From the paperback to the ebook: Lifelong learning in the age of the internet

The following document is part of a collection of papers that build on the UIL report Embracing a Culture of Lifelong Learning.

The history of education can be told as the story of its democratization. Against this backdrop, Eduardo Mendieta’s paper offers an overview of the impact of the publishing industry on the democratization and availability of education for greater numbers of people. It focuses on the development of the publishing sector and how it interacts with the educational sectors, taking into consideration the impact of digital and audio books on mass education and general literacy. Following the assumption that the ecology of books constitutes an important ‘learning space’, this paper aims to map out how ebooks have altered the educational landscape.

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