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April 15, 2001
The Traditional Book: Soon to Be An Artifact?
By Susan Mclester
In the course of shaping her cover feature, "Getting a Read on E-Books", executive editor Amy Poftak found herself faced with numerous questions about the future of books in general. Some of the issues seem pretty straightforward: digital books can be a wonderful solution to the problem of the five-ton, textbook-crammed backpack; they can supply content specifically tailored to a state's or district's curriculum; they can deliver something that even we English-major types can appreciate-a picture (make that a multimedia picture) worth a thousand words. The larger question, though, and the most loaded one is, of course: Will traditional printed books survive the future?
This is not a simple query. Probably more than any other issue involving today's technology and its implications for the future, the fate of the traditional book remains the most controversial, and yes, even the most emotional. The bound book-its heft, shape, and texture-, and its innumerable associations, are so inextricably embedded in our culture that the possibility of it becoming obsolete can feel like a very real threat.
For those of us who developed a love affair with the printed word early on, books are connected with the most pleasurable moments of our lives: reading under the covers with a flashlight, browsing the stacks of the library, paging through a paperback on the beach or in the tub. While it seems unlikely that most of us were touched in the same warm way by a textbook per se, that type of book nevertheless also inhabits our experience as a symbol of knowledge-or, perhaps more to the point, a symbol of "school."
Change can be scary. When papyrus replaced clay tablets, and the Gutenberg press calligraphy, did a bit of panic set in? Are we in the midst of a revolution of similar proportion? Very possibly.
Personally, I think today's powerful handheld technologies are the greatest thing since sliced bread for delivering all kinds of educational content, and for saving the strained back muscles of our kids. At the same time, I hope it'll be in the awfully distant future that the traditional book disappears completely. In a letter to the editor following last October's Trend Watch on e-books, one reader summed up the sentiment for many of us: "I enjoy visiting used book stores looking for a rare find. If e-books were to take over, what would I do on a rainy afternoon?"
Considerably less controversial than the e-book issue is the idea of technology coming to the rescue of the untrained or overburdened teacher of English Language Learners. Ana Bishop shares her expert insights about the ways software and Web resources can be most effectively used in the various iterations of today's multilingual classroom.
Those of you who've visited TechLearning.com recently have seen its shiny new look and upgraded features designed to help you better find what you're looking for. If you have a moment, let us know what you think about the improvements by e-mailing techlearning_editors@cmp.com.
Susan McLester
Editor in Chief
Read other articles from the April issue
Send a letter to the Editor in response to this article.
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