Online Access To Course Material

An interesting addition is growing to the list of threats to the printed book. It is not digital books, or digitally printed books, but rather online material. Supplemental content has been available in the Higher Education market for many years now, but it is gaining increasing use in the high school market, and even increasing in the elementary segment. In many instances, the entire textbook is posted, although not to replace the printed book, but to complement it.

This is increasing due to the cost of the printed book, often to avoid having multiple copies, and to have available at home (or at school) when the hard copy is left somewhere else. In the case of supplemental material, it allows homework to be done with more information, more readily available.

Despite the economic and convenience benefits to the schools and students, and surprisingly enough, there are many disadvantages openly offered: 1) Some students don't have computers at home 2) Parents who help their children with homework may not be computer literate & therefore prefer the textbook 3) Virtually everyone agrees that screens are more difficult to read than books 4)Books can be more comfortably read than a computer from an ergonomic point of view 5) There are temptations with video games and other sites when on the computer 6)There seems to be an agreement that administrators and teachers will take several years to get more comfortable with online content versus the printed book.

This angle does make the debate that much more involved from all points of view. The most prudent thing we can do is to keep listening & observing, while being sensitive to the issues, our students, and the importance of the book itself.