Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Digital textbooks open a new chapter

"South Korea, one of the world's highest-rated education systems, aims to consolidate its position by digitising its entire curriculum.
"By 2015, it wants to be able to deliver all its curriculum materials in a digital form through computers. The information that would once have been in paper textbooks will be delivered on screen.

"South Korea's Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Ju-Ho Lee, said that his department was preparing a promotion strategy for "Smart Education", focusing on customised learning and teaching.

"The project, launched during the summer, will involve wireless networks in all schools to allow students to learn "whenever and wherever", as well as an education information system that can run in a variety of devices including PCs, laptops, tablets and internet-connected TVs...

"South Korea's pre-eminence has not come about by chance.

"Unesco has documented the way that South Korea has carefully controlled the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in education.

"The government has understood the importance of having formal standards, so that systems can work with each other and quality can be assured.

"The United States, alarmed by its relative international educational decline, is now also increasing the resources it devotes to digital learning.

"But its move appears to be an acknowledgement of a lack of joined-up thinking in the past.

"President Barack Obama's "Digital Promise", announced last month, involves a new national centre to advance technologies that can supposedly transform teaching and learning.

""The remit is "to determine quickly what is working and what is not, and transform today's fragmented learning technology market, paving the way for the widespread use of learning technologies that deliver the best results for students, parents, and teachers"...."

BBC

1 comment:

  1. Great article! I heard that in the next couple years digital textbooks will account for 25% of all textbook sales. I agree they will "transform teaching and learning" for sure!

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