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The Transformation of the Textbook

wired.com

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Re: The Transformation of the Textbook

#11

Post by bob457 »

scohesc wrote: post #7
HeavenBanned wrote: post #3

Their argument that digital textbook users retain less info is tenuous at best. I used a digital book for Calculus I & II and thought it was easy to use, convenient to carry around, and helped me learn more.

On the contrary, I find physical textbooks to be largely superior to digital mediums. You aren't limited by DRM imposed by the various educational companies. (I loved only being able to download and print 5 sequential pages at a time when you're looking at printing a page of questions for each chapter) I find it more engaging with using a real textbook. You can feel the pages, write in the margins, not be distracted…

I agree. I print or buy the book for anything I want to read in depth. The ease of sticking a finger or scrap of paper between pages for easy reference is vastly underrated.

Also underrated is how easy it is find find something in paper book, based basically on how thick the two sides feel in your hand.

Re: The Transformation of the Textbook

#12

Post by ghaff »

hooloovoo_zoo wrote: post #10
ghaff wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would think you'd want something more like an Android or Apple tablet using a format (maybe PDF) that let you annotate/make notes using a pen or keyboard. (As well as the usual bookmarks etc.) Also, looking back at my notes and other materials from school I usually ended up with a few hundred pages of paper from a given class. Whether or not that all transitioned to digital for initial creation, you probably would…

I dislike reading long-form text on backlit screens. All those features you mentioned sound great, but I can't read an iPad for hours on end.

There is reMarkable that some people seem to like a lot. The problem with epaper though is that it doesn't work great when you depend on color or rich graphics generally and it's hard to guarantee that textbooks won't have those sorts of dependencies.

Re: The Transformation of the Textbook

#13

Post by kkwteh »

HeavenBanned wrote: post #3

Their argument that digital textbook users retain less info is tenuous at best. I used a digital book for Calculus I & II and thought it was easy to use, convenient to carry around, and helped me learn more.

It would have been great to have digital textbooks in university. I had to walk a lot to get around campus, and I could only carry at the very most three textbooks at the time. Not having access to all of my books at all times was definitely an impediment to learning.

Re: The Transformation of the Textbook

#14

Post by rl3 »

hooloovoo_zoo wrote: post #5

Here's hoping this spurs Amazon to bring back a large format e-ink reader.

>Here's hoping this spurs Amazon to bring back a large format e-ink reader.

Ideally with color support. Color does so much for learning, whether it's syntax-highlighted code samples or microbiology explanations.

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