New technologies have been a matter of intense debate; social media, iPhone, iPad, apps for pretty much everything. On the one hand, there are those who passionately support technology and can’t live without it. On the other hand, there those who are committed to traditional consumption and can’t live without that either! While the majority of people have been open to trying new technologies for socializing and entertainment, for good reason there has been more caution with regards to technologies for enhancing education.
For the sake of argument let’s take an example from higher education. University students download notes from their LMS in the form of PowerPoint slides without having to be physically present in a class, they write their essays on the computer and submit them electronically and most students find the articles they need online through the library database and Google Books.
Strict deadlines and anxiety for exams can turn one’s dream university life into a nightmare. In a very fast-paced era, digital technologies give us the greatest gift of all; they save us time. For instance, Bibliotech’s platform offers a textbook search engine that can query for an exam question and enable the student to understand assessment questions in greater depth by returning the most relevant definitions, diagrams and examples from a massive catalogue of academics works including those from Oxford University Press.
The digital world seems to some people even more chaotic than the real life world is because we can find all the information we need online but can be left unable to process it all. Learning is a personal process and everyone has to find their own way through it. Bibliotech enables students to search through reading lists curated by their lecturers. Enabling catalyzed individualized learning within the framework of the course and university.
Founded through the Oxford University Innovation Startup Incubator, Bibliotech is a company that provides students with access to all of their textbooks online for a monthly subscription on any device at any time. The idea behind this web app was conceived when David Sherwood, CEO and co-founder – then a Rhodes Scholar – looked to apply some of the tech disruptions seen in music to academia. He worked closely Oxford University Press to launch a small scale trial with UCL and Oxford to pilot the idea using OUP chemistry books. It was this early stage support from OUP that got the idea off the ground. The company, housed at and supported by the Digital Catapult in London.
Find out more at www.bibliotech.education
Author: Dave Sherwood
CEO of Bibliotech