Pass the SoLT

This news of the latest evolution in the ebook market comes from a colleague. It appears the first colour E-Ink device is now available and in use in Russia. The JetBook Color EDU.12 has been in development since earlier this year and will be made available shortly in the United States. The interesting aspect of this development is that the device is specifically targeting the educational etextbook market along with being a dedicated teacher's console with lesson plans, storage for student grades, pre-set exams, etc. Further information is available from the Jetbook website. Here is a link to a brief video clip but most readers will have to rely on the images as the narrative is in Russian...

http://youtu.be/D4pgDoGLiIg

Two quick items on the theme of ebooks and digitalization. The first is a review essay published in First Monday that examines literature from a variety of disciplines on the technological, social, behavioural, and neuroscientific impacts that the Internet is having on the practice of reading. A particular focus is given to the reading behaviour of emerging university students and their preferences for print and digital texts. Cull (2011) writes:

"While university students operate in a world immersed in digital text, they have not simultaneously abandoned print. It is not true, as Steve Jobs stated and as Nicholas Carr implied, that they like the iPad because they don’t read. In fact, for their university studies, students prefer to read on paper, although they also want the convenience of online digital text."

This conclusion is similar to the results of a Massey University survey conducted in 2010 which explored students' study practices and preferences for printed and digital learning resources. We found students wanted digital learning resources and expected them to become normal practice in the future but by and large they also wanted to retain at least some printed study materials.

The second item is a short video which presents a vision of how the concept of the book is likely to evolve in the future. It shows how the book will become more personalized to meet the needs of an increasing connected reader. The vision is based around three concepts--Nelson, Copeland and Alice--and the first has particular significance for the design and type of engagement with study materials in higher education. The idea of co-development and non-linear narrative in Alice is also an example of how digital books have the potential to redefine the nature of the reading experience.

This week it was reported by Amazon that for the first time Kindle books outsold hardcover and paperbacks for the first time. Amazon states that in less than four years since the first release of the Kindle in 1997 their customers are now purchasing more Kindle books than all print books - hardcover and paperback - combined. They go on to report that since April 1, for every 100 print books Amazon.com has sold, it has sold 105 Kindle books. Amazon also claims to have sold more than three times as many Kindle books so far in 2011 as it did during the same period in 2010.

A brief follow up story in Singularity Hub opens with the line 'the world is going digital' as people are getting over the feel of the traditional printed book in their hands. The article also points out that Kindle sales numbers include only paid books and do not include the many out-of-copyright books that Kindle offers for free. This point is used as further evidence that 'pixel is winning over paper', and not just for books.

Although I think this claim is a little premature, on a personal note when traveling I no longer carry with me a thick paperback to read on the plane and in my hotel room. And it's great not having to carry a weighty book with me in my hand luggage. Drawing on the example cited in the article by Murray, in my own university education I do remember the 'old days' when you used to go to the library and search the stacks for journal articles. I would then spend hours standing by the photocopier late at night when there wasn't a long line copying seminal articles and research papers. I hate to think how much of my time at university was spent exposing myself to the toxic spell of the copier and the light given off from the side.

Now almost everything is online. These days the main reason I visit the library is to meet with the University's Head Librarian. And I probably read more books and academic papers now than when I was a student. Therefore I concur with Murray that it is 'a pain in the butt if you have to leave your office and trudge down to the library' to find something that's not online.

So what does all this mean for the future of higher education and the nature of the student experience? Well I won't attempt to make any bold predictions as I don't see the book disappearing just yet and history tells us that universities are notoriously slow to change. However, e-books are now part of the new normal of learning (formal, informal and non formal) and we only have to reflect back on how the political economy of the music industry has radically changed over the last decade. In our own household we recently disposed of our 1990s stereo player and we no longer have a CD player. All our CDs are stored away as our music is digital.

My hunch is that the real driver or tipping point for pixel over paper in higher education will be the textbook industry. In part this will be driven by the fragile state of the economy and the growth of new business models around open access and the ability to hire e-textbooks over a short period at a much lower cost. But we should not underestimate the influence of student demand as peope seek greater accessibility, portability and usability, especially with added features such as embedded video, interactive activities and digital annotation tools becoming more standard. In making this comment, I'm mindful that the reason we no longer have an old stereo or CD players in our household is because they no longer serve our needs of having access to music anywhere, anytime.

The Los Angeles Times has an interesting series of articles on the future of reading which more specifically explore the way electronic devices are transforming the book.

Since Xmas several of my friends and work colleagues have purchased iPads or Kindles (or both) and 2011 appears to be shaping up a crucial year in the history of the traditional book. According to the most recent story in the LA Times, Amazon has sold more than 7 million Kindle devices, which equates roughly to 1 in 10 people who shop on Amazon's online store.

I was recently pleased to hear that Amazon is now allowing people to share their electronic purchases with other readers for a limited period (2 weeks). This appears to be major issue in the future growth of electronic books as usually in our household they are shared between family members before eventually finding their way to a local charity auction. So far the only problem is that none of the books I've purchased from Amazon allow me to share them as this service depends on the publisher.

At Massey University we recently approved a pilot using iPads in the College of Creative Arts and I will be keeping a keen eye on this development. Another development that I will be watching from afar is the Open University's annotation project which appears to be similar to the pilot initiative we undertook last year at Massey using A.nnotate. In our case there was insufficient evidence from the student evaluation of this project to expand the current pilot. Most students involved in the pilot did not use the online annotation service, although paradoxically, when asked, they still wanted the tool to be available to them. By the end of the year I expect we will see a lot more clarity around the future of such cloud applications and whether they have a future in higher education.

The few months have been fairly hectic for me as I've been juggling the additional roles of acting Assistant Vice Chancellor (Academic & International) for all of September along with the position of Acting Stream Project Manager. Hence the long gap since my last blog posting.

Hopefully I can pick up my musings from where I left off as we count down to the busy Xmas period. To get the ball rolling here is the link to the last Horizon Report which I contributed to a few months ago as one of the expert panel members. Amongst other things the report identifies the rapid growth and impact of ebooks as I've discussed over the last six months.

http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2010-Horizon-Report-ANZ.pdf 

Further musings and thoughts on other trends and implications as time permits over the next week or so.

This article entitled The All E-Book Diet talks more about the concept of the rental etextbook. It argues that colleges and universities have a role to play in driving down the cost of study materials by going all digital.