6 companies aiming to digitize the textbook industry — from Mashable.com by Sarah Kessler
On 05/11/2011,
in digital learning, digital textbooks, e-books, e-readers, publishing, tablets, textbooks,
by Daniel Christian
On 03/23/2011,
in change, changing business models, cost of getting a degree, digital learning, digital textbooks, disruption, e-books, e-readers, multimedia, New "Amazon.com" of Higher Education, new business models, publishing, textbooks,
by Daniel Christian
Pearson & McGraw-Hill make multi-million dollar investment in Inkling — from Kirsten Winkler
It seems as if the latest study from Xplana in which they predict that the tipping point for digital textbooks is as near as 2015 has opened up the wallets of two major publishers for an undisclosed “multi million Dollar” investment.
Inkling, the maker of the iPad application and platform which delivers enhanced and engaging textbooks, leaving the “flat, PDF-based digital textbooks” behind is the beneficiary and it could give the startup a competitive edge over the well funded competitor the Kno.
But as money is not everything Inkling, Pearson and McGraw-Hill also made some significant content commitments, boosting the number of titles available on the Inkling platform…
Also see:
- Publishers Invest in Inkling, Producer of Digital Textbooks — from The Chronicle by Josh Keller
- Digitizing an Industry
Matt MacInnis — Founder and CEO, Inkling
Bootstrapped Publishing – DIY FTW — from thinktiv.com
On 03/18/2011,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, active learning, adult learning, career development, change, collaboration, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital textbooks, distance education, informal learning, instructional design, learning ecosystem, learning theories, lifelong learning, microlearning, online learning, online media, pace of change, Personal Learning Networks (PLNs), professional development, publishing, RSS, social learning / networks, social media, staying relevant, strategy, student-related, surviving, teaching & learning, textbooks, training / L&D, ubiquitous learning, workplace,
by Daniel Christian
From DSC:
After looking at some items concerning Connectivism*, I’ve been reflecting upon the following questions:
- What’s the best way for us to dip our feet into the constantly moving streams of content?
(No matter the topic or discipline, the streams continue to flow.) - What’s the optimal setup for K-12 based “courses”?
- What’s the optimal setup for “courses” within higher education?
- How should L&D departments deal with this phenomenon?
- How do publishers and textbook authors want to address this situation?
Thinking of Gonzalez (2004; as cited in Siemens (2005)) description of the challenges of rapidly diminishing knowledge life:
“One of the most persuasive factors is the shrinking half-life of knowledge. The “half-life of knowledge” is the time span from when knowledge is gained to when it becomes obsolete. Half of what is known today was not known 10 years ago. The amount of knowledge in the world has doubled in the past 10 years and is doubling every 18 months according to the American Society of Training and Documentation (ASTD). To combat the shrinking half-life of knowledge, organizations have been forced to develop new methods of deploying instruction.”
Stephen Downes addresses this and points to a possible solution to this phenomenon in his presentation from 3/15/11 entitled “Educational Projection: Supporting Distributed Learning Online.”
Excerpt/slides:
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I need to put more thought into this, but wanted to throw this question out there…more later…
* From DSC: Some of the items I looked at regarding Connectivism — some directly related, others indirectly-related — were:
Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. Retrieved from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm.
Downes, S. (2005). An introduction to connective knowledge. Retrieved from http://www. downes. ca/post/33034. Downes noted that this was published in Hug, Theo (ed. ) (2007): Media, knowledge & education – exploring new spaces, relations and dynamics in digital media ecologies. Proceedings of the International Conference held on June 25-26, 2007. November 27, 2007.
Kop, R. & Hill, A. (2008). Connectivism: Learning theory of the future or vestige of the past? International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, v9 n3 p1-13 Oct 2008.
Tracey, R. (2009). Instructivism, constructivism or connectivism? Training & Development in Australia, December, 2009. p08-09, 2p. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. ISSN 0310-4664.
Kerr, B. (2007). A challenge to connectivism. Retrieved at http://learningevolves. wikispaces. com/kerr.
Sims, R. (2008). Rethinking (e)learning: A manifesto for connected generations. Distance Education Vol. 29, No. 2, August 2008, 153–164. ISSN 0158-7919 print/ISSN 1475-0198 online. DOI: 10. 1080/01587910802154954
Lisa Dawley. (2009). Social network knowledge construction: emerging virtual world pedagogy. On the Horizon, 17(2), 109-121. Retrieved from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 1880656431).
Hargadon, S. (2011). Ugh. Classic politics now extends to social networking in education. Retrieved from http://www. stevehargadon. com/2011/03/ugh-classic-politics-now-extends-to. html.
Cross, J. (2001). Crowd-inspired innovation. Retrieved from http://www.internettime.com/2011/03/crowd-inspired-innovation.
Rogers-Estable, M.. (2009). Web 2.0 and distance education: Tools and techniques. Distance Learning, 6(4), 55-60. Retrieved from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 2017059921).
