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eBooks in Higher Education
What's on the Horizon?
Rob Kadel, Ph.D.Manager, Academic Training & ConsultingPearson eCollege
(Also Adjunct Professor of Sociology, University of Colorado, Denver)
Changing Hats…
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eBooks in Higher Education: Feb. 16, 20104
What’s the current climate for eBooks?
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Amazon Kindle
Amazon sparked the initiative with the Kindle and its already impressive collection of eBooks
• Estimates put number of Kindle readers sold at about 3 - 4 million units
• For every 100 paperbacks Amazon sells, they are selling 115 Kindle books
• For every 100 hardcover books, 143 Kindle books– Sources: NY Times and Techcrunch
eBooks in Higher Education: Feb. 16, 2010
Others have followed…
Sony Reader
Barnes & Noble nook
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Like Amazon, Sony and B&N do not release exact sales numbers on how many Readers/nooks have been sold.
eBooks in Higher Education: Feb. 16, 2010
Apple’s Contribution
Apple has fanned the flames with the iPad and its offerings in the iBookstore
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• 7.3 million iPads sold in Q4 of 2010
• 15 million iPads sold in all of 2010
• During the iBookstore’s first 2 months, 5 million books downloaded
• But performance has been sluggish – still limited offerings compared with Amazon, B&N.
eBooks in Higher Education: Feb. 16, 2010
The differences
One-trick PoniesKindle, Reader, nook
• Lower cost• Prices range from $140 to
about $250• Color costs more; touch
display limited• Impressive array of books
available
Multimedia DevicesiPad, Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy Tab• Higher cost• $250 up to about $800• Full-color touch display• Somewhat limited book
stores, but more coming• Kindle and nook apps
available!...
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Tablets: Taking us by storm
No one can deny that the tablet is here to stay• Kindle, B&N, and other eBook providers have recognized this, are
offering apps to their content on tablet devices• Here are some images of just some of the content and functionality
available through third-party apps on the iPad…
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Kindle on iPad
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nook on iPad
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CourseSmart on iPad
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inkling on iPad
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The Promise of eBooks
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You can take it with you
• Learning from anywhere (Wi-Fi, 3G, 4G)
• Interactive content• Definitions, video,
simulations• Personal interactivity• SMS/MMS messaging,
polling, email
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Seemingly unlimited functionality
• Automatic updates• Customize per course (buy certain chapters or the whole book)• Instructor/student interactivity right in the book• No need for separate
discussion forums• Augmented reality
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Benefits of eBooks to the student
• Accessible Anytime and Everywhere• Flexible and Integrated into Course Curriculum • Interactive and Engaging• Delivers Content in a format and method based on students needs
and requirements
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Benefits of eBooks to the instructor
• Integrate into online Course Curriculum• Keeps students engaged in online world and outside of the
classroom• Provides required course material to students everywhere and
anytime, enabling success• Enables instructors to communicate with their students on the go
(depending on the app used)
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Roadblocks to adoption in higher education
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Cost and ease of use
Co$t• Readers range from $140 to $250, multimedia devices from $250
to $800• While fiction and non-fiction bestsellers are somewhat cheaper
electronically, e-text books are barely less expensive than their cloth/paper counterparts.
Ease of Use• Novel reading is linear. Text book reading is anything but.• Ever tried to share a “page number” from a Kindle book with your
class?• Update! You can now do this, and share notes across Kindles too!
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File formats and conversions
(Non)ubiqity of file formats• Distributors using proprietary formats that can’t be read on others’
systems• Some change in this now, e.g., Kindle, nook apps on iPad• Also, non-ubiquity of sourcing/citations
Conversion process is (has been?) slow• Where’s the book that I use?• New and popular titles are much more quickly converted than older
and academic titles
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Food for thought
• Most roadblocks are technological and can/will be overcome• Costs will continue to come down (at least for hardware)
• So what’s stopping the adoption of eBooks in higher education?
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Cultural shift required!
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Instructors
Have to want to use eBooks
Will need to get full use out of them to justify price
Will not want to pay for eReaders/tablets
Loss of tactile functionality
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Students
Have to be willing to accept and pay for eBooks and hardware
Loss of tactile functionality
Possibly hardware provided by the institution
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Institutions
Will have to support and actively encourage the use of eBooks
Possibly use resources to provide hardware to students and faculty
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