Textbooks May Be So Yesterday, But Tomorrow Doesn’t Come Cheap
Posted on July 2, 2009 by Mark Schlesinger
Here is a fine article by Juliet Williams of the Associated Press covering California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s suggestion that the state could save part of its $350 million a year school textbook budget by putting content online. This announcement has made news everywhere. But before delving in to the subject, I want to give Ms. Williams credit for the headline on this post, which I borrowed from her opening paragraph:
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — In the state that gave the world Facebook, Google and the iPod, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says forcing California’s students to rely on printed textbooks is so yesterday.
To the casual observer not necessarily familiar with online education realities, the idea seems to make sense. And in the long run, it is a good idea. But you don’t have to read very far into Ms. Williams’ piece to find the many contemporary gotchas. She reports, for example, that only one in four students in California has access to a computer in the classroom. Others who are quoted note that students in poorer schools and neighborhoods without access to technology would be severely disadvantaged. Still others note that even if textbooks go online, the publishers and content providers aren’t going to make the material available for free. In short, it could cost more – a lot more — than the current $350 million a year to rid the state of hard copy textbooks. Finally, I suspect that those who look to online education primarily as a means to save money a) find that they don’t save money, at least quickly, and b) tend to overlook the substantial educational reasons for online teaching and learning. These two possibilities go hand in hand. Quality costs money.
Still, the idea, and the fact that California is often noted as a bellwether state for national trends to come, means other states, other school systems – including colleges and universities – are taking the concept seriously again, or for the first time. But as they explore the idea further I expect they will learn some of what we have learned at UMassOnline over the past eight years. One, it takes time and great preparation to put out anything of quality online; and Two, a wholesale revolution in the way things are done can’t and shouldn’t always be accommodated. Transitions from old to new while balancing traditional tools with modern ones work best.
Will hard copy textbooks at any educational level exist 100 years from now? Probably not. Will they be gone tomorrow? I wouldn’t count on it. Thank goodness.
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