I led a week-long training session with the help of an interpreter. The audience’s understanding of English varied, and so the interpreter translated my words into Georgian. When you use a second language, your range of expression narrows because you lack all the nuances that your native language provides. And the translation of such non-native speech into a third language can reduce the power of expression further; even a skilled interpreter will inevitably change the meaning.

The trickiest issue, however, was creating interaction. Discussions become very slow when all the contributions have to be translated. I was also caught off balance when a funny story I told was met with silence—until the interpreter finished retelling it in Georgian, at which point people did laugh. This sort of delay hampers interaction, much like asking a question and not getting an answer till the following day.

Fortunately, the subject of my session was online tools and activities, which made it possible to create multi-lingual environments and foster interaction there. At the same time, my week clearly illustrates how essential a solid knowledge of English is, if you want access to global networks. When presenting MIT‘s open learning resources, the deputy director of the Georgian agency commented with wry humor: If we want to keep our jobs, we either have to stop teaching English, or stop teaching anything except English.

Last week I was consulting with the Academy of the Ministry of Finance in Georgia about the use of social media in education and in professional work. This assignment began by opening access to blogs, wikis, Twitter, YouTube, and so on. Last summer, Georgian ministries had closed access to such social media because they wanted to eliminate their use for entertainment during working hours. Facebook is the most popular service in Georgia, and the way it’s typically used has shaped attitudes toward the entire spectrum of tools. Participants repeatedly asked why they needed multiple channels like wikis, blogs, and Twitter; why can’t the same functionality come from a single service, namely Facebook. I myself use Facebook pages and groups professionally; I think these work well for relatively superficial discussion and sharing, such as agreeing on schedules. However, more complex work requires a wider range of tools, such as a blog for fuller reflection, or a wiki for building knowledge. When we combine such tools with a rapid reaction channel like Twitter, we create an effective social media environment for learning and for professional work. While Facebook has its strong points, it’s hard to weed out sheer entertainment because it was designed for just that purpose.

Authors earn their wages—and here in Finland, the average writer earns only a couple of thousand euros a year. However, even that amount can’t be deposited if nobody’s buying the books. In recent weeks, Pasi Jääskäläinen has drawn attention to the fact that in our small language area, there are too many writers and too few readers buying their work. He has decided to offer his highly-praised, often-translated books for free. Participants discussed this same topic last weekend during the non-fiction writer’s seminar at Arktikum. As the book industry continues to transform, authors need more than the ability to write. Because publishers provide visibility to only a few big names, other writers need to unlock the secrets of self-marketing. On my way home from the seminar, I asked the chair of the Finnish Book Publishers what he considered the most effective sales channel: trade fairs, speaking events, or e-commerce. According to him, there is no unambiguous answer. We have to actively seek new opportunities; the book must reach the right audience in the right place. Traditional methods for book sales aren’t enough; writers need to start a new chapter.

On Friday, I was speaking about electronic learning materials to the Technical Publishers Association. I submitted five provocative arguments:

Electronic materials are going to displace books. Book will follow the digital path taken by music, videos, and newspapers. What Wikipedia and online dictionaries have done to publications will soon affect textbooks.

Quality is not tied to publication format. Quality is a complex issue, and depends much more on other factors than on a publishing platform. For many uses, the quality of open-source material is sufficient.

The added value of e-materials comes from online features. The most important benefits for users are availability, search, links, interactivity, and media elements.

Publishers have not yet been able to develop an effective business model. E-book stores don’t generate much revenue, commercial libraries that charge monthly fee are just starting up, as well as publishers of electronic educational materials. In small language communities like Finland, It’s difficult to apply business models from the far larger, English-speaking world.

Ultimately, ease of use will determine the winner. Usability studies show how crucial a good user experience is to the adoption of new activity. If people can read your book on the device they prefer, without complex logins or downloads, and if you can manage to monetize it, you are a winner.

