Ebooks Made Easy

What is an electronic book?

An EBook is a book in a digital form. It can be text, it can have photos or images, or it can be a video reading of the book. All of these forms are electronic. Some people even call audio books "ebooks" because the format is not paper and the recordings are electronic.

Why should we use ebooks?

1. Many ways of learning: There are at least 7 ways of absorbing information. Only about one-third of the population uses reading as a primary way of taking in information. Most students are audio or visual learners:  They learn by hearing or seeing, so audio books will help many of them.

2. Cost: A typical new book costs more than $10. For five dollars a teacher can provide a typical classroom with more than 200 books. The only barrier to ebooks is "how do we read them?" (see below)

3. Convenience: A list of books for summer reading can be distributed to students and then there's a rush to the library to check out the limited number that are available. Ebooks on a CD allow the teacher to know that the students can get started immediately without waiting to find the book in a library or buy the book. Students aren't frustrated by waiting to obtain the book.

4. Safety: Putting ebooks on a CD or DVD promotes safe use of the internet.

5. Access: Many students have a computer at home but cannot afford the connection to the internet. Material s on the internet can be placed on a CD in the form on an ebook and provide access to the material.

How do we read an ebook?

Email: Ebooks can be sent by email, so the standard email software can be used to open a typical ebook. Some ebooks are in a PDF or portable document format and students need Adobe reader to view the book. The Reader is free software that can be downloaded from the Internet.

Mobile Phone: Many mobile phones have a way of reading an email message. Students can send chapters of an ebook to their cell phones and read the book piece by piece.

On TV: Some students don't have a computer in the home, so an ebook can be transferred to DVD via a camera. Page by page, the ebook can be displayed in a DVD format for students to read on a TV monitor.

On paper: Why not print the ebook?  For some students, it's easier to hold the pages than to stare at a computer screen. 

BENEFIT:  If the disk is lost, the copy is on the computer.

The EBook Campaign

The Campaign was started to highlight the availability of digital copies of Shakespeare, Mark Twain, Emily Dickinson and thousand of other authors.

The Goal: distribute ebooks to every household in Southeast Florida

How: Download the ebooks from an online warehouse of digital books, such as Gutenberg.org -- or buy a CD with 200 ebooks on it.

What can teachers do? Teachers can make copies of the CD with 200 ebooks and give the CDs to their students.

What technology is needed?

Tripod for holding a digital camera

Digital camera for capturing a teacher's presentation

1-to-3 Disk Duplicator (one master makes three copies)

Computer for assembling a collection of texts and videos

The Next Step: Training

Copies of texts are the first level of EBooks.

The second level involves video clips for teaching. Many students learn by reviewing material outside the classroom. Some audio learners don't need to take notes if they can hear a presentation two or three times. Teachers can assist these learners by providing ebooks with audio and video clips.

Using the list of materials (tripod, digital camera, one-to-three disk duplicator), the typical school can create a vibrant ebook program.

The Electronic Yearbook: videotape or record short videos to help students remember their time in school. Video can bring back certain memories for audio learners that photos often cannot.

SAT Test Prep: Short workshops on DVD give students tips for improving their test scores

How To Videos: Teachers can create DVDs such as "How To Make a Free Web Site" and "Tips about public speaking" to supplement lectures given in class.

Trainer

The Ebook Man offers training to teachers and school administrators to help make ebooks part of the curriculum. Bring EBooks into your school by contacting 954-646-8246 TheEBookMan.com TheEbookMan@gmail.com

“Your workshop made it so easy to get started!” 

--Laara Albrett, Halau Lokahi Charter School, Honolulu, Hawaii