The Death of Print

is of course, greatly exaggerated. I had a brief conversation with a text book representative this morning, and the direction in which the text book companies seem to be moving is fairly exciting.

I like the idea of content moving online--making a composition book available electronically, for example--but I think we may have to have a conversation about some potential issues with access. Text books are too expensive, and making them available electronically should cut into that--I mean, editing and reproducing material on the web is not free, but the material and shipping costs are relatively negligible. So why do I get the feeling prices for online materials, in ten to fifteen years, won't reflect this change? This is why I think educators (and future educators) need to stay on top of some of these developments. Adoption choices are a big part of what we do, and this is where we can exercise some control. Being concerned about student access, I think, is part of our responsibility if we're at all concerned with some of the social justice aspects of being teachers.

Not everyone has a laptop. Nor do all students even have home access to computers or the internet. While we try as much as possible to minimize any problems with this, it is somewhat more difficult for some students, especially if they have jobs or families, to fit computer lab time into their schedules. Not all schools have 24-hour labs. In fact, I wonder if that may becoming a thing of the past. When I was an undergrad, it seemed like labs were open all the time, but word processing was important and most students didn't have their own computers--the internet was just a baby and not at all fast. The idea that a student could research, compose and print a paper at any time of day from his/her dorm, was, basically, a fantasy. At many schools today, I'd imagine it's the norm.

So while it will be (it's technically feasible now) possible to move away from print text books, how much of them will end up getting printed out in computer labs? Students without access will have a tougher time accessing the material. And simply offering financial aid or scholarships for text books will not really solve this problem. So are we moving toward programs that will provide students with laptops? I'd like to hope that if text book companies are really serious about moving away from print, that they consider subsidizing some programs that can provide students with laptops (reconditioned, whatever--students don't need state of the art machines to access the web wirelessly and word process documents). Even if they are "loaners" or something that can get a student through college, I think this is going to be necessary sooner than we think.