Like professors, students are often also caught in the compromises of printed and e-texts, and printed coursepacks. But in the students' situation there are economic and educational consequences: paying for chapters that won't be read can be a waste; and if important subject matter is passed over because the selected text doesn't cover the topic well then course quality can be affected.
Symtext resolves these issues by enabling profs to select just the readings they think are important and to deliver this content on the web, where students want it. Students only pay for what the prof has selected, and this control grants profs the ability to source the best content wherever it may be found, to the benefit of course quality.
Last year we ran a pilot program at Queen's University. After the pilot, we asked students about the effect of interactivity and connectedness to the professor on student direction and engagement. It turns out that the blend of publisher content, professor's annotations and student participation not only creates a unique and valuable content set, it affects comprehension. Here are some of the things students had to say about Liquid Textbooks:
- I value the professor's and my peers' comments, and therefore get a better understanding of an article when I read it with their comments attached
- Given that the professor should be the expert on the subject in the article, his/her annotations allow a student to more thoroughly understand a concept/discussion point within an article. If the annotation is presented in contrast to a view in an article, it is very useful for a student to know that the contrary point of view exists.
- Helps focus and prioritize attention to the most important points. Also, I think it helps to better prepare for class discussion and the subject will be more "digested" by the time the subject is discussed in class.
- When preparing for papers and exams, anything that can further my understanding of course content would be greatly appreciated
- Gives a better understanding of how the professor views the content. Helps in preparing for class and exams.
- Better understanding of what the professor wants us to focus on
- It gives the professor the ability to guide student's thinking before they read the article, and inform them of what they should be looking for in it.
- It gives a more thorough pre-read with the comments already noted in the articles, which allows classroom discussions to begin a bit ahead of just having students read an article on their own
- Focuses professor's message... no need to guess at "core truths"
- Imagine if these were "living documents" where people could comment as they read. Read comments from others, challenge the logic or critiques as they go. That would be very helpful. (Founder's note: Bingo!)