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Adah, I agree with you 100%, I wish we all could go to strictly ipad type device with all their stuff loaded... The only downfall is, when our students lose or destroy a textbook they aren't required to pay the fee. We asked them to pay a fine, but cannot force them, if it would be possible to require them to purchase a device I am all in!! :) Being Title I I don't see my district supporting this. Maybe classroom sets would be incredible! Great discussion thread starter Liz

I would love to agree that textbooks should be out, but I think there are a couple of issues we need to consider. I realize that there are so many textbooks that have errors. Many also have an obvious bias. The advantage, however, is that most textbooks have been subjected to rigorous review and editing processes. The effort required to assemble a collection of materials from scratch may be overwhelming, and for those just beginning to teach a subject, the textbook often provides a framework and supporting materials for a foundation. I like the idea of using a reader or other device as long as the media it supports is as thoroughly vetted as traditional sources. I know there are districts moving to a 1-to-1 program, but I am concerned about the changes in technology. I fear that students would get today's technology, but three years from now the technology would no longer support the needs of the students, but we would be committed for an extended period of time. So many of the computer labs in this area are in the 7-10 year old range, running unsupported operating systems, and unable to support current versions of the software they were purchased to run. With budget deficits in most states, they aren't likely to be updated. We need the physical tools to support the new environment, and we need teachers that are prepared to teach using a new paradigm. As an ex-technology person, I would love to think that we are there, but I don't see textbooks disappearing any time soon.

Textbooks should be considered resources; there are many other kinds of resources. WV is moving away from the term “textbook adoption” and is currently using the term “instructional materials adoption”.

Science Texts are still Valuable Teaching/Learning Resources:

I tend to agree with Jennifer's point that we still need textbooks. As she mentioned, textbooks have been subject to rigorous review, fact checking and editing. In addition, texts provide a great framework for organizing a course.

Texts are especially helpful to the new teacher, as there are many teacher support materials, connections to standards and other teaching resources.

The good modern science texts also pay a great deal of attention to best practice in pedagogy regarding the presentation of material (chunking content, organizing concepts, use of highlighting, design of graphics, etc.) and incorporate many tools to enhance student learning.

I guess I'm a bit 'old school' too, and still think it is extremely valuable for students to read text sections and focus on understanding scientific content and concepts. This gives them a solid baseline scientific knowledge which they can use to evaluate the credibility of internet sources about science topics and also use to understand interactive inquiry lab and field experiences.

Digital technology can certainly enhance learning, and I incorporate a great deal of online resources into my teaching, but I like to have the science text available too.

Sadly, I also agree with Jennifer's comment that the infrastructure to support digital learning in our classrooms may begin to erode as school budgets continue to decline. Thus, the science text becomes an even more critical component of classroom support.

The optimal situation would probably be a textbook that also had fantastic multimedia support and an e-book version bundled with it. Then you could add all the amazing internet resources you discover to further enhance your course.

Dorothy

Reinventing Education:

I enjoyed the videoclip about Reinventing Education. Thanks for sharing it Arlene.

I love the idea of assigning videos (and/or text reading) as homework, then focusing on interactive inquiry labs and learning experiences in the classroom.

This would free-up valuable instructional time for scientific inquiry and teamwork activities.
It would also allow much more student/teacher interaction and, as they said, help to humanize the classroom.

The trick is getting them to do the homework! Of course, this creative team has alraedy thought about it and are adding in motivational tools (gaming, badges, etc.).

Dorothy

In my school system, we use hands on kits for teaching science. Teachers have the option to attend training and receive a kit for use in their classroom. I keep a class set of textbooks in my room as an additional resource. This works very well for my classroom. The materials I use are more up-to-date and involve the students in the learning.

Hello Everyone - I think part of the difference in our opinions about using textbooks may be due to the age groups we are teaching. I teach Advanced Placement high school level and College science courses. So, a textbook is a major resource for these advanced science courses. We cover a great deal of in-depth science content in these AP and college courses. The students need an accurate reference with excellent diagrams and text. Most often, the students are reading their texts as homework assignments, which allows us to focus in-class time on interactive inquiry learning. Thus, the age of the students may be the major issue as we discuss the use of science textbooks. However, I think that we do our younger students (elementary or middle school) a disservice if we do not give them the opportunity to practice reading scientific content and to develop the skills required to efficiently read science texts, as this prepares them for success in science classes in high school, college and beyond. Dorothy

