Where are we going - publishing?

Publishing Revolution – the next change?

The basic print and picture media (aka books) have traditionally dominated education. Even the internet with its ability to provide rich multi-media content has not shaken the hold that the traditional print form of media has had in education. This is because the ability to produce the rich content has been relatively difficult and inaccessible. This is changing slowly and rapidly at the same time. Software that allows the creation of video and interactive content has become easier to use and less expensive. Even though this has started a slow revolution in the delivery of education – the true major change is yet to come.

First, let’s look at the much maligned e-book. No company has hit the magic formula of form, cost, and content to make the e-book a popular and common piece of equipment. All while the ipod and other devices have become common. At some point the magic formula will be reached and the e-book or some form of it will become a common appliance. The purpose of this article is not to guess on what form this will be – but really look at the impact of a technology that is inevitable.

With the combination of the ability to create rich content, and also the ability to deliver this content conveniently – we have all the makings of a content delivery “revolution”. I am not predicting the demise of the written word and the traditional book – quite the contrary, I love books and have collected many. What I am really talking about here is a change in the ability to deliver education.

Looking at this from the viewpoint of a parent and an experienced user of the internet, here is a story. My 9 year old child needed to learn about China – she was studying it in school. Of course to learn about China the best thing to do is visit the country – but unfortunately time and budget make that difficult. So we sat down with my laptop computer and her Social Studies books and did some research. We looked at panoramic pictures of the Great Wall, and listened to Chinese speech. We saw pictures about Chinese history – and learned a lot about China – a lot more than we could learn from her Social Studies text. So what kind of text would really do the job of teaching a 3rd grade kid about China? What if that picture of the Great Wall allowed you to touch it and get a video and real information about it? What if the picture of Confucius was accompanied by audio and a video presentation about the period in which he lived? Why do I think these things will happen? – because they can and parents will want their children to have these types of resources.

So where are we going? Well its not always easy to see the full road ahead, but it is always a safe bet to put your money on convenience. Never underestimate the resources that parents will bring to bear to give their children an advantage. And mostly never underestimate the ability of engineers to invent those things that will make all these things possible.