DIGITIZATION & DIGITALIZATION

"Conversion of Textbook materials into digital artefacts"

1. DIGITIZATION IN EDUCATION FIELD

Wave of digitization and digitalization is sweeping anything and everything. In such a scenario, education cannot be far behind. There are number of traditional players like Textbook Publishers in the Education field who are thinking of how to create their presence and continue their relevance in the digital age. The current and upcoming students are already savvy on mobile phones, tablets and laptops in that order. Compared to these the textbooks are heavy and so one cannot learn anytime, anywhere.

Covid-19 has also been a gamechanger in both negative and positive ways. The negative is that schools have been shut for months which has impacted both students and parents. We are not going to cover psychological, social and other aspects of such closures. Instead we shall examine the transformation in teaching methods which have emerged. Students are getting used to online lessons more so than ever before.

Most textbook publishing companies who focus on K-12 curriculum have launched digital platforms. They are transforming their core identities of being pure textbook publishers to digital education players using the rich content which they already have. They are thinking beyond a “book” whose definition is getting blurred as in the digital world one can supplement or complement standard content with videos, audios, add text to speech and other innovations.

Courtesy: https://woxapp.com/industries/digitalization-solutions-development/

The over-arching benefits of digital “books” :

  • Students can read a chapter at a time without having to carry around the whole textbook. They can access their lesson from anywhere, anytime
  • Students do not need to search for a particular topic or word or phrase but digital methods of powerful searches shall be at their fingertips
  • They get questions at the end of each chapter as in a traditional textbook. But they can attempt the same digitally and get the recommended answers to compare and correct themselves. They can retry the attempts of the same or different questions unlike in a traditional text where they write their answers in the allocated space. Character counts can be strictly enforced to keep answers brief and to the point.
  • Teachers can supplement the textbook with many interesting references, videos or audios on the subject for students who are willing to learn more about the topic
  • Revision before the exams can also be made more innovative which help their recall and hone in the main concepts.

Below is an excerpt from the article “Textbooks in the Digital World” written by Misha Ketchell – This reflects the trends across USA

Question: Do we still need textbooks? Yes. But, the composition as well as the role of textbooks is changing. They are becoming more digitized, more open, more affordable, more dynamic and interactive, and more frequently updated.

  • Many school districts are shifting funds from their textbook budgets to purchase devices and digital content, but are making changes incrementally and replacing books with digital content based on their 3- to 5-year curriculum adoption schedules.

Meanwhile, the proliferation of technology tools and resources has transformed the learning landscape. The shift from print to digital has given students and teachers access to content that exceeds so-called universe of a traditional textbook. With these advances come more engaging and exciting ways for students (and teachers) to learn.

2. BUSINESS DIGITALIZATION

  • What Is the Digitization of Business

Digitalization is a one way to transform a business with available digital technologies to improve productivity and efficiency through rationalization and optimization of business processes and enhance customer experience.

Customer centricity and Design thinking focusses on satisfaction of consumer “needs”. User “wants” change as advances in technologies happen. Consumers become more demanding and expect online, real-time transactions and interactions. They are not willing to wait for 24-48 hours for a response.

Key aspects of digitalization of any business comprise of the following:

  • Improvement of the solution whether it is a product of service or both
    • Speed: The speed of service can multiply manifold using digitalization techniques as you can directly connect with the end-consumer which is practically imposed in the world of “physical commerce”
    • Ease of use: Digital interfaces like Mobile Apps are easy to use for the end-user and fairly intuitive and this is the primary reason it appeals to all generations – young and old
    • Delivery: Product Delivery can be co-ordinated better and can be performed with speed, accuracy and flexibility and handling of returns and repair can be streamlined
    • Flexibility: When a product or service is purchased online, users can be provide multiple options to fulfil their purchase right from types of payment, delivery to capturing special requests.
    • Personalization: User can setup preferences or their preferences can be derived from their past purchase or usage behaviour. Once the user preferences are known, he/she can be offered products and services which suit their profile or interests or needs. This is a win-win for all parties
  • Automation of the manufacturing process
    • Manufacturing processed can be automated and even personalized to create a product which exactly fits a customer’s need
  • Streamline business processes
    • Mobile Apps allow innovative and real-time interaction of various stakeholders and thereby it can re-design some key processes
    • Multiple new technologies like Blockchain, Data Science and IoT are revolutionizing how a company runs its business
    • Digitalization helps rationalize and optimize B2B and B2C business processes with a view to improve efficiency, productivity, reduce costs and errors / rework
  • Possibility to collaborate internally within an organization and also externally
    • One of the greatest benefits of digitalization is collaboration between all entities whether it be between employees or between departments or with external stakeholders
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