The Xplanation

Welcome to this morning’s Daily Research Update. Today’s themes are e-books, open classrooms, and newspaper e-editions. If you want more context for this research, take a look at our Education and Technology Trends for 2010. You may also be interested in our Weekly Research Index, or you can follow our live, daily research on our Current News page.

(Click here to see a simple listing of today’s suggested reading)

Marketing Daily is calling 2010 “The Year of the E-book” and, at least in the trade market, I don’t think you’ll find many naysayers. E-reader companies are advertising like crazy and sales are going up dramatically.

The makers of e-book readers are pulling out the marketing stops — Amazon’s Kindle has been airing TV ads recently; Barnes & Noble is launching a major campaign to promote the Nook, and then there’s the iPad — but it still might be awhile before the platform catches on with consumers. “More likely this is the year of the e-book. But where you’ll read them is still to be determined,” Andrew Eisner, director of content at consumer electronics shopping site Retrevo.com, tells Marketing Daily. “I think Amazon likes selling Kindles, but they like selling e-books even better.”

Speaking of e-reader sales, the Nook took home the prize in March by accounting for 53% of e-reader sales. This article points our some of the reasons for current Nook success, and I notice they coincide with my own rationale for purchasing a Nook as a gift for my daughter’s graduation: Wi-Fi, Android, e-bookstore and retail site support, and continuous updates consistent with promised improvements.

Moving over to education, I see that McGraw-Hill is releasing a new Internet-based elementary-school reading program in partnership with Intel.

The unit, whose textbooks and other learning materials provide about 40% of the parent company’s revenue, is launching its LEAD21 literacy curriculum in partnership with Intel Corp. (INTC), offering the materials on the chip maker’s “classmate” personal computer, built specifically for elementary-school students. The WiFi-enabled devices are waterproof and vaguely resemble toys. But with schools strapped for cash and teachers still hesitant about digital devices after some e-readers came up short for educational purposes, McGraw-Hill–and Intel, for that matter–may face an uphill battle.

Also, Tim Stahmer has this post reviewing/responding to Michael Wesch’s TEDxNYED presentation last month. I think the quote he pulls out speaks volumes about the conflict between our current educational containers and where we will head in the future.

So what we need is for people, our students, everybody to be more open, caring, daring, creative, collaborative, self-motivated, and voracious as learners. And yet, this is where we’re training them [a photo of Wesch's large lecture hall at Kansas State].

And regardless of what I say in this room, the room itself, the walls are sending a different message. The walls are sending the message, first off, that to learn is to acquire information. This is a low, base level of how we should think about learning. They also say that you should listen to the authority for good information. That authorized information is beyond discussion, which is why the chairs don’t turn to one another so people can discuss the matter.” Ultimately these walls say that you should obey the authority and just follow along.

With regards to openness in education, this article about a new searchable index of open courseware caught my eye. “The owner of a new Web site wants his search engine to become an easy way to comb through the open courseware of many colleges. About 1,800 courses, all from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are indexed on OCW Search for starters, says the operator, Pierre Far.”

Of course, when we talk about openness (whether it be classroom space or content), we are often talking about alternative models of education such as distance learning. Another model, one that continues to grow rapidly, is the for-profit institution in Higher Education. PBS will be airing a new investigative presentation about for-profits called “College Inc.” on May 4th. “Frontline, the well-known investigative / documentary program from PBS (a national public television broadcaster in the US), is airing an episode on May 4th that looks at the tremendous rise of proprietary higher education. The intention of the episode appears to be to criticize for-profit education organizations and to define their students as dim-witted victims. No doubt it will make for good television.”

And, if you’re interested in how new technologies can and do affect learning, you will likely be interested in this paper by Graham Attwell. This snippet from his introduction:

My point is that young people (and not just young people) are using social software and Web 2.0 technologies for work, play and learning outside institutions. Furthermore the pedagogic approaches to such (self-directed) learning are very different than the pedagogic approaches generally adopted in schools and educational institutions. Social networking is increasingly being used to support informal learning in work.

Finally, take note that e-edition circulation at newspapers is up 40 Percent. “The number of daily electronic editions sold by the newspapers at the top of the category rose 40 percent, according to reports made to the Audit Bureau of Circulation. The top 25 papers in the category accounted for 1,363,212 electronic subscriptions in the six-month period that ended March 31, 21010, compared with 973,721 in the same period a year ago.”

Suggested Reading

MediaPost Publications 2010: The Year Of The E-book

Nook Outsells Kindle in First Month on Sale, Lessons for eReader, Tablet Rivals | Fast Company

McGraw-Hill Moves Beyond E-Textbooks, But Obstacles Remain | WSJ.com

AssortedStuff | Sending The Wrong Message

Web Site Is Building a Searchable Index of Open Courseware – Wired Campus – The Chronicle of Higher Education

“College Inc.” Airs on Frontline (PBS), May 4th | Higher Education Management Group

Pontydysgu | Bridge to Learning | Educational Research

Newspaper Fas-Fax: E-Edition Circulation Up 40 Percent | paidContent

academhack » Blog Archive » After Using the iPad . . .

McGraw-Hill Education Has Small First Quarter Gain | Publishers Weekly