The Cronicle of Higher Education publica un artículo titulado New E-Textbooks Do More Than Inform: They’ll Even Grade You sobre McGraw-Hill Connect que es, en sus propias palabras: a powerful online learning assignment and assessment solution. Connect makes grading easy for you and extends the learning experience beyond the classroom for students.

A ver, resumiendo, que en el libro de texto electrónico vendrán unos cuestionarios y tal al final de cada lección y que cada alumno los contestará y McGraw-Hill les dará la nota que han sacado y se la chivará al profesor. Como los cuestionarios de Moodle, vamos, pero te los dan hechos. ¿Increíble?

Ahora resulta que ya teníamos libros electrónicos, pero no lo sabíamos:

In some ways, the latest e-textbooks from McGraw-Hill and others compete with course-management software offered by Blackboard and other companies, though publishers say they are working in partnership with those companies rather than as rivals.

McGraw-Hill, además, ha descubierto el hipertexto:

Edward H. Stanford, president of McGraw-Hill Higher Education, said in an interview that the new e-textbooks were developed based on an ethnographic investigation of student study habits done by the company. He said the company learned that students often do not study in a linear fashion, but instead jump around in the text, whether in print or electronic textbooks. «One kid in a biology class said, ‘I don’t read the chapter. I just look at the art. If I understand the art, I go on to the next art. If I don’t understand the art, I read,'» said Mr. Stanford. «When he said that, it made perfect sense to me, but until he said it, I had never thought about it that way.»

Pero con lo que los profes alucinarán es lo de los cuestionarios:

But the selling point to professors will most likely be the software’s ability to grade student homework automatically. At a professor’s request, the new e-textbooks can present a student with homework problems online, which are graded, with the scored work sent to both the student and the professor.

Pero tranquilos, la pasta queda asegurada… si los profesores se comportan:

The company is urging professors to require the electronic textbooks for their courses, rather than leave it up to students whether they buy a printed book or an e-textbook. The company also sells a bundle that includes both the printed book and the e-book, because the company’s research found that some students prefer print books to do their initial reading but electronic versions to review later. Of course, if students buy both, that also means even more revenue for the publishers. (For a Principals of Management textbook, the e-book and online tools cost $80, while a bundle that also includes the printed book costs $178.)

¿Ha creado McGraw-Hill el software?

McGraw-Hill did not design its own lecture-capture software but instead has incorporated existing software made by Tegrity.

¿Todo esto significa que los estudiantes no necesitarán ir a clase?

Is it possible that publishers could start selling textbooks that replace the need for going to class altogether? Mr. Stanford said no, that a professor will always be a core part of the learning process. But as textbook companies continue to add multimedia and assessment tools, such a scenario does not seem as far-fetched.

¿Esto es el concepto de empresa editorial que «vende» servicios y no productos?

¿Soy yo o todo lo que hacen las editoriales de libros de texto tiene un tufo a pánico que tumba de espaldas?

Quizá no. En un artículo anterior de la misma publicación se afirmaba:

Publishers say they just want to offer customers choices, and appeal to today’s students, who have never known a world without laptops and the Internet. It’s worth noting, though, that the publishers stand to benefit from the format switch. Today many students sell their books at the end of the semester, and publishers don’t share in that revenue. They have designed their e-books so they cannot be resold; in many cases, the digital files self-destruct after a set period. (For CourseSmart books, most files vanish after 180 days.)

Alguien debería explicarles que es el concepto de libro de texto y la didáctica asociada a dicho concepto el que está obsoleto.