JOURNAL OF COMPUTING, VOLUME 4, ISSUE 9, SEPTEMBER 2012, ISSN (Online) 2151-9617 https://sites.google.com/site/journalofcomputing WWW.JOURNALOFCOMPUTING.

ORG

155

e-Textbooks: Types, Characteristics and Open Issues

HeeJeong J. Lee, Chris Messom, and Kok-Lim A. Yau
AbstractThe advantages brought about by electronic textbooks (e-Textbooks) in education have prompted a significant amount of research and products related to e-Textbooks. Generally speaking, an e-Textbook is an electronic and interactive form of textbook, and it has been shown to enhance users learning experience. Of particular interest in this article are textbooks for K-12 education, which covers both the primary and secondary school curriculum. The e-Textbook products are blooming, and it is foreseen that it will have significance impact on teaching and learning in the future, although its usage in the classroom has been very limited to date. This article provides synopses of various types of e-Textbooks, which can be categorized based on the underlying enabling technology, including web-based, reading software and dedicated devices. Additionally, this article also examines what have been developed and available off the shelf, and finally draws some conclusions. The analysis will help the research community to focus on the key technologies to make e-Textbooks a preferred choice of tool for teaching and learning. This article serves as a foundation for further investigations in developing and distributing e-Textbooks in K-12 education. Index Termse-Textbook, electronic textbook, digital textbook, ICT in education

HE advancement of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has tremendous potential to improve the way students learn and communicate in primary and secondary schools. Electronic textbooks (or eTextbooks) are a digitized form of textbook, which incorporates various multimedia content including video, audio, pictures, and slideshows; and it has been envisioned to replace existing paper-based textbook. While an e-book [1], [2] is merely a digitized form of book; e-Textbooks provide a wide range of advanced features such as pagination, annotation, searching and indexing, copying and pasting, as well as communications, such as posting to social media. The integration of ICT into learning through e-Textbooks aim to enhance the students learning experience using multimedia content including audio, video, animation, and built-in interactive functions (i.e. dictionaries, reference books and search functions). Table 1 shows the comparison of paper-based textbook and e-Textbook. E-Textbooks provide three main advantages. Firstly, eTextbooks reduce space and weight. Students are no longer burdened with heavy textbooks. For example, if an eTextbook with a substantial amount of multimedia content is approximately 1 GigaByte (GB) [3], 50 e-Textbooks may take up to 64G. Further reduction of memory requirement can be achieved through cloud computing, which provides on-demand availability of shared resources, software, and information [4]. Secondly, e-Textbooks provide easy back-

1 INTRODUCTION
up and replacement. Loss of textbooks becomes a minor issue because e-Textbooks allow easy backup and replacement. For example, students may download content from e-Textbook servers to their devices (e.g. iPad, laptop, PC, dedicated e-Textbook reader). E-Textbooks can be easily replaced because it is easier to update and distribute digital content (see Table 1). Thirdly, e-Textbooks provide easy updates. Students can search, update and access the latest content. Digital content can be easily created, edited and delivered over the internet, hence it caters for instant updates of latest content. Recently, schools in the UK, USA and Australia have started pilot-testing using e-Textbook devices, such as Apples iPad [5], [3] and Amazons Kindle [6], to convert paper-based textbooks into digital forms. Most countries are still in the initial stages of e-Textbook development and adoption. In spite of the advantages brought about by eTextbooks, a wide range of off-the-shelf e-Textbooks are yet to be offered in K-12 education due to a wide range of open issues, particularly the ICT infrastructure, finance, as well as the support and integration of ICT into school curriculum [7], [8], [9]. Hence, paper-based textbooks remain as the main source of reference in schools. This article focuses on the technological aspect of e-Textbooks. With respect to e-Textbooks, this article provides an extensive survey of the state-of-the-art and open issues. The contributions of this article are as follows. Firstly, an extensive survey on three categories of e-Textbooks, namely web-based content, reading software and dedicated de HeeJeong J. Lee is with School of Information Technology, Monash Univer- vice, is presented. Secondly, an extensive survey on the sity. state-of-the-art of the three categories of e-Textbooks is Chris Messom is with School of Information Technology, Monash Univerpresented. Thirdly, open issues are presented. Finally, sity. Kok-Lim A. Yau is with Department of Computer Science and Networked conclusions are provided. All discussions are delivered in System, Sunway University. the form of a tutorial and recorded to establish a foundation for further research in this field. 2012 Journal of Computing Press, NY, USA, ISSN 2151-9617

