INF533 Assess 2 Part C Interactive Book review
3D4 Medical. (2019). App for iPhone Complete Anatomy Version 5.0.1. 3D4 Medical Ltd, USA
Introduction
While the word book doesn’t appear anywhere within the above application (app), the affordances reviewed in the table below, fulfil the criteria for an Interactive book using (Hicks, 2014) definition. The app contains the basic search capabilities of an ebook, features of an enhanced book including audio, video and animated content along with Interactive affordances associated with tablets and mobile devices such as fully interactive animations and gamification features (timed quizzes).
Further to this, the app is more than a list of features, but rather a “published collection of related pages or screens” (Lamb, 2011). As such, the review below is for an Interactive book.
Initial review
An experienced team of academics and e-health professionals, as well as technical staff, worked to complete the interactive book. Further classifications of this work could include digitally originated text (Unsworth, 2006) and digital narratives created solely in the digital form (Walsh, 2012). To further assess the book I’ve created a table to assess user affordances based on the work of (Mune & Agee, 2015) and (Parrott, 2011).
| User perspective affordance | Does not contain | Fails to meet expectations | Meets expectations | Exceeds expectations |
| Layout considerations | ||||
| Layout provides an exact view of the whole text. | ✔ | |||
| Content changes to fit the device being used (Page reflow zoom range and increments of change). | ✔ | |||
| Text considerations | ||||
| Font size, colour and style adjust. | ✔ | |||
| Background colour changes to suit reader experience in a variety of environments. | ✔ | |||
| Letter and line spacing adjust. | ✔ | |||
| Search/Navigation considerations | ||||
| Includes navigable table of contents. | ✔ | |||
| Ability to navigate to a page number. | ✔ | |||
| Ability to navigate forward and back. | ✔ | |||
| Ability to forward and return to table of contents by chapter/section or page. | ✔ | |||
| Hyperlinks to other resources open in another window or includes return navigation. | ✔ | |||
| Annotation considerations | ||||
| Text is easily highlighted. | ✔ | |||
| Text is easily bookmarked. | ✔ | |||
| Reader ability to make text notes. | ✔ | |||
| Reader ability to make audio notes. | ✔ | |||
| Text-to-speech considerations | ||||
| Text is readable with a screen reader. | ✔ | |||
| Includes adjustable reading speed setting. | ✔ | |||
| Includes adjustable reading voice settings. | ✔ | |||
| Includes highlighting as text is read. | ✔ | |||
| Language support | ||||
| Text contains a dictionary and thesaurus. | ✔ | |||
| Text includes word/phrase pronunciation assistance. | ✔ |
| User perspective affordance | Does not contain | Fails to meet expectations | Meets expectations | Exceeds expectations |
| Media considerations | ||||
| Images captions and alternative text are readable. | ✔ | |||
| Decorative images do not contain alternative text. | ✔ | |||
| Table/s caption/s are readable by column and row. | ✔ | |||
| Table/s navigation displays in the natural reading order. | ✔ | |||
| Video is synergistic with text. | ✔ | |||
| Other augmentation affordances are synergistic with text. | ✔ | |||
| Printing and exporting considerations | ||||
| Text requires secure sign-in. | ✔ | |||
| Ability to print sections/chapters or the whole text. | ✔ | |||
| Ability to print their notes | ✔ | |||
| Ability to email their notes | ✔ | |||
| Ease of use | ||||
| User interface | ✔ | |||
| Suitability for curriculum | ||||
| Engages multiple learning styles | ✔ | |||
| Resource content shelf-life | ✔ | |||
| Resource file format | ✔ |
Final review
Assessment of the book was limited to the iPhone and iPad, but the book in the form of an app is available on all Android or IOS devices for one subscription price. While this review is based on a free trial of the full book specifically developed for the iPhone, the quality of content in all elements (text, video, quizzes and interactive animations) is of a high standard, and there is synergy between these elements.
While the technical features enhance the text and cater to multiple learning styles in many areas, others detract and may add a level of complexity, particularly for those from marginalised groups. Features with this potential include:
- The colour used to highlight each anatomical structure disappears when rotating and zooming leading to confusion on the beginning and end of a structure.
- The primary content navigation is not cohesive which may lead to non-linear navigation issues.
- The book has accessibility issues with poor font management, images (no alternate text), and no ability to adjust backgrounds or colours, (W3C, 2018)
- Low Socioeconomic Status (SES) users may find the extra video resources too costly to download as hyperlinks lead to external (download only content), (Selwyn, 2016).
- The reader has no ability to highlight, bookmark or make notes.
- The robotic speech to text abilities with no alterability adds no added pronunciation assistance for the novice user.
While the above detract from the user experience there is value in introducing this interactive book into the Paramedicine curriculum. The ability to rotate and zoom into 3D anatomical images, and the catering to multiple learner styles is attractive. High quality cadaver videos also add realism (authenticity) to the resources which are highly valued in our profession.
However, as the price point for this book is high and has ongoing subscription issues the only way I would support it’s entry into curriculum is by having the education provider pay the licencing fees.
References
Hicks, T. (2014). Enhancing our eBook Experiences. Retrieved from http://www.digitalrhetoriccollaborative.org/2014/01/21/enhancing-our-ebook-experiences/#prettyPhoto
Lamb, A. (2011). Reading Redefined for a Transmedia Universe. Learning & Leading with Technology, 39(3), 12-17.
Mune, C., & Agee, A. (2015). Ebook Showdown: Evaluating Academic Ebook Platforms from a User Perspective. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/conferences/confsandpreconfs/2015/Mune_Agee.pdf
Parrott, K. (2011). 5 Questions to ask when evaluating apps and ebooks. Retrieved from https://www.alsc.ala.org/blog/2011/07/5-questions-to-ask-when-evaluating-apps-and-ebooks/
Selwyn, N. (2016). Is Technology Good for Education? Oxford: Polity Press.
Unsworth, L. (2006). E-literature for children enhancing digital literacy learning. London;: Routledge.
W3C. (2018). Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Retrieved from https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/
Walsh, M. (2012). Literature in a digital environment. In A literature companion for teachers (Vol. 34).
