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Online Textbooks: How Irving ISD Has Implemented Them. Lea Bailey, Ph.D. Irving ISD NTTCA November 2009. Irving ISD . Urban / suburban district 33,000 students 38 campuses. Irving ISD Demographics. Irving ISD Laptop Program. 9 th year of the program
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Online Textbooks: How Irving ISD Has Implemented Them Lea Bailey, Ph.D. Irving ISD NTTCA November 2009
Irving ISD • Urban / suburban district • 33,000 students • 38 campuses
Irving ISD Laptop Program • 9th year of the program • One-to-one in high school program • 9,200 laptops for students • 2,500 laptops for teachers • Bond 1996 – $48M • Bond 2001 – $54M • Bond 2007 – $49.8M
Online Textbooks • Why in the world? • Students are comfortable in the computer world • Computers provide a higher degree of engagement than traditional books
Learning has changed The way it was vs. the way it should be
Even for Teachers Curriculum is online not in books on shelf.
And with online textbooks it’s • Easier to handle in regards to textbook inventory • No lost textbooks • Less weight for students to carry
Online Textbooks • Realities in Irving • Have not purchased online specific textbooks • Using publisher provided files • Separate webpages for elementary, secondary, and teacher • Teacher resources are online as well when possible • Created webpage access to secured server storing files
Online Textbooks • Realities in Irving • Students use their logon to access server with files • Maintained by the webmaster with input files from publisher • Instructions as to access are posted on web • No parent access per say • Textbooks aren’t preloaded on laptops • Haven’t used open source textbooks
Online Textbooks • Challenges • Publishers haven’t created electronic files for all their textbooks, especially older adoptions • File types from publishers aren’t standardized • Online access with teacher codes and passwords has to be maintained by someone
Online Textbooks • Must be in place • Laptops and training for teachers • A different mindset for teachers • Wireless network capacity with LOTS of bandwidth • Classroom projection systems • Server from which to download the textbook files (large capacity especially at the beginning of a semester)
Online Textbooks • Issues IISD has encountered • Principal insists that teachers have a physical copy of teacher editions • No way to track if a student downloaded the copy or not • Subscriptions to online websites expire • Can student download more than one copy (one on laptop; one on desktop at home; ??) • Online versions which require the CD to be in the drive
Online Textbooks • Now, what if… • A student downloads a textbook for a course they aren’t enrolled in? • A student requests a physical copy as well as downloads a copy? • The textbook that doesn’t have an electronic version?
Online Textbooks • And, how will workbooks be handled? • Who prints off the worksheet? • Will it be submitted electronically? • What about inconsistent formats? • pdf document you download • Online access to a website • Combination of pdf and links to website
Online Textbooks • Future • More textbooks available online? • More interactive textbooks or websites? • Move down into middle school? • Kindles? • ???
For more information contact • Lea Bailey, lbailey@irvingisd.net • Chuck Kennedy, ckennedy@irvingisd.net