{"id":264,"date":"2014-12-22T17:20:21","date_gmt":"2014-12-22T22:20:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/openstudio.pub\/teachinginadigitalagev3m\/chapter\/8-8-pedagogical-differences-between-media\/"},"modified":"2025-05-10T07:13:28","modified_gmt":"2025-05-10T11:13:28","slug":"8-8-pedagogical-differences-between-media","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/openstudio.pub\/teachinginadigitalagev3m\/chapter\/8-8-pedagogical-differences-between-media\/","title":{"raw":"8.2 Text","rendered":"8.2 Text"},"content":{"raw":"&nbsp;\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_28\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"744\"]<a href=\"http:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/teachinginadigitalage\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2015\/01\/Katherine-reading.jpg\"><img class=\" wp-image-262\" src=\"https:\/\/openstudio.pub\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2015\/03\/Katherine-reading-scaled-1.jpg\" alt=\"Figure 9. There's nothing like a good book - or is there?\" width=\"744\" height=\"561\"><\/a> Figure 8.2.1 There's nothing like a good book - or is there? Image: Tony Bates, 2010[\/caption]\n<h2>8.2.1 The unique pedagogical features of text<\/h2>\nEver since the invention of the Gutenberg press, print has been a dominant teaching technology, arguably at least as influential as the spoken word of the teacher. Even today, textbooks, mainly in printed format, but increasingly also in digital format, still play a major role\u00a0in formal education, training and distance education.\u00a0Many fully online courses still make extensive use of\u00a0text-based learning management systems and online asynchronous discussion forums.\n\nWhy is this? What makes text such a powerful teaching medium, and will it remain so, given the latest developments in information technology?\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left\">8.2.1.2 Presentational features<\/h3>\nText can come in many formats, including\u00a0printed textbooks, text messages, novels, magazines, newspapers, scribbled notes, journal articles, essays, novels, online asynchronous discussions and so on.\n\nThe key symbol systems in text are written language\u00a0(including mathematical symbols)\u00a0and still graphics, which would include diagrams, tables, and copies of images such as photographs or paintings. Colour is an important attribute for some subject\u00a0areas, such as chemistry, geography and geology, and art history.\n\nSome of the\u00a0unique presentational characteristics of text are as follows:\n<ul>\n \t<li>text is particularly good at handling\u00a0<em>abstraction and generalisation<\/em>, mainly through written language;<\/li>\n \t<li>text enables<em>\u00a0the linear sequencing of information in a structured format<\/em>;<\/li>\n \t<li>text can <em>present and separate empirical evidence or data from the\u00a0abstractions<\/em>, conclusions or generalisations\u00a0derived from the empirical evidence;<\/li>\n \t<li>text's linear structure enables <em>the development of coherent, sequential argument or discussion<\/em>;<\/li>\n \t<li>at the same time text can <em>relate\u00a0evidence to argument and vice versa<\/em>;<\/li>\n \t<li>text's recorded and permanent nature enables<em> independent analysis and critique of its content<\/em>;<\/li>\n \t<li>still graphics such as graphs or diagrams enable knowledge to be presented differently from written language, either <em>providing concrete examples of abstractions or offering a different way of representing the same knowledge<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nThere is some overlap of each of these features with other media, but no other medium combines all these characteristics, or is as powerful as text with respect to these characteristics.\n\nEarlier (<a href=\"https:\/\/openstudio.pub\/teachinginadigitalagev3m\/chapter\/section-2-4-does-technology-change-the-nature-of-knowledge\/\">Chapter 2, Section 2.7.3<\/a>) I argued\u00a0that academic knowledge is a specific form of knowledge that has characteristics that differentiate it from other kinds of knowledge, and particularly from knowledge or beliefs based solely on direct personal experience. Academic knowledge is a second-order form of knowledge that seeks abstractions and generalizations based on reasoning and evidence.\n\nFundamental components of or criteria for academic knowledge are:\n<ul>\n \t<li>codification:\u00a0knowledge can be consistently represented in some form (words, symbols, video);<\/li>\n \t<li>transparency:\u00a0the source of the knowledge can be traced and verified;<\/li>\n \t<li>reproduction: knowledge can be reproduced or have multiple copies;<\/li>\n \t<li>communicability: knowledge must be in a form such that it can be communicated and challenged by others.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nText meets\u00a0all four\u00a0criteria above, so it is an essential medium for academic learning.\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left\">8.2.1.2 Skills development<\/h3>\nBecause of text's ability to handle abstractions, and evidence-based argument, and its suitability for independent analysis and critique, text is particularly useful for <em>developing the higher learning outcomes required at an academic level, such as analysis, critical thinking,\u00a0and evaluation<\/em>.\n\nIt is less useful for showing processes or developing manual skills, for instance.