The online textbook idea I think is a very interesting topic. College students now a days, have grown up in a very technological generation. Every year, there is a new and innovative piece of technology that becomes the newest trend to make our lives easier. I think that since this is the case, this whole online textbook creation doesn’t surprise me. Plain, old textbooks have become so routine that we need a change in the way we present and teach material. If we are able to create online textbooks, then I think we should. One feature of the online textbook mentioned in the Making Science Leap from the Page Article that I thought was interesting was, “The book offers many dynamic, interactive illustrations. As students learn about the genetic code, for example, they can match amino acids to corresponding sequences on the double helix to understand how an entire protein emerges from genetic sequences” (Eisenburg). This feature forces the student to become involved in the readings. To be honest, I know many college students who slack off when it comes to class readings. Especially in a biology class such as this one, where reading an assignment that is over fifty pages long becomes boring the first page in. Another college in Washington has been using the online book, “Calculus” written by William Briggs and Lyle Cochran. “Students can manipulate 650 interactive figures, including graphs of functions, derivatives, and integrals, as they learn the basics of calculus.” This gives the students the ability of attentiveness, and also the practice they need to get better in the class. Coming from a current college student, having online books would help make learning a whole lot less of a struggle and much more interesting. Further into the article, Anne Eisenburg talks about other ideas creators have for digital designs for learning. I think we create so many new digital innovations focusing on ways to make our lives easier, that the new digital creations involving learning in school has yet to take off. I am currently in school for secondary education, and I am really excited to see what technology has in store for its impact in the classrooms in the future.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/18/business/online-textbooks-aim-to-make-science-leap-from-the-page.html