Digital publishing has been around for years with Project Gutenberg producing digital versions of books since 1971 (Flood, 2014), but the first dedicated E-reader device wasn’t created until 1998 (Lebert, 2011). Since they have become mass produced however, with ‘one third of people in the UK’ owning them (Campbell, 2012), trade digital publishing has boomed, but what about educational publishing? Research shows that 'two thirds of students' in higher education still prefer print books as they are key to their learning (Price, 2012). This is also reflected across the Atlantic with students in the U.S. (see diagram below).
So if students prefer print, why should publishers adopt new technology and developing expensive digital products? Here are some pros and cons of doing so within higher education.
Benefits: Weaknesses:
- interactivity - accessibility to all regarding price
- a variety of resources - range of teacher/lecturer ability
- 'flexibility’ - technical faults
- 'customisability’ - fear of technical faults
(Hall, 2013)
The weaknesses can be easily overcome, for example, tablets are ‘the most affordable electronic devices on the market’ (Smith, 2013), and if they are still too expensive, there are government grants, schemes for loaning tablets, and university computers. There is even a tablets for schools campaign that is dedicated to making sure these products are accessible to all (Tablets for schools, 2014). It is therefore significant for the future of publishing to play more of a community role in education by: testing products carefully, providing quick and easy updates, and most importantly teaching institutes how to use the products. By doing this, there should be no reason as to why digital educational products created by publishers should not be attractive to students and their teachers.
Working to minimise the weaknesses and emphasise the benefits of digital publishing, should leave no reason for these products not be utilised by students. As a student myself, I can understand why print books are so important. The feeling of having the physical book in front of you is, as well as being able to ‘highlight’ and ‘re-sell’ (Greenfield, 2013), is a form of interactivity that is vital for students, here are two examples that embody this digitally:
1. Cambridge University Press's selection of ‘Explore Shakespeare’ apps, which provide the text, audio technology, definitions, summaries, articles and even ‘interactive word clouds’ (Dredge, 2012), in order to give students the most they possibly can out of their digital content.
2. Blackwell's Learning, a recently launched platform that houses books 'from all academic publishers' (Campbell, 2014), which students can download all in one place. They then have the ability to bookmark, note, and highlight on the page, and even share notes on a specially made module feed. This is a great way for students to get the best that they like from print, with the ease of digital technology.
With technological advancements, students can in fact interact with digital products that have fantastic support structures, multiple resources, and easy accessibility; educational publishing could easily become mostly digital in the future. To start with, however, the focus needs to be on creating hybrids with multiple platforms and resources, because students have yet to be completely comfortable with digital products. Soon, however, students will recognise how the benefits outweigh the weaknesses, and embrace digital products within their studies.
549 words
Bibliography
Burn, A., and Durran, J., 2007. Media literacy in schools: practise, production and progression. London: Paul Chapman Publishing.
Campbell, A., 2012. ‘One third’ of Britons own e-reader’. The Bookseller, [online] 26 April. Available at: <http://www.thebookseller.com/news/one-third-britons-own-e-reader> [Accessed 15 November 2014].
Campbell, L., 2014. Launch of Blackwell Learning e-book platform. The Bookseller, [online] 15 September. Available at: < http://www.thebookseller.com/news/launch-blackwell-learning-e-book-platform > [Accessed 22 November 2014].
Dredge, S., 2012. Do Shakespeare plays smell as sweet when released as iPad apps?. The Guardian, [blog] 31 October. Available at: <http://www.theguardian.com/culture/appsblog/2012/oct/31/shakespeare-ipad-apps> [Accessed 15 November 2014].
Flood, A., 2014. Where did the story of ebooks begin?. The Guardian, [online] 12 March. Available at: <http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/mar/12/ebooks-begin-medium-reading-peter-james> [Accessed 15 November 2014].
Greenfield, J., 2013. Students, Professors Still Not Yet Ready for Digital Textbooks. Digital Book World, [online] 11 June. Available at: <http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2013/students-professors-still-not-yet-ready-for-digital-textbooks/> [Accessed 15 November 2014].
Hall, F., 2013. The Business of Digital Publishing: An introduction to the digital book and journal industries. Abingdon: Routledge.
Lebert, M., 2011. Ebooks: 1998 - The first ebook readers. Project Gutenberg News, [blog] 16 July. Available at: <http://www.gutenbergnews.org/20110716/ebooks-1998-the-first-ebook-readers/> [Accessed 15 November 2014].
Price, G., 2012. Two Studies: British University Students Still Crave Print Over eBooks & US: Tablet Ownership, eReading, and Students. Info Docket, [online] 15 March. Available at: <http://www.infodocket.com/2012/03/15/two-studies-british-university-students-still-crave-print-over-ebooks-us-tablet-ownership-amongst-students/> [Accessed 15 November 2014}.
Smith, M., 2013. Forget laptops, but don’t fall for tablets: Hybrids are the future of computing. Digital Trends, [online] 24 January. Available at: <http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/why-hybrids-are-the-future-of-computing/> [Accessed 15 November 2014].
Tablets for Schools, 2014. Tablet initiatives around the world. [online] Available at: <http://www.tabletsforschools.org.uk/worldwide-research/> [Accessed 15 November 2014}.
