University of Montana Professor One Of First To Create Digital Textbook

It’s only fitting that an evolutionary biologist is hard at work creating the next evolution of the textbook. University of Montana Professor Doug Emlen is creating a first-of-its-kind textbook that will be coupled with an iPad app to provide images, audio, video clips, and interactive graphics and exercises so college students taking courses in evolutionary biology have multiple ways to learn and — more important to Emlen — to retain the subject matter.

According to Emlen’s publisher, recent studies have found as many as 90 percent of college students don’t read their textbooks because the material tends to be dense and dull. So, Emlen and co-author Carl Zimmer, a renowned science writer and regular contributor to The New York Times, set out to change that.

With the backing of progressive publishing company Roberts & Company, Emlen and Zimmer were able to rethink the very nature of the textbook. Their goal was to create a tool that would not look or feel like the traditional desk-reference textbook. Instead, they went to work filling the pages of "Evolution: Making Sense of Life" with compelling narrative, conveying science through stories and illustrating the pages with commissioned, original artwork and colorful photographs.

"The book is grounded in examples, but the pages come to life," Emlen said. "We want this book to be fun to read and, more importantly, we want the content to stick in the minds of students."

Full Story: http://news.umt.edu/2012/05/052112ipad.aspx