E-Books & E-Readers out of vogue?

For those like me who love their books in print will be pleased with this article in today's edition of The Sydney Morning Herald  (Jan 19 2015).

Sales of print books in 2014 were up in the lead-up to Christmas while E-Readers struggle to sell. Not to mention, E-Readers have their own threats to competition like Tablets and smartphones. Also they are quite durable tools with long battery life. Why replace something thats not broken?

It feels like as well E-Readers don't get as much attention in ads and catalogues like they did even a year ago.

Meanwhile, The Washington Post, published an article about the case against E-Readers. If there is one thing that I agree with in terms of print over electronic text, is the interaction with the text. One can absorb information more easily.

Christian News magazine The Philadelphia Trumpet featured an article in its January edition also presenting the case for print over electronic text, but with a Christian perspective. One point of interest is being able to highlight and annotate text to help you understand what is being written.

As I have pointed out in the past, there is room for E-Books and Printed Books.

We love E-Readers but we also love printed books

A recent article published on The Conservation website mentions that we love to buy e-readers but we also love to read printed books?

Something isn't right when I made that remark. We should love one or the other in this day and age. Right?

I have noticed how hard it is to get some best sellers or popular reads in an E-Book format and that is a concern because it is denying those who want to read an E-format the chance to read their favourite book on a format that suits them. There are some who prefer the printed version, but cannot obtain a printed copy and hence want an E-Book.

But I did notice one thing missing in the article and I think it answers the question as to why we love printed books - the tactile experience of reading a book and mentally the connection one has when a printed copy in their hands.

Free E-Books & Audio Books

If you are looking for a free read and have either an E-Reader or Tablet, I've come across a link that provides an index of whats out there and the content that is available.

Happy Reading.

CEO Sydney ILe@RN with Mobile Devices - Ipad 2 - Module 5

This module was proving to be a fair bit of an eye opener and the relevance too in relation to my Teacher Librarian role.

I recall times in primary school when either we as the students made a book or we did it together as a class. It is a whole new take on that, though it feels a bit challenging at this stage for a class approach to doing it.

But with an Ipad, it goes further than just pen, pencils and paper. Digital technology allows for animations and special effects. 

E-Book Learning Activities

I have not had the opportunity to explore or experiment with learning activities that would allow for students to create an E-Book just yet. I'm going to suggest how I would do it.

Being a teacher who needs to know the curriculum in general, I'll propose some general ideas on how I would do it or suggest to teachers what to do.

I love learning journals and this is one strategy I would do. A journal is a book; a book where one writes about their own thoughts and experiences. In a learning context, we keep a record of what we learn. Instead, get the students to present it as an E-Book. 

Fortunately I have been trained in history. History is about sharing stories about the past. There is a long list that I could write about how it can be done. Students for example might be asked to recount how a solider experienced Gallipoli and present it as an E-Book with visual images and audio to support the story or a short biography of a prominent person in history. 

I'm not a food technology trained teacher, but an E-Book can be created to explain some short recipes for food being cooked in class. 

If a maths teacher wanted to find a way to help students remember a formula or steps in solving a maths problem; one that students may find complex, I can propose that students create an E-Book as a set of summary notes for an exam.

For digital storytelling, I decided to use Toontastic to create my animated cartoon. It does allow for a highly effective engaging learning experience as the students can use humour to learn but also to express their learning. 

Quick Voice
I used this app to record a set of instructions. I was happy with it overall. Obviously the key to getting a good quality recording is to ensure that the volume is set up. I think the challenge when recording is to ensure that I have a script so I am certain in what I am saying, especially if telling a story. With anything oral, I must ensure that I express myself appropriately e.g changing the volume of my voice, tone etc.

Flipboard

I find it hard to put into words my thoughts on it. It takes RSS feeds to a whole new level because it is even more interactive. It made me think of news apps the Sydney Morning Herald Ipad App and how the information is presented except it is from everywhere. I synced it up with Twitter and Facebook and straight away it linked me up to items from outlets related to those that I either frequent or have interests in. It felt like the app had read my mind.

Encouraging reading

This was my most crucial section of the module. As a Teacher-Librarian, I am meant to encourage students to read. I thought viewing the video below gives a summary about how one can use the Ipad as a reading device.



During 2013, I had the chance to present a series of workshops on the Overdrive Library Collection provided to students at Waverley College and actually shared some those advantages of reading a book on an electronic device e.g. control over fonts and sizes, tilting the Ipad to read either as a double page or single page. That actually allows for engagement with the text.Those with special needs e.g visual impairments will find reading much easier. Borrowing can also be more easily managed as books can be easily returned etc.

What I have found is that students are not really aware of the E-Book options available to them and that for me would mean providing workshops etc on E-Books like the ones I have done with Overdrive. Where a school has an Ipad program, I could also provide workshops to students, staff and the wider school community on the E-Book options available to them.

Schools generally have wide reading programs. Traditionally this has meant that students bring a fiction book (in print form) to read. It is time to relax this policy and actually accept E-Books given that students now have options to source reading material at no cost. Some students don't have the money to buy books; others think reading a print book makes them look "uncool" while others don't want to carry it as "excess baggage" in their bags. Add the preference for technology and E-Books do have an appeal.

As for newspapers in electronic format. Apart from having the apps update their pages with breaking news, you can also generally access an electronic copy of the print edition to cater for those who want to read their news in the old fashioned way. I subscribe to The Courier Mail (Brisbane). For $7.50 a month, I have access to their Ipad App and each morning, an electronic copy of the print edition. Being in Sydney this has worked for me as still get their paper, but don't have to trek to the city or airport to buy a print copy. I also subscribe to The Sydney Morning Herald. I still get it home delivered but if I want to go out, I can download an electronic copy so the paper does not take space in my bag. Being a public transport commuter, I won't hog space either.