\n<h2>8.2.2 The book and knowledge<\/h2>\n[caption id=\"attachment_28\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"455\"]<a href=\"http:\/\/media-podcast.open.ac.uk\/feeds\/3088_outsidethebook\/33897_literary_viid05.m4v\"><img class=\" wp-image-263\" src=\"https:\/\/openstudio.pub\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2025\/05\/Book-video-2-300x180.jpg\" alt=\"Figure 9.1 What is a book? From scrolls and paperbacks to e-books, this one minute video portrays the history and future of books. \" width=\"455\" height=\"273\"><\/a> Figure 8.2.2 What is a book? From scrolls to\u00a0paperbacks to e-books, this one minute video portrays the history and future of books. Click to see the video from the UK Open University (\u00a9 Open University, 2014)[\/caption]\n\nAlthough text can come in many formats,\u00a0I want to focus\u00a0particularly on the role of the book, because of its centrality in academic learning.\u00a0The book has proved to be a remarkably powerful medium for the development and transmission of academic knowledge, since it meets all four of the components required for presenting academic knowledge, but to\u00a0what extent can new media such as blogs, wikis, multimedia, and social media replace the book in academic knowledge?\n\nNew media can in fact handle just as well some of these criteria, and provide indeed added value, such as speed of reproduction and ubiquity, but the book still has some unique qualities. A key\u00a0advantage of a book is that it allows for the development of a sustained, coherent, and comprehensive argument with evidence to support the argument. Blogs can do this only to a limited extent (otherwise they cease to be blogs and become online articles or a digital book).\n\nQuantity is important sometimes and books allow for the collection of a great deal of evidence and supporting argument, and allow for a wider exploration of an issue or theme, within a relatively condensed and portable format. A consistent and well supported argument, with evidence, alternative explanations or even counter positions, requires the extra 'space' of a book. Above all, books can provide coherence or a sustained, particular position or approach to a problem or issue, a necessary balance to the chaos and confusion of the many new forms of digital media that constantly compete for our attention, but in much smaller 'chunks' that are overall more difficult to integrate and digest.\n\nAnother important academic feature of text is that it can be carefully scrutinised, analysed and constantly checked, partly because it is largely linear, and also permanent once published, enabling more rigorous challenge or testing in terms of evidence, rationality, and consistency. Multimedia in recorded format can come close to meeting these criteria, but text can also provide more convenience and in media terms, more simplicity. For instance I repeatedly find analysing video, which incorporates many variables and symbol systems, more complex than analysing a linear text, even if both contain equally rigorous (or equally sloppy) arguments.\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left\">8.2.2.1\u00a0The form and function of a book<\/h3>\nDoes the form or technological representation of a book matter any more? Is a book still a book if downloaded and read on an iPad or Kindle, rather than as printed text?\n\nFor the purposes of knowledge acquisition, it probably isn't any different. Indeed, for study purposes, a digital version is probably more convenient because carrying an iPad around with maybe hundreds of books downloaded on it is certainly preferable to carrying around the printed versions of the same books. There are still complaints by students about the difficulties of annotating e-books, but this will almost certainly become a standard feature available in the future.\n\nIf the whole book is downloaded, then the function of a book doesn't change much just because it is available digitally. However, there are some subtle changes. Some would argue that scanning is still easier with a printed version. Have you ever had the difficulty of finding a particular quotation in a digital book compared with the printed version? Sure, you can use the search facility, but that means knowing exactly the correct words or the name of the person being quoted. With a printed book, I can often find a quotation just by flicking the pages, because I am using context and rapid eye scanning to locate the source, even when I don't know exactly what I am looking for. On the other hand, searching when you do know what you are looking for (e.g. a reference by a particular author) is much easier digitally.\n\nWhen books are digitally available, users can download only the selected chapters that are of interest to them. This is valuable if you know just what you want, but there are also dangers. For instance in my book on the strategic management of technology (Bates and Sangr\u00e0, 2011), the last chapter summarizes the rest of the book. If the book had been digital, the\u00a0temptation then would be to just download the final chapter. You'd have all the important messages in\u00a0the book, right? Well, no. What you would be missing is the evidence for the conclusions. Now the book on strategic management is based on case studies, so it would be really important to check back with how the case studies were interpreted to get to the conclusions, as this will affect the confidence you would have as a reader in the conclusions that were\u00a0drawn. If just the digital version of only the last chapter is downloaded, you also lose the context of the whole book. Having the whole book gives readers more freedom to interpret and add their own conclusions than just having a summary chapter.