First Week Thoughts

Hi this is Rebekah here, I found this awesome study about the ebook from a library perspective, showing it's cost effectiveness, and it's benefits in research and reference. I feel it goes along well with what we have been talking about in class, about the future of the ebook being in education.

file:///C:/Users/u0738645/Downloads/eBook%20White%20Paper%20(1).pdf

(note I couldn't get the link to work, so just copy and paste the web address into a new browser.)

I used to think of ebooks for there entertainment value only.  This weekends readings and classes have fully opened my mind to the possibilities the ebooks provide. The third chapter of A Futurist's Manifesto titled,"What we can do with Books," talks about a major benefit of ebooks that is crucial to education.  This benefit is the opportunity to upgrade.  New knowledge and research is brought to life every day that is added to what people need to know to do their jobs and too get an education, this is why our textbooks are constantly changing.  Do you ever get annoyed with having to buy a $200.00 book for class of the newest edition that's only going to be outdated and useless within a few years.  I know I do. Ebooks make it possible for you to just upgrade your text on your ipad as updates and new editions come, which is so needed as some of these texts we need to keep for reference past our college years. An example is the photoshop book I just bought which is for adobe photoshop cs6, which is the photoshop version of most University Computers.  At home I have photoshop cc, which is an upgraded version, so this text is already outdated. If I could buy an up-gradable ebook version, I could have the edition I need for my class and update it after the semester.  And when the next updates come to photoshop, I can update my reference text as well.

Those are my thoughts about ebooks and education, I look forward to sharing with you the reswt of the semester.