Higher-education students may be forced to change their ways

Campus bookstores are being asked to change their ways too.

Forbes published an article outlining McGraw-Hill’s intention to raise the sale number of e-books in higher education. The problem they face is that students at the university and college level prefer print books over the electronic version (only 3% of the students are buying electronic editions). The company hopes that by introducing lower cost e-books more students will buy the books that their professor’s are assigning and that more money will go to the publishers if they are not sharing or buying second hand copies.

I do not find the number of students using e-books “puzzling low”. Students will choose what they are used to, and will not buy additional technology for content that would be the same in print format. Before buying the e-book, the student would first have to buy the device. The article does not differentiate between e-books, which are readable on Kindles, Kobos, Nooks etc., and enhanced e-books which are used on tablets, smart-phones etc. While both are readable on the computer, the positive aspect of not having to lug a weighty textbook to class is no longer there. Having heard from a representative from McGraw-Hill Canada, I understand the electronic book to mean an enhanced  e-book. The regular e-book would not allow for the same degree of annotations, bookmarks etc. So, before the student can buy the electronic copy of their text, they need to put down the money to buy the iPad or whatever other latest and greatest is out there. Yet, if the e-book, enhanced or not, is not offering the student anything more than the print copy, why would they make that commitment?

Besides, it is unrealistic to think that students will not find a way to share these electronic formats with one another, taking away the sales from the publishers once again. Sharing online may in fact be easier than sharing the printed version because students can spread their copy while keeping one of their own. There are also a number of services that the bookstores on university and college campuses facilitate to help their students pay less money for their print book. At my university, the bookstore ran the exchange of second-hand books, as well as a program for renting books, which allowed students to pay a smaller fee to use a textbook for a certain period of time.

The ultimate goal appears to be making the content more accessible to students. Yet, the implication that students will be ‘forced’ to buy these electronic books contradicts this goal. Not everyone learns the same way, and while the electronic format may benefit some, it could be a hindrance to others. One students may see all the extra additions as interactive, and another may see it as a distraction. Personally, I am glad I graduated before these electronic textbooks were enforced, I would certainly have been one of the distracted students wanting to print the material myself rather than stare at the screen for too long. Moreover, the idea that students who don’t buy textbooks are going to put the money toward e-books is equally unrealistic. In my own experience there was only one textbook in my entire university education that I did not buy and it had nothing to with the expense. I was told that it would not add any benefit to my learning experience in that class. I’m sure there are cases where students are refraining from buying their textbooks because of the costs, but universities have set up programs to aid students in this area – even the library had one or two copies of the textbooks available for a time constrained loan.

The issue then becomes that the publishing of these e-books cannot be thought of as solutions to the problems presented in the article and in order to be successful there needs to be supplemental information. However, if new information is introduced exclusively for those using the electronic versions, those who prefer the printed books will be at a disadvantage. This would certainly mean they were forcing students to use the electronic versions which is incredibly unfair. While not profitable for the publishers, in the best interest of the students, information should be available in both formats.

Forget the new technology, get rid of the WiFi!

Wendy Stueck’s article “B.C. Parents with WiFi Health Fears Vote to Limit School Networks” in the Globe and Mail, states that the raised concerns of parents are affecting the choices of technology use in the B.C. classrooms. While there is no report of changes being implemented, the possible risks are leading to investigations, studies and discussion of the possibility of such changes taking place. Overall, it seems these parents would like WiFi to be eliminated from the schools, but due the impracticality of such a request, they request that it be ‘limited’.

My main issue with this request is its ridiculousness. I am not educated enough to know whether it poses these potential risks, but am educated enough to know that the idea keeping a child from these risks will be unsuccessful. Any parent trying to keep their kid away from WiFi will have to avoid most homes, stores, offices, buildings in general. Even some transit!

The number of parents raising this concern is not specified, and neither is the extent to the ‘limitation’ they are asking for from the schools. However, it is clearly enough to raise the concern to the level of publicity and to have the school boards taking it under such serious consideration. The same concern was raised in Ontario as well, on the Catholic School Board, but as the Globe and Mail has previously reported: McGuinty sided with Health Canada and believes that there is no risk to the students in these schools. However, the World Health Organization has warned of the possibility in the radiation of wireless leading to cancer.

Like I said, I’m not an expert, but I still don’t believe that turning WiFi off in schools is the answer. Technology is meant to advance and not take steps backward. If it truly does pose a health risk of course there needs to be a solution and not just in schools but everywhere. However, going back to connecting through cables is going to negatively impact industry, culture and ultimately the academics of students.

There would not even be the option for many enhanced ebooks or apps in the classroom if wireless was taken away completely.

In more recent news parents have opted for new solutions:

Two resolutions regarding wireless networks were debated and passed at the B.C. Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils’s annual general meeting last week.  One asked school boards to stop installing Wi-Fi in schools when other options are available. The second calls on districts to have one school at each level (elementary, middle, high school) free of wireless technologies.

The first solution is one the one that I prefer. This option allows for patience and advancement while the second does not. The second resolution offers possibilities to only some students and teachers and not to others. It allows some teachers to interact with enhance e-books or ‘Blackboard’ while other cannot. Ultimately the education of these students is up to their parents but the concern originates in parents looking out for the best interest of their children and taking their kids out of these schools is not only a decision on the access to WiFi, but all the technology that goes along with it. The school-board chairman agrees with this concern and reiterates that it is not even universally proven that WiFi will be harmful to students.

The ways of introducing iPads

In her article Kathy Ishizuka shows the pros and cons of enhanced books in the classroom as shown by one study. Though a contested question, the study does more to prove the inefficiency of studies more than anything else. The article points out the issue of having only a pool of 32 pairs of parents and their kids to take the data from, but it misses some of the other major issues in the set up of the study.

These students are being shown e-books by a parent, which means a personal affiliation that could very easily sway the learning of the child. If a parents goes into the study with preconceived notions about the technology or the success of the education through this format, it will affect the child’s learning. The data brought up by the article, specifically that the e-book readers did not recall as much detail but had participated in “digital-focused talk” illustrates that the children in the two groups were not having the same conversations, focusing on the same things for the same amount of time, and therefore comparing them becomes redundant.

This problem is better addressed in the article “iPads in the Classroom” from Government Technology. Among other topics, it is argued that iPads used in the classrooms need to be introduced and used with the help of someone educated in its use to ensure its use is constructive. In the case this article presents the iPads are used effectively not only in the academic sense but in helping the classroom experience run more smoothly, like dividing the students in group. In the end, these enhancements are not necessary and both teachers and students can learn efficiently without them, but if having them will speed up the technical process for teachers and allow more time to concentrate on the important subjects in the classroom, than it would definitely be a positive addition to the classroom.

I strongly believe that this avenue of education should be further explored, it is important to remember that these students, like those in higher-education, have different learning styles, and the more avenues they have to access the information the better. However, my concern lies in the costs of the venture. Not all schools are able to afford the Ipad for every classroom let alone multiples, and for many students it is an experience that would be solely for the classroom since the family cannot afford their own, and the education would not be reinforced at home.

Additionally, the introduction of Ipads in the classroom opens up a great opportunity for the publishing industries. While books will always remain present (it has been so successfully accessible and posts less of a costing issue) the e-book and enhanced book categories can only expand. Schools will look to the publishing houses for their verification of trusted programs for their students and it will be up to those publishers to supply it.