Turning the Digital Page
It was in Romeo and Juliet that William Shakespeare had his leading lady claim, “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” She was declaring her unconditional love for Romeo by making the broader point that it’s what something is, not what it’s called, that determines its worth. That’s a sentiment worth remembering as the explosion of new reading technology transforms the 21st century into a very different-looking one for books and education. The only option for students used to be physical, bulky textbooks, but they can get the same content — and more — through digital solutions. It’s another name for the same thing they’ve always had.
Digital books, online book resources, and portable e-readers are amazing tools for education and discovery because of the wide array of content they can harness for students. Google Books is a constantly growing archive of public domain and out-of-copyright titles that are often harder to find or available only at research libraries; in October 2009, it was announced that more than 10 million books had been digitized and scanned into the archive. That’s a stunning technological achievement and an invaluable one for the classroom. No longer will teachers be forced to live without certain texts. The more books are scanned, the more materials will be available to teach students about literature, history, and the forgotten stories that captured those moments.
One of the ways those digital books can get to students is through portable e-readers. These products aren’t new — Amazon’s Kindle debuted in 2007, and Barnes and Noble’s Nook in 2009 — but the field of digital readers is likely in for a boost with the release of Apple’s iPad. The tablet is being marketed as a new way to utilize the Web but also as a premiere, full-color e-reader that’s integrated with the digital bookstore. A classroom of students provided with iPads could download relevant books much easier than they could be ordered and distributed physically, and there’s no wear and tear as with the texts and novels handed down from class to class.
But one the greatest ways digital books can enhance the learning process is by helping people redefine their concept of books in general. Technology isn’t bound to paper and cardboard, but can digitally deliver everything from war stories to math lessons to, yes, Shakespeare. By bringing the same learning tools to students in different ways, new generations will learn the bigger lesson that it’s not the delivery method that matters but the product that’s being delivered. Students won’t just learn the facts; they’ll learn that there’s always another way to get them.
This guest post is contributed by Alvina Lopez, who writes on the topics of accredited colleges online . She welcomes your comments at her email Id: alvina.lopez@gmail.com .
