Summer of Reading #5 - Online Textbooks

The price of textbooks is skyrocketing, and many professors work to control the cost to the student through eBooks and online articles.  This presents several advantages and disadvantages:

• Advantages:
• You, the student, save money.
• You don’t have to carry around heavy books – all you need is your portable device.
• Publishers are refining eBooks to aid in your learning.   You can make margin notes, highlight, take self-quizzes, define terms, and find other learning tools to help you read and understand the content.

• Disadvantages:
• If the book is from a publisher, at semester’s end the book will disappear from your device.   You cannot keep it for future reference.  You cannot share with other students or sell it back at the end of the semester.
• You may have to work harder to be actively involved with the information. Be prepared to take separate notes.
• You may have a more difficult time previewing the chapter and getting an overview of the organization.  This can be done, however, and greatly improves comprehension.
• Distractions are a major problem.  It is too easy to flip to email or social media.  Turn these off while you are studying!
• Of course, there is always the chance your device will malfunction.  Know you school’s computer lab hours and the office for technology support.

NOTE: Textbooks and online documents is an area that is rapidly changing.  One trend is to use books and documents that are available for free online, bypassing the major publishers.  Given the wide variety of materials you may be assigned, it will be even more important to have multiple reading and learning strategies available.

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First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your Frist Semester (or Any Semester) of College, is available at amazon.com, wordassociation.com and barnesandnoble.com.  Click on the upper right link.