eTextbooks in Philippine Schools Starting School Year 2013 - 2014

School Year 2013 – 2014 promises to be exciting in the field of information communication technology in education. A number of schools have partnered with textbook publishers to implement a eTextbook program and they promised to bring learning through digital technology to a higher level of experience. As early as two years ago textbook publishers became interested in digitizing their content and offering a whole new learning experience to the students and teachers. They have either partnered with an IT company that develops the IT platform to be used or have invested in a new company that would handle the digitization and selling of the solutions. De La Salle Greenhills had their pilot project implemented last school year and other schools not only in Metro Manila but also in the provinces had expressed their interest in implementing one starting this school year. The advantages cited by the textbook publishers in shifting to the digital versions are the following:

1.      Environment friendly since no new trees are needed to be cut to produce the paper used in the printing of the textbooks.

2.      eTextbooks will be cheaper than the printed textbooks since they are not needed to be printed.

3.      It is much more convenient on the part of the students since they don't need to carry heavy textbooks in their school bags.

4.      Students and teachers will have a much better learning experience due to a much easier access to digital supplemental learning materials that is available in the internet.

            It would be interesting to take note of the developments in the following areas:

1.      Teacher's capacity to teacher using technology and their acceptance.

a)      eTexbook experience is totally different from what they are accustomed to in the manner of the delivery of content and learning inside the classroom.

b)      Are they going to use it in the traditional manner like the ordinary textbook or use it to develop self learning and collaborative skills of the students?

c)      What are the support programs that are in place to develop the skills of the teachers in teaching with the use of technology inside the classroom?

2.      Student’s capacity in using technology in education.

a)      Are they trained to use the device to make learning much more efficient inside the classrooms?

b)      What are the programs in place that would develop the character to the students to be disciplined in their use of technology inside the classroom?

3.      Device and platform to be used by the textbook publishers.

a)      What would be the device that they will prescribe?  Are they open to the Bring Your Own Device model (BYOD) that will ensure that the users are well adept to the one that they are using? Or will they prescribe their own device?

b)      In cases of schools using multiple textbook publishers, are the publishers willing to use a single reader as to avoid confusion on the part of the teachers and students on what to use?

c)      How will the textbook publishers deliver the products to the device to ensure that it would be readily available for use of the students and the teachers? Will it be manually or through the use of the cloud?

d)     What are the other features or solutions that are included that will enhance the learning experience of the students?

4.      Availability of Content and Learning Materials.

a)      Are all their titles have already been digitalized and are available? Or will it be a combination of both published and digitalized textbooks?

b)      What is the format used in digitizing the textbooks?

c)      Will it be flat or fully interactive?

5.      Security (Device and Content)

a)      What DRM software will be used by the publisher to secure their content and what is its effect to the total learning experience of the user?

b)      Since it would be used by children, what are the security measures that are being in placed to prevent theft or loss of the device?

c)      Will the schools use learning management software to control the device of the students while inside the classroom?

6.      Infrastructure

a)      Will the school provide a secure charging station for the use of the students?  Will there be a corresponding fee for the use of the said structure?

b)      Will the school allow internet access inside the classroom and how will they secure it?

7.      Evaluation

a)      How will the school evaluate the program in order to determine its effectiveness in improving the learning experience of its students?