Spring Break
Professors see digital textbooks as future alternative
Teachers embrace e-books' interactivity, but some students prefer hardcover
By: Matt Woolbright
Issue date: 10/7/08 Section: News
"It's hard to stay focused while reading off a computer screen," McCown said. "It's also harder to learn when I can't make notes or highlight in my book when it comes time to study."
"The e-book makes looking up examples for problems very frustrating," Wiedenfeld said. "You cannot simply flip between pages, you have to scroll through them and there is a lag that is really annoying."
Rosner said his ability to learn with the e-book was affected to the point that he ended up paying double by purchasing a standard textbook as well.
"It's hard to get on it because I have to log into the VPN [Virtual Private Networks] because I live off campus and the VPN is always crashing," Rosner said. "And to make the words big enough to read, you have to be constantly scrolling up and down."
Rosner added: "I actually went and bought the hardcopy after a couple of weeks because I couldn't stand the e-Book any longer."
The purpose of the VPN is to allow the same level of access for a student living off campus as students living in dorms.
Junior communication major Daniel Venzin favors the traditional textbook over its digital counterpart.
"I just like to have an actual book in front of me," Venzin said. "Just my own personal preference; it's kind of like how some people like to do their banking online and some like to do it in person."
"Textbooks may be big and cumbersome," Rosner said, "but there is a reason why they have lasted for hundreds of years: they are useful."
"The e-book makes looking up examples for problems very frustrating," Wiedenfeld said. "You cannot simply flip between pages, you have to scroll through them and there is a lag that is really annoying."
Rosner said his ability to learn with the e-book was affected to the point that he ended up paying double by purchasing a standard textbook as well.
"It's hard to get on it because I have to log into the VPN [Virtual Private Networks] because I live off campus and the VPN is always crashing," Rosner said. "And to make the words big enough to read, you have to be constantly scrolling up and down."
Rosner added: "I actually went and bought the hardcopy after a couple of weeks because I couldn't stand the e-Book any longer."
The purpose of the VPN is to allow the same level of access for a student living off campus as students living in dorms.
Junior communication major Daniel Venzin favors the traditional textbook over its digital counterpart.
"I just like to have an actual book in front of me," Venzin said. "Just my own personal preference; it's kind of like how some people like to do their banking online and some like to do it in person."
"Textbooks may be big and cumbersome," Rosner said, "but there is a reason why they have lasted for hundreds of years: they are useful."
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