digital media (e.g. tablets, smartphones). While the first iBooks already entered the market, both research in Geography Education on educational media and widely-used literature on textbook evaluation require a transition into the digital age. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to verify to what extent the digital textbooks or iBooks match the 83 iBooks für den Geographieunterricht standards of skills-based Geography Education and utilze simultaneously the possibilities offered by digital media. The latter aspect remained at the heart of this paper. The two Geography textbooks, which constituted the sample, were subjected to qualitative and quantitative text analysis. The research instrument consisted of an updated version of the established rasters of textbook evaluation and focused on the general features of iBooks along with their design and layout. The preliminary results show on the one hand that textbooks have not been adapted yet to the features of tablet and smartphones. On the other hand, results reflect a number of challenges emerging from homogenously constituted authors teams with a background either in Geography or Design.

The technological development and cultural acceptance of e-books today parallels the state of the printed book in the 15th century. E-books are increasingly available from a variety of distributors and retailers, and work on a myriad of devices, but the majority remain simply digitized versions of print books. Some devices or platforms include such tools as word definitions, highlighting, and note taking, but many of these tools simply mimic what students and researchers have traditionally done with printed texts. This paper examines three examples of innovative e-books in order to illustrate the potential and pitfalls of electronic publications. The first is a history e-text that includes 1,700 primary-source documents — such as Presidential memos, reports, and even audio and video clips — linked from footnotes, providing a treasure trove of research material to readers. The second is a novella in hypertext form. The third example examines digital textbooks that include multimedia, assessment, and other digital tools. Each of these cases demonstrates creative approaches, business models, and methods of review that point to the enhanced, interactive, interlinked future of the e-book.

After an introductory excursus on the recent legislation regarding the adoption of digital textbooks in Italian schools, this paper focuses on the possible effects of the digitizing process on language teaching, also taking into account the data of some ongoing classroom experiments. The results of a mainly qualitative survey, conducted on a non-representative sample of secondary school language teachers, highlight both the strengths of digital texts-especially with regard to students with special needs-and their weaknesses, which relate essentially to the need for a closer link between research and the dissemination of knowledge, the need to equip schools with appropriate technology, and, above all, the need for effective teacher training.

Analyzing the user experience of digital textbooks and platforms requires some contextual and background research. This was done by analyzing 14 of the most prominent platforms and auxiliary modules. There were fourteen main platforms briefly analyzed along with their most significant solutions and resources. Through this analysis it was possible to find some common features and other distinct implementations that can contribute to future work in this area. In conclusion, there are some contextualized trends observed in the analysis and some considerations to be made regarding the future of digital textbooks.

E-books are beginning to emerge from their incunabula stage. While some may think of an e-book as just an electronic image of a paper product, others have used the electronic format to broaden the spectrum of publishing in the digital age. This paper examines three innovative examples that demonstrate the potential and challenges of electronic publications. The first is an online resource providing information on the U.S. health care system, descriptions of policy proposals, and an interactive microsimulation model that estimates the effects of commonly proposed policy changes. The second example is a digital novel utilizing text, sound, images, and gaming in storytelling. The third is a survey of efforts to create digital textbooks with online study resources. Each case study provides insight into the possible future of the e-book.

The chapter 'Textbook Effects and Efficacy' aims to provide a brief overview of current research approaches on the effects and efficacy of textbooks, aligned to the major areas of research in this field such as textbook language; socio-cultural and socioeconomic factors; visual textbook parameters; cognitive, affective and behavioural effects; and new technological and/or methodological approaches. In doing so, it summarises empirical evidence produced in a range of fields dedicated to textbooks and educational media. The emphasis here is on experimental and quasi-experimental studies. The concluding remarks suggest potential approaches for new directions in research.