Marrotte-Newman, S.. (2009). Why virtual schools exist and understanding their culture. Distance Learning, 6(4), 31-35. Retrieved from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 2017059881).
Hilton, J., Graham, C., Rich, P., & Wiley, D. (2010). Using online technologies to extend a classroom to learners at a distance. Distance Education, 31(1), 77-92. Retrieved from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 2074810921).
Attwell, G. (2010). Personal learning environments and Vygotsky. Retrieved from http://www.pontydysgu.org/2010/04/personal-learning-environments-and-vygotsky.
Digital textbooks reaching the tipping point in the U.S. higher education — A revised five-year projection — from xplana.com by Rob Reynolds
On 03/14/2011,
in digital textbooks, open courseware and systems, publishing, textbooks,
by Daniel Christian
7 things you should know about open textbook publishing — from Educause, March 2011, by Judy Baker (Foothill College) and Jacky Hood (Foothill College)
On 03/10/2011,
in 21st century, digital textbooks, digital video, e-books, e-readers, emerging technologies, innovation, interactivity, multimedia, presentations, publishing, textbooks, tools, trends,
by Daniel Christian
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Originally saw this at xplana.com.
On 03/03/2011,
in education technology, K-12 related, online learning, open courseware and systems, professional development, teachers, teaching online, textbooks,
by Daniel Christian
Get connected to the online learning culture — from Edutopia.org
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Professional Development: Starter Kit for Teaching Online
Get expert advice on how you can get started as an online educator.
Making the Case for Open-Source Textbooks
Futurist David Thornburg on why open-source textbooks have the advantage of being free of cost and provide greater value to the users.
Beyond Paper and Pencil
Technology expert Ben Johnson wonders how learning — and schools — would change if teachers stopped using paper.
On 02/22/2011,
in digital textbooks, e-books, e-readers, future, higher education, mobile learning, new business models, open courseware and systems, publishing, social learning / networks, textbooks,
by Daniel Christian
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This is a presentation prepared for the “What College Students Think: Making Information Pay for Higher Ed Publishing” conference sponsored by the Book Industry Study Group on February 9.
On 01/27/2011,
in digital learning, digital textbooks, library / librarians, open courseware and systems, textbooks,
by Daniel Christian
Who needs textbooks? — from Newsweek.com
How Washington State is redesigning textbooks for the digital age.
Jessie Sellers, a student at Tacoma Community College in Washington state, was puzzled when he logged onto his school’s website last December to figure out which book he needed for his upcoming English class. Whereas for all his previous courses, the 24-year-old education major could simply click on a link to view the name of the required textbook, this time there were no books listed at all. It was no mistake: thanks to an ambitious pilot program aimed at reducing the cost of textbooks at public colleges, Sellers and hundreds of other students across the state won’t have to buy textbooks for more than three dozen courses offered this winter.
Washington’s Open Course Library is the largest state-funded effort in the nation to make core college course materials available on the Web for $30 or less per class. Financed with $750,000 from the state of Washington and a matching grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the goal isn’t just to reduce student costs, says program architect Cable Green. It’s also to create engaging, interactive learning materials that will help improve course completion rates. By the time the project is completed in 2012, digitized textbook equivalents for some 81 high-enrollment classes will be available online for the more than 400,000 students enrolled in Washington’s network of community and technical colleges. Even better, the materials can be shared across the globe, largely for free, because they will be published in an open format that avoids the most onerous licensing restrictions. To keep costs at a minimum, the teachers developing the materials are relying primarily on either existing material in the public domain or embarking on the painstaking task of developing materials from scratch.
On 12/10/2010,
in digital textbooks, game-changing environment, innovation, learning spaces, new business models, new media literacies, publishing, smart classrooms, textbooks,
by Daniel Christian
— from Touch User Interface
On 11/24/2010,
in student-related, textbooks,
by Daniel Christian
On 11/08/2010,
in changing business models, cost of getting a degree, digital textbooks, disruption, new business models, open courseware and systems, publishing, textbooks,
by Daniel Christian
On 10/22/2010,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, digital audio, digital learning, digital photography, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, disruption, e-books, e-readers, education technology, educational games / serious games, elearning, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, game-changing environment, higher education, interactivity, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, love of learning, media/film, mobile learning, mobile technologies, more voice more choice more control, multi-touch, multimedia, music, new business models, online learning, online media, personalized/customized learning, platforms, podcasting, presentations, publishing, social learning / networks, story, storytelling, student-related, tablets, technologies for your home, telepresence, textbooks, tools, user experience (UX), vendors, videoconferencing, virtual field trips, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration,
by Daniel Christian
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From DSC:
This tablet is larger, which I love! It also offers:
- Interactivity
- Multimedia
- Ability to annotate/save annotations
- Collaboration and more
Nice!