Click here to receive your FREE subscription to Campus Technology
Features
The Future of College Textbooks
8/20/2004
Enter Atomic Dog
I looked at several traditional textbook publishers and was disappointed by their old-fashioned approaches. That’s when Atomic Dog Publishing (www.atomicdog.com) and I discovered each other, in late 2000/early 2001, when they were just getting started. It was clear they were going to be a different kind of publishing company. They had many innovative ideas, not the least of which was the idea of providing the options of an Internet version and/or a textbook version. Subsequently, all my materials became available from Atomic Dog in both online and bound formats as The Research Methods Knowledge Base. I immediately stopped publishing through the campus bookstore and directed anybody who wanted a hardcopy to the Atomic Dog website.
Vision Fulfilled
This effort has evolved into a college textbook which can be published on its own. Atomic Dog enables you to not only publish the textbook, but lets you do it in a fashion that is interactive and much more value oriented to the students and the teachers as well. It can be done at a very low cost and will even help the environment by saving some trees. And, it has removed me from the daily activities of a publishing business, allowing me to spend more of my time pursuing what I do well — teaching.
And the Next Vision Is…
Textbooks of the future should be even smaller, more customized and globalized. Professors should be able go to the Web, look at a list of contents, click off the sections they want, indicate what order they want them in and create their own tailored, personalized textbook in any major language they need. Students should then be able to interact with this text on the Web, access it in a uniquely customized printed form, or both. This kind of vision requires an innovative and creative publisher. Traditional publishers move too slowly and are too limited by the old-fashioned stereotypical textbook model. Newer, more agile publishers like Atomic Dog are where these textbook innovations are likely to start. They are motivated to understand the needs of the Professors and students, and are innovative enough to react to those needs. And beyond this, they are willing to try new things and use technology in new and different ways, helping make the latest vision of textbook publishing a reality.
Figure 1: Atomic Dog is delivering the future
of college textbooks by combining the highest quality content with the
latest technology and innovation.
William M.K. Trochim is a professor in the Department of Policy Analysis and
Management at Cornell University.
Cite this Site
copy text (above) for proper citation
Recommended Reading
- Microsoft Changes Virtualization Licensing Rules
Microsoft has made substantial changes to its virtualization licensing program, changes that will lower the cost of using virtualization for many customers.
- Vorex Upgrades Web-based Data Collection Tool for Schools
Vorex has released an update to its Vorex Online Survey, a Web-based data collection tool designed to allow schools to collect information and gather feedback from education stakeholders.
- Georgia Virtual Tech Moves to Angel LMS for Web-based Instruction
Georgia Virtual Technical College has selected the Angel Learning Management Suite (LMS) as the platform for its portal to deliver Web-based instruction to Georgia's 33 technical colleges and one Board of Regents college.
- Video Spotlight: Campus Technology 2008 Keynote Address
Adrian Sannier, technology officer for Arizona State University, discusses strategies for putting in place ground-breaking plans that will serve the next generation of students. These are actionable visions that include strategic technology choices--advancements that may be unfamiliar or even unpopular at first, but which carry enormous potential.
- Report Finds Dip in Microsoft's Browser Share
Microsoft lost browser market share over the last year, and the company's Windows Vista operating system has had "slow" market adoption among individuals and enterprises, according to a report issued by management consulting firm Janco Associates Inc.
- AT&T 'Big Mobile' Grant Extended
AT&T has extended the deadline for its first-ever Big Mobile On Campus Challenge, a competition that calls on college and university faculty and students to develop apps for mobile devices. The top prize includes $10,000 and a trip to the October Educause 2008 conference for the winning individual or team.
