Hi there – I’m here, blogging live from ‘Engage’ – our teachers and educators workshop.
I’m currently sat in the midst of a discussion on ebooks and ereaders. Like it or not, it does look like ebooks are part of our learning future.
We can also use PDFs (iPads, Kindles, …); but this format is quite fixed – you end up having to zoom, or move your cursor around.
I agree that real books feel vastly different from ebooks, although I can easily see many uses for both. Having discussed the appeal of a printed volume with Peter Robinson today at the Engage event, I am convinced that there is a subtle but vital connection between a reader and the artefact we know as a book, which cannot be entirely reproduced digitally.
For example, an old book brings with it the publishing style of its day; its typography, smell, feel and colour. I can then interpret – and make allowances for – the cultural norms of its time, which may be vastly different from my own. Even a new edition will offer other such contextual hints (reviewer’s comments, etc). From what I have seen to date, no such clues are given in a Kindle version.