A friend in the industry recently suggested that it is possible to learn almost anything online today. \u2018Anything that doesn\u2019t involve manual work at least\u2019 he quickly vouchsafed. In no mood for an argument, I conceded he was probably right. It was only when I reflected later on his statement that I realise that it probably wasn\u2019t true. Indeed we still have a long way to go before we reach this utopian idyll.<\/p>\n
There are a number of reasons for this. Many are associated with the nature of a subject, its \u2018learning philosophy\u2019 and measurement. Any classics or arts university lecturer would tell you it\u2019s not just about the learning content but discovering how to learn, question and imagine. This is undoubtedly true. But back in the real world, there are still other more profound reasons for this. One of the most interesting surrounds the learning content itself, much of which, even in higher education today, has always been published initially, in good old fashioned book form. And it is in this form they substantially remain. Good online versions of classic texts are still surprisingly rare.<\/p>\n
Obviously there are reasons. We should consider the publishers\u2019 motivations for a start. After all, as they say, \u2018if it ain\u2019t broke, why bother fixing it?\u2019 It is the publisher that still makes solid income out of these books so why change a winning formula? Moreover, when any book which has been printed over and again, the production costs become really low. Traditional learning supporters will also point out that the nature of these set-books is that they must be referred to time and again. Any item used repeatedly increases the arguments for having a hard copy.<\/p>\n