Sunday, April 28, 2013

Blog Post #14

David Streitfeld's Blog Post is about a new digital textbook. The e-book helps the teacher keep a track of the student, almost like a "Big Brother" kinda thing, as joked about in his post. The teacher can check the students "engagement index" which includes opening the textbook, skipping passages, taking notes, or highlighting important things said from the passages. It helps the teacher see why the students aren't doing good on his or her tests, if it's because the student isn't studying or reading or maybe the teacher isn't lecturing enough.



My Thoughts as a Teacher: If I were a teacher I think this would be a good program but I could see it having some problems. As stated in David's post the students could open the textbook every night but do something else while it is open. The student could take notes under a different program. Some students don't have access to a computer at home. I think it could be very productive for the teacher but I could also see a lot of excuses come up as to why their engagement index isn't up to par.

My Thoughts as a Student: If I were a student and this was a program at South Alabama, I think it could help me push myself to be a better engaged student. If EDM310 hasn't taught me that already, then this program could work. But I'm not sure if I like the idea of the teacher really being able to see if I have read or taken notes. Students don't learn the same as others. Some are better at taking notes and some are better at attending lecture and just listening. Some students like to read the whole chapter and some like to just highlight stuff the professor say. I just don't think it would be fair to punish people who learn differently. Some people don't even buy textbooks. It would have it's bugs for sure.

Questions to the Teacher: How well did this program work for you? Did the students complain a lot about this new program? Was it very successful? Was it hard to learn how to use?

Questions to Students: Did you like this program? Did it work well for you? What troubles did it have? Was it complicated to learn? Was it beneficial to you, or would you have had a regular textbook?

Comments: I think there are pros and cons to this program. I think it would indefinably depend on the student to make it work. If all the students didn't like it and decided to not use the program at all then there's not much the teacher can do. Just like if the students don't buy the hardcover books now. I believe it would have it's ups to the teacher and the student but I think it would also have some downfalls as well.

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