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How Online Digital Books are Forever Changing Education

Friday, October 16th, 2009

Remember when classes required you to purchase a hardcopy textbook? Those days are coming to an end. Today, the Internet world is changing the way we purchase books, and it is progressing similarly to the way we now purchase music and buy episodes of our favorite TV programme. It’s all moving online. Electronic readers like Amazon.com’s Kindle are becoming more popular for consumers, and traditional booksellers are acting accordingly by selling online digital copies of their material.

As the scope of Internet is growing in mainstream usage, traditional booksellers are taking full advantage of it. Reported by Reuters, an estimate of 3 million eReaders will be sold in the U.S. alone this year, and that number will double next year. Bookstores are even jumping on the profitable online vending bandwagon. In July 2009, Barnes & Noble launched the world’s largest online bookstore and is set to unveil its own e-reading technology next year. Its reader will feature a color touch screen, something not available on other readers at this time.

In addition, book publishers are looking to make deals with leading global search engine, Google. Google offers to scan books that are currently out of print and make them freely available online through Google Books. This YouTube video shows how the online product works and explains the recent settlement agreement between the search engine giant and publishers.

What does all this mean for education? A 2008 survey of 6,452 students worldwide found 51 percent of students say that when they have a choice, they opt to use an electronic version over a print version of a book “often” or “very often.” That percentage is on the rise even today. To find the motivation behind choosing digital books over hard copies, let’s consider the issue from the viewpoint of a student in today’s deflated economic times.

A hardcopy textbook might run a student anywhere from $40 to $250. In one class, a student might even be required to purchase two or three books to complement different subjects the professor will be covering throughout the semester.  The Kindle, available globally, reads text for every class and any subject and is priced at $259 (an affordable option when you consider hard cover prices). Students can then purchase e-books which are read through Kindle for as little as $1.99 for classic titles and $9.99 for new releases, far cheaper than the physical versions in most cases.

Another advantage for the use of digital books is that it fits in with the technology students are already using. Anything from lessons, lectures to classroom discussions can be videoed as a podcast and available for students to download onto devices like Apple’s iPhone or iPod. Consider the practicality of textbooks available in the same way. Students can avoid long lines at bookstores, skirt the waiting time for out-of-stock books and save hundreds of dollars per class.

In support of the digital books movement, Gatlin International’s certificate classes provide online digital books and downloadable material to supplement lessons. Discover the convenience and affordability of online digital books in popular courses like business marketing design and Six Sigma.

Tips on Producing Effective E-Learning Videos

Thursday, September 3rd, 2009

Integrating video into courses is essential for e-learning providers. While different e-learning videos can be used in different ways during many phases of instruction, they all must be engaging and add to learning rather than distract from it. Here are four types of videos that can make your e-learning courses go from good to great.

Virtual Reality Video
Videos that can visually display situations and allow for student participation can be an effective alternative to hands-on training. Virtual reality offers a new way to accomplish e-learning objectives by allowing the creation of simulations in a much more cost efficient manner than creating them through traditional movie making and custom animations. How can virtual reality videos be applied? Take, for example, a course on emergency management training.  E-learning providers need to visually demonstrate defensive actions in various crisis situations that put students at the front line. To do this, trainers apply instructional design to the virtual reality video, present each scenario in a logical sequence, and attain realism by giving learners suspension of belief. The virtual reality scenarios do a good job of immersing students in real-life experiences and allowing them to practice the skills they have gained. Just remember to keep the video as more of an instruction tool than entertainment.

Demonstration Video
Demonstration videos show rather than tell. For example, a course for wedding planner certification might use a demonstration video to show students how to put together a floral centerpiece or arranging the wedding procession. Demonstrations that require more detailed explanations can use text documents to clarify. For the demonstration video, the camera should be on a steady platform, like a tripod, and the zoom feature should be used on any important procedure.  Dr. Peter Fadde advises to keep demonstration videos short, simple, and shot close up since learners could be using mobile devices with small, low-resolution screens.

Lecture Video
Video lectures are probably the easiest type of video to produce. It can be a trainer simply talking into a webcam or a series of lectures produced into webisodes (short, mini-lecture videos on a single topic). Lecture videos can be as serious or informal as wanted, and they should be formatted with lead-in music and title slides if several different topics are being presented in one video. One important thing to remember when making a lecture video is it’s important to shoot in the viewpoint as a student looking at the blackboard. Also be sure to zoom in on any important words or figures the lecturer is explaining.

Interview Video
An interview video can be a great learning tool. These videos typically follow a simple Q and A format and cover exclusive commentary on any given topic freely, without the use of scripts. To produce this video, use the format of a television interview as a guide. Use a live person to interview rather than a narrator, and position the camera on the interviewee while he/she is talking. The interviewee can speak to the interviewer or directly facing the camera to make viewers feel like they are in the room and part of the conversation. If possible, the interviewees should wear a lapel mic since the microphone on a camera will pick up miscellaneous noise such as shuffling feet or coughing occurring yards away. Remember to pick a setting for the interview that is well lit and has a background that won’t distract the learner.


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Transforming the Classroom Using Online Virtual Reality

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

Virtual reality is no longer limited to video games. Now, educators are turning their classrooms into a virtual environment to enhance learning. Research has uncovered that at least 300 universities around the world teach courses or conduct research using virtual technology, and it’s used in more than 80 percent of universities in the U.K. alone for development, teaching and/or learning activities. Virtual world technologies are being embraced by educators worldwide and are changing the way we use the Internet to learn.

Using online virtual reality in education can be the most realistic option. Some course topics require role-play to teach students how to respond in certain situations, but building these real-world scenarios can be costly and isn’t always realistically possible. For example, a training course on emergency management needs to visually demonstrate defensive actions in various crisis situations and put students at the front line. Using games or computer animations to do so can be expensive and might contain more entertainment than educational value. The problem that many educators face is finding a low-cost and effective way to produce role-play simulations that cannot be done in real life. Since it is difficult to give students hands-on training, how can educators provide this type of engagement without creating it in the real world?

The answer is using online virtual reality. A 3D world like Second Life allows users to create a customisable character to explore thousands of places, build and interact with the world and other users. Today, hundreds of colleges, universities and e-learning providers use the virtual platform to teach subjects such as science, interior design, hospitality management, architectural design, legal practice and real estate.

Let’s look at the benefits of using Second Life in education:

* Second Life’s digital world offers a low-cost environment for building role-play movies, allowing educators to immerse students in real-life experiences and allow them to act according to what they have learned.

* The online virtual reality platform allows for hands-on interactivity and overcomes physical constraints of typical classroom education.

* Second Life provides multiple channels of communication with students. This includes the use of images, audio, video, voice, and public and private text. The platform also supports multiple languages and chat translation.

* Visualisation is achieved more effectively through online virtual reality. Normally, something that is hard to explain or show to students is easily demonstrated in three dimensions.

*Second Life can be used for research and as a way for instructors to hold office hours, meeting with students in the online world to save travel costs.


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