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E-Book Online. Presentation IV Joel D. Carter. Introduction. The electronic book is a portable device that can hold several thousand pages of text that it displays on an LCD screen
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E-Book Online Presentation IV Joel D. Carter
Introduction • The electronic book is a portable device that can hold several thousand pages of text that it displays on an LCD screen • This technology could be applied to the academic environment to facilitate the exchange of information in the classroom • Group project web site
Overview • Conventional Textbooks • Expensive (Average student spends about $800 per year) • Cumbersome (Manual searching of information) • Heavy (Compared to digital counterpart) • Electronic Textbooks • Not bound by the same limitations
Background • Cost • Standard books are an average of 30% more expensive • E-book device (NuvoMedia Rocket Ebook) is currently $270
Background, cont. • Ease of Use • Finding a particular piece of information in a textbook can be difficult • The search and hyperlink capabilities of e-books aid in finding information • A companion dictionary must be used for finding the definition of unknown words
Background, cont. • Ease of Use, cont. • The built-in dictionary in e-books can be used for quick definitions of any word within a given text • Notes in a textbook must be written to and referenced from a separate book • Notes in an e-book can be made by a built-in annotation function and can be accessed whenever the text is
Background, cont. • Ease of Use, cont. • A companion dictionary must be used for finding the definition of unknown words • The built-in dictionary in e-books can be used for quick definitions of any word within a given text
Background, cont. • Ease of Use, cont. • Notes in a textbook must be written to and referenced from a separate book • Notes in an e-book can be made by a built-in annotation function and can be accessed whenever the text is
Background, cont. • Ergonomics • Every textbook required means added weight to carry • There is no added weight associated with added electronic texts
Project Goal • To provide a Computer Science class with an e-book device, an electronic textbook, and instructor-provided notes within the next academic year
Functional Specifications • Group project web site
Budget and Resources • See group web site
Profit Estimate • Conventional textbook cost and consumption • $50 (per book avg.) x 20 (approx. books per year) = $800 to $1,000 (per student, per year) * figures result of independent survey • There are 11,000 students attending ODU per semester or 22,000 per year * source Campus Relations
Profit Estimate, cont. • Conventional textbook cost and consumption, cont. • This comes to an approximate figure of $17,600,000 spent by students on textbooks per year • If the project tapped 15% of those sales, that would be $2,640,000 in textbook sales.
Profit Estimate, cont. • Electronic textbook cost and sales forecast • The student would automatically save an average of 30% per title on the corresponding electronic editions of those books * source barnesandnobles.com • The projected sales for electronic texts would then be $1,848,000
Profit Estimate, cont. • Assuming a conservative resale percentage earning of 10%, it would mean $184,800 returned to the project organization • Subtract the long term expenditures from the budget of $169,140 and this means a small profit of $15,660
Summary • The electronic book is the learning tool of the future • Electronic books are free of many of the restrictions inherent to conventional textbooks • There is an initial investment in hardware associated with using electronic books, but the savings eventually return this start-up cost
Summary, cont. • The electronic book also has features that can be exploited to benefit education • The use of electronic textbooks reduces the weight a student must carry • Why would you want to continue using conventional textbooks?
Major Risks with Solutions • All publishers may not adopt electronic book technology • As the popularity and standardization of this format increases, publishers will have to recognize this market
Major Risks with Solutions, cont. • Most publishers are worried about digital rights management (DRM) • Microsoft is leading the way in the Open E-Book standard which covers standardization of the format with encryption to ensure protection of publishers’ materials
Major Risks with Solutions, cont. • Students may choose not to use e-books • Familiarity with conventional textbooks may discourage choosing a new approach, but people evolve with technology • Initial cost may discourage someone from using e-books, but as popularity increases, the cost of the e-book device and texts will decrease
Support Electronic Books • The potential in utilizing electronic textbooks for education is evident • This project needs your approval to continue • Thank You!