Alternate and Parallel Texts in Digital Format

Jack Abramowitz

The "buzz" word is digital and traditional publishers seem mad for it. Random House
and other publishing giants are reported planning "new purely digital imprints", and Stephen
King is leading the way with on-line sales of chapters of his latest effort. Talk of hardware that
makes it possible to read books on standard size or hand held screens enthralls and antagonizes
our literate society in equal measure.

Amidst the turmoil, the implications and future of digital publishing have barely touched
the education world. Hardcopy texts still hold a high place of favor despite techno-rumblings that
computer gonzos, the "new kids on the block", will inevitably be able to replace textbooks.

There are some very good reasons for the widespread use of textbooks. They bring order,
provide generally reliable information and, when used properly, serve as effective instruments for
instruction. And that is what a textbook is supposed to do. It is not a literary work. Rather, its
purpose is to assist teachers and pupils in the presentation and learning of substantive subject
matter in a classroom setting.

The charge that textbooks are "boring" is meaningless. Textbooks can be poorly written,
badly organized, awash with needless color, and very overpriced, but they are basically instru-
ments for instruction similar to maps, audiovisual equipment, chalkboards, and overhead projec-
tors. They may all be badly used or over used, but they are never, in and of themselves, boring.
The causes for boredom lie elsewhere.

Real textbook problems occur if they are written at a reading and comprehension level
above the grade level for which they are intended. Difficulties in using a text can then rise very
sharply for the 25 to 30 percent of the students who are at least two years behind grade level in
their reading and comprehension abilities.

Another problem is that most hard copy texts are four or five years old. In fact, in 1950 a
history text hat was used in my school had a 1932 copyright. We turned to the hektograph and
mimeograph to test our oft-expressed belief we could write a better text than the ones we used.
We were too often proved wrong,, but learned not to rely solely upon commercial text materials.

Later, some teachers developed mimeograph and Rexograph text materials for class use
alongside standard texts. In at least one instance a teacher produced his own 450 mimeograph
pages (150 three page Lessons) for educationally deficient pupils that served as an "alternate text"
in the World History classes. Used in a directed reading approach in the classroom they provided
elements of reading and comprehension remediation with a basic presentation of subject matter.

Computers now make it possible to produce more easily the digital print materials that could be
used alongside the hard copy textbooks. These text materials, when they wer prepared with
supportive elements (vocabulary review, context clues, controlled reading levels, and with
comprehension and skills review exercises) could be used as:

1. Parallel texts for educationally deficient students in standard classes who need a good
deal of assistance. Like the traditional Latin “pony” they can help the student keep pace and,even
more important, can at least partly aid in overcoming reading and comprehension deficiencies.

2. Alternate texts for educationally deficient students in Basic (homogeneous) classes which
are distinct from Honors or Standard groupings. The Basic classes could seek to:

A. present meaningful subject matter learnings, and;
B. use the format to help overcome deficiencies and enable those students showing
improvement to be moved to Standard classes.

Certain safeguards must be observed when teachers prepare their own materials. It goes without
saying that standards of scholarship must be maintained and care taken to avoid items that
do not measure up to accepted academic standards. Care should also be taken to avoid errors in
spelling, punctuation, and grammar. But this need not be a major problem since teachers can easily,
and almost immediately, correct and update the pages. Try doing that with the “clangers” that
appear in some of the commercial texts.

The usefulness of the digital print text materials is that they can more likely be written at the
present educational skills level of an educationally deficient student. This makes it possible for
the student to learn while also overcoming, in part at least, some existing deficiencies. But there
is more. The learning material is also a “friendly text.” The student deals with three or four pages
at a time and does not have to carry around an overly priced, overly difficult, hardbound 650-page
textbook. The cruelest joke of fate is that which befalls the student who must pay a significant
price for losing a textbook he or she can barely use or understand. That’s unfriendly.

In the Basic classes the digital text materials can be kept in folders in the classroom since most
of the actual reading will be done in the classroom as part of directed reading (open book) lessons.
Such lessons are organized on the general format of one-third reading, one-third class discussion,
and one-third writing. And they work! Audiovisual lessons, debate lessons, and pupil reports are
also planned with a view to having some form of directed reading in the lesson since reading and
discussion must be central to every lesson for educationally deficient students.

The path for teachers who produce their own computer generated text material is not an easy one.
It places burdens upon them and upon administrators and supervisors who oversee and vet the
work, but it offers a chance for success. Textbook publishers may opt to include the quite inexpensive
digital print materials for parallel and alternate use alongside hard copy texts.. These could be
downloaded and copied for class use, by teachers, or digital print texts could be bound by publishers
when this is desired.