JOURNAL OF COMPUTING, VOLUME 4, ISSUE 9, SEPTEMBER 2012, ISSN (Online) 2151-9617 https://sites.google.com/site/journalofcomputing WWW.JOURNALOFCOMPUTING.ORG

156

TABLE 1 COMPARISON OF E-TEXTBOOKS AND PAPER-BASED TEXTBOOKS Characte-ristics and Features Content types Paper-based textbooks -Text -Image e-Textbooks

Easiness to update

Access to references

Interactivity

-Lower -Content may become outdated because newer editions may incur substantial investment associated with printing, preparing and distributing new textbooks -Harder -Users may search for other paperbased references -Lower -Classes are mostly conducted in a non-interactive manner. Specifically, teachers verbally deliver lessons, while students listen, understand, follow and jot down instructions and notes.

-Text -Image -Audio -Video -Virtual reality -Higher -Content may become more up-to-date because newer editions may incur lesser investment through digital updates -New updates can be widely distributed at very low cost -Easier -Users may click on links to view references -Higher -Classes are mostly conducted in an interactive manner. Specifically, teachers can deliver live lessons; while students can respond to requests and questions in a realtime manner. -Teachers can monitor students understanding and progress easily

tailor-made to read content of certain formats, is downloaded from the internet. Generally speaking, reading software is found in smart devices and tablet PC, such as Android phone, Android tablet, iPad and iphone. Dedicated device. The dedicated device is a tailor-made device for reading e-Textbooks. The dedicated device is comprised of various essential components including operating system (OS), network access (i.e. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth) and display (i.e. electronic paper, LCD). E-Textbooks of dedicated device may appear in a wide range of formats including HTML, XML, ACW and EPUB, as well as some tailor-made formats. Students must use specific software found in the dedicated device to read e-Textbooks. Students can download e-Textbooks to their dedicated devices for a fee or for free from publishers websites. The strengths and weaknesses of the three categories of e-Textbooks are shown in Table 2. TABLE 2 STRENGTHS AND W EAKNESSES OF E-TEXTBOOKS Category Webbased content Reading software Strengths -Accessible by any device that provides web browser -The content of eTextbooks are downloadable for both online and offline uses -Provide built-in and tailor-made functions such as submitting assignments through eTextbooks, assessing students, and monitoring students academic performance Weaknesses -Internet access is mandatory -Must use specific reading software to read -The reading software is tailor-made to read content of certain formats -Must use dedicated device to read -Must use specific reading software found in the dedicated device to read -Memory storage is limited depending on the device used. For instance, Apple ipad provides up to 64GB storage capacity.

