Charting the Course of Teaching and Learning in a Networked World

Trading in Textbooks for e-books: How will the digital movement affect students and teachers?

As an avid reader I enjoy having physical copies of books and magazines, which made me take a step back when I read that Google is in the process of scanning existing books from public libraries and universities into digital format. Cushing Academy, which is a preparatory school located in Ashburnham, Massachusetts is accompanying Google in the digital movement by creating a virtual library. The library has removed less than half of the 20,000 books that were in the stacks and invested a substantial amount of money to transform the library into a learning centre, which will have laptop-friendly carrels that can be used to access the millions of books that are in the process of being digitized and added to the school's electronic literary database and will be accessed via e-books or computers.

The digital movement is clearly here to stay but is increased digital content going to help schools improve the quality of teacher and student interaction? Is this really going to make books and research materials more accessible to everyone? What's your take on the issue?

You can get the full article here.

Tags: Google, Internet, books, content, digital, e-books, electronics, libraries

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Permalink Reply by Michelle Renee Garrison on November 26, 2009 at 8:42pm

I can see the pros and cons. I like the idea of saving paper and space with e-books. However, reading off a computer screen for a long time is hard on the eyes and not as comfortable as a book in the hands. I think there can be a place for both. For reading long works all the way through, a book in the hands is preferable. For articles, excerpts, resource materials, and shorter pieces, online reading materials is wonderful.

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Permalink Reply by Wazobia Nigeria on February 19, 2010 at 5:50pm

Yes, more content/information for people to get smarter around the world, and so that competition will increase and people will now know how to rob the bank with out going to the bank e.g. look at America today. So I think the only way to solve this problem is to learn new skills that are unheard. So the only way is by bridging the culture gap e.g. Africa, China, India. We have to try to humble ourselves and learn for them. Please join my website for we need people like you, and as time goes this is our goal starting from Africa.

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