Interactive Educational Software

Revolutions in education follow technological advances. The printing press lifted us out of the dark ages. Then came the typewriter; Morse code; the telephone; radio; telex; TV; mainframe computers; personal computers and the Internet. With increased ease in communication at each step along the way, educational material kept pace. Today there is a glut of material out there and educators are attempting to find the best model to bring high level and accurate information to everyone on the planet.

There is no question that educational material of the future will not include hard copy text books. Indeed today, much of the developing world simply does not have the resources, both natural and financial, to purchase paper. In contrast, computers in schools with Internet access bring educational material into all corners of the Globe. There is no question that poverty is linked to lack of education. Poverty also drives up the population. Electronic Educational material improves quality; is easily accessibility; obviates the need for shipping; and saves tones of trees. The Internet makes the world a Global Classroom, just as the media has made the World a Global Village.

For years large book companies have monopolized the text book industry. Over the last decade or so, many have disappeared or been amalgamated with other book companies. The book company model is to hire teachers and professionals to write the material and then hire copy editors, graphic artists and others to coordinate the development. The final version is sent to a printer who, for a standard book of under 1,000 pages in two colors charges about $20 each to print a batch of about 2,000. Add to this the salaries and overhead, the cost climbs to about $80 a book. Then the authors must get Royalties of about 15%. Add to this shipping, markup in bookstores and sales tax, and it in not difficult to see that a text book can easily cost $150.

In addition, book companies now provide web sites which have replaced the earlier CD added to the back cover of a book. These web sites provide teacher and student resources but add to the price of the book.

Information Technology, or IT, should be developed by educators who directly liaise with the computer experts, because educators understand the material. This is not to say that teachers and professionals should spend more time than they did in the past when writing hard copy book. Rather their time should be used differently.

First, when writing the text material for a new book, authors should not be concerned with formatting. They should simply have headings and text in a document that is provided by the computer team, as a simple template. For images and graphs they can be simply snagged from known resources on the web, or sketched out using simple drawing tools. These can be changed into a standard style by computer graphic artists who are trained in this area; are efficient; and are cost effective. These and the text material can be transformed into eBooks using modern techniques that allow for the automation of styles. There are two main ways to go: Adobe Acrobat pdfs and Flash formats. Although Adobe owns both Acrobat and Flash, it seems certain that pdfs will win the battle of the best way to present material. The second is Flash first developed by Macromedia, later bought out by Adobe. Flash is much more flexible than pdfs, but requires more programming skills.

In summary then, educators write according to a template; organize the graphics; and storyboard any interactions. These are given to developers who convert the material into pdf or Flash formats. It is also possible to give links to good and relevant sites on the Internet. In other words, an ebook is integrated into the WWW so that students have all the information at their fingertips.

In addition it is straight forward to take existing hard copy texts and convert them to electronic format. One approach is for the authors to take back the copyright from the publishers. This is always possible when a book goes out of print. After that the copyright reverts to the authors. If they believe their text book is still worthy, they can purchase the electronic form of the book from the book company, such as in Quark or other publishing language. From these, conversion to pdf form is quick and inexpensive relative to hard copy production.

Marketing is discussed below.

The power of the electronic media is not in static text and graphic material, but in the ability to engage the user with interactions, voice and visualizations. Although it is improving, people who read at a computer retain about 70% of those who read from hard copy. This number is changing and young people in particular have developed the ability to read effectively at computers. none-the-less it would be a disservice not to use the full power of computer, but at the same time be aware of its limitations in terms of human nature (essentially the desire for a quick fix in learning whereas in most cases, learning material requires concerted effort).

The mantra for those writing books is “Show don’t tell.” Not doing this does not make proper use of IT. In this case the educator must storyboard interactions. This is best done by the use of a storyboard template which allows the computer technicians to know exactly what to do. Good examples of such interactions can be found at sites for Interactive Simulations at the secondary and post secondary Chemistry, physics and biology:

and for Physics and biology

The examples found on these websites "show" rather than "tell". Although clear instructions are needed, the student can interact with the simulations that effectively get the most important ideas of science across.

In order to create these interactions it is usually necessary to hire experts in the technology. In the past, the choice of many was Macromedia’s Authorware Professional. This program avoids most detailed programming and requires the user to find or create resources, such as movies, figures and sounds, that Authorware integrates into executionable programs. However when Adobe bought out Macromedia, they decided not to keep up development of Authorware, now in its final version 7 (the author started using Authorware in 1993 at version 2). It is not certain that subsequent OS will run such files and then a vast body of expertise, as well as volumes of Authorware products will be lost.

Use of Java and Applets is also common. as well as Flash. In fact Flash has become the standard for most developers of educational multimedia. Flash is edited more in the form of a movie time line, but with many options. Flash expertise abounds, so the best approach for teachers is to learn how to storyboard, and then to hire experts (such as the institution's Instructional Communication Services) to put pixels on pages. It is much better that the teachers communicate directly with the computer technicians and be the ones to vet the material they produce.

