Principles of Biology by Nature Education... A College Level eText Review.

After being modestly disappointed by my past several reviews, I thought to myself that I must be going about this entirely the wrong way. So far, I've found decent materials that I'd categorize as either "portable pdf -style textbooks with good graphics but no real interactive features" and "interactive - lite" materials. But I was looking  for the VERY BEST (most interactive, engaging, differentiated, 21st Century, 5 STAR-rated materials). As I starting to think about my next review, a "light bulb" of sorts went off. Certainly OTHERS have already reviewed science digital textbooks and if so, I could simply GOOGLE my query and come up with LISTS of the very best science digital textbooks!

So I just GOOGLED it, it being "Best interactive science digitial textbooks." Among the first few pages of the hit list, I found mostly advertisements for "cheap digital textbooks" and "used science textbooks" admist a few links to Apple iBooks and CK-12 books (both reviewed previously). At this point, I was quite certain that my dissapointment stems from the newness of this endeavor. Publishers just aren't "THERE" yet. Demand is growing RAPIDLY and supply just can't CATCH UP with THE BEST of the BEST materials just yet. From a publisher's point of view, competition is low, thus ANY digital text is better than NO digital text. During my search, I did find an interesting link to a New York Times article on a new publishing company called Nature Education that aims to create materials for digitive natives. So I requested a review of their first book, Principles of Biology. The book is geared for undergraduate students enrolled in beginning level biology courses. I originally hoped to review materials for K-12, however, I needed to find the BEST of the best, and the article had claimed this company was on the cutting edge, offering a refreshing version of electronic texts.


Here's what I found. The book is a web based (browser viewed) tool and includes 196 modules. Teachers can turn "on and off" modules and can modify/add to the text and actually REPUBLISH their own version of the text. This feature was new and refreshing. Teachers could also post announcements, set due dates on a built in calendar, create or use built in discussions in the discussion board feature, use or create built in assignments, administer quizzes, and use an available grade book. So this "text" was in essence more like a learning management system like Blackboard or Edmodo, but with content already in place. I liked this element and I liked it alot! Teachers can then be the orchastrators of teaching and learning, versus trying to design and develop all of the content for their course. There simply is not enough time to start from scratch. Yet they can also author and publish as time, expertise, and interest allow.



As far interactive features go, the text allows students to take "notes" and make "study cards" from their highlights and comments. There are self tests/assignments built in to help students reflect on their learning. There is also an abundance of "other resources" such as related primary research articles, "lenses on biology" articles showing the importantance of scientific research is to the real world, and links to other web resources such as biology labs. End of unit summaries, a glossary (with spoken pronunciations) and end of the unit tests also allow students to engage with the materials. There are built in video features and animations, yet I wished there were more and that students had to do more critical thinking and problem solving along the way.

My Rating... 4.5 STARS. Principles in Biology is fresh, comprehensive, and a pioneer among the others. However, students are still more passive than active. The text is still "BYOIM" (bring your own intrinsic motivation). What I am hoping to find is more and better ways for students to REALLY ENGAGE with the content. I'm looking for gamer-like features that pull students into a state of FLOW... in a way that they (our students) can't STOP "playing" with the material. I'm calling for resources that call upon mastery learning,  allowing students to work at their own pace, master the material, and feel compelled to keep going. I want materials that allow students to be creative and imaginative problem solvers. Yep, I want it all. But I know that it can be done! Ask any middle school student drawn into games like Mindcraft - they don't want to stop learning - even after dinner is on the table!