Thursday, January 5, 2012

Digital-only Interactive Texts as low as $49

Imagine being able to change the parameters of a math equation, a science experiment, a sociology problem and see the results unfold before your eyes, in real time. Imagine interacting with your "textbook" in a way that brings learning to life. Now, imagine that the cost of this textbook is signicantly LESS than the cost of traditional, printed textbooks...which would you choose?


From the New York Times:
Making Science Leap From the Page
By ANNE EISENBERG
Published: December 17, 2011

WHEN a college textbook, “Principles of Biology,” comes out from the Nature Publishing Group in January, one place it won’t be is on the shelves of school bookstores.

...the book was designed to be digital-only. Students will pay not for a printed edition at a bookstore, but for permanent access on the Internet ($49)...

“We want to take advantage of the things only digital media can do, and that are superior to print, to broaden the ways students learn science,” said Vikram Savkar, senior vice president and publishing director at Nature Publishing. “We want students to measure a chapter not by how much they read, but by how much they learn.”
Read more...

No comments: