Where are all the E-Textbooks? (free e-book)

By Hans Mundahl | November 19, 2010 | Comment |

I like my iPad but a major hurdle to the wide spread adoption of tablets in schools is the availability of e-textbooks. I know there are some cool text books apps out there and I’m very curious to see what Inkling, CourseSmart, and even Amazon are going to do in this space. But nice apps are useless without content: when I search for Algebra I in your course catalog I want three or four choices, just like I have with text books made out of dead trees.

Which of the major text book companies is going to be first to pony up and offer their entire catalog as e-textbooks? Why haven’t any of them done this yet?

Hey I know, maybe it’s so complex a process that it’s too expensive to do. We’re not just talking about the text of a book, we also want pictures, videos and other interactive content after all. Well I set out to try a little experiment, how hard would it be for me, using consumer grade technology, to create a chapter of an e-textbook that included text, chapters, photos, and video? Here you go:

As it turns out it’s not difficult at all, I worked for about a half an hour and produced a passable chapter from an e-textbook. Actually the hardest part was taking out the footnotes from Wikipedia. I wouldn’t want to sell it or anything, I don’t like how the photos wrapped and I didn’t get the captions to work well, but here you can even download it and see for yourself what you think.

So why aren’t the major publishers creating e-textbooks? What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

Hans Mundahl

Hans Mundahl has taught since 1995 when he first stepped to the front of a classroom as a Fulbright Exchange Teacher in the former East Germany. Since then he has been working to create stimulating educational experiences for students that combine cutting edge tools with durable skills. Hans is currently the Director of Experiential Learning and Technology Coordinator at the New Hampton School. He writes regularly for EdSocialMedia and has had his work (and the work of his students) featured on YouTube, Livestream and SlideShare.

http://twitter.com/peterdbaron Peter Baron

Hans, your creativity never ceases to amaze me. It was a fantastic post and I can’t wait to follow the comment thread that emerges below. Great work!
http://twitter.com/wstites William Stites

This is something that we have been talking about in school and on Twitter, and this hit’s it right on the head. Both CK12 (http://www.ck12.org/flexr/) and Flat World Knowledge (http://www.flatworldknowledge.com/) are interesting, but this show just how easily it can be done!nnThanks for what is a truly inspiring post and video!
http://twitter.com/TMcDonough1973 Tim McDonough

Brilliant and creative Hans! I’m blown away. Two amazing posts by you in a row.
Hans Mundahl

@Peter – thanks! I’m quite impatient about this whole textbook business, makes me think I should start producing free e-textbooks and overthrow the publishers nn@Bill – Those are good links! Thanks for sharing! How good are the http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Wikiversity:Main_Page resources?nn@Tim – Many thanks!
Hans Mundahl

I just added some annotations to the youtube video to explain what’s going on… I don’t think they’re too intrusive.
Oldbrass

Good post there, my friend!nnTo offer you some hope though, last year I took some online classes with University of Phoenix and each of the six classes offered digital textbooks. It’s actually the reason I broke down and got a Kindle. The best bit was that with text to speech that comes built in, I could go for a walk and listen to a chapter read to me.n
http://twitter.com/ericwlacroix ericwlacroix

Be careful Hans. Men have been whisked away under cover of darkness by men in black driving black sedans for far less compelling work than this.
Hmundahl

@oldbrass that’s interesting! They were kindle books? Were they published by university of Phoenix or by a text book manufacturer?nn@Eric Haha, thanks… I think!
Alex Ragone

Hans, This is so great. As we’re exploring the iPad at Collegiate we are looking at notetaking and e-textbooks as their first use. Here’s a link to a discussion that we’re having with our school administration plus a video of a faculty member’s experience using iBooks in his classes: http://blogs.collegiateschool.org/ipad/2010/10/19/leadership-conversation/nnKeep up the great work!
Hans Mundahl

@Alex – thanks for your great links – I’m taking a look at those now!
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http://taffee.edublogs.org Steve Taffee

William Stites mentioned your blog inISED-L so I cruised on over to check it out. I knew in the back of my mind that Pages could create to the e-pub format, but had not check it out. Your post will lead me to do so.nnBeyond rich publishing format of hyperlinked materials, I think e-readers and e-texts for school should have other attributes that facilitate their classroom use. I speculated about what those might be here:nnhttp://taffee.edublogs.org/2010/10/24/an-open-letter-to-e-reader-companies/nnStevenn
Anonymous

I worry about searching for uses for the iPad. Instead, won’t it become obvious when the time is right for the iPad, because so many electronic course resources will exist that we will want the convenience of a handheld device instead of a computer?nnIn related news, Drew School launches a 1:1 iPad program: http://www.drewschool.org/academics/ipads.aspx
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http://hansmundahl.com Hans Mundahl

@steve – I’d love to see what you create, and thanks for sharing that link… I’ll check it outnn@kassissieh – good point!
Carl Campion

I have been pushing CK12 (http://www.ck12.org/flexbook/) with my colleagues in the science department as well as the math teachers.nn
http://hansmundahl.com Hans Mundahl

Thanks Carl – I’ll take a look at that.
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