Two weeks ago , at the ADE Summer Institute 2010, I had the good fortune to room with Robert Andersen , professor of Humanities and Language at Oakland Community College, Auburn Hills, Campus. Bob and I share a strong mutual interest in film, as well as educational technology. However, he is light years ahead of me in terms of technical skills. Given his professional background in film editing, it was unsurprising that his project group chose him to edit their movie on Final Cut Pro, "Future of the Book". Many of the groups worked late into the night before the projects were due, so I wasn't surprised to find his whole gang gathered in our room after midnight. "Connected . . . . connected . . .connected" I heard played well into the night and bright and early the next day. But they came up with a nice piece:
Within days after returning home, I came across the following news:
* Amazon announced that Kindle books were outselling hardcovers.
* Both Apple and Amazon have already added functionality to the Kindle and iPad that will allow their ebooks to include embedded audio and video as well as other goodies, just as the speakers in the Future of the Book are requesting.
Sounds to me like the future is at hand. I think we educators should start insisting that the book publishers start producing 21st century media for our students.
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A shout out to Bob's project teammates: Jill Burdo, Charlene Chausis, Chris Penny, Bill Rankin, Harry St. Ours
