Northwest pilot program pioneers e-textbook technology

Northwest President Dean L. Hubbard has announced that a pilot program designed to explore the possibility of replacing the vast majority Northwest's textbooks with e-books downloadable to personal computers and compact reading devices has shown promising results and remains on the fast-track for University-wide expansion.

Hubbard, who traveled to New York this week for meetings with leading e-book publishers, said Northwest has been looking into the possibility of creating a comprehensive electronic learning environment -- one that would largely replace printed books -- for months. He added that taking advantage of rapidly developing e-book technology is a natural continuation of the University's nationally recognized Electronic Campus, which this year began providing all full-time students with fully loaded laptop computers.

"This is the logical next step for the Electronic Campus," Hubbard said. "It is becoming increasingly obvious to everyone in higher education that traditional books are on the way out. For several months, we have been working with the nation's top collegiate publishers, and they all agree that Northwest's innovative laptop program makes us a great fit to play a pioneering role in the electronic textbook revolution."

The pilot, which involves about 260 students, is being conducted by professors teaching courses in four separate academic disciplines Because this is still only a pilot program, Northwest is unable to release details about the initiative, except to say that it involves the cooperation of major corporate partners from the publishing and information technology industries, including leading vendors of e-readers and downloadable learning environments.

Hubbard noted that there are many advantages to electronic textbooks and cited cost savings for students as one of the most important. E-books can save students 50 to 70 percent of the cost of traditional undergraduate textbooks, which currently average around $200 each. Though Northwest undergrads rent most of their textbooks from the University for an affordable per-credit-hour fee, Hubbard believes students will save even more as the school moves toward e-books.

"Like our existing textbook rental program, which I'm sure will be modified to embrace this new technology, a comprehensive e-book system will provide Northwest students with a significant cost savings and allow them to more easily and affordably pursue their academic goals," Hubbard said.

He added that the savings involves more than just the sticker price. Because they can be instantly and cheaply revised and updated, e-books eliminate the need for frequent new editions. General content, case studies, examples, problems and experiments can all be changed or added by going online and making a few mouse clicks.

There are academic advantages as well. Student reading e-textbooks can do much more than just click on a word and pull up a dictionary definition. Audio and video plug-ins allow for pronunciation guides and clips of lectures. Other functions enable students to highlight, type notes in the margin of the text, take quizzes and interact with professors.

E-books also offer many advantages to professors, who will be able to customize texts by adding, removing and rearranging secondary sources and articles. Faculty could, for example, e-publish Web-based syllabi that link directly to assignments and add materials as needed throughout the term.

The coming of e-books, and especially paperback-sized e-readers, means that hundreds of volumes can be loaded onto a single device. This means that students will finally be able to say goodbye to burdensome backpacks and book bags, the absence of which will also improve security by making it more difficult to move dangerous or prohibited items across campus without attracting attention.

For more information, please contact:

Anthony Brown,
News Bureau Manager
E-Mail: abrown@nwmissouri.edu
Phone: 660.562.1704
Fax: 660.562.1900

Northwest Missouri State University
219 Administration Building,
800 University Drive
Maryville, MO 64468

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