Textbooks?---I am beginning to feel that our form of education is on the verge of change. We nolonger need to know how to shoe a horse for transportation, or even change a tire. We don't even need to know how to tell time using "hands" on a clock face. I have more than a dozen 6th graders that can not read "cursive"and it is not holding them behind in their lessons. Textbooks; mine are out of date-limited in their concept development-lacking current events, and so forth. Right now, I use my document/projector, smartboard, and other pieces of technology to teach with. My students are more interested and I am able to tailor my curriculum to match their needs. I would like to see something like a Kindle, iPad, or something of that sort to load resource material, lessons, and be able to allow the students to interact (like a chat room) inside the classroom. We have been following the MESSENGER craft from NASA from my computer in the classroom. Wouldn't it be great if all of my students had a device that could go to the website, read about what is going on, slip over to the classroom page and see what the next days discussion questions would be about and come to school, not expecting to read some out dated facts, but rather be able to talk about something that just occured. This, I believe, is the next step---and next ask me about "distance education". Do we have to have the students in the classroom everyday? Are there ways to still "teach" when not in a traditional class. Something else to ponder.

Sue - I agree - we are at the point of a sea change, even at the elementary level. We have not had a science text for several years and we don't really miss it. We use an online test generator to create our pre and post assessments; we use Discovery Education to provide ebooks, animations, glossary, virtual labs, video clips and more that can be customized by the teacher, DI, and assigned for the students to complete online in school or at home. Everything else in their science notebooks and hands on learning experiences. That said - we are putting a lot of time and money into finding and purchasing books for science. Trade books, non-fiction, research resources, and small group reading materials.

We truly are in a time of change, with such an abundance of resources textbooks are gathering dust. I do see in higher grades there would be a greater need for textbooks. I can't imagine how you would teach (or learn) organic chemistry without some sort of textbook. Our district is considering adopting workbooks instead of textbooks. This would be a deliverable assigned to every student as their own. The workbooks would be small sections of the curriculum. They are filled with labs and student processing activities. Our students do not have lockers so, a thin workbook is better for their backpack. Plus, with the restricted copy amounts allocated to teachers, the pre-printed labs are very welcome. If your school went with workbooks, instead of textbooks, I would love to hear your incite. Thank you, Angie

Next Generation Learning & the Digital Divide: Hi Everyone - This is such a fascinating discussion topic! I agree that we are seeing the beginning of a major sea change in our delivery models for K-12 education. New technologies, popular culture, mobile devices and school budget crises are definately contributors to this change. With long textbook adoption cycles (10 + years), teachers get frustrated with seriously outdated science texts and many are already using technology extensively to update their courses. (In colleges, we have the luxury of updating texts with each new edition, since the students purchase their texts). However, I think a huge driving force in this change is the increased movement towards fully online K-12 courses in virtual schools (ranging from a student taking one supplemental online course to the full-time virtual school student). There is some really innovative and creative curriculum development associated with these fully online courses. Many of these courses also use technology effectively to create a student-centered focus, with truly personalized learning paths for each student. A few states are now even requiring that a student take a fully online course as part of their high school graduation requirements (Michigan, for example). I was just at a K-12 Virtual Education conference and came across somee interesting resources regarding the textbook debate: [b]Learning Beyond Textbooks[/b] http://learningbeyondtextbooks.org/ [b]Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – Next Generation Learning[/b] http://www.gatesfoundation.org/postsecondaryeducation/Pages/next-generation-learning-white-paper.aspx I think we may see increased use of e-textbooks, digital learning assests and mobile learning devices in the future in our classrooms. However, as noted much earlier in this discussion, the digital learning infrastructure needs to be there in the schools to support e-texts and e-learning in an equitable learning environment that does not further widen the "Digital Divide". We simply cannot assume that our students all have access to home computers or the internet. Finally, digital e-text and e-learning resources may be amazing, but we need to realize that not all students even like to read online or learn using a computer. Some students actually prefer a paper text or paper document. Learning styles vary so widely, we do need to be ready for everything and every learning style. In addition, some parents prefer to limit computer time for younger students and/or object to internet access for young students, for a wide variety of reasons. Dorothy

