Textbook Companies…Get A Clue!

August 16, 2013 at 8:44 pm  •  Posted in Education, trip planning by

In the arcane world of media, one particularly screwed up corner is the textbook business. With all the talk about eLearning, eTexts, iPad editions and interactive text books, it’s still like the wild, wild west out there. If you’re a school district, there are resources and options. But if you’re taking an alternative path – like us – there are still hardly any options.

Take Pearsons, one of the largest text book companies in the world. They publish Prentice Hall Mathematics: Courses 1,2,3 Common Core, which is what Otto and Yve need for their math classes. When you go on their ill-conceived website, you can find the Student Edition with 6-year digital access. Awesome! Add it to your cart, and then you can either log in with your Teacher/School account, or use a credit card if you’re a parent or student. Perfect!

I hesitated because there are a couple of different options on their site between a digital textbook and an eText which uses their app on an iPad. No explanation between the two, no screen shots, no examples… Time to find the 800 number and call Customer Service.

Very quickly, and without too many auto-response computers probing me coldly, I got a woman that sounded friendly and knowledgeable; Barbara, I think. “How can I help you?” she asked in a tone that gave me hope that I might actually get what I needed.

“What’s the difference between the digital textbook and the eText version of the Prentice Hall Math book?” I enquired hopefully.

“Are you with a school district?”

“Well, I guess not. We’re homeschooling our kids for a year as we travel around the Globe!” I replied proudly.

“You can’t buy it.”

“Huh? Which one can’t I buy?”

In a bored tone she responded cooly, “Neither one.”

“But the site lets me add it to my basket and even lets me check out as a parent with a credit card…”

“Yeah, well, what you’ll get is a textbook in the mail. We only sell print additions to individuals,” said Babs with no remorse or embarrassment whatsoever.

“So even though it says ‘digital edition with 6-year license’ as the thing I am paying almost $70 for, you’re saying it’s just an old-world, heavy, tree-killing textbook?”

“Yes.”

I tried not to get too mad at Barbara, an unwitting accomplice in the demise of the publishing world, and hung up frustrated. So, my options, it appears, are 1) to buy a super-heavy book and lug it around the world; 2) buy a super-heavy book and pay the scanning company over $100 to scan it, like Wescott had to do with his books for “virtual” high school; or 3) see if Mercer Island School District can help me get the digital copies of the books we need.

We’ll see if Option 3 bears any fruit…

 

 

Cliff

Latest posts by Cliff (see all)

4 Comments

  1. Chris Englin / August 16, 2013 at 8:54 pm /

    Been there. Anyone registered through the homeschool program with the district or a teacher can buy it for you. There is a number they have to use with their order. Good luck!

    • Cliff / August 16, 2013 at 8:56 pm /

      Awesome tip, thanks!!

  2. Kaarina / August 16, 2013 at 11:23 pm /

    I vote for option #4- use the internet only and don’t buy a textbook. There are so many sites, so many companies and so much out there that textbooks are clearly a thing of the past. It will take extra research and effort, but if you make the kids find the information they need to learn instead of handing it to them, you are killing 2 birds w/ one stone. Research and Math. Check!

  3. Web / September 16, 2013 at 5:23 pm /

    Option 4: google “Prentice Hall Mathematics: Courses 1,2,3 Common Core free ebook”

Comments are closed.

Globetrotting for:

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.