\n\nIn conclusion, then, there are advantages and disadvantages of digitizing a book, but the essence of a book is not greatly changed when it becomes digital rather than printed.\u00a0I have also written about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tonybates.ca\/2015\/06\/10\/writing-an-online-open-textbook-is-it-worth-it\/\">the advantages of publishing an online academic textbook,<\/a> based on my own experience of writing the first edition of this book, which is now available in 10 languages and has been downloaded over 500,000 times since 2015.\u00a0For another perspective on this, see Clive Shepherd's blog: <a href=\"http:\/\/clive-shepherd.blogspot.com\/2010\/08\/weighing-up-benefits-of-traditional.html?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CliveOnLearning+%28Clive+Shepherd%29&amp;utm_content=Google+International\">Weighing up the benefits of traditional book publishing<\/a>.\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left\">8.2.2.2\u00a0A new niche for books in academia<\/h3>\nWe have seen historically that new media often do not entirely replace an older medium, but the old medium finds a new 'niche'. Thus television did not lead to the complete demise of radio. Similarly, I suspect that there will be a continued role for the book in academic knowledge, enabling the book (whether digital or printed) to thrive alongside new media and formats in academia.\n\nHowever, books that retain their value academically will likely need to be much more specific\u00a0in their format and their purpose than has been the case to date. For instance, I see no future for\u00a0books consisting mainly of a collection of loosely connected but semi-independent chapters from different authors, unless there is a strong cohesion and edited presence that provides an integrated argument or consistent set of data across all the chapters. Most of all, books\u00a0may need to change some of their features, to allow for more interaction and input from readers, and more links to the outside world. It is much more unlikely though that books will survive in a printed format, because digital publication allows for many more features to be added, reduces the environmental footprint, and makes text\u00a0much more portable and transferable.\n\nLastly, this is not an argument for ignoring the academic benefits of new media. The value of graphics, video and animation for representing knowledge, the ability to interact asynchronously with other learners, and the value of social networks, are all under-exploited in academia. But text and books are still important.\n<h2>8.2.3 Text and other forms of knowledge<\/h2>\nI have focused particularly on text and academic knowledge, because of the traditional importance of text and printed knowledge in academia. The unique pedagogical characteristics of text though may be less for other forms of knowledge. Indeed, multimedia may have many more advantages in vocational and technical education.\n\nIn the k-12 or school sector, text and print are likely to remain important, because reading and writing are likely to remain essential\u00a0in a digital age, so the study of text (digital and printed)\u00a0will remain important if only for developing literacy skills.\n\nIndeed, one of the limitations of text is that it requires a high level of prior literacy skills for it to be used effectively for teaching and learning, and indeed much of teaching and learning\u00a0is focused on the development of skills that enable rigorous analysis of textual materials. Indeed reading ability is one of the core skills identified for the 21st century. Reading and writing literacy is somewhat under attack with the use of truncated language in text messages, automated spelling correction, and emotive symbols in social media. However, we should be giving as much attention to developing literacy skills in using and interpreting multimedia in a digital age.\n<h2>8.2.4 Assessment<\/h2>\nIf text is critical for the presentation of knowledge and development of skills in your subject area, what are the implications for assessment? If students are expected to develop the skills\u00a0that text appears to develop, then presumably text will be an important medium for assessment.\u00a0Students will need to demonstrate their own ability to use text to present\u00a0abstractions, argument and evidence-based reasoning.\n\nIn such contexts, composed textual responses, such as essays or written reports, are likely to be necessary, rather than multiple-choice questions or multimedia reports.\n<h2>8.2.5 More evidence, please<\/h2>\nAlthough there has been extensive research on the pedagogical features\u00a0of other media such as audio, video and computing, text has generally been treated as the default mode, the base against which other media are compared. As a result print in particular is largely taken for granted in academia. We are now though at the stage where we need to pay much more attention to the unique characteristics of text in its various formats, in relation to other media. Until though we have more empirical studies on the unique characteristics of text and print, text will remain central to\u00a0at least academic teaching and learning.