2 CATEGORIES OF E-TEXTBOOKS

Dedicated device There are three categories of e-Textbooks based on their accessibility and usability [10], [11], namely web-based systems, reading software and dedicated devices. Accessibility to content of textbooks is a strict requirement to make e-Textbooks mandatory so that it is readily available to all teachers and students, including those from economCD-ROMs may be preferable if e-Textbook devices are ically disadvantaged families. Usability assesses how easy e-Textbooks are to use, and it covers user-friendly features not affordable; or the latest features are not provided by in order to improve user satisfaction. Higher usability lev- existing e-Textbooks. For instance, technical and financial el indicates easier to use, and so students can learn to use constraints, such as network speed [12], may hinder easily. The three categories of e-Textbooks are web-based schools from obtaining the latest e-Textbook devices [13]. The need to protect copyrights of e-Textbooks may also content, reading software and dedicated devices. Web-based content. Textbook content of a standard for- discourage the use of e-Textbooks [12]. Although many emat (e.g. HTML and XML) is readily available on the in- Textbooks have been distributed in the form of CD-ROMs, ternet. Students can only download parts of textbooks to it possesses several shortcomings that may prohibit the their devices for a fee or for free, and so internet access is ideal usage of e-Textbooks in classrooms [13]. For exammandatory. The content can be assessed by any device that ple, CD-ROM has limited storage capacity, and it is not provides a web browser, and so tailor-made software or possible for several students to participate collaboratively in a lesson simultaneously. applications, as well as devices are not required. The reminder of this Section presents an extensive surReading software. Textbook content of various formats (e.g. ACW and EPUB) is available on the internet and vey on three categories of e-Textbooks. through digital distribution platforms (e.g. Apple App Store and Android Play Store). Students must use specific Web-based content: Web-based content is the most popureading software to read, and they can download the con- lar type of e-Textbook. Generally speaking, web-based e 2012 Journal of Computing Press, NY, USA, ISSN 2151-9617 tent for a fee or for free. The reading software, which is Textbooks provide conventional web browsing functions,

JOURNAL OF COMPUTING, VOLUME 4, ISSUE 9, SEPTEMBER 2012, ISSN (Online) 2151-9617 https://sites.google.com/site/journalofcomputing WWW.JOURNALOFCOMPUTING.ORG

157

and has a lack of custom-made features, such as annotation, screen capture, zoom in and out functions. Two examples of web-based content are Flexbook and Barnes & Nobles Nook Study. Flexbook (http://www.ck12.org) is a free and open source textbook platform as shown in Fig. 1. CK-12 allows one to customize and produce content by repurposing to suit what needs to be taught, using different modules that may suit a learners learning style, region, language, or level of skill, while adhering to the local education standards.

can borrow an e-Textbook for 60, 90, 130 days or even purchase the book.

Fig. 2. Barnes & Nobles Nook Study e-Textbook.

Fig.1. Flexbook.

The Flexbook provide the following features [14]: Access to free textbooks. For instance, this helps to achieve the aims of CK-12 Foundation to minimize expenditure on textbooks, as well as to provide open and free educational resources. Provide customized content. Enable content cus- Reading Software/Application: This type of e-Textbooks tomization to design user-created educational con- requires specific reading software or dedicated application tent in order to reflect up-to-date content and to ca- to read and display e-Textbooks. It generally provides feater for the different needs of students (e.g. an open, tures such as table of contents, zoom in and out functions, web-based collaborative model, content customized content capture (i.e. capture key points and save them), to reflect up-to-date). and navigation (i.e. browse an entire e-Textbook easily to Ensure high-quality content. To ensure high-quality improve accessibility). Examples of free and open formats content of Flexbook, the CK-12 Community of Edu- of reading software are PDF (Portable Document Format) cational Practitioners facilitates the review process and EPUB (Electronic PUBlication). EPUB has been formalof content. Specifically, each item must undergo ized by International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) [16], four reviews prior to release. and it has been a standard format used by most e-book Easy sharing. Textbooks can be shared with others reading software and devices including Sony Reader, iPhthrough email, website, Learning Management Sys- one, iPad and Barnes & Nobles Nook. The EPUB fortem (LMS) and blog using links leading to the text- mat contains text and images, such as GIF, SVG and JPEG books. [17]. Since PDF and EPUB do not fully support digital me Provide various publishing formats. The content of dia (i.e. video, audio, animation and interactive functions), e-Textbooks can be read in various format including this article does not cover these two formats. In this article, pdf, online books, html and RSS feed. two types of reading software/applications are discussed, Flexbooks content is mostly comprised of texts and im- namely CourseSmartTM and Apple iBooks 2. ages, and so further efforts are necessary to increase mulCourseSmart (http://www.coursesmart.com) protimedia content. Additionally, its content mainly follows vides an e-Textbook service using mobile devices includthe curriculum in US, and so further efforts are necessary ing web, smart phones, iPad, Android tablet and Kindle to increase its international appeal. Fire [18] as shown in Fig. 3. With extensive partnership Barnes & Nobles Nook Study with major textbook publishers, such as Pearson (http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nookstudy) is a web- (http://www.pearson.com), Cengage Learning 2012 in Fig. 2. Students based textbook rental service as shown Journal of Computing Press, NY, USA, ISSN 2151-9617 (http://www.cengage.com) and McGraw-Hill Education

