Maastricht University Library Wall

During a pilot experiment six part-time students from M0414 Financial Management of the master Health Services and Innovation (FHML-GW, January 5 to March 6, 2009) receive the available literature on the iLiad e-book reader in order to maximize their travel time output, because they can access the literature on the ‘road’ and make notes while they’re reading. On top of this they are invited to share their notes with other students (as part of the study process and reporting phase within the PBL-online concept).

Preliminary conclusion:

The iLiad seems particularly interesting for students who have no PC or laptop at home / study spot and / or travel frequently (not the case for the students in the pilot). The e-reader in eleUM (in this case with an almost complete digital version of all required and recommended literature) was considered as the most enjoyable version of the amount of literature (compared to paper or iLiad).

Contact Information (regarding where / who has carried the practice):

• Block Coordinator: Milena Pavlova, (organizational) supported by Nynke de Jong
• n.dejong@zw.unimaas.nl
• telephone: +31 43 3881827

Problem or question addressed in practice / answer:

• if reading is more enjoyable than from a computer screen (eleUM)
• whether students prefer to print (from eleUM) and then read (instead reading from the iLiad)
• experiences with annotating and sharing annotated files (replicating the f-2-f interaction)
• e-books offer
• ease and effect of converting files to iLiad (mobi-pocket format)

Tools:

• iLiad e-book reader (SW212)
• various software packages to convert, annotate and synchronize

Results (what has been produced / achieved, where others can make use of, etc):

• loan agreement iLiad (hardware)
• Manuals / Quick reference cards
• report with experiences concerning the e-book reader
• description of experience in the UM e-learning practices site

Lessons learned (what do / can you, would you do differently next time and why):

• The iLiad has often been used as a “reading book” (free e-books on the iLiad were included). Some students indicated reading a book on the iLiad in the train as being pleasant.
• A major complaint is that the device used (SW212) is slow and the buttons and symbols are not clear to everyone. The manual is deeply hidden in a different place. The scanned documents make reading (by zooming) very slow. The iLiad pencil responds very slowly, “I type faster than I write on the iLiad.”
• This iLiad type seems not suited for marking, pageturning and stacking
• Since much of the literature made use of tables and images, we (including the students) chose not to convert the documents to A5 size (the size of the device being Mobipocket format). Consequence: reduced A4 pages on screen, possibly larger display by zooming in (and thus having to scroll). Comments from students in this regard:
  • preference for A5 sized device (larger would not fit in hand or bag), also for files with tables and images. Zooming and scrolling was taken for granted. Disadvantage: device responds slowly to these actions, can be improved by removing unnecessary documents.
  • they did not convert documents to A5-size themselves: this appears to be too complicated and it has not been tried (notwithstanding the actual ease).
• Students prefer to work on a (small) laptop. This device can be more suited to personal preferences and can more easily connect to the Internet (hence: the iLiad can also download content made available via (wireless) internet). They mention also applications they want to use simultaneously when reading literature such as online dictionaries.
• Annotating documents in order to exchange notes with fellow students proved something students do not find useful.

Stakeholders:

• Six part-timers of the master program Health Services and Innovation
• Block Coordinator: Milena Pavlova, supported by Nynke de Jong (1st line support) and Danielle Verstegen (EDUC, consultancy and evaluation)
• UB employees:
  • Noël Jaminon (technical support, instruction and documentation / manuals)
  • Gaby Lutgens (consultanty and coordination of the pilot)
  • Floor Gossiau (creating the e-reader)
  • Chantal Machiels (converting the e-reader to the iLiad)

Time involved:

UB: 125 hours

Defining settings of the iLiads / Documentation / Preparing and providing instruction / convert and store literature / coordination pilot / evaluation / reporting

FHML-gw: 30 hours

Coordination within faculty / coordination, supply / digitizing literature / Evaluation

Student employee: 8 hours

Documentation / Evaluation

Total: 163 hours

Relationships with other practices:

Similar initiatives are carried out by Kennisnet (SURF), the School of the Future, the Open University and Open Wise. Note that these practices only took place within primary and secondary education. Furthermore (and after this pilot) a pilot has been started at the Teachers Academy (MEBIT). Special attention should be spent on copyright in relation to the delivery of literature through the iLiad and other user experiences.

GL, 28-04-2009