The purpose of this article is to add to the collective body of research regarding the use of digital books (or eTexts) and their preference by students in higher education. Although there have been many studies in this area, the findings are not necessarily consistent. One reason for this inconsistency is the rapid evolution of e-reading capabilities through recent advances in tablet computing. No empirical studies currently exist to describe the impact of multi-touch interactive eTexts, which are only accessible on these latest tablet computers. The purpose of this study was to determine how graduate pre-service teacher education students perceive the interactivity, engagement, and value of customized course eTexts. Participants in this quasi-experimental study rated the level of interactivity, engagement, and value of three eText formats: page fidelity (Adobe PDF), reflowable text (Kindle ePub), and multi-touch (Apple iBooks). Users of the multi-touch eText reported a significantly more interactive and engaging experience with their text than the other eText users. The experiment also revealed that students overwhelmingly prefer a free, customized open-access text for use in their course, no matter what eText format is used.

One of the ideas for improving urban green spaces is adding to them a virtual dimension, or, in other words, equipping them with some kind of technological infrastructure. Such spaces, combining nature with technology, are named in many terms, e.g. outdoor cyber-mediated spaces, technologically enhanced urban green spaces, blended digital/urban green spaces or – which is the most precise – hybrid spaces. A hybrid space is quite an innovative solution, because traditionally the natural environment and digital domains are seen as distinctly different. In addition, researchers agree that hybrid spaces offer an attractive learning context, although little is known about learning in hybrid spaces. This chapter defines learning in hybrid spaces as technology-enhanced outdoor learning, and discusses such contextual key terms as technology-enhanced learning, and outdoor learning, as well as the technological requirements for technology-enhanced outdoor learning, selected technologies of technology-enhanced outdoor learning, namely personal digital assistants, e-libraries, quick response codes, Kinect-laptop-integrated system, geographic positioning system, digital textbooks, cloud computing. Finally, it offers design guidelines for technology-enhanced outdoor learning. This can be useful for anyone interested in the educational use of hybrid spaces.

Building on a preliminary case study of the Danish educational publisher Systime A/S and its flagship product, the web-based 'iBog'/'iBook', this article explores how digital textbooks can be understood as design. The shaping of digital books is seen as being intertwined in a wider circuit of design culture, constituted by changes in designer roles, consumption and mediation practices and restructuring of book production. Following this perspective entails an investigation not only into the shaping of the book as an isolated artefact or product but also into how business models, internal reorganization of the publishing company, web-based user interfaces, and ultimately the branding, which market these new digital objects, are building powerful discourses around the product. Thus it is suggested that the design process of the iBog case can be understood in a model of database-based publishing with multiple levels. In the final analysis, the iBog is much more than a product and a technology. It is a brand that goes beyond what can be studied by looking at the digital textbook as a singular artefact.

This empirical study used Keller’s (2008b) Motivation, Volition, and Performance (MVP) theory to develop and statistically evaluate a mathematical MVP model that can serve as a research and policy tool for evaluating students’ learning experiences in digital environments. Specifically, it explored undergraduate biology students’ learning and attitudes toward e-texts using a MVP mathematical model in two different e-text environments. A data set (N = 1,334) that included student motivation and e-text information processing, frustration with using e-texts, and student ability variables was used to evaluate e-text satisfaction. A regression analysis of these variables revealed a significant model that explained 77% of the variation in student e-text satisfaction in both e-text learning environments. Student motivation and intrinsic cognitive load were positive predictors of student satisfaction, while extraneous cognitive load and student prior knowledge and background variables were n...

This empirical study used Keller’s (2008b) Motivation, Volition, and Performance (MVP) theory to develop and statistically evaluate a mathematical MVP model that can serve as a research and policy tool for evaluating students’ learning experiences in digital environments. Specifically, it explored undergraduate biology students’ learning and attitudes toward e-texts using a MVP mathematical model in two different e-text environments. A data set (N = 1,334) that included student motivation and e-text information processing, frustration with using e-texts, and student ability variables was used to evaluate e-text satisfaction. A regression analysis of these variables revealed a significant model that explained 77% of the variation in student e-text satisfaction in both e-text learning environments. Student motivation and intrinsic cognitive load were positive predictors of student satisfaction, while extraneous cognitive load and student prior knowledge and background variables were negative predictors. Practical implications for e-text learning and generalizability of a mathematical MVP model are discussed.