In developing our text book, Physical Chemistry by Laidler, Meiser and Sanctuary, we approached the problem in the following way:

After Houghton Mifflin stopped publishing the text, the authors asked and received a legal transfer of the copyright.

Houghton Mifflin did not provide us with the text layout, but rather sent us the text book without figures, in MS Word format.

BrandByte Media Inc. was commissioned to do the following tasks:

• Define the style of the ebook

• Take the hard-copy figures and re-do them as jpgs with a consistent style.

• Convert all the word docs to pdf format and integrate the figures.

• Provide extensive linking using bookmarks and develop navigation protocols.

• Integrate multimedia files that popup on different pages of the pdf eBook when clicked. These were developed by MCH multimedia Inc. and are written using Authorware. In the future, these interactions will be converted to flash.

• Develop a no-hassle copy protection. This is essential for continued sales. Without copy protection, research shows that sales essentially end after 18 months. This is the major problem that hard copy text books face. The re-sale market is huge (Amazon, eBay, on-line book companies) and these kill a current edition. It is primarily for this reason more than the need to update the material, that new editions are commissioned by text book companies. Without new editions, a text book will not last more than two of three years with sales decreasing each year. Our copy protection uses a propriety browser designed to prohibit saving, copying and printing. It is locked onto a customers computer and will remain for the lifetime of that computer even if they change OS. Of course the programs can be uninstalled.

Although some feel that everything on the Internet should be free, this fails to understand that software development is expensive and without copy protection and continued sales, development costs and decent royalties cannot be maintained.

Equally important is marketing. To this end it is possible to give the pdf files to Kindle. or some other on-line seller that provides sales. Pdfs run in Kindle.

However today it is possible to create your own shop. The set up and protocols have become quite standard so hosting an e-commerce site is a possibility, such as this web site. none-the-less there are maintenance, ecommerce and development costs involved.

Book companies, as mentioned above, rarely give royalties of more than 15%. MCH presently offers about 30%. As electronic media, eBooks can easily be updated and kept current. Because of copy protection, it is not necessary to come out with new editions to maintain sales. Updates are easy with electronic media and corrections and the addition of new material can be done when it is necessary, rather than being motivated by sales statistics. Delivery is best by downloading, although for those who like something solid, CD or DVD delivery is also available.

In the marketing it is vitally important to pay attention to two features: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Adwords (from Google, Overture (Yahoo) etc.). This is necessary to drive people to your site. If you use adwords and these have not been thought out well, you can waste a lot of money by targeting the wrong people. It is much better to hire experts such as BrandByte Media Inc.

Our Solution Manual

The solution manual is offered for free.

Links to Solution Manuals for Physical Chemistry for Laidler, Meiser and Sanctuary,

Full Solutions Manual : All 19 chapters
Thermodyanamics Module: Chapters 1 -6.
Equilibrium and Electrochemistry Module: Chapters 1, 9-10.
Chemical Kinetics Module: Chapters 1, 9-10.
Quantum and Spectroscopy Module: Chapters 1, 11-14.
Statistical Mechanics Module: Chapters 1, 15.
Solids and Transport Module: Chapters 1, 16-19.

The problems have been worked out by undergraduate students using the previous hard copy solutions manuals that accompanied the 3rd and 4th hard copy editions. In particular the solutions have expanded and the background of many of them explained by students.

The approach whereby students develop the solutions rather than teacher is an example of Peer Learning. Peer learning is based upon research that shows students teach, explain and learn ideas from each other better than from professors. Although the classroom situation is an important component of learning, it is vitally important that students do not simply listen, or memorize the lectures. Rather students must participate in an active way. In the Physical Sciences and undergraduate courses one of the best ways of active learning is to solve relevant problems. However this is often a daunting task and so a well developed solution manual is a bonus. Students should be cautioned however not to rely on the solutions too much. They should be an aid to learning, not an easy way out. Moreover, after having done a problem by looking at the solutions, the student is advised to close the book and reproduce the results again. Then, in order to be sure the ideas are established, some time later, the student should return to the problem and repeat it without looking at the solution.

We provide a feedback form so that users of the solution manual can send in errors, typos and queries. Over time, these will be incorporated into the solution manual to make it into a top resource in physical chemistry. I the future, we intend to make the solution manual into a forum so users can discuss the solutions on line.

MCH multimedia is convinced that the models discussed here have many advantages. There is the efficiency; the greenness; the lower costs; ease of delivery of electronic material; the use of multimedia and the integration of books with the WWW. In all ways, eBooks trump hard copy texts. If you are an author and have a text book written in, say MS Word, or you have the copyright for an out-of-print text you still believe should be in press, we are well set up to take your documents; to create the final eBook; provide copy protection; and market it in our on-line shop. We would develop the SEO and adword campaigns for your book and give you 30% of gross sales. Authors can log on at any time to check the progress of sales and stats.

The future of educational material is in eBooks and, most likely, on the pdf platform. It will not be long before hard copy text books become obsolete.

-Bryan Sanctuary