A Florida school district that tested an interactive, web-based textbook in place of a traditional textbook for a half year in six classrooms found that students were more focused and engaged and completed more homework. Despite the pilot project's success, however, educators involved in the program say few schools are ready to replace their print versions with electronic ones anytime soon.

Staff from the Miami-Dade County Public Schools' division of instructional technology and media support services studied the effect of Pearson Prentice Hall's electronic textbook, the iText, on learning in grades seven, nine, and eleven.

"We started looking at iText and other products to see if they could enhance education for a child," said Patricia L. Evans, supervisor of instructional materials and textbook services for the district.

Evans wanted a textbook that would promote in-depth learning, support various learning styles, and provide word definitions, simulations, audio, and video clips. It also had to give students the ability to change the font, search for concepts by keyword, and get immediate feedback on lessons.

Evans began asking textbook publishers about the possibility of receiving interactive textbooks after seeing her own children's frustrations with traditional textbooks. A typical homework assignment might ask her child to complete 20 questions, she explained, but if her child got off to the wrong start, then the error was reinforced 20 times.

"I was looking to this technology to see if it could stop a child from repeating the wrong methods over and over," Evans said. "Pearson was the first publisher to come to Miami-Dade and say, 'We think we have what you want.'"

The schools that participated in the pilot project had to meet the following criteria: They had to use the Pearson Education textbooks adopted by the state; they had to provide a one-to-one ratio of laptop or desktop computers per student; and students had to have internet access at home.

The teachers of the two middle school classes and four high school classes that took part varied widely in their technical ability. "I had one that was, quite honestly, a technophobe," Evans said. "Now he is quite in love with the product."

The students also were drawn to the idea. "The kids were overwhelmingly positive with the online textbook," Evans said. "They told me they preferred it to traditional textbooks."

Overall, homework completion rates were higher than ever, and students moved seamlessly between productivity software and the online text when completing assignments.

"The teachers said the video and audio helped teach and explain some of the concepts better," Evans said.

When explaining Hitler's propaganda, for example, a film clip has the greatest impact, she said. Having the video embedded right into the textbook increases instruction time by saving teachers from having to set up a film projector and cuing to the specific clip.