Publications Details

Developing electronic textbooks

Ratner, J.A.

This paper discusses a new approach to the development of engineering education materials. The ``Electronic Textbook`` represents the logical progression of the printed textbook in the Electronic Age. The concept behind this approach is simple; to place all of the information contained in a textbook in electronic form. Currently, paper texts exist on the market with electronic supplements, however, this Electronic Textbook would include supplements fully integrated in the whole text. The computer hardware and software needed to make this advance possible have existed for nearly ten years, and they have been readily available to engineering educators and students for over three years. Computer based ``tools`` in engineering textbooks as are prevalent today range from computer styled algorithms and code snippets, to fully developed software applications with graphical user interfaces on floppy disks attached to the back covers of books. The next logical step in publishing is to dispense with the paper book entirely, by distributing textbooks via electronic media such as CD-ROM. Electronic Textbooks use the full range of multi-media technologies in the learning and teaching process including video clips, computer animations and fully functional numerical engines as integral parts of the textbook material. This is very appealing since interactive media provide teaching tools that appeal to divergent learning styles. The advantages of Electronic Textbooks lead to several challenges. Special attention must be paid to the development of user interfaces; navigation is of particular importance when non- linear exploration is encouraged. These issues are being addressed at the Sandia National Laboratories by an electronic documentation development team. This team includes experts in engineering, in human factors, and in computer hardware and software development. Guidelines for the development of electronic textbooks based on the experiences of this team are provided.