This article proposes a method for critical analysis of design contributions and the material properties of digital textbooks aimed at tertiary schools, in the transition to digital publishing and from paper-based books to digitally available learning materials. The suggested method, adapted from an analytic methodology proposed by design semiotician Giampaolo Proni, is grounded in a material and cultural interdisciplinary perspective on books as designed artefacts. The method, combining close descriptions of material properties, production, use, and cultural framing, is shown to be sufficient for predictive and practical design purposes in an analysis of the digital textbook iBog from the Danish publisher Systime.

В силу специфики деятельности лаборатории "Школьная медиатека", где посчастливилось работать, доводится уделять время изучению роли традиционного и электронного учебника в информационно-образовательной среде отечественной школы. В современной педагогической науке прослеживается несколько тенденций, характеризующих отношение к электронному учебнику. Ряд ученых считает, что будущее – за электронным учебником, и что учебник традиционный не выдержит конкуренции со стороны электронного, станет маловыразительным средством обучения и со временем сдаст свои устоявшиеся позиции. Не менее велико число представителей науки, полагающих, что, напротив, электронный учебник не в состоянии целиком и полностью заменить традиционный учебник ни по каким позициям, и что уже в скором времени докажет свою полную несостоятельность перед последним как средство обучения и уйдет с повестки дня научных дискуссий. И, наконец, суще-ствует мнение, которого придерживается со временем растущий круг деятелей науки, характеризующееся синтетическим взглядом на предмет. Согласно ему, подчеркиваются все положительные стороны традиционного учебника, которые следовало бы развить и существенно до-полнить за счет принципиально новых возможностей, открыва-ющихся перед нами с появлением электронного учебника.

Este artigo trata das possibilidades de personalização características das tecnologias digitais, que se estendem aos livros, cujo projeto gráfico pode, muitas vezes, ser alterado pelos usuários. As questões que encaminham o texto dizem respeito à relação dos leitores com os livros digitais, com ênfase no uso, das possibilidades de customização dos livros digitais. Para abordar o tema, partimos de uma revisão bibliográfica sobre o design editorial, após a qual apresentamos os resultados de uma pesquisa junto a leitores, realizada através de questionários online. O texto termina com uma reflexão sobre o papel do designer frente às possibilidades de customização do livro digital.Palavras-chave: “design editorial”, “e-book” e “tablets”.

The aim of this study was to determine secondary school students' choice of design features for digital textbooks. As a part of the research—which was conducted using a mixed technique—a literature review was carried out to source points to consider in the designing of digital textbooks and experts' opinions were obtained. Based on the results, an 88-question survey was then developed to elicit the preferences of secondary school students with regard to design features for digital textbooks. Also, in this study, three digital textbooks with different design features—but with the same content—were developed to be used by the students. The students were then informed about digital textbook technology by researchers and the digital textbooks were made available to them. Finally, the survey was administered in four separate sessions, and the results were revealed by analysis of the data collected. The findings showed that students would rather see digital books with a front page, back page and bookplate. They also pointed out that elements for switching between pages are necessary along with the table of contents, index, glossary and search tools. Lastly, they expressed a desire for images in digital textbooks, especially three-dimensional lifelike drawings, videos and animations. Determination of Secondary Students' Preferences Regarding Design Features Used in Digital Textbooks 2 S. Öngöz & M. Z. Mollamehmetoğlu Digital Education Review – Number 32, December 2017-http://greav.ub.edu/der/

This research report details phase 1 of an ongoing design based research project. Motivated by the current context of the emerging participatory youth media ecology and national support for digital textbooks in the hands of all students, we set out to determine the feasibility of students creating their own interactive digital textbooks using primary source documents. In collaboration with a history teacher, the research team designed a theory driven curriculum supplement and implemented this with four 10th grade history classes. The process and preliminary findings are presented and discussed.

