A discussion the Semantico team had recently with
David Worlock of Outsell highlighted areas of convergence between online publishing and e-learning, two worlds that have previously seemed oddly sealed off from each other. I go regularly to the
Learning Technologies exhibition in January, where the great and the good of UK e-learning gather, and also to more publishing-focused shows such as
Online Information and
BETT – and I’m often struck by the lack of overlap both in exhibitors and attendees.
What we’re looking at, in market terms, is two quite distinct industries; of very different scale (e-learning is much smaller), structured differently, and with their own dynamics – each possessing its own distinctive terminology, guru community and media universe. There ought to be more points of contact in the area of education; but in many ways this is where the differences are most marked. If I were to point to one philosophical sticking point that underlies this difference, it would concern an issue close to every publisher’s heart: the status of authoritative texts.
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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