Barnes & Nobles Nook Study e-Textbooks provide the following features [15]: Notetaking. This enables students to take and read notes, as well as to save reference websites in eTextbooks. Students can also print and export notes to Word or Text file formats. Easy search. Students can tag their notes, and search for terms in the notes. Key points highlight. Students can highlight and underline key points, concepts and definitions. Organize coursework. Students can arrange materials by subject. For instance, students can organize eTextbooks, handouts and most reading materials in the same place.

JOURNAL OF COMPUTING, VOLUME 4, ISSUE 9, SEPTEMBER 2012, ISSN (Online) 2151-9617 https://sites.google.com/site/journalofcomputing WWW.JOURNALOFCOMPUTING.ORG

158

(http://www.mcgraw-hill.com), it provides e-Textbook rental services at a cost less than (up to 60%) paper-based textbooks. Students can access e-Textbooks in both an online and offline manner.

Quizzes and review questions: There are built-in quizzes and review questions available at the end of each chapter in e-Textbooks. Study cards: The iBooks app converts highlights and notes into study cards. With its 3D effect, the cards look like actual library cards. Note sharing: Students can easily share their note with others.

Fig. 3. CourseSmart for smartphone. Available from: http://itunes.apple.com. Last accessed 20/12/2011.

CourseSmart provides the following features [18]: Bookshelf and Navigation functions. It provides Fig. 4. e-Textbooks from iBooks 2 for iPad. Available from: bookshelf, which provides quick access to saved http://www.extremetech.com. Last accessed 21/1/2012. materials, and linked table of content. Notetaking and key points highlight. Students can Each iBooks 2 e-Textbook may take up to 1GB, and so add notes, as well as highlight and underline key points, concepts and definitions. Students can also there are two drawbacks. Firstly, iPad provides a limited storage capacity of 16GB, 32GB or 64GB. In addition to ecreate bookmarks. Print Pages. Students can print (or copy and paste) Textbooks, students may store other documents and files in the device. Hence, students may need to use external up to a certain number of pages of an e-Textbooks. Automatic Updates. It provides automatic updates, storage devices or cloud computing. Secondly, downloadtherefore constant updates and downloads of latest ing e-Textbooks with multimedia content may require high bandwidth. Sufficient amount of network bandwidth information are not necessary. Apple iBooks 2, which is an e-Textbook application, should be provided in schools. provides multiple choice quizzes, reference links, videos, as well as slideshows created from images as shown in Fig. Dedicated device: This type of e-Textbooks requires dedi4. With partnerships with textbook makers Pearson, cated device, such as tablets, hand-held devices and mulMcGraw Hill and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt [3], [19], it tipurpose devices, for displaying and reading e-Textbooks. provides extensive educational content. Students can Generally speaking, e-Textbook content for dedicated dedownload iBooks 2 applications from application mar- vices are provided by certain publishers, and hence dediketplace, namely app store, for free. Some textbooks may cated devices face great competition from emerging prodcost less than US$15 [3], [19]. ucts such as iPad and Android tablet PC, which have a iBooks 2 provides the following features [20], [21]: diverse ecosystem consisting of application developers Provide thumbnail index: Students are able to read and manufacturers. Governments or school authorities through an e-Textbook from page to page using a who develop tailor-made dedicated devices should convisual index (i.e thumbnails that indicate the sec- sider reliable after-sales services, which are commonplace tions of a book), along with a text line-up. Students in off-the-shelf devices. Hence, further efforts are necescan browse with ease the chapters and sections by sary so that dedicate devices can provide similar reliable after-sales services through manufacturers network. Son sweeping their fingers across the main index page. Provide built-in videos: Videos are accompanied et al. [22] have identified several dedicated devices includwith texts and scripts, such as subtitle, providing ing eduPAD and MalayBook. more information, much like a teacher providing eduPAD, which is a project developed by the Singaclose guidance on the subject matter being taught in pores Ministry of Education since 1999 [23], is a hand-held a video. wireless computer as shown in Fig. 5. The eduPAD weighs Provides interactive animations: The textbooks uti- about 800 grams, and it is equipped with an 18cm color lize interactive animations. These animations work display, a built-in microphone, a speaker and a keyboard like the videos and images. 2012 Journal of Computing Press, NY, USA, ISSN Virtual), as well as a rechargeable battery (i.e. Stylus and 2151-9617

