Posted 7:37 AM by George Siemens
Curious about e-books? Check out this article: Will E-books Change the World?...the author does a nice job of tackling concerns of e-books from a perspective of society, users, publishers, authors etc. It's worth reading to get an overview of what e-books are and what they may become as they evolve (and for that matter, what hinders their diffusion into the fabric of education/society)...

Quotes:

"...the evolution of e-book technology is related to the penetrating impact of networks and information technology on society."

"...the acceptance and later diffusion of technologies are dependent on supervening social necessities and influenced by cultural and economic forces."

"New media are evolving, most of them centred around networks, especially the Internet."

It is quite conceivable that e-books will become a significant part of the education system in the future. What does this mean to the student...or the instructor? For the student, it means more current/more accurate information (and possibly less expensive). For the instructor, it means greater resource base (and more complexity!), a greater need to understand online learning and technologies, etc.

One of the more promising implications of e-books is the resource base for instructors to develop courses. When we first moved Dining Room theory online, we had (or at least decided) to write our own text. If an e-book would have been available, it would have literally saved months of writing...so in many ways, e-books are catching up with where many online instructors already are...

As great as video, interactive exercises, quizzes, online self-assessments etc. are, text is still the primary "driver" of learning. Text creates the context in which supplementary resources (video, interactive exercises etc.) are "imbedded". For this reason, the development of e-books will be of particular interest to course designers/instructors.