Page 318 - Crisis in Higher Education

288 • Crisis in Higher Education

3. Enhanced learning for students: Learning should improve because
many current students do not purchase traditional textbooks because
they can cost more than $200 each. Now, they will have access
because this is covered by tuition. Also, high-tech reading materials
help students learn better and faster because they are interactive and
can pinpoint problem areas for each student.
4. Better business model for publishers: When universities buy for all
students, sales are more predictable; the used book market is elimi-
nated; revisions happen when needed and are cheaper; and unau-
thorized use of learning materials is easier to control. In addition,
selling expenses should be reduced as an army of salespersons, who
earn commission on each book sold, are replaced by a smaller group
of account managers who work directly with universities.

13.3 CREATING HIGH-TECH READING
MATERIALS: THE PRODUCTS

High-tech reading materials are more than transforming a textbook into
an e-book that can be read online, because this simplistic approach does
not fully use the technology. The following list has important components
that can make the learning package better. These items are part of an
approach to set learning goals, measure performance, provide feedback,
refine knowledge, and repeat the cycle.

1. Interactive questions, answers, and referrals: Each segment of the
e-book would have an electronic content test/study guide that
would ask students about important information that they should
learn from reading the book. This mechanism not only lets the
students know if their answer is correct, it takes them to the point
or points in the e-book that discuss the information, so learning
is improved. This tool can assess fact-based knowledge as well as
measure students’ understanding of concepts, ideas, and the rela-
tionships among ideas.
2. Computer-generated problems: For courses with quantitative mate-
rial, students would be presented with problems to solve. They
would solve the problem and submit their answer, be informed if the
answer is correct or given feedback about why the answer is wrong,