JOURNAL OF COMPUTING, VOLUME 4, ISSUE 9, SEPTEMBER 2012, ISSN (Online) 2151-9617 https://sites.google.com/site/journalofcomputing WWW.JOURNALOFCOMPUTING.ORG

159

that can last up to six hours. In addition to 16MB memory, the device provides interfacing slots to data storage cards [24]. The government and industry partners have invested about SG$2.1 million (approximately US$1.62 million) for the eduPAD project. The industrial partners have been actively involved in hardware and software development of eduPAD; while the Ministry of Education have been actively conducted training and explored the use of eduPAD in school trials [25]. The school textbooks have been converted to eduBOOK providing hypermedia features to help students search for information and enhance their understanding of concepts by animations and audio effects [24].

user-replaceable ROM chip. Generally speaking, a standard netBook has smaller screens and keyboards, as well as reduced computing power compared to a laptop. Provide free software. A wide range of software is available for free. Further efforts are necessary to upgrade the operating system and e-Textbooks in order to increase its usage.

Fig. 5. eduPAD device. Available from: http://www.aare.edu.au/01pap/atp01299.htm. Last accessed 12/12/2011

Fig. 6. Malaybook device. Available from: http://encyclopedia.mitrasites.com/imgs/psion-netbook.html Last accessed 3/5/2012

eduPAD provides the following features [24]: 3 OPEN ISSUES Save e-Textbooks in memory chips. Inserting the eTextbook memory chips into the interfacing slots of This section discusses the open issues associated with eTextbooks. In this article, the open issues are categorized eduPAD allows students to read e-Textbooks. Download and submit assignment. Students can based on five main characteristics pertinent to the successful download assignment and submit their completed integration of e-Textbooks into the education system, namely reliability, compatibility, usability, accessibility and maintainassignments online. Instant feedback. Teachers can give instant feedback ability. Additionally, other relevant open issues are discussed. Reliability, which shares the same notion with trustworon students performance. Plan and organize timetables. Students can use thiness and dependability, is defined as the degree of coneduPAD to plan and organize their timetable, as sistency among users when making observations of the well as to set up a task list in order to prioritize their same service [27]. Lack of reliability may lead to service failures (e.g. as a result of power interruption) and inconvenwork. However, the use of eduPAD has been constrained by iences, and so students may not be able to access learning several issues including the requirement of high-speed material and learning history. Further efforts are necessary to internet connectivity, high battery lifetime and high sys- ensure high reliability so that teaching and learning can be tem processing capability. Further efforts are necessary to conducted without interruption at all times, as well as wide adoption of e-Textbooks in the near future. For instance, imaddress these issues. Malaybooks, which were developed to replace paper- proving reliability in web-based systems ensures that internet based textbooks with the support of the Malaysian gov- connection is assessable at all times. Compatibility. There are two kinds of compatibility, namely ernment in 2002 as shown in Fig. 6, was a joint venture software compatibility and hardware compatibility. Software entitled One Ed Dot Com, consisting of Ericsson and several public and private entities in Malaysia. Approxi- compatibility is the ability of an application to on different mately 8,000 students participated in pilot testing of e- computers without the need to change its format; while hardware compatibility is the ability to connect different deTextbooks. vices without the use of certain equipment or software [28]. Malaybook provides the following features [26]: Use standard netBook. A MalayBook can be trans- The inclusion of multimedia and interactivity features into various e-book 2151-9617 2012 by replacing the formed into a standard netBookJournal of Computing Press, NY, USA, ISSNformats (e.g. PDF, ePub, txt and html) has

