annotate pdf tablet pc
annotate pdf tablet pc
Imagine if textbooks were free.
If I was an economics professor, I see an online catalog and select Macroeconomics Principles and Rittenberg Tregarthan, International Finance: Theory and Policy Suranovic and Business Communication to the success of McLean. Could read books online via a web browser for free. Or you can buy a PDF version can be downloaded and printed immediately on my own, or printing copies of books.
Once I decided that I want to use the books in my classroom, I "adopted" by clicking on the link and make them available my students can read online without charge. As a registered member of my class, you can even mark and annotate their own copies of books Online. If you prefer, you can also order printed copies – or even audio versions – books and study aids.
Too good to be true?
Flat World Knowledge, the company behind the service of free textbooks, do not think so.
"Knowledge of the flat world was created in response to dissatisfaction with traditional textbooks. We follow what works – peer review, Expert authors, editorial development, education and supplements. We fix what is not, "the company's Web site said.
What does is the high cost of textbooks that can run up to $ 950 per student per year, the company said.
"Our books are free online, with options available Online … Students are able to choose the format and the price they want. offers DIY prints, black and black and full color paperbacks at a fraction of the cost of the media connected. "
What is more, Flat World books are open and customizable, which means teachers can adapt for your classes.
World Focus textbooks apartment also means teachers and students are not required adopt new editions of a title simply because earlier versions are no longer in print.
In the future, Reserve conference on Digital issue earlier this month, Eric Frank, founder and president of Flat World Knowledge, to share this vision textbooks on open source video stream live Skype from New York.
"This is a market with a simple mechanism: a teacher selects the book, while the student pays for it "said Frank Unfortunately, this parameter can cause financial pain for students ..
"The core of the dispute is a difference in value simple but profound," he continued. "The final customer, the student, which is more connected than anyone, just the base of the pyramid the economy. "
"Students are leaving university because they can not buy textbooks, "said Frank.
At the same time, publishers of college textbooks fight against piracy online and increasing the resale market and book rental.
open source text books are probably the deepest understanding yet approach the solution of these problems, "said Frank.
Knowledge flat world titles published under the Creative Commons license, which means that users are free to copy or modify them.
The company and its authors earn money when teachers or students to print copies books, or purchase one of the study materials which also offers holidays world.
"The free book is the entry point "Said Frank." What we are doing to generate revenue is to sell the convenience and efficiency. Students do not want be bound to a browser and a PC. We sell books in black and white for $ 30, color $ 60, and audio books and PDF. "
Among the benefits: students access to affordable and learn to choose the format to suit your lifestyle and learning while the teacher retains control over the quality, content and student access.
A Once teachers begin to change the titles based their needs, which are more likely to continue to use the same titles in the future, giving the authors a stable revenue stream, "said Frank. The authors also obtain a royalty of 20 percent on school aid for their books sold.
It is too early to say whether this model will succeed, but the company has signed more than 100 authors, Frank said.
For now, the online catalog company has 26 titles business and a handful of textbooks for the humanities and social sciences and mathematics, and professional and applied sciences.
Frank acknowledged that some authors are reluctant to publish a book that others are legally able to change, but others should be recorded a revenue stream healthier and see the benefits of interaction with people who use their books.
traditional textbook industry, also likely to balk at the idea of open textbooks, like the church was opposed to the Gutenberg Press in 1508, Frank said.
"The European Church says it is a horrible idea," he said. "Scribes have lost their jobs and their morale would threatened if anyone can publish a book. And they were right. The scribes have lost their jobs and the first major publication was Martin Luther 95 Theses against the Church. And morality is threatened by pornography has become the most popular product of printing. And yet, do not look to 1508 as the beginning from the end but the beginning of the beginning. "
To create new business models that work, the industry should not be afraid of change.
"You have to experiment and experience violently he said." And so, we have new models. "
From Digital Life by Chin Wong
Chin Wong has been covering the technology industry since the 1980s, starting as a reporter for Business Day, Southeast AsiaÂ’s first daily business newspaper. He is now a lecturer in journalism at the Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines and associate editor for the Manila Standard Today. Before that, he also served as technology editor of the Manila Times until October 2004.
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