SVCUE - Where in the World Are We Going with eText? by Daniel Hudkins PRESENTATION

Good free content
*Project Gutenberg http://www.gutenberg.org
Online Books by University of Pennsylvania http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/
*Flexbooks http://www.ck12.org/flexbook/ (major effort to develop Creative Commons and Open Source content)

Limitations and obstacles of e-books
*edition
*pagination
*no abridgement
*mutual incompatibility of platforms
*highly variant objectives
*pedagogical history
*cost
*ownership

Where does text come from?
*Publisher identifies need
*Publisher finds author
*Two years later, there's a new text

Digital Rights Management (DRM)
*Not all content is available offline
*Not all readers work on all platforms
*Readers are different on different platforms (and doesn't work with all browsers)
*Same text from same publisher, same editiion, same ISBN won't run in the same reader application

Equity Problems or few schools have resources to
*assure all students with hardware
*pay annual licensin
*provide pervasive access

Cost Advantages
*Creative Commons and Open Source
*Markup tools (students can write in their books; annotations, highlights, study guides)
*Can it be monetized? For example, EverNote is free and available on many platforms and contains ads
*Pervasive Access (look it up on the phone)
*Always up to date
*Annual transitions

Decision Criteria
*Are we willing to select text based on compatibility?
*Are we willing to accept varying reader experiences?
*Are we prepared to deal with equity issues?
*All/Nothing or something in between?
*Choose the reader applications before the platform
*Consider platform neutrality
*Beware walled gardens

Option 1 - One Way
*One Way is one platform, one reader, only use texts compatible with that combination
*iPad
*Kindle Fire/ Nook Tablet
*Advantage - continuity of use, nothing in the backpack
*Disadvantage - cost, limited repertoire

Option 2 - Higher Ed
*Higher ed strategy is choose the text; if there's an etext, student choice, student provided hardware, student selected reader
*Advantage - cost on student, pedagogical options
*Disadvantage - equity, pagination

Option 3 - Wait it out
*Market is immature
*Too many incompatible participants
Who will be in the reader market in 5 years?
*Google
*Amazon
*Adobe Digital Editions
*Apple
*Barnes and Noble
*DRM is a train wreck
*Already have the resources
*Disadvantage - Outdated resources

Option 4 - Split Screen
*Pick a "preferred" reader
*Use only for low hanging fruit
*Out of copyright trade books
*Use as an option
*Supplementary materials
*Advantage - less disruptive, low opportunity cost
*Disadvantage - equity

E-Text Readers
*Nook Study
*Nook
*Kindle
*Google Book
*Adobe Digital Editions
Publisher based
*CourseSmart
*Vital Source
Channel based
*DigiDirect
*Cafe Scribe

Predictions
*Sufficient hardware will become pervasive
*DRM nightmare will last, but reader compatibility will improve
*Creative Commons/Open Source will become more prominent

WHY AM I USING A TEXT?