Last summer, The Governor’s Free Digital Textbook Initiative (FDTI) moved the revolution forward while two California bills added momentum; SB 247 allows districts to use textbook funds to purchase electronic textbooks; and AB1398, allows districts to use textbook funds to pay for electronic devices needed for these resources.

Texas legislation, though, went further. H.B. 2488 and 4294, both which are now law, encompassed California’s legislation and added several features to fuel the revolution’s momentum: they allow publishers to resubmit previously adopted books with new content; districts may use textbook funds to purchase subscription-based textbooks; and state colleges may now create open-source textbooks for use in K-12 classrooms.

Lest you think that subscription based textbooks will never be accepted by districts, think again. 10 years ago, county offices were still buying instructional videos and sending them out to schools. Now, districts subscribe to video streaming services from Discovery Streaming, Learn360, or Safari Montage. Last month, the Oregon State Board of Education adopted a subscription-based textbook, Discovery Science, which may be the precursor of future electronic resources. Their online textbook includes virtual labs, simulations, and reading passages, coupled with a real-time assessment component that measures student’s progress. In other words, Discovery has disassembled the linear textbook and has created an interactive resource that teaches science by having students do science.

But, I’m getting ahead of myself.

Digital Textbooks are a disruptive innovation, part of a learning revolution that, eventually, will lead us to robust online learning experiences. Much of the revolution’s concepts are described in Clayton Christensen’s book, Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns.

Most innovations make products better, faster, or cheaper. They sustain the current way of doing things. When Kodak invented a better camera or higher quality film, those were sustaining innovations. The first digital cameras, though, were a disruptive innovation because they couldn’t be used by traditional customers. After all, who would pay $13K for a 1MP camera in 1991. Some customers did, though, because it met their needs. It took more than a decade of sustaining innovations to both improve the digital camera and reduce it’s price before the rest of us were willing to adopt them. Kodak doesn’t even make KodaChrome film anymore.

But disruptive innovations work that way by forever changing the way we do things.

In 2007, California’s State Board of Education adopted no less than 15 digital-only textbook series for mathematics from nine publishers. While the great majority are CD or DVD-based, several are online-only. However, being products of a 2005 paradigm, most are now several generations behind current digital products.

Two quotes from industry leaders that tell me the revolution will end before most people know it’s begun.

Peter Cohen, US CEO of Pearson Education recently said, “We are now in a transformational period. Everything we have has to be of two worlds: print and digital. The future of learning is going to be high-quality online material and, to a lesser extent, textbooks.’’ Houghton Mifflin’s senior vice president, Wendy Colby commented, “The textbook is no longer the center of the educational universe.”

It’s evident that major textbook publishers understand the dynamics of the disruptive innovation that is taking place in their industry. Far from avoiding or denying it, publishers are embracing the opportunity to transform linear, paper-bound content into online, interactive experiences.  As with prior disruptions, it may be years before we see a tipping point. A variety of sustaining innovations will be necessary for a great product to emerge and be embraced by educators. Still, the journey is well underway as evidenced by the Governor’s initiative, and by the products adopted in California and Oregon. Our paradigm of how content is to be taught and transmitted is about to change.

I’ve reported previously about last summer’s legislation in Texas that went far beyond California’s bills. The two additional components, allowing Texas’ universities to write open source textbooks and/or to allow the state to contract for open source material; and allowing school districts to use textbook funds to purchase subscription-based textbooks created additional momentum for the digital textbook revolution. However, it turns out that there’s more to the story, as reported in Brian Thevenot’s excellent article in the Texas Tribune, “The Tipping Point: Texas Textbook Politics Meets the Digital Revolution.”

First, some history. Texas, like California, has a State Board of Education that oversees the textbook adoption process to ensure content is rigorous. Of course, the political make-up of the Texas SBE has led to a variety of battles from teaching creationism to rote learning of the times tables.  Still, Texas mirrors California in its quest to ensure that classroom textbooks are in alignment with the state’s content standards.  While the Texas equivalent of California’s State Superintendent used to be appointed by the state board, 1995 legislation now allows the Governor to appoint the Texas State Commissioner of Education. In effect, Texas now has two competing agencies directing education policy. Last summer’s legislation, HB 2488 and HB 4294, added fuel to the political fire.

HB 4294 takes additional authority from the SBE and empowers the Commissioner of Education to approve instructional materials. Specifically, the legislation allows the Commissioner to adopt a list of electronic textbooks and instructional materials. (Hey, isn’t that what the SBE is supposed to do?) However, the Commissioner must 1) provide the SBE an opportunity to comment; and 2) ensure the materials are reviewed by panel of recognized experts in the subject area.

HB 2488 allows the state to offer open source textbooks to K-12 districts and it provided two avenues the process. The Texas Education Agency may purchase open source material for districts and/or Texas universities may create open source textbooks for use in K-12 education. The State Board of Education protested, though, (and they’re right), that is there is no defined process to verify that these materials are aligned with content standards. Under the bill, the professors who write the books sign off on their accuracy and alignment with standards. Once done, the books are automatically placed on the State Board’s approved list of textbooks. In essence, HB 2488 provides no checks or balances to the approval process.  As one board member lamented, “There doesn’t seem to be any means at all to verify they meet the standards.”

Lest you think the Texas SBE has become less wacky, Texas SBE Chairwoman, Gail Lowe added, “The board also unanimously objects to the alternate pipelines for delivering content to classrooms” which translates that they either don’t see the revolution that is already happening or they are hoping it will just go away.

It won’t and demanding the status quo, while denying obvious change, is often what gets people into trouble.

