Online Learning Resources Will Upend the Textbook Industry - Himanshu Sareen, Xconomy

Publishing companies, which have traditionally depended on print academic journals and college textbooks for their revenues, will undoubtedly move to adopt digital and online offerings to meet the expectations of today’s tech-savvy society. The natural strategy for textbook publishers looking to differentiate themselves from competing OER sources and MOOCs would be to emphasize quality. To position themselves for such innovation, publishers should begin to experiment. For instance, a service for accessing expert insight via streaming or pre-recorded videos for use in class can be bundled with traditional text book purchases. Publishers have already begun to embrace the development of mobile applications so we can certainly expect some innovation along those lines. By taking inspiration from the forces which serve to disrupt the traditional publishing model, publishers can embrace and capitalize on such disruptions rather than stick to their traditional modes of operation. http://www.xconomy.com/new-york/2013/04/24/online-resources-will-upend-the-textbook-industry/