Technology Education

Digital Textbooks vs. Print Textbooks

            Are digital textbooks more effective than print textbooks? Have we grown out of the traditional textbook and moved onto educating people with technology? Many reasons appear that making the switch to digital textbooks would overcome using print textbooks. Digital textbooks might make learning easier, but can also make learning so much more difficult. Do we want to have to depend this much on technology for such an important reason?

            Providing every student with a digital reader and keeping up with software, technical assistance, training, and maintenance would be costly (Dillon 22). Textbooks can be expensive; they sell for about $150 for a print version, although you can often find a free version online. The University of Massachusetts received ten $1,000 grants for digital readers. “The school estimates that the $10,000 investment saved students $72,000 in textbook costs” (Is the End Near For Textbooks? 72). To save money, you have to invest in something to make it worth it. Today, public high schools have textbooks available that they have had over the years and can keep passing down. Digital readers, on the other hand, are going to need an investment. It will cost money to buy the device the first time, but then schools will have them in stock just like a print textbook. “Tight budgets and a lack of understanding about the complexities of our digital world had proven to be serious obstacles for school leaders” (Dillon 22). Leaving that traditional way of learning is hard when you don’t know if the modern way will be efficient and effective.

            Effective learning is crucial. We want to effectively use our time, not spend it in front of a textbook while receiving no information. Having engaging programs can help make the time more useful. Looking at different learning perspectives while designing a program can be very severe to the users (Song, Lim and Lee 161).  “Just because you take tests and make it digital doesn’t make it engaging” (Dillon 22). A digital textbook has the ability to take a print and make a digital program that goes along with the content, and is specialized to teach a person in a different way to help them understand the subject (23). 

            These digital programs have designed tools to help you study such as note taking tools, memo pads, writing and highlighting tools, messenger, discussion boards, screen capture capabilities, display options, and search tools. Publishers work at making their programs user-friendly, effective, efficient, and satisfying (Song, Lim and Lee 160-161). Having a user-friendly program is more satisfying than having to go through that learning curve of a new device.

            We have all have had our own frustration with electronic devices not working. We reset it, turn it off and back on, re-download the program, or wait for the freezing and glitches to stop. Print textbooks will always be reliable in the sense that they aren’t going to run out of a charge, they won’t freeze up on you, you can’t drop them and shatter them, and the program won’t have a malfunction. Print textbooks will be more dependable, but if a digital textbook runs the way it is supposed to it has far more to offer.

            “If it is implemented and used properly, digital curriculum allows teachers and students the freedom and flexibility to learn and teach lessons in a way that makes sense to them” (Dillon 23). Teachers make their own lesson plans to follow what they teach in class, and digital textbooks allow more freedom with lesson plans.

            Letting students decide when and how fast they want to work on homework is allowed with digital readers. It may add value and flexibility of learning to diverse personalities (Song, Lim and Lee 161). It lets students to be mobile with their device and learn at their own pace (Dillon 22).

            “Change is on the horizon” (Dillon 20). New ways of learning are being discovered, but do we want to take that step? Do the pros outweigh the cons? I think that making the switch will be worth it. At first, we are going to have to work out some bugs to make the digital reader work the way we want. If we don’t stay in touch with technology, we are going to get left behind. There are so many new features that digital textbooks offer that have the ability to help so many people learn from many different perspectives. Looking at how fast this world is improving our technology I don’t think that there is any reason not to leave the print textbooks behind.

Works Cited

Dillon, Naomi. "The e-Volving Textbook." American School Board Journal. July 2008. 20-23. EBSCO. Web. 7 Oct. 2013.

Is the End Near For Textbooks? BizEd, May/June 2012. 72-73. EBSCO. Web. 7 Oct. 2013.

Song, Hae-Deok, Cheolil Lim and Yekyung Lee. "Improving the usability of the user interface for a digital textbook platform for elementary-school students." Association for Educational Communications and Technology 2011. 13 Oct. 2011. 160-162. EBSCO. Web. 7 Oct. 2013.

Reflections

Writ 101 has taught me a lot about my own writing. It has given me a little bit of confidence in myself. I felt that when I started this class my writing was not as good as it could be, and that I had a lot of work to do. I still have a lot of work to do on my writing, but I know more know what needs to be worked on.
 
I have learned that weasel words make your paper very weak (which I still have a hard time with), that your thesis doesn't have to be the last sentence in your intro, that it works best to introduce and explain a quote, and that you can ask a question and answer it throughout your paper. These are some little things that can make a paper stronger.

I read books and think about how descriptive people can be and always want to be able to write like them. I have a problem with going so far into detail. I feel that it is information that isn't needed in a paper. I also talk in circles and use very common vocabulary. I feel that I write the same as I speak which isn't always a good thing, I am not a very descriptive writer.

This class has helped me a lot, but there is so much more I need help with in my own writing to make it stronger.

Political Cartoon

The Sworn Congress

​Steve Sack is known for his unmistakable ability to show his point of view through his political cartoons. For over thirty years Sack has been an editorial cartoonist and likes to use metaphors for “high-impact results” (StarTribune). 2013 Pulitzer Prize winning Steve Sack’s latest political cartoon emphasizes that we elect people into Congress and then swear at them for the rest of their term.

​This cartoon is full of irony. Every day after Election Day has a mark on it, which states that we swear at our congress every day. Sack uses the word “sworn” twice, but with two different meanings. The first time he implies that the candidate is given under oath, or determined to remain in the role. The second time he uses it, he uses it as a past tense for swear. The public swears at the congress because, in this case, they don’t like the budget mess, gridlock, or the partisanship.

​Exaggerating is  primary tool of this cartoon. In the first picture, under the caption “DAY CONGRESS IS SWORN IN,”there is one mark on the calendar. The character’s house is nice and tidy and everything is in place, and he is reading the newspaper. The second picture with the caption “DAYS CONGRESS IS SWORN AT”, has a lot going on. The calendar is messy, showing that every day after congress is sworn in has a mark for being sworn at. The lamp is falling over and the picture hanging on the wall isn’t level anymore. Smoke comes out of the character’s ears and a lot of filth flarn flarn comes out of his mouth indicating that he is very frustrated with the newspaper articles. The newspaper he reads now has titles on it saying “BUDGET MESS, GRIDLOCK, PARTISANS…”

​Sack easily conveys his point using only a few of the features that a typical political cartoon uses. He doesn’t have iconography, caricature, or a caption. "My job description is simple. I read the paper, crack a joke, and draw a picture," Sack says (StarTribune). By keeping it simple the cartoon has respectable impact.

Steve Sack’s political cartoon is suggesting that we elect people into congress and then are frustrated with them from then on. Once congress is sworn in, the public expects congress to keep their promises.

Works Cited

Steve Sack. StarTribune. 29 Sept. 2013. Web.