A Cost Savings for Publishers Only
One of the benefits often touted for going digital is that resources should save districts money. In CLRN’s digital textbook survey last Septemer, 50% of teachers and administrators felt the Free Digital Textbook Initiative should save money. Consider that if approximately 30% of a paper textbook’s cost is for printing, storage, and shipping, districts should be paying less for digital versions.

In Texas, at least, this is not the case. At an education subcommittee hearing, Pearson Education’s Steve Dowling admitted that Pearson charged Texas schools the same price for digital versions of textbooks, while charging other states less for the same materials. In essence, Pearson wasn’t sharing the cost savings with Texas.

In contrast, a literature anthology, consisting mostly of public domain books, was estimated to cost $220 million for hard copies while one company estimated that it would cost $14 million for the digital version. So, digital versions of textbooks, particularly those with open source content, should be much cheaper than their counterparts. Textbook publishers have a right to recoup the costs associated with creating their books and maneuvering through the adoption process. With each adoption, they’re spending their money and rolling the dice that their efforts will pay off. With risk should come some reward. However, if they want to stay in the game, they’ll need to pass along any savings.

As I shared in my last post, the 2007 mathematics adoption in California approved no less than 15 digital-only series by nine publishers. Some series were single products, like Algebra I by Kinetic Books. Others, like California eBook Student Edition, by Harcourt, consisted of six books for grades one to six. Still, given that these books must have been submitted a year earlier, these products represent a snapshot into a 2005 or 2006 paradigm of what a digital textbook should include. When you consider that these books will remain frozen for at least another five years, educators might feel like Rip Van Winkle when they see the next generation of textbooks.

Below are brief descriptions of three adopted digital textbooks.

SRA Real Math eTextbook Grade 5
Publisher: McGraw-Hill

SRA Real Math eTextbook, which comes on a CD, replicates a printed textbook onscreen with user features to select pages or parts of a page. Students can not interact with the problems shown on the pages.  While the actual textbook is not interactive, this resource does include several eMathTools , interactive exercises for learning math skills. This program runs from the CD.

Algebra I
Publisher: Kinetic Books

After you install this program on your computer, this DRM-enabled textbook must be authenticated to the publisher’s server. Three licenses are available: an individual license that is good for a single computer; A Class Set License that is good for 330 days after which the program may not be installed again on the same computer; And a Computer Lab License that is good for up to 35 on-site computers. See my previous posts for my feelings about DRM-enabled resources.

Unlike a computer representation of a traditional textbook, Algebra I delivers information in bite-sized chunks, provides oral narration of each new skill, and reinforces each skill with practice exercises that are completed online. Students know immediately if their answer is correct and the program guides students to review again if insufficient correct answers are given. Some components require an Internet connection.

California eBook Student Edition
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

At first glance, this online resource also replicates a printed book and might initially be mistaken for a PDF. However, the publisher has added several interactive components: 1) All text on each page may be narrated, and you can select specific text to be spoken; 2) Mathematics vocabulary words are highlighted. When clicked, a new window appears with a definition and an example; 3) Each page has an iTools icon which loads interactive applications; 4) While the actual problems on each page are fixed and not interactive (not good), a Lesson Intervention icon appears at each Guided Practice section to provide narrated help and reteaching of a math concept (very e-learning like); and 5) Each Independent Practice section is accompanied by a Mega Math application for practicing the concept before completing the assignment. However, guided practice and independent practice problems are designed to be completed on paper.

Summary
It’s been two years since mathematics books were adopted in California. While the content in these books remains valid (long division probably won’t be changing anytime soon), their digital representations are already several generations behind the curve and in many ways are archaic. It’s nobody’s fault, though, but a result of sustaining innovations that continue to improve digital products and make them more attractive and responsive to consumers.  The 2005 model of simply replicating the printed page on a computer screen with little interactivity could be compared to an early 1MP digital camera; an interesting, but unsophisticated product that is not ready for traditional consumers. With continued sustaining innovations, these resources will mature and blossom. Resources being created by major publishers today are more evolved and are demonstrating Christensen’s description of a disruptive innovation. With time, they’ll become more intricate and innovative.   As Pearson Education’s Peter Cohen said, “The future of learning is going to be high-quality online material and, to a lesser extent, textbooks.”

Peter Cohen, US CEO of Pearson Education recently said, “We are now in a transformational period. Everything we have has to be of two worlds: print and digital. The future of learning is going to be high-quality online material and, to a lesser extent, textbooks.’’ Houghton Mifflin’s senior vice president, Wendy Colby commented, “The textbook is no longer the center of the educational universe.”

It’s evident that major textbook publishers understand the dynamics of the disruptive innovation that is taking place in their industry. Far from avoiding or denying it, publishers are embracing the opportunity to transform linear, paper-bound content into online, interactive experiences.  As with prior disruptions, it may be years before we see a perfect product. A variety of sustaining innovations will be necessary for a great product to emerge and be embraced by educators. Still, the journey is well underway as evidenced by the products adopted by California and Oregon.

Discovery Education Science – Elementary and Middle School Solutions were adopted by the Oregon State Board of Education at their October 23, 2009 meeting.  Oregon, which has a seven-year adoption cycle, has approved these electronic, subscription-based textbooks from 2010 until 2016.

According to Discovery’s web site,  Discovery Education Science has up-to-date, standards-based virtual labs, simulations, reading passages and more, coupled with a real-time assessment component that measures student’s progress. In other words, Discovery has disassembled the linear textbook and has created an interactive resource that teaches science by having students do science.

Discovery intends to submit this resource for CLRN review, and we’re looking forward to exploring it.