Potential and opportunity-words that sum up both education for students but also the educational markets very own ability to advance within a world of digital technology.
A recent guest speaker who discussed all things digital, publishing and academic enlightened me:
I left this lecture feeling enlightened, it is incredible what can be done in terms of innovating and adding excitement to the teaching and learning environment.
Palgrave for example are already heavily involved in a project in America that aims to encourage interactivity, portability and functionality within the education market through their supplementary academic digital materials.
The product: LaunchPad, a web based app that encourages students and lecturers to engage in course content in ways that are memorable, meaningful and vivid. The digital age is changing the way in which education is delivered so it is extremely important that academic publishers adapt to this. As well as acclimatizing to change; publishers must also make sure that they are at the cutting edge of the advancements.
This institutional model has the ability to change educational processes as we know it, to improve and create new learning environments and ones that on the go and accessible securely at anytime. LaunchPad is currently only available in the US but it has many functions that I have seen already used in the working world globally.
What Launchpad is for education, Arisapp is for business- training, motivating and engaging workforces wherever they are.
Essentially, the fact that an app of such content and power is already a worldwide used and very successful tool in the workplace suggests that this is exactly what is needed in education globally. If higher education students can have a head start at technology that is currently increasing productivity by 40% in top workplaces spread over 58 counties then I am stunned that it hasn’t been adopted in academic environments quicker.
Arisapp offers the ability to create bespoke customization that fits seamlessly to a company’s requirement whether it is training, interactive quizzes and reward schemes, delivering content or a shared platform to provide updates and information to every staff member.
Launchpad for students builds their courses into an easily accessible online programme:
·E-books,
·Quizzes,
·File sharing, diagrams and figures
·Links to websites,
·Flexibility for teachers
·Flexibility to cope with different learning levels
·Built in add on resources for teachers
·Independent, group and one on one work options
However publishers face many problems when investing both time and money into such a product:
·Keeping their print and digital products linked and complimenting each other
·Students and institutions already have high course fees and require textbooks which are expensive-is there budget for a new product yet?
·Products need to be significantly different from textbooks in order to continue both revenue streams
·Is the UK ready to innovate the education adoption cycle?
A digital based learning tool could save money, as e-books are easier to update on devices then to print new editions of textbooks as and when required. A tool that is already used in work environments clearly denotes the way in which the digital age is modifying our day-to-day routine.
Bibliography
Jayatunga, N. (2014) Social Science Academia, [Lecture to BA Publishing] U65031: Digital Developments of a publishing company. Oxford Brookes University. 30th October.