1. Textbook Deathwatch:
The Digital Textbook
Revolution
Brian Bridges
California Learning Resource Network

2. California Learning
Resource Network
Your one-stop source for
standards-aligned electronic
learning resources

3. Your Panelists
Neeru Khosla
 Co-founder of CK-12
Paul McFall
 Senior VP of Pearson Curriculum Group
Hall Davidson
 VP of Having Fun at Discovery Education
Kelly Schwirzke
 Santa Cruz County Office of Education

4. The Rise and Evolution of
K12 Digital Textbooks
 How did K-12 digital textbooks begin, how are they
evolving, and where are they headed?
 Will the standard form disappear, evolve, or co-exist?
 How are publishers disrupting themselves to stay
competitive?
 How will digital textbooks affect teaching and
learning?
 What’s the potential impact on traditional adoption
cycles?

5. Tweet your comments &
questions
Hashtag: #istedt

6. CLRN HOme
√

7. Phase 1 page

8. FDTI Results

9. eBook Sales Trend
Kindle 2, Sony Daily Edition
Sony eReader
Kindle
79% prefer PDA
Q2, 2009
Q1, 2002

10. Ebook sales

11. Past the Digital Tipping Point
2011
 Amazon reports that digital now outsells print
2012
 Apple partners with Big-Three publishers to sell iPad
Textbooks

12. Old Music Industry Model
Sustaining Innovations
Albums > Cassettes > CDs

13. Disrupting Music
Digital music = Disruption
CD sales tumble
Is the music industry dying?
“It’s not the music industry that is
dying. It is the CD business.”

14. New Music Model=Shift of Power
Power shift from label to artist
“Getting signed” is no longer the goal of
every artist
Creation of a new middle class of artists
Greater consumer choice

15. New Textbook Model?
Power shift from publisher/district to student
Getting “adopted” is no longer the goal of
every publisher
Creation of “middle class” of publishers
Greater consumer choice

16. 2008
The Beginning of the End
Virginia creates a digital Physics textbook
to supplement HS Physics book
 CK-12
Secretary of Technology Aneesh P.
Chopra
First U.S. CTO

17. California
Digital Textbook Initiative
Three Phases: Free or Open Source
High School Math, Science, & History
Review for Content Standards Only
http://clrn.org/fdti/

18. Open Source Collections
CaltechBOOKS
CK-12
Connexions
Textbook Revolution

19. CK-12

20. Path One:
Digital
Representations of
Physical Books
• Pour text into an
eReader, iPad, or
computer
• Stir.

21. Neeru Khosla
Co-founder of CK-12

22. ISTE June 25th 2012

23. “Everyone has the right to an education”
- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 26.1)

26. Key To failure

28. learning rate, learning style, pace

30. fixed time/variable learning

31. variable time, fixed learning

32. variable time, fixed learning
(potentially divergent end goals)

33. Knowing the user and their
interests/needs
+
Remembering the path/place
of learning

Adaptive (predictive)Guidance

34. Textbooks 2.0 & Learning 2.0

35. textbooks = ~5000 Concepts = K-12!

36. Alternative Explanations
Videos
Simulations
Homework Questions
Student Level Concepts Lab
Experiments
Student Guides
Visuals
Study Help
Learning Enhancements

37. “Aim to bring the student from where they
are to where we want them to be at” –
through scaffolding

42. How have states adapted?

43. Georgia
 3/31/10
Georgia votes to expand the
definition of a textbook to include
digital devices like e-readers for
elementary and high schools

44. Texas
H.B. 4294
Allows state to adopt electronic textbooks
Textbook funds may be used to purchase
technological equipment necessary to
support electronic textbooks
eTextbook publishers may update
navigational features or management
system w/o review

45. Texas H.B 4294
eTextbook publishers may submit updated
content for review
Districts/schools may select a subscription-
based electronic textbook

46. Texas
H.B. 2488
Authorizes colleges or the state to develop
open source textbooks for use in
classrooms

47. California Legislation
AB 1398, relating to the use of textbook
funds
Redefines “technology-based materials” to
include electronic equipment required to
use them

48. California Legislation
SB 247 relating to high school textbook
purchases
Textbook funds may be used to purchase
electronic versions
Districts must ensure all students have
access at home & school

49. Circa 1935
eReader
E-Reader Prototype

50. Flat on an eReader
Kindle , Feb 2009, $259
Kindle, 2012, $79
Kindle Fire, $199
B&N Simple Touch, $79
B&N Nook Color, $149
Apple 7” iPad, $???