Tan, T., 2014. College Students Still Prefer Print Textbooks. Publishers Weekly, [online] 8 July. Available at: <http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/content-and-e-books/article/63225-college-students-prefer-a-mix-of-print-and-digital-textbooks.html> [Accessed 15 November 2014].
So if students prefer print, why should publishers adopt new technology and developing expensive digital products? Here are some pros and cons of doing so within higher education.
Benefits: Weaknesses:
- interactivity - accessibility to all regarding price
- a variety of resources - range of teacher/lecturer ability
- 'flexibility’ - technical faults
- 'customisability’ - fear of technical faults
(Hall, 2013)
The weaknesses can be easily overcome, for example, tablets are ‘the most affordable electronic devices on the market’ (Smith, 2013), and if they are still too expensive, there are government grants, schemes for loaning tablets, and university computers. There is even a tablets for schools campaign that is dedicated to making sure these products are accessible to all (Tablets for schools, 2014). It is therefore significant for the future of publishing to play more of a community role in education by: testing products carefully, providing quick and easy updates, and most importantly teaching institutes how to use the products. By doing this, there should be no reason as to why digital educational products created by publishers should not be attractive to students and their teachers.
Working to minimise the weaknesses and emphasise the benefits of digital publishing, should leave no reason for these products not be utilised by students. As a student myself, I can understand why print books are so important. The feeling of having the physical book in front of you is, as well as being able to ‘highlight’ and ‘re-sell’ (Greenfield, 2013), is a form of interactivity that is vital for students, here are two examples that embody this digitally:
1. Cambridge University Press's selection of ‘Explore Shakespeare’ apps, which provide the text, audio technology, definitions, summaries, articles and even ‘interactive word clouds’ (Dredge, 2012), in order to give students the most they possibly can out of their digital content.
2. Blackwell's Learning, a recently launched platform that houses books 'from all academic publishers' (Campbell, 2014), which students can download all in one place. They then have the ability to bookmark, note, and highlight on the page, and even share notes on a specially made module feed. This is a great way for students to get the best that they like from print, with the ease of digital technology.
With technological advancements, students can in fact interact with digital products that have fantastic support structures, multiple resources, and easy accessibility; educational publishing could easily become mostly digital in the future. To start with, however, the focus needs to be on creating hybrids with multiple platforms and resources, because students have yet to be completely comfortable with digital products. Soon, however, students will recognise how the benefits outweigh the weaknesses, and embrace digital products within their studies.
549 words
Bibliography
Burn, A., and Durran, J., 2007. Media literacy in schools: practise, production and progression. London: Paul Chapman Publishing.
Campbell, A., 2012. ‘One third’ of Britons own e-reader’. The Bookseller, [online] 26 April. Available at: <http://www.thebookseller.com/news/one-third-britons-own-e-reader> [Accessed 15 November 2014].
Campbell, L., 2014. Launch of Blackwell Learning e-book platform. The Bookseller, [online] 15 September. Available at: < http://www.thebookseller.com/news/launch-blackwell-learning-e-book-platform > [Accessed 22 November 2014].
Dredge, S., 2012. Do Shakespeare plays smell as sweet when released as iPad apps?. The Guardian, [blog] 31 October. Available at: <http://www.theguardian.com/culture/appsblog/2012/oct/31/shakespeare-ipad-apps> [Accessed 15 November 2014].
Flood, A., 2014. Where did the story of ebooks begin?. The Guardian, [online] 12 March. Available at: <http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/mar/12/ebooks-begin-medium-reading-peter-james> [Accessed 15 November 2014].
Greenfield, J., 2013. Students, Professors Still Not Yet Ready for Digital Textbooks. Digital Book World, [online] 11 June. Available at: <http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2013/students-professors-still-not-yet-ready-for-digital-textbooks/> [Accessed 15 November 2014].
Hall, F., 2013. The Business of Digital Publishing: An introduction to the digital book and journal industries. Abingdon: Routledge.
Lebert, M., 2011. Ebooks: 1998 - The first ebook readers. Project Gutenberg News, [blog] 16 July. Available at: <http://www.gutenbergnews.org/20110716/ebooks-1998-the-first-ebook-readers/> [Accessed 15 November 2014].
Price, G., 2012. Two Studies: British University Students Still Crave Print Over eBooks & US: Tablet Ownership, eReading, and Students. Info Docket, [online] 15 March. Available at: <http://www.infodocket.com/2012/03/15/two-studies-british-university-students-still-crave-print-over-ebooks-us-tablet-ownership-amongst-students/> [Accessed 15 November 2014}.
Smith, M., 2013. Forget laptops, but don’t fall for tablets: Hybrids are the future of computing. Digital Trends, [online] 24 January. Available at: <http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/why-hybrids-are-the-future-of-computing/> [Accessed 15 November 2014].
Tablets for Schools, 2014. Tablet initiatives around the world. [online] Available at: <http://www.tabletsforschools.org.uk/worldwide-research/> [Accessed 15 November 2014}.
Tan, T., 2014. College Students Still Prefer Print Textbooks. Publishers Weekly, [online] 8 July. Available at: <http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/content-and-e-books/article/63225-college-students-prefer-a-mix-of-print-and-digital-textbooks.html> [Accessed 15 November 2014].