This paper presents an editorial project exercise based on the idea that print and digital publications can be understood as complementary, not competitors. The proposal is exemplified by the project of an art book in two media, paper and digital mobile devices (tablets). The book is part of the anniversary of the gallery La Pampa, in Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil and presents the work of artists who have exhibited there between 2010 and 2011. Pages dedicated to artist Paulo Porcela are presented as an example. The text begins with a historical contextualization of digital books, followed by the presentation of the methodological construction. The basic premise of the latter was that the editorial project for both media should be created simultaneously and explore their complementary potential. A description of the resulting model reveals the advantages of conceiving both versions at the same time. It also demonstrates that, beyond merely co-exist, the printed and digital versions of a book can enrich each other.

Keywords: editorial project; e-book; printed; digital; complementariness.

A digital data is only a potential cognitive resource. It has to "undergo" more or less significant qualitative transformations in order to become a user or community relevant one. These qualitative transformations are performed through series of operations such as the constitution and classification of relevant corpora of digital records, the segmentation and classification of digital records, the content description and indexing or records, the versioning (commenting, enriching, translating, ...) of given source records or again the (re-)publishing of digital records. In this report we discuss these qualitative transformations of digital data into cognitive resources sui generis as a re-authoring or repurposing activity in considering as one of the central activities in the field of digital knowledge production and delivery. This report has been realised in the framework of the EC founded RD 2006 - 2009).

In electronic textbooks (or e-Textbooks) the traditional paper-based textbooks are enriched with multimedia contents and new features such as interactive multimedia-based simulation, interactive quizzes, and content sharing. It has been envisioned that e-Textbooks will gradually replace the traditional paper-based textbooks in classrooms in the near future. HTML5 is an emerging and promising standard that enables web applications (or apps) to incorporate rich multimedia contents such as video clips, flash movies and simulation-based demonstration, as well as to provide cross-platform functionality which allows the apps to run on a diverse range of platforms. To support rich multimedia contents and cross-platform functionality, with respect to HTML5, this paper presents the new features, compares the current trend of mobile apps (e.g., native, web-based and hybrid apps) for e-Textbook development. In order to investigate the suitability of these three development
approaches for e-Textbooks, we present a case study on our recent work in developing e-Textbooks using HTML5 and JavaScript, as well as analyses the challenges associated with HTML5 features (e.g, compatibility with web browsers) for developing e-Textbooks.

In the spring of 2014 the Rollins College Hamilton Holt School began redesigning seven courses to be delivered in any teaching modality: classroom-based, blended, and online.  In addition, a connectivist framework (Siemens, 2004) was employed to explore how integrating mobile and social learning strategies within the instructional designs may influence teaching and learning.  This study will focus on the central question of: what are the learning affordances of mobile and social learning experiences within digital course materials and designs? The first of seven courses currently being redesigned, PSY101 Introduction to Psychology is currently in development to be the first course designed and delivered within this specific framework.  The rationale being a move away from abstract course materials such as textbooks and intimately integrating socially interactive digital course materials may foster deeper learner engagement and opportunities for socially constructed knowledge.

Les nouvelles technologies de l'information offrent, comme on le sait, d'immenses possibilités pour le développement de produits et services d'information souples et adaptables aux besoins très variés de leurs utilisateurs. Mais cette puissance technologique ne devient réellement significative et exploitable pour l'utilisateur que si elle est contrôlée et guidée par des méthodologies de conception et de modélisation de produits et services de situant obligatoirement en amont de tout processus de développement à proprement parler. L'objectif de cet ouvrage est d'esquisser une telle méthodologie se basant sur la notion du scénario sémiotique.

