[nicollo]

Online textbooks are nearly useless. As difficult as it is to teach students to use print textbooks, even when they use e- or online books, they learn next to nothing.

I’m an academic coach. Have watched this w/ 1000s of kids.

I even approached Pearson to put together a program to teach teachers to teach students how to use textbooks. Pearson does not care, as they sell textbooks whether kids use them or not, and digital is far more profitable.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: I even approached Pearson to put together a program to teach teachers to teach students how to use textbooks. Pearson does not care, as they sell textbooks whether kids use them or not, and digital is far more profitable.

I think Pearson is also into pedagogical materials. They recently acquired: SMART SPARROW , a company that develops ADAPTIVE LEARNING TECHNOLOGY.

They are developing educational methods using computers as interactive teaching devices, adapting educational material according to students' learning needs. The technology incorporates the interactivity previously only afforded by an actual human teacher, and integrates ideas from various fields, including computer science, education, and psychology.

May I ask your opinion of such technology? Will it work with current students? Can a teacher like you use this?

[Svartalfiar]

Online textbooks are nearly useless. As difficult as it is to teach students to use print textbooks, even when they use e- or online books, they learn next to nothing.

I hate using digital textbooks, and am not really a fan of reading books online. You can't go back and reference certain stuff, you can;t flip through to find info you need, it's much harder to flip through to a certain page. The experience of using a physical textbook is much more conducive to learning than a computer screen. They're also much easier on the eyes, can be used anytime without annoying the wife in bed, are much more mobile, and so on. Hopefully most of the math, science, and civics courses keep using normal books instead of stupid online crap.