Sales of e-textbooks are expected to grow in the coming years. But experts say the popularity may be limited until more books are interactive. Second of two parts. Transcript of radio broadcast: 03 September 2009
This is the VOA Special English Education Report.
The average college student in America spent an estimated seven hundred dollars on textbooks last year. The National Association of College Stores reported more than five billion dollars in sales of textbooks and course materials.
Students at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania wait in line to sell back used textbooks at a local bookstore
Association spokesman Charles Schmidt says electronic textbooks now represent just two to three percent of sales. But he says that is expected to reach ten to fifteen percent by two thousand twelve.
Online versions are now available for many of the most popular college textbooks. E-textbooks can cost half the price of a new print textbook. But students usually lose access after the end of the term. And the books cannot be placed on more than one device, so they are not easy to share.
So what do students think of e-textbooks? Administrators at Northwest Missouri State University wanted to find out. Earlier this year they tested them with five hundred students in twenty classes.
The university is unusual. It not only provides laptop computers to all seven thousand of its full-time students. It does not require students to buy their textbooks either. They rent them to save money. The school aims to save even more by moving to e-textbooks.
The students in the survey reported that downloading the books from the Internet was easy. They liked the idea of carrying lighter backpacks. And fifty-six percent said they were better able to find information.
But most found that using e-textbooks did not change their study habits. And sixty percent felt they read more when they were reading on paper. In all, almost half the students said they still liked physical textbooks better.
But the survey found that cost could be a big influence. Fifty-five percent said they would choose e-textbooks if using them meant their textbook rental fee would not increase.
Roger Von Holzen heads the Center for Information Technology in Education at Northwest Missouri State. He tells us that administrators are disappointed with the e-textbooks now available because the majority are not interactive.
He thinks growth will come when more digital books include video, activities, games and other ways to interact with the information. The technology is improving. But for now, most of the books are just words on a screen.
And that’s the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. What do you think of e-textbooks? Share your thoughts at voaspecialenglish.com, where you can also find our reports. I’m Steve Ember.
Obama offers advice to the nation’s students, many of whom are unlikely to complete high school or college. Transcript of radio broadcast: 09 September 2009
This is the VOA Special English Education Report.
Less than sixty percent of students now entering four-year American colleges are likely to graduate. The completion rate is lower than for almost any other wealthy country, and worst for poor and minority students.
A new book about America’s public universities explores the complex causes of the high dropout rate. The book is called “Crossing the Finish Line.”
President Obama wants the United States to again have the world’s highest percentage of college graduates by two thousand twenty. But to finish college, children first have to reach the starting line by getting there.
President Obama shakes hands with students after speaking at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia
On Tuesday the president gave a nationally broadcast speech to students about the importance of staying in school. He spoke on the first day of classes at a high school in Virginia. He talked about personal responsibility, and used himself as an example of someone who overcame difficulties.
BARACK OBAMA: “My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn’t always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn’t fit in.”
But he told students that problems in their own lives should not stop them from learning.
BARACK OBAMA: “That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying.”
This was not the first presidential speech to students. Ronald Reagan spoke from the White House in nineteen eighty-eight. And George H.W. Bush spoke from a school in Washington in nineteen ninety-one.
But many conservatives criticized plans for the speech. Some called it “socialized education” or federal interference in local schools. Others feared it would be too political. Some schools decided not to show the speech. But the White House released the text on Monday, and that calmed a lot of critics.
On Sunday, on the CBS program “Face the Nation,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said thirty percent of students do not graduate from high school. He called the dropout rate “staggering.” It represents more than a million students every year who entered ninth grade but did not complete twelfth grade.
The education secretary called the objections to the president’s speech “silly.” But he also said one of the activities suggested for students “wasn’t worded quite correctly.” It related to the goal of increasing college graduation rates. It suggested that students “Write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president.” But after conservatives objected, the activity was changed to writing about personal goals.
And that’s the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. I’m Steve Ember.
