Textbooks Go Digital

by Danee Garone

With the introduction of a Kindle e-Reader pilot program at several Universitites, e-Readers have begun to be integrated into the classroom.

Imagine a college experience without paper books. Libraries would be lean and dominated by open study areas and computers. Students would no longer have to spend thousands of dollars on heavy textbooks they might only use for a few months. Many trees once destined to be made into countless textbooks, novels and manuals would be saved. These are the very ideas behind the rapid integration of e-readers and e-books into school settings.

E-readers are portable electronic devices that allow users to store, read, and annotate thousands of texts. And very soon, e-readers may begin to replace books and texts in libraries and students’ backpacks while also reducing textbook spending.

One such example can be found in the shape of a pilot program taking place at Case Western, Pace University, Princeton, Reed College, the University of Virginia and Arizona State University in partnership with Amazon and the company’s new Kindle DX e-reader.

The Kindle DX, Amazon’s third-generation e-reader, sports a 9.7 inch screen that uses e-ink technology. E-ink displays use shades of gray to allow users to read clearly in direct sunlight.

The Kindle DX is just over a third of an inch in thickness and weighs 18.9 ounces. The Kindle DX can be purchased at $489 with wireless access to the Kindle Store where users can directly purchase and download books.

Each University has a small sample of students using the Kindle reader for one or more of their classes.

Arizona State’s Dr. Ted Humphrey is using the Kindle DX for a group of 60 students in his Human Event course for the Barrett Honors College. Humphrey, whose proposal to Amazon brought the pilot program to Arizona State, has had his students use the Kindle in place of 30 texts.

Purchasing texts for Humphrey’s class usually run students about $475, but with the Kindle DX pilot program, the cost is halved.

Thus far, Humphrey’s pilot program has progressed without any serious complaints from his students. The best part of the program is the ability of students to now bring all of their texts to class instead of having to leave them home because of their weight and number, he said.

Other than two Kindle hardware failures thus far, the overall performance of the product has been fantastic, he said.

However, there are two sides to every issue. Some have lamented the demise of physical books that e-readers may bring about. There have even been concerns voiced at other Kindle pilot program sites such as Princeton University.

But universities are not the only ones buying into the e-reader ideology. New England prep school Cushing Academy has decided to replace the more than 20,000 books in their library with various technologies including e-readers and online access to e-books.

The school has spent $10,000 to buy 18 electronic readers made by Amazon and Sony that will be distributed to students.

Although this may seem pricey, the thought behind e-readers in the classroom is that they will save students hundreds of dollars on textbooks over the long run.

The U.S Government Accountability Office found that, “college textbook prices have increased at twice the rate of inflation but have followed close behind tuition increase,” over the last two decades.

According to the GAO, “the average estimated cost of books and supplies per first-time, full-time student for academic year 2003-2004 was $898 at 4-year public institutions, or about 26 percent of the cost of tuition and fees.” Many expect e-readers such as the Kindle to change that.

Although students have to pay the $489 upfront cost of the Kindle DX, students instantly see savings with digital textbook purchases.

For example, students can purchase a copy of Cosmic Perspectives in Space Physics new for a pricey $262. Yet the digital Kindle version can be purchased for just over $209, a 20 percent difference.

As other e-readers such as Sony’s Daily reader and Barnes and Noble’s Nook put pressure on Amazon’s e-reader dominance, competition will likely drive innovation in the e-reader market while driving prices down.