\n<h2>References<\/h2>\nKoumi, J. (1994) <a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1111\/j.1467-8535.1994.tb00088.x\">Media comparisons and deployment: a\u00a0practitioner\u2019s view<\/a>\u00a0<em>British Journal of Educational Technology<\/em>, Vol. 25, No. 1.\n\nKoumi, J. (2006)\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.routledge.com\/Designing-Video-and-Multimedia-for-Open-and-Flexible-Learning-1st-Edition\/Koumi\/p\/book\/9780415383035\">Designing video and multimedia for open and flexible learning<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em>London:<em>\u00a0<\/em>Routledge.\n\nKoumi, J. (2015)\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/full\/10.1080\/2331186X.2015.1045218\">Learning outcomes afforded by self-assessed, segmented video-print combinations<\/a>\u00a0<em>Cogent Education<\/em>, Vol. 2, No.1\n\nManguel, A. (1996) <a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.ca\/books\/about\/A_History_of_Reading.html?id=e_3gAAAAMAAJ&amp;redir_esc=y\"><em>A History of Reading<\/em><\/a> London: Harper Collins\n<h2>Other reading<\/h2>\nAlthough there are many publications on text, in terms of typography, structure, and its historical influence on education and culture, I could find no publications where text is compared with other modern media such as audio or video in terms of its pedagogical characteristics,\u00a0although Koumi (2015) has written about\u00a0text in combination with audio, and Albert Manguel's book is also fascinating reading from an historical perspective.\n\nHowever, I am sure that my lack of references\u00a0is due to my lack of scholarship in the area. If you have suggestions for readings, please send me an email. Also, a study of the unique pedagogical characteristics of text\u00a0in a digital age might make for a very interesting and valuable Ph.D. thesis.\n<div class=\"bcc-box bcc-info\">\n<h3>Activity 8.2 Identifying the unique pedagogical characteristics of text<\/h3>\n1. Take one of the courses you are teaching. What key presentational aspects of text are important for this course? Is text the best medium for\u00a0representing knowledge in your subject area; if not, what concepts or topics would be best represented through other media?\n\n2. Look at the skills listed in <a href=\"https:\/\/openstudio.pub\/teachinginadigitalagev3m\/chapter\/section-1-3-the-skills-needed-in-a-digital-age\/\">Section 1.2\u00a0<\/a>of this book. Which of these skills would best be developed through the use of text rather than other media? How would you do this using text-based teaching?\n\n3. What do you think about books for learning?\u00a0Do you think the book is dead or about to become obsolete?\u00a0If you think books are still valuable for learning, what changes, if any, do you think should be made to academic books?\u00a0What would be lost if books were entirely replaced by new media? What would be gained?\n\n4. Under what conditions would it be more appropriate for students to be assessed through written essays and under what conditions would multimedia portfolios be more appropriate for assessment?\n\n5. Can you think of any other unique pedagogical characteristics of text?\n\nFor feedback on this activity, click on the podcast below:\n\n[audio mp3=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/teachinginadigitalagev2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/677\/2014\/12\/Text-2019-08-25-5.14-PM.mp3\"][\/audio]\n\n<\/div>\n&nbsp;","rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_28\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-28\" style=\"width: 744px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/teachinginadigitalage\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2015\/01\/Katherine-reading.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-262\" src=\"https:\/\/openstudio.pub\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2015\/03\/Katherine-reading-scaled-1.jpg\" alt=\"Figure 9. There's nothing like a good book - or is there?\" width=\"744\" height=\"561\" srcset=\"https:\/\/openstudio.pub\/teachinginadigitalagev3m\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2015\/03\/Katherine-reading-scaled-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/openstudio.pub\/teachinginadigitalagev3m\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2015\/03\/Katherine-reading-scaled-1-65x49.jpg 65w, https:\/\/openstudio.pub\/teachinginadigitalagev3m\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2015\/03\/Katherine-reading-scaled-1-225x169.jpg 225w, https:\/\/openstudio.pub\/teachinginadigitalagev3m\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2015\/03\/Katherine-reading-scaled-1-350x263.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 744px) 100vw, 744px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-28\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Figure 8.2.1 There&#8217;s nothing like a good book &#8211; or is there? Image: Tony Bates, 2010<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>8.2.1 The unique pedagogical features of text<\/h2>\n<p>Ever since the invention of the Gutenberg press, print has been a dominant teaching technology, arguably at least as influential as the spoken word of the teacher. Even today, textbooks, mainly in printed format, but increasingly also in digital format, still play a major role\u00a0in formal education, training and distance education.\u00a0Many fully online courses still make extensive use of\u00a0text-based learning management systems and online asynchronous discussion forums.