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Press Enterprise Article on Digital Textbook Pilot in Riverside
By JIM MILLER
Sacramento Bureau
SACRAMENTO - A Riverside school district is among the first in the state to begin using digital textbooks in some of its classes, as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and others encourage the technology as a way to improve student learning and save money.
Supporters say digital lessons in high schools make sense at a time of tight budgets and tech-savvy students. There are multiple sources of free content. And some of the devices are tough enough to be thrown across a room, school officials say.
But the technology has yet to become widespread several months after the governor launched the effort.
Story continues below
Kurt Miller / The Press-Enterprise
Kaii Mung, left, gets his finger caught in Karl Yancey's digital textbook as he passes out the new textbooks in biology class at Arlington High.
Only six California schools or districts -- including Riverside Unified -- have reported using any of the 16 digital math and science textbooks that have been reviewed for compliance with content standards. The country's largest textbook manufacturers, meanwhile, offer very little in the way of digital content.
State lawmakers carried several bills this year meant to encourage the use of digital textbooks. Glen Thomas, Schwarzenegger's secretary of education, said he thinks the interest will grow as more classroom material becomes available in digital form.
"(Students) are growing up in a digital age that is far beyond anything we're able to keep up with as adults. But then they don't see any of that technology used in the classroom," Thomas said.
The state Board of Education is not pushing schools to start using the technology instead of conventional textbooks.
"We're not going to say that one platform is more effective than the other," said Tom Adams, the department's director of curriculum frameworks and instructional resources. "It will all come down to how effective they are with the student and the teacher."
Riverside experience
Riverside Unified's board approved a trial of digital machines earlier this year. Last week, half-pound, brightly colored devices arrived in Mici Orona's honors biology class at Arlington High School in Riverside.
Orona said students could follow along with her lecture and call up photos and diagrams. Instead of having to teach from just one or two regular textbooks, she said she plans to make content from several sources part of her lessons. Students also can take notes on the devices, which have an eight-hour battery life before needing to be recharged.
"Already my students are excited about using them. I think they're going to be a huge advantage," Orona said.
Story continues below
Kurt Miller / The Press-Enterprise
Cheyenne Reta, 14, uses her new digital textbook in Mici Orona's honors biology class at Arlington High School. State officials are pushing the use of digital textbooks.
Jay McPhail, Riverside Unified's director of K-12 instructional technology and career technical education, said the district is evaluating a few other devices, such as the iTouch portable media player and miniature laptop computers known as netbooks.
They could become the norm, he said. Normal textbooks can cost more than $100 a copy. The Intelligent Papers device used in Orona's class, for example, costs $150 and can store the contents of up to 40 textbooks, he said.
"Our intent is yes, at some point, that would contain all of our textbooks," McPhail said.
The machines do not allow students to wander the Web or exchange e-mails during class.
But the devices would be able to access the Internet to download lessons and homework, officials said.
McPhail said about 15 percent to 20 percent of district high school students do not have Web access at home. A possible solution is to configure the machines with a modem that works on cell-phone signals, he said.
The state's next step is to launch a second round of digital textbooks, this time focusing on history and social science curriculum, said Kelley Day, program manager at the California Learning Resource Network. The program, which evaluates learning software and other electronic classroom tools, has worked with the Schwarzenegger administration on the digital textbook effort.
Companies that offer digital content for free or at nominal cost still make money. Teacher training programs and student assessments are some of the ways, Thomas said.
Thomas said most large textbook manufacturers -- such as Pearson, McGraw-Hill and Houghton Mifflin -- are just now beginning to offer some of their content digitally.
"They know where the world is going. And they're struggling to get their business model around a rapidly changing economy," Thomas said. "They're just putting one toe in the water."
Reach Jim Miller at 916-445-9973 or jmiller@PE.com
Sacramento Bureau
SACRAMENTO - A Riverside school district is among the first in the state to begin using digital textbooks in some of its classes, as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and others encourage the technology as a way to improve student learning and save money.
Supporters say digital lessons in high schools make sense at a time of tight budgets and tech-savvy students. There are multiple sources of free content. And some of the devices are tough enough to be thrown across a room, school officials say.
But the technology has yet to become widespread several months after the governor launched the effort.
Story continues below
Kurt Miller / The Press-Enterprise
Kaii Mung, left, gets his finger caught in Karl Yancey's digital textbook as he passes out the new textbooks in biology class at Arlington High.
Only six California schools or districts -- including Riverside Unified -- have reported using any of the 16 digital math and science textbooks that have been reviewed for compliance with content standards. The country's largest textbook manufacturers, meanwhile, offer very little in the way of digital content.
State lawmakers carried several bills this year meant to encourage the use of digital textbooks. Glen Thomas, Schwarzenegger's secretary of education, said he thinks the interest will grow as more classroom material becomes available in digital form.
"(Students) are growing up in a digital age that is far beyond anything we're able to keep up with as adults. But then they don't see any of that technology used in the classroom," Thomas said.
The state Board of Education is not pushing schools to start using the technology instead of conventional textbooks.
"We're not going to say that one platform is more effective than the other," said Tom Adams, the department's director of curriculum frameworks and instructional resources. "It will all come down to how effective they are with the student and the teacher."
Riverside experience
Riverside Unified's board approved a trial of digital machines earlier this year. Last week, half-pound, brightly colored devices arrived in Mici Orona's honors biology class at Arlington High School in Riverside.
Orona said students could follow along with her lecture and call up photos and diagrams. Instead of having to teach from just one or two regular textbooks, she said she plans to make content from several sources part of her lessons. Students also can take notes on the devices, which have an eight-hour battery life before needing to be recharged.
"Already my students are excited about using them. I think they're going to be a huge advantage," Orona said.
Story continues below
Kurt Miller / The Press-Enterprise
Cheyenne Reta, 14, uses her new digital textbook in Mici Orona's honors biology class at Arlington High School. State officials are pushing the use of digital textbooks.
Jay McPhail, Riverside Unified's director of K-12 instructional technology and career technical education, said the district is evaluating a few other devices, such as the iTouch portable media player and miniature laptop computers known as netbooks.
They could become the norm, he said. Normal textbooks can cost more than $100 a copy. The Intelligent Papers device used in Orona's class, for example, costs $150 and can store the contents of up to 40 textbooks, he said.
"Our intent is yes, at some point, that would contain all of our textbooks," McPhail said.
The machines do not allow students to wander the Web or exchange e-mails during class.
But the devices would be able to access the Internet to download lessons and homework, officials said.
McPhail said about 15 percent to 20 percent of district high school students do not have Web access at home. A possible solution is to configure the machines with a modem that works on cell-phone signals, he said.
The state's next step is to launch a second round of digital textbooks, this time focusing on history and social science curriculum, said Kelley Day, program manager at the California Learning Resource Network. The program, which evaluates learning software and other electronic classroom tools, has worked with the Schwarzenegger administration on the digital textbook effort.
Companies that offer digital content for free or at nominal cost still make money. Teacher training programs and student assessments are some of the ways, Thomas said.
Thomas said most large textbook manufacturers -- such as Pearson, McGraw-Hill and Houghton Mifflin -- are just now beginning to offer some of their content digitally.
"They know where the world is going. And they're struggling to get their business model around a rapidly changing economy," Thomas said. "They're just putting one toe in the water."
Reach Jim Miller at 916-445-9973 or jmiller@PE.com
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