JOURNAL OF COMPUTING, VOLUME 4, ISSUE 9, SEPTEMBER 2012, ISSN (Online) 2151-9617 https://sites.google.com/site/journalofcomputing WWW.JOURNALOFCOMPUTING.ORG

160

produced a wide range of e-Textbook formats. Additionally, 4 CONCLUSION different countries may use different formats. Hence, a stuAn electronic textbook (e-Textbook) is an electronic and dent who purchase and install a particular vendor lock-in reader may not be able to access content from different ven- interactive form of textbook. There are three categorizes dors and countries, as well as to transfer e-Textbooks from of e-Textbooks, namely web-based content, reading one level (primary school) to another level (secondary software/application, and dedicated device. Generally school). Catone [29] and Sadon & Yamshon [30] discuss about speaking, different categories of e-Textbooks use differthe issue of incompatibility between e-Textbook content and ent underlying device (i.e. hardware and software) to reading device, and that the "format" war for e-Textbooks is a access e-Textbooks. hurdle that must be overcome. Further efforts are necessary This article provides an extensive review on the varito define a standard format for e-Textbooks. For instance, ous categories of state-of-the-art e-Textbooks, which is improving compatibility in e-Textbook content ensures that eTextbooks are accessible by most reading software and dedi- at an early stage of research and development. The open issues raised in this article serve as a foundation cated devices, and this avoids vendor lock-in products. Usability is defined as a quality attribute that assesses how for further investigations in developing and distribeasy user interfaces are to use [31]. In other words, it indi- uting e-Textbooks, which is highly preferred choice of cates how easy e-Textbooks are to use. For instance, students tool for teaching and learning. must find it easy to locate content, to navigate from one secAs part of the future work, there are two main areas, tion to another, to do notetaking, and to submit assignment. namely business models and digital management Less usability discourages students from using e-Textbooks. Further efforts are necessary to leverage existing easy-to-use rights. Firstly, there is an urgent need to develop viable features so that students can learn and are accustomed to e- business models for authors, publishers, governments, Textbooks easily. For instance, improving usability in web- school district, schools, teachers, students and other based systems allows users to enjoy new features such as users of e-Textbooks. Since the e-Textbook market is zoom in and out, capture and navigate most pages in e- still emerging, and the e-Textbooks must be endorsed Textbooks. by the government, the success of business model deAccessibility is defined as the degree to which a product, pends on governments support and a good ecosystem, device, service, or environment is available to as many people as possible [32]. The content of e-Textbook should be made which may include various stakeholders, specifically accessible to all students without technical constraints. As an hardware suppliers, content publishers, distribution example, multiple users are able to access an e-Textbook con- channels, teachers and students. Secondly, there is an currently. As another example, without using the latest urgent need to ensure digital management rights for eiPad, students are able to access the latest e-Textbooks. Textbooks. To prevent illegal duplication and distribuSince e-Textbooks must be endorsed by the government, tion of e-Textbooks, the editing and authoring processes schools must ensure that students can gain access to e- must be made secure. For instance, further investigation Textbooks without any technical obstacles, and hence, there is could be pursued to develop an automated review proan urgent need to bridge the digital divide between rural and urban communities. Further efforts are necessary to support cess so that the editors are informed of any digital right accessibility to e-Textbooks, particularly among the financial- violations should it occur. ly disadvantaged students. For instance, improving accessibility allows users to access e-Textbooks at most of the times. Maintainability is defined as the ease with which a product REFERENCES can be maintained in order to isolate defects or their cause, [1] D. Ball, et al., "Integrating electronic resources into the virtual learning correct defects or their cause, meet new requirements, make environment: Work in progress at Bournemouth university library," presented at the IADIS International Conference WWW/Internet, 2007. future maintenance easier, or cope with a changed environment [33]. Upon adoption of e-Textbooks in schools, the [2] N. Hatzigeorgiu and S. Chatzisavva, "Integration of e-book creation into an e-learning environment," in International Conference on Eduability to maintain its functions over a long term is critical; cation, Samos, 2010, pp. 302-308. and schools are responsible for any damages, losses or defects [3] D. Rushe and J. Vasagar. (2012, 20 Jan 2012). Apple: iBooks 2 will 'reinvent textbooks'. Available: of e-Textbook devices and servers. Both hardware (e.g. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/jan/19/apple-unveilsmemory capacity) and software (e.g. operating system) upibooks-2-textbooks-ipad dates should be made easy to e-Textbooks, and the required [4] P. Pocatilu, "Using WiMAX Technology for E-Learning Solutions," skills to perform maintenance should be made easy so as not Oeconomics of Knowledge, vol. 2, pp. 6-10, 2010. (2010, 22 Feb 2011). Available: to limit the skills to certain manufacturers and vendors only. [5] Ipadacademy. http://ipadacademy.com/2010/09/university-of-adelaide-will-replaceAs an example of maintainability, the operating system and science-textbooks-with-ipads software application should be easily upgradable in order to [6] S. Kolowich. (2010, 29 April 2012). Colleges test Amazon's kindle eaccommodate new content. Hence, further efforts are necesbook reader as study tool. Available: http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-02-23-IHE-Amazonsary to investigate into maintainability factor of e-Textbooks. kindle-for-college23_ST_N.htm For instance, improving maintainability enables users to in[7] UNESCO. (2011, 17 Feb 2011). Available: crease the memory capacity of dedicated device if there is http://www.unescobkk.org/education/ict/ 2012 Journal of Computing Press, NY, USA, ISSN 2151-9617 limited storage capacity. [8] T. Vandeyar, "A Participatory Approach to the Formulation of an In-