<\/p>\n<p>Why is this? What makes text such a powerful teaching medium, and will it remain so, given the latest developments in information technology?<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left\">8.2.1.2 Presentational features<\/h3>\n<p>Text can come in many formats, including\u00a0printed textbooks, text messages, novels, magazines, newspapers, scribbled notes, journal articles, essays, novels, online asynchronous discussions and so on.<\/p>\n<p>The key symbol systems in text are written language\u00a0(including mathematical symbols)\u00a0and still graphics, which would include diagrams, tables, and copies of images such as photographs or paintings. Colour is an important attribute for some subject\u00a0areas, such as chemistry, geography and geology, and art history.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the\u00a0unique presentational characteristics of text are as follows:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>text is particularly good at handling\u00a0<em>abstraction and generalisation<\/em>, mainly through written language;<\/li>\n<li>text enables<em>\u00a0the linear sequencing of information in a structured format<\/em>;<\/li>\n<li>text can <em>present and separate empirical evidence or data from the\u00a0abstractions<\/em>, conclusions or generalisations\u00a0derived from the empirical evidence;<\/li>\n<li>text&#8217;s linear structure enables <em>the development of coherent, sequential argument or discussion<\/em>;<\/li>\n<li>at the same time text can <em>relate\u00a0evidence to argument and vice versa<\/em>;<\/li>\n<li>text&#8217;s recorded and permanent nature enables<em> independent analysis and critique of its content<\/em>;<\/li>\n<li>still graphics such as graphs or diagrams enable knowledge to be presented differently from written language, either <em>providing concrete examples of abstractions or offering a different way of representing the same knowledge<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There is some overlap of each of these features with other media, but no other medium combines all these characteristics, or is as powerful as text with respect to these characteristics.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier (<a href=\"https:\/\/openstudio.pub\/teachinginadigitalagev3m\/chapter\/section-2-4-does-technology-change-the-nature-of-knowledge\/\">Chapter 2, Section 2.7.3<\/a>) I argued\u00a0that academic knowledge is a specific form of knowledge that has characteristics that differentiate it from other kinds of knowledge, and particularly from knowledge or beliefs based solely on direct personal experience. Academic knowledge is a second-order form of knowledge that seeks abstractions and generalizations based on reasoning and evidence.<\/p>\n<p>Fundamental components of or criteria for academic knowledge are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>codification:\u00a0knowledge can be consistently represented in some form (words, symbols, video);<\/li>\n<li>transparency:\u00a0the source of the knowledge can be traced and verified;<\/li>\n<li>reproduction: knowledge can be reproduced or have multiple copies;<\/li>\n<li>communicability: knowledge must be in a form such that it can be communicated and challenged by others.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Text meets\u00a0all four\u00a0criteria above, so it is an essential medium for academic learning.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left\">8.2.1.2 Skills development<\/h3>\n<p>Because of text&#8217;s ability to handle abstractions, and evidence-based argument, and its suitability for independent analysis and critique, text is particularly useful for <em>developing the higher learning outcomes required at an academic level, such as analysis, critical thinking,\u00a0and evaluation<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>It is less useful for showing processes or developing manual skills, for instance.<\/p>\n<h2>8.2.2 The book and knowledge<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_28\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-28\" style=\"width: 455px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/media-podcast.open.ac.uk\/feeds\/3088_outsidethebook\/33897_literary_viid05.m4v\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-263\" src=\"https:\/\/openstudio.pub\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2025\/05\/Book-video-2-300x180.jpg\" alt=\"Figure 9.1 What is a book? From scrolls and paperbacks to e-books, this one minute video portrays the history and future of books.\" width=\"455\" height=\"273\" srcset=\"https:\/\/openstudio.pub\/teachinginadigitalagev3m\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2025\/05\/Book-video-2-300x180.jpg 300w, https:\/\/openstudio.pub\/teachinginadigitalagev3m\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2025\/05\/Book-video-2-65x39.jpg 65w, https:\/\/openstudio.pub\/teachinginadigitalagev3m\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2025\/05\/Book-video-2-225x135.jpg 225w, https:\/\/openstudio.pub\/teachinginadigitalagev3m\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2025\/05\/Book-video-2-350x210.jpg 350w, https:\/\/openstudio.pub\/teachinginadigitalagev3m\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2025\/05\/Book-video-2.jpg 561w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 455px) 100vw, 455px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-28\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Figure 8.2.2 What is a book? From scrolls to\u00a0paperbacks to e-books, this one minute video portrays the history and future of books. Click to see the video from the UK Open University (\u00a9 Open University, 2014)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Although text can come in many formats,\u00a0I want to focus\u00a0particularly on the role of the book, because of its centrality in academic learning.