The article Teacher Knows if You Have Done the E-Reading by David Streifeld addresses the concept of teachers tracking student usage of digital textbooks. This service is being used by many colleges such as Texas A&M San Antonio, Clemson, Central Carolina Technical College, and Stony Brook University. Professors receive an engagement index that gives a score that shows a correlation between a student's success and how often the student uses his or her textbook. Steifeld states how critics question the reliability of this service while also stating that publishers are hoping to give professors more feedback on student digital textbook usage.
As a teacher, I could see how this could be helpful. In many cases, students who do poorly are the ones who are too lazy to do the work assigned to them and study. I could see how this information could be documentation that those doing poorly are not opening their textbook at all. However, laziness is not always the issue when it comes to low success rates. Sometimes the student is spending hours with his or her head in the book yet still struggling on the tests. This program could help teachers see that the student really is trying, but maybe falling behind because of learning disabilities or bad study habits. Though I see how beneficial receiving this information could be, the real question that comes to mind is what are teachers supposed to do with it? Is it used as a participation grade? Is it used to help teachers grasp what content needs clarifying? Or is it simply just information they have that they do not do anything with? I also wonder if teachers take this information to heart. After all, students can find ways to manipulate the program like leaving the book open for a long time just so the teacher will think they have been reading the text like the article states. Students will especially do this if they believe using the textbook factors into their grade but don't want to read it.
If I were to talk with the teacher of the class, I would ask:
1. What do you do with the information?
2. Do you think it is accurate?
As a student, I can view this program positively and negatively. There have been many times in my college career that I have studied my tail off, yet still done poorly on a test. Because I did bad, my professor assumed I did not study because if I would have studied I would have made an A. This service would have proved that I have spent time in my textbook, and that I am putting forth the effort. However, I'm the type that takes a lot of notes in class. For quite a few of my classes I've taken, my notes have been so thorough that I did not need to open my book. Would I be penalized for that? Why should I need to open my book if I took good enough notes to make an A on the test? Sometimes, I only needed to open my book for clarify a single piece of information, and once I read the section and understood the material, I didn't open my book anymore. If I am successful in the course, why does it matter how much I have used my book?
If I were to interview a student, I would ask:
1. Do you feel pressured to use your book?
2. Do you manipulate the program by simply leaving the book open?
3. Does this data help or hurt you?
If I left a comment on the article, I would probably say that I can see how it can back up students who study and struggle, yet do poorly and are accused of not studying. However, since students can manipulate the system, how does a teacher know if the student is being honest or not? With that being said, I really don't see how this program could help the education system in any way. Personally, I don't see why it matters if a student reads his or her textbooks. The ones who want to learn and want to succeed will. They will make good grades, and if they struggle, they will set up appointments with their professors to talk about ways they can study better or what assignments they can do for extra credit. The ones who don't care to succeed will not. They won't take any initiative to better their grades. I believe teachers know the students who are doing their part and trying, and I believe they know the ones who don't give a rip.
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