March 20, 2006

...Starting with the assumption that the locus of intellectual discourse is shifting from printed page to networked screen, the primary goal of the Institute is to explore, understand and influence this evolution. We have an active blog, if:book, which reflects the full breadth of our interests and activities.

Last May we held a small meeting to talk about the evolution of textbooks in the digital era. The call to the meeting included the following:

the goal of the meeting is to gather insight into the best ways to encourage the development of digital "somethings" which are sufficiently superior to print textbooks that they begin to replace them. this is not intended as a blue-sky exercise which posits idealistic solutions for the long-distant future, but rather a clear-eyed assessment of where we might get to in the near-term - five to seven years out - and how to bring about the changes necessary to get there.

Based on what we learned at that meeting, we launched the Next\Text project which is aimed at bringing together authors, funders, creative editors, new media producers and entrepreneurs in the hope of catalyzing some daring new initiatives.

As a next step we want to hold a series of small one-day meetings this spring to discuss ideas for what a digital textbook might look like within a particular discipline.

What does it mean to locate a "textbook" in the network. Is student-collaboration appropriate and if so, what form should it take? What about cross-institution effort? Is it a course-long text or a collection of mix and match modules? If modules, do we need to consider a mechanism to link them in some way. Should digital textbooks be "open-source" and if so, how should that be enabled to be really useful? What are the appropriate mechanisms for assessment and how might they be built-in? Authors/universities/publishers have well worked out roles in print culture. How will they shift as we move to digital forms.

The plan for the meeting is to have vigorous open discussion where we challenge time-worn assumptions, pose devilishly complex questions and reach for new ideas. Consensus would be lovely, but is not crucial. The important thing is to get a clear view of the terrain so we can plan a range of activities that make a difference...

... I look forward to hearing from you.

Bob Stein

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