1. Ryan McFall, Herb Dershem Dept. of Computer Science Hope College
Experiences Using a Collaborative Electronic Textbook: Bringing the “Guide on the Side” Home With You
Ryan McFall, Herb Dershem
Dept. of Computer Science
Hope College
Contributor: Darcy Davis
Youngstown State University

2. The eTextReader Project
Motivation: Textbooks are not as useful as they could be for both instructors and learners
Goal: Create an electronic textbook that takes advantage of digital media and mobile communications
More than:
cheaper books
lighter student backpacks
Supported by the National Science Foundation as well as HP Technology for Teaching grant
November 5, 2004
HP Mobile Technology Conference

3. HP Mobile Technology Conference
Applications
At least two ways we expect this to impact student learning
How students use a textbook as a resource outside of class time
How the textbook is used as a resource during a session of a course
This presentation will focus on both of these aspects
November 5, 2004
HP Mobile Technology Conference

4. HP Mobile Technology Conference
Highlighting
Purpose: emulate the traditional active reading process of highlighting while adding functionality that is unique to the electronic environment
Highlighter colors can be associated with different names for organizational purposes
Highlights can be removed or hidden
November 5, 2004
HP Mobile Technology Conference

5. HP Mobile Technology Conference
Book-marking
Purpose: allow both students and teachers to indicate important sections of the text
Students can bookmark important passages or excerpts they find themselves referring to repeatedly
Instructors can specify a passage of the text as a reading assignment
Icons indicate the beginning and end of the assignment
The progress bar fills as the user progresses through the reading
Reading Assignment Demo
November 5, 2004
HP Mobile Technology Conference

6. HP Mobile Technology Conference
Searching
Purpose: improve upon the idea of a traditional index by making a fast and flexible way of accessing certain terms and phrases within the book
Users are able to specify the scope of the search, including
the current chapter
chapters read previously
in a specified date range
in the entire textbook
November 5, 2004
HP Mobile Technology Conference

7. HP Mobile Technology Conference
Web-browsing
Purpose: facilitate access to outside resources
Students can access web-based resources from within the textbook
Outside sources can be annotated just like textbook pages
Technically, content from outside sources can be included directly into flow of text
November 5, 2004
HP Mobile Technology Conference

8. HP Mobile Technology Conference
Annotations
Purpose: allow students and instructors to take (and share) notes and diagrams within the textbook facilitate note-taking using both pen-based and text-based interfaces .
Annotations can be made in a variety of ways. For instance, ink annotations allow the user to take notes in his or her own handwriting. When doing so, both the pen color and background are customizable.
November 5, 2004
HP Mobile Technology Conference

9. HP Mobile Technology Conference
Annotation Listing
Purpose: provide a convenient and flexible summary of all viewable annotations for study, searching, and review purposes
By specifying a date range, users can generate a listing of all accessible notes, sort and order them, and even view the notations within the context they occur.
Annotation Listing Demo
November 5, 2004
HP Mobile Technology Conference

10. HP Mobile Technology Conference
Preferences
Purpose: allow users to customize their textbook in terms of visual display as well as a variety of other options
Students (and instructors) can change font size
Annotation display can be controlled both by type and by author
Allows different modes of reading, depending on the user’s goals for that session
Preferences Demo
November 5, 2004
HP Mobile Technology Conference

11. HP Mobile Technology Conference
Discussions
Purpose: allow focused interaction between users in a message board format
Text- or ink-based allows for the inclusion of complex graphics or diagrams
Anchored to a specific segment of text for better integration of discussion with context
Discussion Demo
November 5, 2004
HP Mobile Technology Conference

12. Using the textbook in a course
Programming Languages course offered Fall 2004 with 14 students
Electronic version of locally developed textbook was only text resource for course
Supplemented with online readings within the e-textbook framework
Students given a tablet PC for a semester to read e-textbook
November 5, 2004
HP Mobile Technology Conference

13. Use of annotation by the instructor
expanding on the text
requesting further research into a topic
requesting students to respond to the instructor only
requesting students to submit responses that are read by all members of the class including the instructor
student annotations raising a question or making a point about a portion of the text.
November 5, 2004
HP Mobile Technology Conference

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Resources
eTextReader home page:
Papers:
McFall, R. L. (2004) "Evaluation of a Prototype of an Electronic Textbook Application", EdMedia 2004
McFall, R. L. (2005) "Electronic Textbooks That Transform How Textbooks Are Used", The Electronic Library, Vol 23 No 1, January 2005.
Contact Ryan McFall
November 5, 2004
HP Mobile Technology Conference