Last week was exciting for me. Now available is the 9th edition of my textbook Industrial and Organizational Psychology Research and Practice, published by a leading academic publisher, John Wiley. I began my I-O psychology textbook journey more than 30 years ago, and my story as an author is the story of how technology is revolutionizing college textbooks. In just three decades we have evolved from a paper-based to an entirely digital process. In this latest iteration, not only has the creation of a book become digitized, but the book itself lives online.
Why Textbooks?
When I was a student, almost all courses used textbooks, but that is no longer the case. More and more instructors are avoiding textbooks and replacing them with an assortment of readings. While this might work well for seminars and special topic classes, it is not ideal for most undergraduate courses that are an overview of a field or topic. I was recently talking to someone who was remarking that his daughter was finding college challenging because so many courses did not used textbooks and she found herself often lost. A miscellaneous set of readings failed to provide a coherent overview, and there were many details that fell through the cracks.
A well-written textbook provides an up-to-date overview of its topic. The author has spent two or more years sifting through thousands of sources to choose the most important content, organized it so it can be most easily grasped, and provided a coherent structure. Concepts build one upon the other, and terms are defined. Examples are provided to make abstract definitions concrete. The use of a textbook builds in redundancy and repetition that is necessary for learning.
Technology Is Revolutionizing College Textbooks
The first edition of my textbook, published in 1996, required a lot of paper and red ink. I would write a chapter using a word processor and then physically mail printed copies to the publisher. A copy editor would go over the physical copy making edits in red ink, and then physically mail me the edited copy. I would review it, and respond in ink on the copy and mail it back. This went on for several cycles. The UPS driver got to be my friend. Eventually the process became digitized with everything is now done with electronic files uploaded to a website, but the process was very much the same. Textbooks contain text, illustrations, and tables.
When it came time for me to produce the 9th edition, my editor asked if I was up for the next step in textbook evolution–an enhanced digital edition. For the past few years most students have been consuming textbook content online rather than purchasing a physical copy. Part of the reason is cost–a one-semester digital version is far cheaper. Part of the reason is because that is what students, who are digital natives born in the computer age, prefer. The enhanced edition contains additional online-only content that includes videos, practice quizzes, and interactive figures and tables, all designed to add interest and enhance learning. A student can read a paragraph about a concept, then watch a video or interact with a table to reinforce the learning. This digital content provides an engaging break that helps students stay motivated.
Academic Publishers Lead the Way
Most textbooks are produced by academic publishers that are private companies that must innovate to survive. As an author, I am grateful to be able to partner with a major publisher that takes care of the many details that are needed to produce a state-of-the-art textbook. As I reflect on my 9th edition, there are so many things the publisher provided.
- Creating the Vision. Every book and every edition begins with the vision of what it is trying to accomplish. I have never created the vision on my own, but benefited from editors who are experts in publishing and helped me think through a strategy and come up with a coherent plan. My editor was the one who suggested the enhanced edition.
- Copy editing. No matter how good a writer you are, there will be grammatical mistakes, inconsistencies, and things that could be written better. The publisher provides a copy editor to do just that.
- Photo research. Textbooks contain images to liven the pages and make them more interesting. Publishers hire photo researchers who are experts in finding just the right images.
- Book design. I write the content. The experts choose the layout, fonts, colors, and overall look and feel of the book.
- Cover design. A lot of thought goes into creating a visually appealing cover design that reflects the topic of the book.
- Video production. I sat in front of my webcam and created topic videos of just me talking to the camera. The video production team added video content and turned my droning into lively videos.
- Web design. There is more to creating a digital textbook then just uploading some .pdfs. Thankfully I didn’t have to worry about that.
- Marketing and distribution. Someone has to run the business side of informing instructors about the book, running the website, printing/shipping physical copies, and more.
This is just a sample of what my publisher did to turn my content into a finished book. Technology is revolutionizing college textbooks because publishers like John Wiley are innovating in order to provide the best products for students.
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