The printed book has been referred to as the most significant breakthrough ever in learning technology (bigger even than the blackboard). Surely it’s unimprovable as a means for conveying ideas, facts and knowledge from one mind to another? Well perhaps not.
Now that online publishing has moved beyond simply putting books online as pdfs, we are beginning to see a far more active development of the possibilities when it comes to extending the use of texts online for learning. An important next stage in this maturity curve is adding interactive features such as assessment, and learner feedback. Beyond that, we are also beginning to see use of more advanced, ‘Web 2.0′ features, such as the ability to add user-generated content.
And something that’s becoming clear, as academic and reference publishing develops in this direction, is the emergence of areas of convergence between e-publishing and e-learning, which up till now have been distinct fields. Continue reading E-learning and online publishing converge beyond the book
The printed book has been referred to as the most significant breakthrough ever in learning technology (bigger even than the blackboard). Surely it’s unimprovable as a means for conveying ideas, facts and knowledge from one mind to another? Well perhaps not.
Now that online publishing has moved beyond simply putting books online as pdfs, we are beginning to see a far more active development of the possibilities when it comes to extending the use of texts online for learning. An important next stage in this maturity curve is adding interactive features such as assessment, and learner feedback. Beyond that, we are also beginning to see use of more advanced, ‘Web 2.0′ features, such as the ability to add user-generated content.
And something that’s becoming clear, as academic and reference publishing develops in this direction, is the emergence of areas of convergence between e-publishing and e-learning, which up till now have been distinct fields. Continue reading