\u00a0The book has proved to be a remarkably powerful medium for the development and transmission of academic knowledge, since it meets all four of the components required for presenting academic knowledge, but to\u00a0what extent can new media such as blogs, wikis, multimedia, and social media replace the book in academic knowledge?<\/p>\n<p>New media can in fact handle just as well some of these criteria, and provide indeed added value, such as speed of reproduction and ubiquity, but the book still has some unique qualities. A key\u00a0advantage of a book is that it allows for the development of a sustained, coherent, and comprehensive argument with evidence to support the argument. Blogs can do this only to a limited extent (otherwise they cease to be blogs and become online articles or a digital book).<\/p>\n<p>Quantity is important sometimes and books allow for the collection of a great deal of evidence and supporting argument, and allow for a wider exploration of an issue or theme, within a relatively condensed and portable format. A consistent and well supported argument, with evidence, alternative explanations or even counter positions, requires the extra &#8216;space&#8217; of a book. Above all, books can provide coherence or a sustained, particular position or approach to a problem or issue, a necessary balance to the chaos and confusion of the many new forms of digital media that constantly compete for our attention, but in much smaller &#8216;chunks&#8217; that are overall more difficult to integrate and digest.<\/p>\n<p>Another important academic feature of text is that it can be carefully scrutinised, analysed and constantly checked, partly because it is largely linear, and also permanent once published, enabling more rigorous challenge or testing in terms of evidence, rationality, and consistency. Multimedia in recorded format can come close to meeting these criteria, but text can also provide more convenience and in media terms, more simplicity. For instance I repeatedly find analysing video, which incorporates many variables and symbol systems, more complex than analysing a linear text, even if both contain equally rigorous (or equally sloppy) arguments.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left\">8.2.2.1\u00a0The form and function of a book<\/h3>\n<p>Does the form or technological representation of a book matter any more? Is a book still a book if downloaded and read on an iPad or Kindle, rather than as printed text?<\/p>\n<p>For the purposes of knowledge acquisition, it probably isn&#8217;t any different. Indeed, for study purposes, a digital version is probably more convenient because carrying an iPad around with maybe hundreds of books downloaded on it is certainly preferable to carrying around the printed versions of the same books. There are still complaints by students about the difficulties of annotating e-books, but this will almost certainly become a standard feature available in the future.<\/p>\n<p>If the whole book is downloaded, then the function of a book doesn&#8217;t change much just because it is available digitally. However, there are some subtle changes. Some would argue that scanning is still easier with a printed version. Have you ever had the difficulty of finding a particular quotation in a digital book compared with the printed version? Sure, you can use the search facility, but that means knowing exactly the correct words or the name of the person being quoted. With a printed book, I can often find a quotation just by flicking the pages, because I am using context and rapid eye scanning to locate the source, even when I don&#8217;t know exactly what I am looking for. On the other hand, searching when you do know what you are looking for (e.g. a reference by a particular author) is much easier digitally.<\/p>\n<p>When books are digitally available, users can download only the selected chapters that are of interest to them. This is valuable if you know just what you want, but there are also dangers. For instance in my book on the strategic management of technology (Bates and Sangr\u00e0, 2011), the last chapter summarizes the rest of the book. If the book had been digital, the\u00a0temptation then would be to just download the final chapter. You&#8217;d have all the important messages in\u00a0the book, right? Well, no. What you would be missing is the evidence for the conclusions. Now the book on strategic management is based on case studies, so it would be really important to check back with how the case studies were interpreted to get to the conclusions, as this will affect the confidence you would have as a reader in the conclusions that were\u00a0drawn. If just the digital version of only the last chapter is downloaded, you also lose the context of the whole book. Having the whole book gives readers more freedom to interpret and add their own conclusions than just having a summary chapter.<\/p>\n<p>In conclusion, then, there are advantages and disadvantages of digitizing a book, but the essence of a book is not greatly changed when it becomes digital rather than printed.