This coming Saturday, each of my 99 6th grade students will receive a free desktop computer with a flat screen monitor, filled with software in core subjects, several free web-based information and practice sites free of any subscription fees, one year of free internet and computer tech service, and full training for the family. See http://www.cfy.org/index.php. Each child already has an email address from the school, each teacher (is supposed to) has a blog where work, information, and prep materials are posted. We also use PowerSchool for grades and attendance, with access for teachers, students, and families. Still, the only reliable technology in use in my classroom is my old Mac (now with no sound :-( ) and my projector. (And the children’s phones, which they are not supposed to use, so they do so every time they think we aren’t looking.) I don’t know what is on the laptop carts in the school (but I do know they aren’t Macs, so I’m always at a loss as to how to use those), my Intelliboard doesn’t work, I have no opaque projector (some of my colleagues have something called “ELMOs”?), the printer doesn’t work (and has no toner). . . . I wish I could use this stuff with any level of certainty. As it is, my kids work almost entirely in their black-and-white composition notebooks and I keep track of their work and attendance with a role book. Maybe after they get their computers, we can regroup. And, I have no textbooks, nor would I know how to incorporate them into our work. What's really funny? I have spend many years working for textbook companies, making those workbooks, writing those teaching suggestions, and checking those facts.

I think that this question needs to be more specific. We are going to need texts for the foreseeable future, but we would be perhaps better served by texts in some other format than the humongous bricks, heavy, unwieldy, and discouraging by the sheer size and complexity. It is very problematic to try to cover all of the Biology in one book - but it would be very useful to have a range of smaller texts fitting a specific course. A text could cover, for example, cell biology, or ecology, or genetics. A small publication, easily fitting into a backpack, costing a fraction of a huge text, and easy to update. Such a narrow-range text would be written by a specialist in a field, so it would be free of glaring errors, and would have a better chance to encourage students, rather than discourage. Why this fixation on impossibly large and complex books? We use a small fraction of them anyway.

Thank you for your reflection, Witold, and welcome to the Discussion Thread. I agree with your comment about so many of the texts being too cumbersome - "impossibly large and complex". The smaller texts that have been made available to middle and elementary school children still have not made their way to high school classrooms. If anyone is aware of some, please let us know. Thank goodness for the Internet accessible resources that are more attractive to today's technologically savvy students.

I've got some of the GSS stuff! I use lots of unit-size curriculum packages I find, from networking and from goofing around on the internet. Several organizations let you download for free. I've used several titles from this organization: [b]Engaging Students Through Global Issues: Activity-Based Lessons and Action Projects[/b] Engaging Students Through Global Issues is an activity-based lesson book that contains 40 inspiring lessons. These lesson plans are designed to help students understand complex global issues and sustainable solutions. Each lesson offers creative tools for students to take action in their local and global communities. [b]Buy, Use, Toss? A Closer Look at the Things We Buy[/b] Buy, Use, Toss? A Closer Look at the Things We Buy is an interdisciplinary unit that includes ten fully-planned lessons. This unit is correlated with national science and social studies standards and will lead your students through an exploration of the system of producing and consuming goods that is called the materials economy. Students will learn about the five major steps of the materials economy; Extraction, Production, Distribution, Consumption, and Disposal. They will also be asked to analyze the sustainability of these steps, determining how consumption can benefit people, economies, and environments. These are from [url=http://www.facingthefuture.org/]Facing the Future[/url], which also offers the following units: [list] Climate Change, Grades 6-8 Climate Change, Grades 9-12 Engaging Students in Conservation Global Issues and Sustainable Solutions It's All Connected Making Connections Real World Math Teaching Global Sustainability Understanding Sustainability, Grades 6-8 Understanding Sustainability, Grades 9-12 [/list] I also know the PBIS units—and a LOT of others—from [url=http://www.its-about-time.com/htmls/index3.html]It's About Time/Herff Jones[/url] are wonderful. They have middle and high school books. I've used several and am really pleased. I've been poking around again and will try to find other places I've found materials.

I think that many of you have touched on some great points...if we don't have textbooks, we rely on teachers to be smart, intelligent, be able to find quality resources, etc. That is a lot of work, time, etc. One of the problems I have with teachers using textbooks is they don't TEACH their students to read those textbooks. They either expect someone else to, or they don't understand that many students struggle reading textbooks. I found that without a textbook, I felt more freedom to find my own texts(often online) that fit my students' specific needs and questions. Then, I could make copies, put them in a plastic sleeve, and they could write all over them with a wipeoff pen (or used highlighter tape) and graphic organizers to glean the important information. I think a textbook could be used in a similar fashion as any other text. The key, though, is again, that teachers need to use ANY text purposefully and intentionally, and TEACH them how to use it. Using a textbook as a filler or because we think that simply telling them to read it ends up in real learning can't be our motivation.