51. How are publishers disrupting
themselves to stay
competitive?
Are they too big to succeed?

52. HMH

53. HMH Fuse
Algebra 1 Pilot

54. Pearson

55. Path Two:
Interactive Tablet
apps and e-books
• One part text
• Stir in videos, animations,
interactive multi-media,
& assessments

56. Paul McFall
Senior VP of Pearson
Curriculum Group

66. Changes to Big-Three
Publishing
About one-third of Pearson's business is
now from digital products and services,
HMH files for Chapter 11
 Puts K-12 division on sales block

67. Legislation about digital
versions of adopted books
California bill SB 1154
 Requires publishers to offer textbooks in a digital
format

68. Renting
Textbooks

69. CourseSmart

70. CourseSmart
 Macroeconomics, 12th Edition (Robert Gordon)
 List Price: $210
 Amazon: $163
 Kindle: $155
 CourseSmart: $83.99

71. CourseSmart Limitations
Access
 Read book online OR
 Download to an iPad or computer
Time
 12 month subscription

72. Rent Textbooks?

73. Never!!!

74. Really?
You’ve been here before
Discovery Streaming
Learn 360
Safari/Montage
And any other subscription-based
electronic resource

75. Discovery Science

76. Oregon & Hawaii Just Did
Oregon SBE Adopts Discover
Education Science for K-8
Online, subscription site
Textbook, virtual
labs, simulations, video clips, &
assessments

77. Path Three:
Subscription-based
Textbooks

78. Robert Onsi
VP of Product Development
at Discovery Education

79. Playing the part of Robert
Onsi today is
Hall Davidson
What IS his job description anyway?

80. Will subscription-based
interactive textbooks evolve
to become online courses?

81. Insert Onsi’s slides here

82. What is happening
nationally?

83. Kelly Schwirzke
Santa Cruz County Office
of Education (CA)

84. Digital Textbooks
Flexible use of funds
Increased efficiency
Engaging materials

85. • Identifies strengths of digital resources v. traditional
(multilingual, portable, accessibility experiences
• Developed by the Digital Textbook Collaborative, a joint
effort of industry stakeholders, school officials and
nonprofit leaders convened by the Federal
Communications Commission & the U.S.D.O.E
http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/digital-textbook-playbook

86. California
• California launched a free digital textbooks initiative
in 2009 that includes free texts for California
students in grades 9-12 in geometry, Algebra
II, trigonometry, calculus, physics, chemistry, biology
/life sciences, and earth sciences, including the
investigation and experimentation strand.
• Six middle schools in four California cities (San
Francisco, Long Beach, Fresno and Riverside) are
teaching the first iPad-only algebra
course, developed by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
http://www.clrn.org/fdti/

87. Utah
• Utah State Office of Education
• Open textbooks have been printed and provided to more
than 3,800 Utah high school science students
• Cost of about $5 per book, compared to an average cost
of about $80 for a typical high school science textbook.
http://www.schools.utah.gov/main/INFORMATION/Online-Newsroom/DOCS
01252012OpenTextbook.aspx

88. • In 2011, the Texas legislature
created an Instructional Materials
Texas Allotment (IMA). Districts can use
funds to purchase electronic
In April 2010, Gov. learning platforms and content from
Rick Perry predicted online resources, & to cover other
that electronic technology-related expenditures.
textbooks would be
the only textbooks • The allotment per student may vary
by 2014. "I don't based upon the amount available in
see any reason in the IMA, and is updated every 2
the world we need years. Districts will receive funding
to have textbooks of about $140 / student for the
in Texas in the next 2011-12 and 2012-13 school.
four years”.
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=3373

89. North Carolina
• Mooresville, N.C., 12 in 2009 provided laptops to every
student & teacher making it one of the few entirely digital
districts in the United States.
• In total, over 5,000 laptops have been distributed.
• Superintendent believes they have developed a
successful financial model, & a solution to the
“disconnect’ between students daily digital lives and the
previous lack of in-class technology”.
• 2005-2009 Technology Plan budgeted $4.5M for laptops
& online content providers.
http://www5.mgsd.k12.nc.us/staffsites/digitalconversion/Digital_Conversion//MGSD_Digital_Conversio
n.html
http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2011/10/19/01conversion.h05.html?qs=mooresville

