Using Physical Books in Online Learning: 4 Game-Changing Tips

Brenda Thomas

Brenda Thomas has a Master of Arts in Humanities and has worked as an online instructor and instructional designer in higher education.

Blogs / Educators / Using Physical Books in Online Learning: 4 Game-Changing Tips

Facilitating Hard Copy Books into Digital Education

Using physical books in online learning can be stressful for students. Imagine students registering for an online class scheduled to begin in a few days. They notice, either after enrolling or logging in when the course opens, that it requires the purchase of, or access to, print books in order to complete assignments or quizzes during the first week of class. The students immediately try to find digital versions of those books, but they are not sold in that format. Print books are the only option. If they are going to have any chance at passing their assignments or quizzes that first week, then they would have to order the books and have them shipped overnight, that is, if they are able to find the books in the first place and express shipping is an option. Such a situation can cause those online students to be unnecessarily stressed when class begins and possibly lose points on some assignments, even though the issue was due to no fault of their own.

Digital Textbooks vs. Physical Textbooks

It might be difficult to imagine the above scenario occurring these days, but I have seen something similar to that happen. Some might say that such a situation proves that digital textbooks are better than print books and should always be used in online classes, but that is not necessarily the conclusion we should make. Although I am a proponent of using open-source material available on the internet, sometimes the best textbook for a class is available only as a print book with copyright limitations. The good news is that there are ways to make that work in an online class.

The key is in the course design and facilitation.

Course Design

In relation to course design, below are two ways to provide all online students, whether they enroll last minute or transfer in late, access to required textbooks when they need them.

Delay when students need the book(s)

If an online course requires students to have physical copies of books, then whoever is putting the course online could design it so that the required textbooks are not needed during the first week or two. If students need to complete quizzes or assignments early on in the course, then it should be designed so that those tasks are related to video and/or reading material that is available and accessible to every student.

Provide copies of the pages that students need

If it is absolutely necessary for students to have specific physical books during the first week of an online course, then provide the pages that they need either as PDFs, etc., or in an online repository of some sort. Before the class is scheduled to begin, make scans of the textbook pages that students will need during the first two weeks and have those ready to go in the event that books cannot be procured on time. Providing only the needed pages will not violate copyright laws, especially when students have purchased the books and are waiting to receive them.

Course Facilitation

But what can teachers do if they are assigned to teach an online class that they did not create, and they do not yet have copies of the required textbooks before the class is scheduled to begin? That is a situation I have experienced, and below are two possible approaches to dealing with it.

Find the books and scan the necessary pages

If teachers are unable to order the book(s) to be shipped overnight and there are no bookstores nearby that have them on the shelf, then try searching the internet. Even if a book is not sold in a digital format, sometimes portions of it, or the entire book, are available on legitimate websites.

The Internet Archive has a number of older books available in digital formats, and Google Books also has many older books available in their entirety and some newer books with enough of a preview to access the pages necessary for the first week or two of class.

If there are no online options for the book, instructors can check the public and college libraries in their state and make an interlibrary loan request. Another option is to request a desk or instructor copy of the book(s) directly from the publisher(s). However, those methods of acquiring the book(s) will take time, which leads to the final option.

Delay deadline dates

If all options have been tried and found unsuccessful, then instructors should waive deadlines for assignments or quizzes that require the books until everyone is able to at least have copies of the necessary pages.

Ideally, if instructors are asked to teach online courses they did not create, then their institution should provide copies of the textbook(s) for them and have a ready supply to be shipped to students at a moment’s notice. But those options are not always possible for a variety of reasons.

The main takeaway from this article is that there should be a plan in place so that teachers and students in online classes that require physical books are not scrambling or stressing the first week or two of class because that is not a good start for anyone.

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