Adah, The question was: Do we still need textbooks with all of the avaiable technology out there? I have asked that about libraries. Will technology eventually replace libraries? I have always associated learning with the smell, site and feel of librarys more specifically the feel of a book. The information contained within seemed more real for some reason. Definitely a nostalgic going on here. Extended times on the computer give me a headache, a book not so much. I feel students still like the security and structure of a textbook. With some courses, maybe going all "techno" would work. More advanced courses maybe not so much. Thanks, David

Adah said, "The Question: With all the wonderful(and maybe not so wonderful) resources on the Internet and with our students being digital natives and us being digital emigrants do we really need a boring static textbook to teach?" You must admit, Adah, that your questions is biased toward a "no" answer. I tend to agree with David, however. There will always be a place for a textbook! Perhaps it will be electronically accessed, but it is a textbook none the less. How wonderful that electronic gadgets bring the printed word and pictures to students that would not have picked up a hard copy of the same book. In the past year we have seen how sales of Nooks, Ipads, Kindles, etc., have made reading "fashionable". Embrace the technology of the day; but don't throw out the old - digitize it. Carolyn

There must be a balance between the two (books and computers). David and I are on the same page (literally). Textbooks with supplemental links are the way to go! Are we going to say goodbye to the library and eventually the classroom? I sure hope not. Nathanial

I'd like for more text for kids have hot links for vocabulary and other concepts. If the student is unsure about what "climate" means, for example, he or she could just click on it and a small window would open up. Not only would a glossary definition be there, but other links to further sites to help explain world climate issues, biomes, weather, and whatever else applied to the topic of the text.

We had an interesting discussion about this today. The district I work in runs an online school as well as traditional schools. The online school issues a netbook, but has found that they are under-powered for the applications. The central issue though was the responsibility the students would bear for the computer, especially in a district with about 50% free or reduced student lunch. Many don't have home computers because they can't afford them. I know most of the kids in the district where I live, however, have the advantage of a home computer. Do we run the risk of deepening the chasm between urban and suburban schools if we do not have one-to-one technology? Can our schools afford the costs associated with changing technology and ongoing repairs?

This is a fascinating discussion, and I find myself amazed at the different perspectives and vast experiences that all of us have had and bring to this disucssion. My personal feeling about textbooks is that, used correctly, they offer yet another tool and vehicle to assist students in grasping the scientific content that I am teaching in my 8th grade Arth/Space Science course. When I taught my astronomy elective courses, we did not need nor use textbooks. However, for a course such as this where we need a common understanding of such things as sea-floor spreading and subduction in the trenches, having a common book that each students has a copy of and can place in front of them makes a huge difference. They are also to follow along as we discuss diagrams that depict these processes, and read and outline the important facets of the impact of these processes on the face of Earth's surface. We also use DI video clips- although I do find my students do not remained engaged when I show videos that are longer than 8 minutes- so I do enjoy just showing relevant clips versus entire videos. We also access diagrams and other information on the Promethean Board, but it is difficult to keep everyone's attention with a one-computer classroom and the smaller font up on the screen. I just find that the more methods of input the students have- which includes reading from textbooks- the better all of them do! I did use the Science Object: "Changing Earth From Within" to add to our lesson on these topics.

Allison wrote "I'd like for more text for kids have hot links for vocabulary and other concepts. If the student is unsure about what "climate" means, for example, he or she could just click on it and a small window would open up. Not only would a glossary definition be there, but other links to further sites to help explain world climate issues, biomes, weather, and whatever else applied to the topic of the text." When I was reading this I was struck by how much this sounded like an online service we are experimenting with called Discovery Education. I'll give you the 3 big negatives right away: 1) it is expensive 2) there have been some frustrating glitches in getting all the secure student accounts set up and 3) using it to the best effect requires a lot of teacher time up front. THAT SAID: here is what you can do with it....it offers a few print resources but mostly multimedia which includes etexts (book excerpts at different reading levels) virtual labs, interactive glossary with not only pronunciation audio but text box, animation and video definitions, customizable quizzes and tests, video clips and whole Discovery Channel shows for streaming or downloading, customizable classrooms were you can assign work to a class or individual students and have them turn it in electronically and reference/resource links. Each subject is divided up into learning, exploration and assessment pieces as well. You can customize what your students see for any unit to emphasize different concepts and cross link to related topics.

