i-teach.. therefore i am…

I’d like to learn how to create eBooks. ePub sounds like its the best format to go with, as it is the beginning of an industry standard and is supported by Apple and its iPad.

The reason I love the iPad over other eBook readers, is that it supports basic HTML5 – which allows for the inclusion of multimedia. For a long time you have been able to create eBooks using programs like Sigil and Calibre. These are free OSS products which support the basic ePub standard. Apple’s Pages then had the ability to export documents with video embedded to create an ePub document which would support multimedia embedded. It meant though that Apple was using proprietary software to create a proprietary format, and hijack the epub format.

I don’t have a Mac any longer, and am back to Windows. I needed to find a product which would allow me to start creating eBooks with the primary aim the inclusion of multimedia of sound and vision. Here are the ones I found:

• Sigil - Great to create simple eBooks (think static almost ‘PDF’)
• Calibre - This also has more widely supported conversion options, as well as some fancy aspects of creating content from RSS feeds and automated content from websites. It also has a built in ‘library’ interface for your eBook management with a web-server to support the interface. For FOSS, its great to see such a full-featured commercial product.
• Adobe InDesign CS 5.5 – The really disappointing thing about it being CS 5.5 is the subtle changes from CS 5. I have purchased a site license for CS 5 for school – and not the maintenance option. In CS 5, you can export as an ePub, but doesnt support the HTML 5 embedding of multimedia. It packages the eBook for Adobe’s desktop reader – Digital Editions. The CS 5.5 update for InDesign however specifically includes an update to the export tool which allows the exporting of multimedia. There is no patch to support the upgrade to CS 5.5 from CS 5 – its a re-install, new version situation. Bummer!
• Jutoh - I may have found the holy grail of eBook creation. It is basically a desktop publishing client – albeit simple – but allows exporting of embedded multimedia files. It is platform independent (client for most OS’s). It cost’s money.

Some sites I have been reading to find out more information about ePub documents and creation:

• http://www.elizabethcastro.com/
• http://ereads.com/2011/06/dont-get-too-used-to-epub.html
• http://tomorrowsbook.com/20100409147/dev-tools/news/epub-creators-epub-sucks.html
• http://www.ghacks.net/2011/04/22/firefox-epub-reader-read-epub-ebooks-online/
• http://www.ghacks.net/2011/05/29/create-ebooks-in-epub-format-with-grabmybooks-for-firefox/

Over the past few parent groups I have facilitated on the rollout of 1:1 at our school, there has been much discussion about eBooks and where they sit in relation to students no longer bring text books. Parents concerns of weight and something additional to carry has resulted in product conversation and also got me thinking about our eBook conundrum.

Why a conundrum? There is a bit of a process of argy bargy occurring between consumers (teachers, schools and parents) and creators (publishers, authors). The discussion focusses on the production of eBooks. As consumers, we don’t want, nor can understand why we should pay the same price of a traditional/paper book for an ebook when there are no pages, no freight, only electrons. Infinitely reproducible.

The Publishers are both trying to ensure that a recurring revenue stream can occur (to actually stay in business) while at the same time, giving the consumer what they want. Creating ebooks is more expensive than a traditional book. A traditional textbook may require a few expert authors, a basic graphic artist and document production support. The development cycle of the book is influenced heavily by the content that the writers produce and the complexity of the diagrams that may be associated – and then being to typeset/develop the book before production.

A eBook is not just an electronic copy of a book. A simple PDF of a textbook can be interpreted as an eBook, but that’s like saying that A Current Affair is hard hitting journalism.

A good quality eBook redefines what a book is. Some examples:

• A Social Science textbook which may be looking at other cultures. In your eBook you may have an interactive, commented Google Map embedded, with the ability to listen to the sound of the local language or watch a short video of how busy and important the marketplace is to that village.
• A LOTE textbook which has both the English and alternate language sounds, the origins of the word and how the languages have deviated and interpreted the original Latin.
• A Maths textbook which allows a very short animation of a specific item’s measurements in relation to volume, or a tutorial on how to complete a formula (a la’ Kahn Academy)
• A English textbook which verbalises a range of poetry, to introduce the art of written poetry and how it is transformed with multimedia – like a cyberpoem or hypertext poetry.
• A Science textbook showing the changes of a substance when heat is applied, or the dissection of an animal.
• A HPE resource which shows a good examples of tossing a ball, techniques in a sport.

Now creating resources like this, are now obviously more expensive than simply writing content and developing images/diagrams to go with it. It now requires graphic artists, web developers to develop content to support the eBook, editors, producers and directors of the multimedia content, script writers (as well as the original authors of content), travel to the locations to gather these resources, and the list goes on.

And we as a consumer want to pay less, because there is nothing ‘tangible’ we receive.

Someone or something will have to give in this situation.

How do you develop a textbook that has annuities, or the ability to engage in repeat business. eBooks don’t get dog slobber, pages ripped, thrown across classrooms, left on buses, soaked next to last weeks lunch. They stay perfect everytime. They are portable, they are interactive, they are engaging – and in the case of a historical text – why would updating the book every 3-5 years need to happen?

These series of posts are designed to detail my thoughts and persuits of eBooks.

Found an excellent app today for the iphone.

AudioBoo - allows you to make an instant podcast (mp3) and publish it online. Even gives you auto RSS/iTunes feeds.

Yet to try it out in the classroom. My daught did the first one. My podcast URL here: http://audioboo.fm/users/30973/boos.atom

Free. Awesome. 3 minute timelimit on casts.