Building on a preliminary case study of the Danish educational publisher Systime A/S and its flagship product, the web-based 'iBog'/'iBook', this article explores how digital textbooks can be understood as design. The shaping of digital books is seen as being intertwined in a wider circuit of design culture, constituted by changes in designer roles, consumption and mediation practices and restructuring of book production. Following this perspective entails an investigation not only into the shaping of the book as an isolated artefact or product but also into how business models, internal reorganization of the publishing company, web-based user interfaces, and ultimately the branding, which market these new digital objects, are building powerful discourses around the product. Thus it is suggested that the design process of the iBog case can be understood in a model of database-based publishing with multiple levels. In the final analysis, the iBog is much more than a product and a technology. It is a brand that goes beyond what can be studied by looking at the digital textbook as a singular artefact.

This research appears within the scope of the pedagogical monitoring process by the Portuguese Catholic University to the FAINA 1: 1 Project, developed in the School Group of Montemor-o-Novo between the years 2017 and 2019. This Group assumed the commitment of a class of 7th year abdicate the traditional paper school manual in all subjects, throughout the 3rd cycle, having available to each student a space of digital content installed on a tablet. Based on the selection, creation, and availability of the contents of all subjects by the teachers, using tablets, implying the construction of a digital manual, the FAINA Project constituted a driving element of a pedagogical innovation strategy. It was intended, therefore, to identify, during the three years of development, a change in the educational methodologies and strategies on the part of the teachers and the ability of the students to adapt t new context. Adopting a mixed methodology, by conducting interviews, applying questionnaires, observing classes and document analysis, the Project's potential was seen as a driver for breaking the traditional teaching paradigm and an active teaching-learning process.

This research report details phase 1 of an ongoing design based research project. Motivated by the current context of the emerging participatory youth media ecology and national support for digital textbooks in the hands of all students, we set out to determine the feasibility of students creating their own interactive digital textbooks using primary source documents. In collaboration with a history teacher, the research team designed a theory driven curriculum supplement and implemented this with four 10th grade history classes. The process and preliminary findings are presented and discussed

The Academy still favors writing and print-literate models of problem solving as the hallmark of intelligence, of essentially more contemplative and Lukàcian models, the world around them prefers other media and their respective cognitive models. If reading and writing today is as media conscious and participatory as digital literature and art projects present them to be, than the humanities educator’s duty is to develop a student’s skills as a compositor who is not simply a writer of academic essays but a critically aware judge that is cognizant of media specificity, visual rhetoric, and design in addition to his or her verbal and literary skills. But could such goals find inspiration from an expanding idea of the textbook that the iPad platform allows and that popular artists have already exploited?

Björk Gudmundsdóttir released her latest album, Biophilia, as an interactive app experience and created the album with a pointedly pedagogical goal. Her tours strategically used science museums as venues for concerts and her app has been adopted as part of the curriculum for Icelandic elementary schools. The iPad itself was designed in part to infiltrate the academic environment and textbook publication in particular. While textbook publishers search a middle ground for their own profit motive and the increasing irrelevance in relying on such publishers for texts, we see the field of education itself slipping off its moorings as it digitizes. 

What I would like to consider is how in a digital age, the learning outcomes are shifting significantly so as to reconsider the form and use of its most basic material: the textbook. In considering Björk’s app, I would like to both compare its purposes to those of textbooks made for and on an iPad using iBooks. How far could textbooks of the future push back against not the conventions of the printed page (this has been talked of enough with the ebook movement), but of the physical/cognitive experience of the text. Equally, how may such changes in textbook presentation undermine the development of critical reflection by falling into the screenic pop world. While Lady Gaga’s app album was just recently announced, its release in late 2012 or early 2013 could offer an idea of whether such interactive multimedia experiences will continue to stick in the popular space as a pop genre or if such popular uses of media could find a second home in the textbook. While it has been eight years since Mark Amerika argued for writing to redefine itself as VJ-ing (or video jockeying), perhaps the field of education could reach such a goal by taking example from the creative arts.