TechBooks are platform-neutral and are compatible with iPads, laptops, Android devices, other mobile devices, and desktops.
“The ability to cross-platform was really important to us,” said Scott Kinney, who leads the Discovery Education Professional Development Team and is Discovery’s educational liaison for public policy. “We heard from schools that there isn’t always [device] standardization.”
In fact, many schools that implement a “bring your own device” policy find that students bring a variety of devices and platforms to school, and cross-platform solutions are an easy way to ensure that a digital textbook will operate on all devices.
Kinney said engaging and adaptable tools are important. Much of K-12 education is “not providing students with content that’s adaptive to meet their needs, their learning styles, and also that gives them the opportunity to go beyond the content,” he said. “We want to foster that engagement and that excitement for learning.”
Digital textbooks offer the chance for continuing education in case of a natural disaster, illness outbreak, or an individual student’s extended absence, Kinney added. Because TechBooks are cloud-based, educators can build and deliver content to students from any internet-enabled location. The solution also offers scaffolding that teachers can adjust to students’ ability, and TechBook content can be updated and aligned with new standards.
McGraw-Hill
At the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, McGraw-Hill introduced the LearnSmart Advantage suite, an adaptive learning solution that includes the SmartBook for adaptive learning.
As a company, McGraw-Hill is leaving behind the term “digital textbook,” because its next focus is on many layers of educational resources that are digital, said Dan Caton, president of McGraw-Hill School Education.
The contrast, Caton said, is between what is known as scroll-and-stare and interact-and-learn. Scroll-and-stare occurs when information is presented in a digital format, but is static, and is merely presented to the reader. Interact-and-learn requires content providers to place a complete curriculum online, prompting students to read material but also to interact with characters online, go through simulations, and participate in other interactivity. These interactions are adaptive and give each student a personalized experience.
“We don’t disparage digital texts or iTextbooks, and we’re happy to provide those things, but we really believe we need to partner with our customers to wherever they want to go—and many are ready to go into that adaptive world,” Caton said.
(Next month: a more in-depth look at schools’ experiences as they move to digital textbooks.)
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