[WEB4LIB] Electronic Books in Education & Training

[Pinkham, Lida]

Actually, I think the Interactive aspect can be a good thing in the right
situations. Think beyond just BOOKS.  I am doing this research as part of an
internship for a company that already has put together an innovative
tutorial to help low level reading adults achieve better reading skills.

The advantage to the Ebook over the internet is that you can easily carry it
with you.  You do not have to own a PC or have access to the Internet and
they are much more affordable than a PC. Also, I don't know about you, but I
hate to read off and work off my computer.  I would much rather be curled up
on my couch studying.  And the only tool you need to take notes and
highlight is a little plastic "pencil."

Like anything, each tool has good an bad uses. =)

-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Lester [mailto:dan at riverofdata.com]
Sent: Monday, August 07, 2000 6:17 PM
To: Pinkham, Lida
Cc: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: Re: [WEB4LIB] Electronic Books in Education & Training



Monday, August 07, 2000, 3:48:38 PM, you wrote:

PL> I am doing a little research into Electronic Books like the
"Rocket-Ebook".
PL> Has anyone heard or seen any innovative ideas for using this in
education &
PL> training?  Ideas that expand the basic Ebook idea into texts that are
PL> interactive and engaging?

Isn't this already available, and called "The World Wide Web"?

Of course there are many other techniques for doing this too.  From
what I've seen of ebooks and PDAs and similar devices, I'd not want to
do much websurfing on them, and probably not a lot of learning other
than reading a reference text.

PL>  I have not had much luck in finding anything that
PL> goes beyond the basic idea of converting the paper format into an ebook.

I may be showing my antiquity, but I'm not convinced that making most
"books" into something "interactive" is a good thing.  Why make
"Hamlet" (or "The Hamlet") interactive?  A film, or audio book, sure.
But I don't see the value of turning "Hamlet" into a video game.

Once again, I'm not in any way opposed to developing new techniques
and technologies in teaching.  I'm also not totally hung up on Mark
Hopkins' Log.  However, making things cute, flashy, or interactive
just because it is "cool" or "trendy" or "the latest educationese BS"
isn't a good thing.

Yes, I'm a certified (and certifiable) old dude....from a long line of
educators...

dan

-- 
Dan Lester, Data Wrangler  dan at RiverOfData.com
3577 East Pecan, Boise, Idaho  83716-7115 USA
www.riverofdata.com  www.postcard.org  www.gailndan.com