Feasibility of Interactive eTextbooks with Computationally Intense Content

We evaluate the technical feasibility of creating pedagogi cally valuable, highly interactive content in eTextbooks for the purpose of education in computational ly intense fields. This research was motivated by the observation that emerging eTextbook techn ologies could help enhance the education of engineering students. Engineers often want to experiment and to be able to quickly see meaningful results. They want to receive immediate feed back or response for their inputs. They want interactive learning tools. Engineers want trial -and-error with a realistic system, with which they can interact, even if it is a virtual one. The most i nteractivity in many eTextbooks is clicking links, resizing and rotating images, or pausing/p laying audio/video. Currently, emerging technologies associated with eTextbooks, and eBooks in gen eral, are approaching a developmental level where it is possible to provide realist ic virtual systems embedded in an eTextbook environment that could help build students’ phys ical intuition. Since students may wish to interact with simulations in real-time, one of our fe asibility tests involved the real-time rendering and simulation of different example cases of fluid ows within a sample eTextbook chapter. The simulation comes with controls the student can use to manipulate key flow parameters to see the response of the flow field to student inpu ts. Ultimately, the goal is to enable the creation of universal learning tools where the student c a selectively use the interactive modules needed to complete said student’s education and phy sical intuition.