I’ve been reading The Handbook of University Pedagogy as part of a course I’m taking. Most of the articles deal with abstract learning theories and the constructive alignment of instruction, both of which are interesting issues to reflect on with regard to your own teaching. Unlike the typical academic approach toward education, heavy on statistics and theory, the handbook also addresses some practical applications. The book includes lists of ways to make lectures more active, such as reflections, chats, debates, group work and writing tasks. Most of the methods are well known, but I picked up one fresh idea: the motivation line. This is a physical line or continuum: students place themselves along a line, with enthusiastic and motivated individuals toward one end and those less so toward the other. The learning atmosphere becomes visible, and leads naturally to discussion of important issues of motivation. I plan to try the motivation line in my next course.

Last weekend, the Educa Fair for education professionals was held at the Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre. The exhibitors were mostly publishers, libraries, educational institutions, and associations. The education trade union sponsored the lecture program, and this year’s themes were changes in the learning environment and shifts in the role of the teacher. Change has already occurred in the student’s information environment, but teachers’ attitudes change slowly. In many Educa speeches, the online environment was presented as questionable, traditional books as reliable and appropriate. In the same subordinate clause, speakers bundle up and condemn Wikipedia, Facebook, online dictionaries, e-journals, e-books and databases. How on earth does text become unreliable simply by being transmitted from paper to screen? Will the teacher’s slide become poorer when it is published openly on the net? Attitudes towards online activities are unjustifiably skeptical and negative. In any case, since the students’ learning environment has changed, a better theme for the fair might have been “A Change in Attitude”.

I watched Kai Halttunen’s video on how to guide the collecting of information. I got excited about the task in which students were invited to draw their own information horizons. The horizon is made up of concentric circles on which students place their information sources: the primary closest, then the secondary, and so on. The task is suited to many purposes: it helps to evaluate the sources, deepens the searches, and broadens the range of materials. Also in everyday life you can use this method to trace the sources of speech topics and points of view. The more complex a person’s information horizon, the more interesting material he is likely to produce on social media. If the horizon takes in only a few mainstream media, the person’s discussion tends to be limited to the topics introduced by those sources. So a glance at the information horizon is like the sign at the passport office: “Document Checking.”

My tour through Finnish e-textbook companies continues this week with eOppi Ltd . My guide last Tuesday was the company’s development manager Johannes Pernaa. eOppi, whose name comes from the Finnish word for “lesson,” was founded in 2011 by Simo Veistola, an experienced textbook writer. The company has so far published around 70 e-books and other materials, and works with some 120 textbook writers. The materials are published on the Pedanet and OnEdu platforms. While these are easy enough for an author to use, eOppi prefers to work through editors to achieve consistent quality. The materials are free for teachers; schools pay 5 euros per student for a two-year license. The authors can choose to be paid either on a fixed percentage — which is higher than that from hard-copy publishers — or on a lower percentage that rises after a certain sales volume. The eOppi books seem to compete well with traditional books and add value with their media elements. Their American Geography offers a portfolio for students to collect their own materials, the ePhysics includes several videos of student experiments, and the Music Book even offers sound files for the always-crucial ukulele tuning .

Last week, I learned about the Tablet School and talked with founder Oskari Lehtonen. The Tablet School provides curriculum based courses for high schools and junior high schools. Besides text, the e-courses include a variety of media elements, such as quizzes, links, and YouTube videos. For authors, e-courses are easy to compose in a technical sense: you just add the text, images, and media elements through the user-friendly platform. As for quality, authors know that producing outstanding content is challenging regardless of medium. In the Tablet School, teachers can complete the materials by themselves and compile tests either from a course’s ready-made tasks or from their own questions. For students, e-materials form a handy package that is always available on a tablet or in any device. Extra value comes from a discussion forum and from links to other subjects and online resources. The Tablet School’s pricing seems to make sense for all parties: authors get 35% royalties, teachers use the platform free of charge, and students pay 11 euros for a five-year license.