\u00a0I have also written about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tonybates.ca\/2015\/06\/10\/writing-an-online-open-textbook-is-it-worth-it\/\">the advantages of publishing an online academic textbook,<\/a> based on my own experience of writing the first edition of this book, which is now available in 10 languages and has been downloaded over 500,000 times since 2015.\u00a0For another perspective on this, see Clive Shepherd&#8217;s blog: <a href=\"http:\/\/clive-shepherd.blogspot.com\/2010\/08\/weighing-up-benefits-of-traditional.html?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CliveOnLearning+%28Clive+Shepherd%29&amp;utm_content=Google+International\">Weighing up the benefits of traditional book publishing<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left\">8.2.2.2\u00a0A new niche for books in academia<\/h3>\n<p>We have seen historically that new media often do not entirely replace an older medium, but the old medium finds a new &#8216;niche&#8217;. Thus television did not lead to the complete demise of radio. Similarly, I suspect that there will be a continued role for the book in academic knowledge, enabling the book (whether digital or printed) to thrive alongside new media and formats in academia.<\/p>\n<p>However, books that retain their value academically will likely need to be much more specific\u00a0in their format and their purpose than has been the case to date. For instance, I see no future for\u00a0books consisting mainly of a collection of loosely connected but semi-independent chapters from different authors, unless there is a strong cohesion and edited presence that provides an integrated argument or consistent set of data across all the chapters. Most of all, books\u00a0may need to change some of their features, to allow for more interaction and input from readers, and more links to the outside world. It is much more unlikely though that books will survive in a printed format, because digital publication allows for many more features to be added, reduces the environmental footprint, and makes text\u00a0much more portable and transferable.<\/p>\n<p>Lastly, this is not an argument for ignoring the academic benefits of new media. The value of graphics, video and animation for representing knowledge, the ability to interact asynchronously with other learners, and the value of social networks, are all under-exploited in academia. But text and books are still important.<\/p>\n<h2>8.2.3 Text and other forms of knowledge<\/h2>\n<p>I have focused particularly on text and academic knowledge, because of the traditional importance of text and printed knowledge in academia. The unique pedagogical characteristics of text though may be less for other forms of knowledge. Indeed, multimedia may have many more advantages in vocational and technical education.<\/p>\n<p>In the k-12 or school sector, text and print are likely to remain important, because reading and writing are likely to remain essential\u00a0in a digital age, so the study of text (digital and printed)\u00a0will remain important if only for developing literacy skills.<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, one of the limitations of text is that it requires a high level of prior literacy skills for it to be used effectively for teaching and learning, and indeed much of teaching and learning\u00a0is focused on the development of skills that enable rigorous analysis of textual materials. Indeed reading ability is one of the core skills identified for the 21st century. Reading and writing literacy is somewhat under attack with the use of truncated language in text messages, automated spelling correction, and emotive symbols in social media. However, we should be giving as much attention to developing literacy skills in using and interpreting multimedia in a digital age.<\/p>\n<h2>8.2.4 Assessment<\/h2>\n<p>If text is critical for the presentation of knowledge and development of skills in your subject area, what are the implications for assessment? If students are expected to develop the skills\u00a0that text appears to develop, then presumably text will be an important medium for assessment.\u00a0Students will need to demonstrate their own ability to use text to present\u00a0abstractions, argument and evidence-based reasoning.<\/p>\n<p>In such contexts, composed textual responses, such as essays or written reports, are likely to be necessary, rather than multiple-choice questions or multimedia reports.<\/p>\n<h2>8.2.5 More evidence, please<\/h2>\n<p>Although there has been extensive research on the pedagogical features\u00a0of other media such as audio, video and computing, text has generally been treated as the default mode, the base against which other media are compared. As a result print in particular is largely taken for granted in academia. We are now though at the stage where we need to pay much more attention to the unique characteristics of text in its various formats, in relation to other media. Until though we have more empirical studies on the unique characteristics of text and print, text will remain central to\u00a0at least academic teaching and learning.<\/p>\n<h2>References<\/h2>\n<p>Koumi, J. (1994) <a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1111\/j.1467-8535.1994.tb00088.x\">Media comparisons and deployment: a\u00a0practitioner\u2019s view<\/a>\u00a0<em>British Journal of Educational Technology<\/em>, Vol. 25, No. 1.