babble » blogs » Strollerderby
Strollerderby
Online Textbooks Let Teachers Freely Alter Content
Technology is changing the classroom in all sorts of questionable ways this week. This latest innovation is not nearly as nefarious as schools using webcams to check up on students at home, but it does raise some serious ethical questions.
Macmillan, one of the nation’s largest textbook publishers, is launching new software called DynamicBooks, which will allow professors to customize online textbooks. According to the New York Times, “Professors will be able to reorganize or delete chapters; upload course syllabuses, notes, videos, pictures and graphs; and perhaps most notably, rewrite or delete individual paragraphs, equations or illustrations.”
That is, without consulting the textbook publisher or author–or alerting students, parents, or anyone else–professors will be able to alter historical facts and scientific principles. Students will then be able to download these customized e-textbooks to their laptops or I-phones.
No doubt the majority of professors will use their increased power for good–expanding sections that are most pertinent to their particular curriculum, for instance. But there’s also no doubt that there will be at least some professors who rewrite textbooks for personal reasons, such as to reflect, or at least hint at, a belief in Intelligent Design rather than evolution.
Regardless of potential professorial abuses, it makes me nervous to see textbooks headed so clearly in the direction of electronic media. Call me old-fashioned, but I just don’t think it’s the same mental experience to sit in a Starbucks with your I-phone (text message break!) as to sit in a spacious, silent library with a heavy book opened before you, pen in hand poised to take notes.
Would you be wary of sending your kid to a school that used DynamicBooks, or excited to see a college making use of the latest technological innovations?
Image: U of T Magazine
Go Back To Strollerderby
8 Comments
Mistress_Scorpio commented on Feb 23 10 at 5:55 pmFantastic. Weren’t we just talking about a particular state that wanted less emphasis on certain social revolutions in the U.S., and more concentration on how scary the Mooslems were? Yeah, this is right up that alley…
M commented on Feb 23 10 at 6:15 pmThese are professors- they are often the ones writing the text books anyway. Plus, this capability already exists in the form of course packets- this is just an electronic way to do it, with the ability to include different types of media.
karmamama commented on Feb 24 10 at 1:38 amIf you think the majority of college students are taking heavy books and heading to the silent library to bow before the stacks as they pen marginalia, you’re a LITTLE off the mark. Okay, you’re waaaaay off the mark.
Louise commented on Feb 24 10 at 10:08 amSpeaking as a college professor, albeit in a field (chemistry) in which I would have precious little inclination to modify textbooks to fit my own worldview (“I never believed in that ideal gas law!”), I agree with M…this is just another way to allow instructors to modify the media for their courses to fit more closely with the aims of the course. Yeah, some folks might abuse it, but they would find a way to do so without this tool.
Online textbooks have some disadvantages, but one big advantage I can see is that students might have less weight to haul around. I see students carrying backpacks filled with huge textbooks (physics AND organic chemistry AND anatomy and physiology), and that can’t be good for their backs. Another advantage is, potentially, lower cost to the student…print textbooks are expensive, and if you’re only using a portion of the text in your course, this can seem like a ripoff…a “customized” text mitigates that to a certain extent. However, you cannot generally resell an electronic text when you’re done with the semester…
Bec commented on Feb 24 10 at 12:21 pmI understand the perspective of course kits and clipped articles being the norm anyway. But in cases where the text is attributed to an author BY NAME there should be absolutely no changing of material, and certainly NEVER without at the very least informing the author of the amendments. That’s terrible.
blue commented on Feb 24 10 at 3:59 pmYeah, you know, carefully written and edited facts don’t really matter any more. We should all just create our own reality.
Rebecca commented on Feb 24 10 at 4:31 pmAgreed, M. Many of my texts are written by my professors anyway. This is just a way for them to easily add/remove chapters that are relevant to the class.
Kris commented on Feb 24 10 at 9:36 pmMany times the “author” of a textbook is more of an advisor than anything else. At the K-12 level, authors almost never write the book themselves. Macmillan is hoping to grab a higher market share without actually having to employ writers and editors.
Add your take:
Note: Babble is a supportive, diverse community. We encourage a range of opinions,
but any unduly hostile comments will be removed.
Comments are delayed up to 15 minutes
Joslyn Gray 
Amber Doty 
Julianna Miner 
Monica Bielanko 
Sierra Black 
Meredith Carroll 
Carolyn Castiglia 
Sunny Chanel 
Madeline Holler 
Wendy Michaels 
Rebecca Odes 
Danielle Smith 
Danielle Sullivan 
Katherine Stone 
The Walt Disney Company supports Babble as a platform dedicated to honest, engaged, informed, intelligent and open conversation about parenting. However, the opinions expressed on this site are those of individual parents/writers and do not reflect the views of Disney. In addition, content provided on this site is for entertainment or informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or safety advice.
8