JOURNAL OF COMPUTING, VOLUME 4, ISSUE 9, SEPTEMBER 2012, ISSN (Online) 2151-9617 https://sites.google.com/site/journalofcomputing WWW.JOURNALOFCOMPUTING.ORG

161

[9] [10]

[11] [12] [13]

[14] [15] [16]

[17]

[18] [19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26] [27] [28] [29] [30]

[31]

[32] [33]

formation and Communication Technology Policy," Master, Curriculum Studies of the Faculty of Education, University of Pretoria, 2005. KERIS. (2009, 23 Dec 2009). Digital Textbook. Available: http://www.dtbook.kr N. Abdullah, "A Study into Usability of Tools for Searching and Browsing E-books with Particular Reference to Back-of-the-Book Index," PhD, University of Strathclyde, 2007. M. Vassiliou and J. Rowley, "Progressing the definition of e-book," Library Hi Tech, vol. 26, pp. Pp.355-368, 2008. M. Boye, "The impact of CD-ROM on reference service," Library Review, vol. 45, pp. 35-41, 1996. C. Alyea. (2007, 3 May 2012). Examining the Potential of Electronic Books within Children's Libraries and Classrooms. Available: http://capping.slis.ualberta.ca/cap07/ChristyAlyea/etextbooks.htm Flexbook. (2011, 11 May 2012). Available: http://www.ck12.org Barnes&Noble. (13 May 2012). Browse Features. Available: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nookstudy/features/index.asp I. D. P. Forum. (2010, 13 March 2012). Trade and standards organization for the digital publishing industry EPUB. Available: http://idpf.org/epub Z. Celikbas. (2011, EPUB use in digital libraries: developing an online EPUB creator application. Available: http://elpub2011.bilgiyonetimi.net/papers/celikbas.pdf CourseSmart. (9 April 2012). No web connection, no problem. Available: http://www.coursesmart.com/learnmore D. Cooper. (2012, 21 Jan 2012). Apple launches iBooks 2 e-Textbook platform. Available: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/19/appleibooks-2/ Apple. (2012, 9 May 2012). Apple Reinvents Textbooks with iBooks 2 for iPad. Available: http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2012/01/19AppleReinvents-Textbooks-with-iBooks-2-for-iPad.html J. Diaz. (2012, 9 May). Apples iPad Textbooks: Everything You Need to Know About iBooks 2. Available: http://gizmodo.com/5877500/applesipad-textbooks-everything-you-need-to-know-updating-live B.-G. Son, et al. (2004, 17 May 2012). Domestic and foreign Case Study of Electronic Textbooks. Available: http://www.keris.or.kr/datafiles/inform/RR2004-05.pdf M. Kim, et al., "An XML-Based Digital Textbook and Its Educational Effectiveness " Advances in Computer Science and Information Technology vol. 6059, pp. 509-523, 2010. A. L. Atputhasamy, et al., "Impact of a hand-held wireless electronic device (eduPAD) on science and Mathematics teaching-learning environment," Journal of Science and Mathematics Education in S.E. Asia, vol. 24, 2001. A. Lourdusamy, et al., "Perceived Benefits of eduPAD in Enhancing Learning," presented at the International Educational Research Conference, 2001. E. Hasbrouck. (10 May 2012). MalayBook. Available: http://hasbrouck.org/netbook/index.html S. F. Dworkin, et al., "Reliability of Clinical Measurement in Temporomandibular Disorders," The Clinical journal