<\/p>\n<p>Koumi, J. (2006)\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.routledge.com\/Designing-Video-and-Multimedia-for-Open-and-Flexible-Learning-1st-Edition\/Koumi\/p\/book\/9780415383035\">Designing video and multimedia for open and flexible learning<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em>London:<em>\u00a0<\/em>Routledge.<\/p>\n<p>Koumi, J. (2015)\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/full\/10.1080\/2331186X.2015.1045218\">Learning outcomes afforded by self-assessed, segmented video-print combinations<\/a>\u00a0<em>Cogent Education<\/em>, Vol. 2, No.1<\/p>\n<p>Manguel, A. (1996) <a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.ca\/books\/about\/A_History_of_Reading.html?id=e_3gAAAAMAAJ&amp;redir_esc=y\"><em>A History of Reading<\/em><\/a> London: Harper Collins<\/p>\n<h2>Other reading<\/h2>\n<p>Although there are many publications on text, in terms of typography, structure, and its historical influence on education and culture, I could find no publications where text is compared with other modern media such as audio or video in terms of its pedagogical characteristics,\u00a0although Koumi (2015) has written about\u00a0text in combination with audio, and Albert Manguel&#8217;s book is also fascinating reading from an historical perspective.<\/p>\n<p>However, I am sure that my lack of references\u00a0is due to my lack of scholarship in the area. If you have suggestions for readings, please send me an email. Also, a study of the unique pedagogical characteristics of text\u00a0in a digital age might make for a very interesting and valuable Ph.D. thesis.<\/p>\n<div class=\"bcc-box bcc-info\">\n<h3>Activity 8.2 Identifying the unique pedagogical characteristics of text<\/h3>\n<p>1. Take one of the courses you are teaching. What key presentational aspects of text are important for this course? Is text the best medium for\u00a0representing knowledge in your subject area; if not, what concepts or topics would be best represented through other media?<\/p>\n<p>2. Look at the skills listed in <a href=\"https:\/\/openstudio.pub\/teachinginadigitalagev3m\/chapter\/section-1-3-the-skills-needed-in-a-digital-age\/\">Section 1.2\u00a0<\/a>of this book. Which of these skills would best be developed through the use of text rather than other media? How would you do this using text-based teaching?<\/p>\n<p>3. What do you think about books for learning?\u00a0Do you think the book is dead or about to become obsolete?\u00a0If you think books are still valuable for learning, what changes, if any, do you think should be made to academic books?\u00a0What would be lost if books were entirely replaced by new media? What would be gained?<\/p>\n<p>4. Under what conditions would it be more appropriate for students to be assessed through written essays and under what conditions would multimedia portfolios be more appropriate for assessment?<\/p>\n<p>5. Can you think of any other unique pedagogical characteristics of text?<\/p>\n<p>For feedback on this activity, click on the podcast below:<\/p>\n<p><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-264-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/teachinginadigitalagev2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/677\/2014\/12\/Text-2019-08-25-5.14-PM.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/teachinginadigitalagev2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/677\/2014\/12\/Text-2019-08-25-5.14-PM.mp3\">https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/teachinginadigitalagev2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/677\/2014\/12\/Text-2019-08-25-5.14-PM.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"media-attributions clear\" prefix:cc=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/ns#\" prefix:dc=\"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/\"><h2>Media Attributions<\/h2><ul><li >Katherine reading       <\/li><li >Book video 2       <\/li><\/ul><\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"menu_order":2,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-264","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":258,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/openstudio.pub\/teachinginadigitalagev3m\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/openstudio.pub\/teachinginadigitalagev3m\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/openstudio.pub\/teachinginadigitalagev3m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openstudio.pub\/teachinginadigitalagev3m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/openstudio.pub\/teachinginadigitalagev3m\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":265,"href":"https:\/\/openstudio.pub\/teachinginadigitalagev3m\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/264\/revisions\/265"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/openstudio.pub\/teachinginadigitalagev3m\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/258"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/openstudio.pub\/teachinginadigitalagev3m\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/264\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/openstudio.pub\/teachinginadigitalagev3m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openstudio.pub\/teachinginadigitalagev3m\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=264"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openstudio.pub\/teachinginadigitalagev3m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=264"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openstudio.pub\/teachinginadigitalagev3m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}