Traditional Textbooks vs. The iPad

While reading the news this morning, I discovered details about a plan between several Virginia schools and Pearson to launch an iPad-based social studies program.

As participants in the first program of this type, seventh and ninth graders will rely solely on Apple’s iPad instead of traditional textbooks throughout a 12-week period. According to a Mac Observer article, students will be able to use four U.S. and world history apps designed by Pearson to create their own customized textbooks, play interactive games related to class lessons, and take tests.

What do you think about this plan? Would you have enjoyed using an iPad instead of a traditional textbook? I was always a complete history nerd to begin with, but I do think that using the iPad, supplementing the written material with games and quizzes along the way, would have made the experience much more engaging and memorable.  

As this project progresses, it will be interesting to track the results in terms of how learning is impacted, but also to see how other more logistical concerns are addressed. For example, given the high cost of the iPad, is it really feasible for a school district to consider providing one to each student? What types of accountability issues does this create, in terms of students damaging or losing the devices, not to mention cheating? How will their peers, who don’t necessarily have access to iPads and have to go on using traditional textbooks, react? Will there come a time when students are required to purchase iPads for class, the way many of us were once required to purchase graphing calculators?

I guess only time will tell.

(Photo Credit: Pearson)

Gender Issues In Publishing

Though not strictly related to e-publishing, an article in today’s PublishersWeekly examines why publishing is now a primarily female-dominated field and just how this affects the industry. Do women dominate the field because they typically grow up reading more than men do? Does the lower entry-level pay base deter men? Are “causes” such as these really legitimate, or are they merely self-perpetuating stereotypes? How does a lack of male perspectives affect what gets published and how it's marketed, if at all? These and other fascinating questions are considered.

Where the Boys Are Not

Best Buy Becomes One-Stop E-Reader Shop

The following Publishers Weekly article, which I also posted to Diigo, discusses Best Buy’s plan to start selling the Kindle, becoming a “one-stop shop” for consumers who wish to compare e-reading devices. The chain's offerings also include the Nook, iPad and Sony readers.

Best Buy to Sell Kindle In Stores, Enhance E-Reader Displays

E-Publishing & Book Fairs

With preparations underway for this month’s National Book Festival, which will take place Sept. 25 on the National Mall, I’ve found myself pondering the entire concept of book fairs in general.

As a child, one of the biggest highlights of the new school year was going to the annual book fair set up in our small elementary school library, where I eagerly scanned the tables in search of the one special book that most struck my six-year-old fancy. In retrospect, it’s clear that events like these largely contributed to what would become a lifelong love of reading.

As electronic publishing continues to increase, what effect will this have on traditional book fairs, like those I remember so fondly? In all honesty, I just can’t imagine my childhood experience having been reduced to merely sitting at a computer screen and clicking through a long list of titles, without the joy of actually feeling each book in my hands as I passionately debated the literary merits of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.

Have book fairs played a role in your life, whether as a child or as an adult? Do you see e-publishing as a threat to these types of events?

(Graphic Credit: National Book Festival)

An Industry In Flux

When I first attended one of the GWU publishing program’s information sessions back in 2009, Dr. Grossblatt asked those of us in attendance whether we thought social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter qualified as “publishers.” A few years ago, while earning my undergraduate degree through a traditional print-based newspaper journalism program, I would have said “no.” When I was editor in chief of the campus daily, we had a website, but that was about as technologically advanced as we dared to become.

Today, I would unquestionably say “yes,” and that I am fascinated by how dramatically technology is changing the face of publishing and transforming the way consumers receive information. While this is in part due to the explosive growth of such advancements as smart phones, social networking and blogging over the past few years, it is also due to the increased awareness among publishers that these technologies hold the future of the industry.

Get Married, a wedding-focused company I write for as a featured blogger, utilizes Microsoft Tag technology in its quarterly magazine to connect readers instantly to video feeds and online material. The company also publishes a daily “Wedding Dish” video as part of its popular blog, and attracts readers by featuring interactive quizzes, polls and contests as part of its online media platform.

As a congressional aide, I’ve worked with Government Printing Office and Legislative Information System staff members to ensure that our constituents, staff and congressional members have accurate, up-to-date information regarding legislation. Though slower to adapt than many other outlets, I am witnessing firsthand how the government is at last embracing online technology to streamline and quicken the ability of both staff and the public to get the legislative information they need.

This fall, as a graduate student, I hope to build upon my solid editorial background to develop the business prowess needed to succeed in the publishing field. From studying the methods publishers rely on to best collaborate with an editorial and advertising staff, to exploring in-depth the ways in which technology is changing and improving the way publishers package information, I hope to obtain the competitive, real-life skills I need to branch out into such a rapidly changing industry.