Wow, Discovery Education already has a bunch of nice lessons already. This sounds so nice. I understand about the expensive part. I'm even too poor for BrainPop, since my school doesn't get it.

There are a lot of great discussion points being brought up through this thread. While I love technology and incorporate it as often as I can, technology is a tool that should be used to enhance instruction and student learning. If technology is used for the sake of using it, then student learning is sacrificed. Dorothy and Jennifer both make a great point in terms of digital learning and budget cuts. As we are entering our fourth year as a school with document cameras and projectors, the bulbs are burning out and are costly to replace. The same is true with our computers that are becoming out of date and are beginning to have hard drive and motherboard failures. If our classrooms are totally digital, and the tools that allow access to the material online are no longer functioning, then we have nothing with which to instruct students. The other benefit of textbooks is parental involvement. Many of our students are digital natives and can navigate the internet well through a variety of sources, ipads, cell phones, netbooks, tablets, Kindles, even the old fashioned laptop and desktop computers. Often parents are frustrated when their student’s grades are not what they want them to be and can’t help them because there is no text available. Many parents grew up with the traditional text, writing the traditional report from the encyclopedia and turning it in using the colorful three prong notebook. Parents feel at a loss when they can’t navigate the internet to help their child. Many of the textbook companies have online resources and texts so students don’t have to carry heavy books back and forth from school. Most of the time the e-text works well, though there are times the server for the company is down, and students don’t have access to the text to complete their work. Witold has a valid point as well as we look at the size of books and materials we are asking students to carry around in backpacks every day. We have no lockers at our middle school. Some of our 7th graders are barely 5 feet tall and their backpacks practically protrude from their backs a good 2 feet. Several of us on staff have visions of our students falling down and looking like turtles stranded on their backs. There will always be a place for textbooks, the format we access them however is what will change. Perhaps the trees will thank us.

Hi Sandy - Great point that the format of text books may change to digital formats. This would indeed reduce the backpack strain of heavy texts on the kids backs, which is a great improvment. Yes, the trees may thank us, but I'm not sure if the electric power grid will, as we power-up more and more electronic devices. You did paint a sobering picture of erosion of technology assets in schools with budget cuts. Makes us pause before rushing headlong into a complete digital revolution in our classrooms. Also, you make an excellent point that the parents may feel left out of the loop if the kids are not using traditional texts. I think the best idea is to combine all the rich resources into a creative curriculum environment. There is a place for the paper text, the e-text, multimedia and websites. Most importantly is what we do with those resources and how we ignite a passion for learning science in inquiring young minds. Dorothy

Sandy said, "There will always be a place for textbooks, the format we access them however is what will change. Perhaps the trees will thank us." According to Amazon,e books already outsell hard copy books and paperbacks (but not the two combined-yet). Amazon.com wants to be a part of the school textbook market, too, by creating a student-friendly version of the Kindle electronic book reader! Your words already ring true, Sandy.

Tina, I don’t know about teachers being smart enough, rather do they have the time to develop curriculum. I always figured that was part of my job as a teacher. In my former district, we adopted textbooks for our 10 middle schools. Actually, there was a different text for each quarter that supported the grade level state standards. All the schools assigned the books to students and used the texts in class—except one. One school kept the textbooks in the room as a resource and reference. These classes performed activities from a lab book (collected lab activities) put together by the teacher. Each year this school always had the highest results on the 8th grade state science test and was always well represented with good projects at the District Science Fair. Kathy S.

Sandy - I think you pulled a lot of the pieces together. The best science textbook I have seen was a college bio text that my daughter used or AP Bio. The textbook itself was thick and heavy with lots of diagrams and tiny text inside. It made you feel like everything you would ever need to know about Biology was contained in those pages and you couldn't possibly do a better job hunting it down on the internet. Beyond that, it had a DVD that had animations to go along with the text, the entire text in digital version with text to speech, and additional resources. The students were also given an access code to a web resource that contained all of this and more - chapter outlines, study guides, pre and post assessments, review quizzes for each section o the chapter... It was truly amazing and I'd like to think that textbooks of the future will look like this - in a developmentally appropriate way - at all levels.

Kathy - I'm curious...what does this really mean for you? I loved hearing this - it validates so much - but how do we take it back to our won classrooms/situations? I was also wondering what would happen if they did not have that textbook as a resource, but had access to other reference and resources do you think the stats would change at all?