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:
“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” – Lao Tzu
Something happened to me this week. I was lucky enough to go with a crack team of fellow educators to visit some standout schools in Victoria.
I thought I ‘got’ Transformational Learning before then. I can see now I didn’t. I thought I knew that through innovative use of ICT that I was doing what I needed to do and that I was automatically doing what I needed to do.
I wasn’t.
What I learnt this week was something interesting. I learnt that:
- ICT supports eLearning
- eLearning supports Transformational Learning
- Transformational Learning requires then eLearning and the Curriculum
Graphically, maybe it goes like this:
As the HOD of the ICT Faculty – it was easy to say that ICT = eLearning = Transformational Learning. It doesn’t. It requires additional features. It requires the Curriculum, the Ways of Working, and the Literacy/Numeracy skills to get the job done. Most of all, it requires the Learner to be in the middle of all of this.
I have learnt that Transformational Learning is about the Student/Learner being at the centre of this Teaching and Learning process. The role of ‘Teaching’ in this T&L process is still important, but drops into the background as the Learner begins to own, engage and understand their own Learning.
Why does it need to be done differently? From looking at education as purely a business model, our clients aren’t happy. Our clients have changed from assuming they will be force-fed, to questioning everything (including authority). Our clients have changed from being groomed to one specific career option, to having many (see Shift Happens/Did You Know?).
What I need to do now, is to gather formal data, formal research to be able to make a sales pitch to the school. I think I have made the sales pitch to myself (I can’t stop thinking about the whole thing since I got back on Thursday night).
An important person I bounce ideas off, and help me get the job done, is Kate Wallace – she has had an awakening too – on Friday afternoon we started building a mindmap of understandings and that we don’t need to develop a Vision for eLearning, but a Vision for Learning – the eLearning part of it is only a fraction.
I’ve embedded this MindMap of what we have done so far, and will continue to update it.
People that need acknowledging for helping rewire my understanding:
I’m also now I have written down my ideas, that I can stop thinking about it for a day or two and enjoy the weekend. I am going to try to unpack what I have written down in the MindMap. Some points that resonate:
- Transformational Learning requires a rebirth of what is being done – not a repackaging.
- eLearning demands an ‘e’. The ICT provides the e. A lack of ICT does not result in no transformation however.
Edutopia by The George Lucas (yes, of StarWars fame) Educational Foundation has an excellent resource about the Top 10 tips for working/teaching with New Media.
Briefly summarised, these are:
- Break the Digital Ice
- Use Web 2.0 solutions like VoiceThread to get better aquainted with your students.
- Find Your Classroom Experts
- Take advantage of your student’s technical KnowHow – ask your learners, who is doing what in their spare time with technology?
- Get Off to a Good Start
- At the beginning of the year, use Web 2.0 tools to help students better manage their own learning.
- Think Globally
- Turn your classroom into a Gateway for learning about the world.
- Find What You Need
- Be creative with your supplies and furnishing. There are a load of US-based examples to put you in touch with corporate.
- Make Meaning from Word Clouds
- Use word clouds to encourage lively conversations about words with tools that convert text into visual displays
- Work Better, Together
- Use Collaborative workspaces in your classroom.
- Open a Back Channel
- Take input on how your class works. Ask for feedback
- Make it Visual
- Use visuals to inspire, create curiosity, brainstorm and engage your learners.
- Use the Buddy System
- Spend time with your peers sharing and collaborating. We have loads of resources available to us in Education Queensland. Consider the use of the ListServs, ICT Community and the fantastic guys at the Learning Innovation Centre.
Check this document out for yourself. Its excellent!
