The Joy of Reading

You must be wondering why I am featuring one of my arty snaps of the iconic, architecturally stunning Guggenheim Museum in New York? I won’t keep you in suspense long…

Many of you know that I have been toiling away in the publishing industry for some time now. 17 years to be exact. I love it! It is the home of a great many thoughtful, creative and hard-working individuals, many of whom have a deep and abiding love for the written word. Every day we have the opportunity to have a positive and lasting impact on readers’ lives. This is especially true in the educational publishing world in which I currently live. I have thankfully been able to translate an early teaching career into a passion for developing learning resources that make a difference to teachers and students here in Canada.  Well, this world, it is a-changing!  In a recent much-anticipated, and highly debated “announcement” at The Guggenheim, Apple, as only Apple can, put a spotlight directly on educational resource development when they launched their new, free digital “textbook” building app, iBook. You can learn more about their announcement here.

You can only imagine how educational resource developers feel when years of experience, dedication and creativity have been quickly boiled down into one free, very slick app in the matter of what seems to be a heart beat.  Apparently there IS an app for everything, even the publishing process! And this publishing process is now in your hands!  While this does give all of us in the resource development “industry” great pause for thought, and some hand-wringing, it also presents an awesome opportunity for those passionate about doing the right thing for students and teachers.  While the Apple announcement has raised legitimate concerns about equity of access, intellectual property and the dreaded “walled garden”, the announcement and resulting debates have also shed a light on innovation in resource development and the need to harness technology thoughtfully to engage all students and teachers in the joy of learning. What an awesome opportunity!

I think most of you know I was one of the early adopters (or adapters) of the iPad. Mine is nearing its second birthday!  It goes with me everywhere. It is my traveling library, stereo, and very cool photo editor.  It has transformed the way I work and the way I read. And I have no doubt that it will have a positive and lasting impact in education (should it become more affordable!). The best part? It makes reading and learning possible and enjoyable everywhere!  That is the promise that it and other eReaders and tablets hold for our beleaguered publishing industry. Will they spell the death of books? I think yes, in the near term for the textbook, as innovations in technology allow for more interactivity, rich multi-media, and real-time story-telling in learning resources…and they will save some of our beautiful Canadian forests! But I think you will find that books in general, rather than disappearing altogether, will become cherished, well-worn, and coveted items in every home, library and book store. Books, reading and learning, will become more important, not less. And that has to be a good thing!

I will leave you with a fun video that was shot at a local Toronto bookstore recently called The Joy of Books. While I love it as much as my time-worn, dog-eared Penguin Classic version of Jane Eyre, I am also thrilled that I can easily share my favourite Charlotte Bronte quotes with friends via my eBook version on my iPad. At the end of the day, it is about the joy of reading!