of pain, 1988. Dictionary.com. (16 Sep 2012). Compatibility. Available: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/compatibility?s=t J. Catone. (2009, 1 Dec ). Digital Textbooks: 3 Reasons Students Arent Ready. Available: http://mashable.com/2009/08/17/digital-textbooks/ R. Sadon and L. Yamshon. (2011) The State of the E-Textbook PCWorld. Available: http://www.pcworld.com/article/203001/the_state_of_the_etextbook.ht ml J. Nielsen. (2003, Usability 101: Introduction to usability. Available: http://www.hh.se/download/18.5173bcf712de11663378000958/diskussi onsuppgift_F5_nielsen.pdf Wikipedia. (16 Sep 2012). Accessibility. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility Wikipedia. (16 Sep 2012). Maintainability. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maintainability

novation & Technology Exhibition (ITEX2012). Her research interests lie in the field of ICT in education (e-learning, m-learning) and educational policy and planning. She has extensive experience in the design of e-learning platform, developing e-learning contents and providing ICT consulting at Korea Telecom R&D. Her research interest includes developing and evaluating of electronic textbooks and building ICT-enhanced education policy to-be a model. Chris Messom Professor Chris Messom is the Deputy President (Academic) at Monash University Sunway Campus and the Associate Director (Malaysia) of the Monash e-Research Centre. He has a PhD in computer studies and research experience in systems development for intelligent systems including for eLearning. His research area includes in intelligent systems, GRID computing and artifical intelligent. Prof Messom is an active supervisor, he has supervised many masters and PhD students as well as numerous honours and postgraduate students to successful completion. Kok-Lim A. Yau He has a B.Eng. degree in Electrical and Electronics Department of Computer Science and Networked System, Sunway University Engineering (First Class Honors) from the Universiti Teknologi Petronas, Malaysia, a M.Sc. (Electrical Engineering) from the National University of Singapore, and a Ph.D. (Network Engineering) from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand . He was awarded the 2007 Professional Engineer Board of Singapore Gold Medal for being the best graduate of the M.Sc. degree in 2006/07. He researches, lectures and consults in cognitive radio, wireless networking and applied artificial intelligence. He is a member of the Pervasive Computing Research Group, Department of Computer Science and Networked System, Sunway University.

HeeJeong J. Lee She has a BSc. degree in Computer Science and Engineering from Pohang University of Science and Technology, Korea, a MSc. (Computer Science) from the University of Edinburgh, UK, a MPhil. (Technology Policy) from the University of Cambridge, UK. Her thesis has been submitted to the school of information technology at the University of Monash. She was awarded a merit prize in the e-learning category at a national-level competition (APICTA 2012 Journal of Computing Press, NY, USA, ISSN 2151-9617 2011), and won a gold award at the 23rd International Invention, In-