90. Replacing Textbooks
• West Virginia is nearing the end of a 2-year suspension
on social studies textbook purchases, and plans to invest
the savings in digital textbooks and technology
infrastructures.
• The Virginia Department of Education is overseeing a
$150,000 iPad initiative that has replaced history and
Advanced Placement biology textbooks at 11 schools.
http://wvde.state.wv.us/teach21/ and see http://wvde.state.wv.us/teach21/im-digital-stakeholder-
recommendations.doc

91. • Forsyth
County, Georgia
Georgia iAchieve Virtual
Academy
“We spend about $81 per
student each year on
textbooks but only $19 per • iAchieve is open for
student on all of the digital
content we subscribe to—and students in grades 6-
that includes a broad 12 who are residents
collection of multimedia of Forsyth County
resources, databases, and
interactive lessons.” entering the school
system for the first
-Bailey Mitchell, Chief time
Technology & Information
Officer, Forsyth Schools (GA)
http://www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/domain/2110

92. Alabama
• Alabama Ahead Act one of the first states to provide both
digital textbooks and tablet devices for students and
teachers.
• “all students in the public school grades 9-12, where
available, approved textbooks and instructional materials
... in electronic format.”
• grade 9-12 students and teachers to be issued a "pen-
enabled tablet computers for storing, reading, accessing,
exploring, and interacting with digital textbooks ... in lieu
of hardbound textbooks ... ”
• Alabama Public School and College Authority to issue
up to $100 million in bonds to pay for the program[2].

93. In 2012, HB165[1], the Alabama Ahead Act
• Phases in over a four year period and tasks (SDE) with
developing an implementation plan and to provide
oversight for the program.
• "specifications for devices; learning management
system; maintenance and support requirements of the
electronic devices authorized in this act; current
readiness of participating schools' wireless networks;
professional development for teachers ...”
• The plan, due by October 1, 2012, will establish an
application process for local school boards
to participate in the program.
Alabama HB165, retrieved May
25, 2012, http://alisondb.legislature.state.al.us/acas/SearchableInstruments/2012RS/PrintFiles/HB165-
enr.pdf
[Processes and procedures for the Alabama Public School and College Authority's issuing and sale of
bonds, payments to suppliers, and its interaction with the State Department of Finance and the State
Treasurer's Office are detailed in HB165;

94. Adopting Digital Learning Tools
• Florida is the first state to mandate adoption of digital
learning tools in all public schools.
• Beginning in the 2015-2016 school year, all instructional
materials in grades K-12 in the public school system are
required to be provided in electronic or digital format.
• Florida is not requiring a specific brand or form of digital
textbook, nor is it requiring distribution of devices or
other supplies.
http://www.fldoe.org/BII/Instruct_Tech/

95. Redefining Textbooks
• Adopted digital textbook initiatives:
– Florida, California, Texas, Idaho, Utah, Maine, Arkansas,
Iowa, Indiana, Georgia, Maryland, Virginia
• Changed the definition of textbooks to allow funding
for digital content:
– Utah, California, Texas, Arkansas, Iowa, Indiana, and
Georgia
• Focused on open educational resources (OER):
– California, Virginia, Maryland, and Maine

96. Kelly Schwirzke, Ed.D
Santa Cruz County Office of Education
Alternative Education Program
Coordinator, Online Learning
Teacher, Independent Study
kschwirzke@santacruz.k12.ca.us
831.466.5655

97. Will the standard form
disappear, evolve, or co-
exist?

98. What’s the potential impact
on traditional adoption
cycles?

99. How are digital textbooks
affecting teaching and
learning?

100. Disruptive Innovation
vs
the Big Three Publishers
(well, any textbook company)
Are they too big to succeed?

101. Pearson, US CEO
Peter Cohen
“We are now in a transformational period.
Everything we have has to be two worlds:
print and digital.
The future of learning is going to be high-
quality online material and, to a lesser
extent, textbooks.’’

102. Houghton Mifflin
Wendy Colby, senior vice president
“The textbook is no longer the center of the
educational universe.”

103. Pearson Education
Steve Dowling
“I think we’re … at a tipping point”

104. Audience Questions
Hashtag: #istedt

105. Textbook Deathwatch:
The Digital Textbook
Revolution
Brian Bridges
http://brianbridges.org