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April 15, 2001
Getting a Read on E-Books (cont'd)
What the Future Holds
With the content and the technology still evolving, it's hard to predict how electronic books will shake out. There are no simple answers. It seems unlikely that educators will see the end of printed books any time in the foreseeable future. What we do know, without doubt, is that digitized content will only increase with time-and so will the delivery devices. In the meantime, paper and pixels will live side by side.
Testing the Waters
We asked Eric Walusis, whose company, Searchlight, started the first school e-book pilot, for his advice to schools weighing whether e-books may be a viable option.
- Don't focus on the technology yet. First, assess your goals and needs from an educational standpoint. Ask yourself: What kind of material are you using on a regular basis? How do you want to teach it?
- How much interactivity do you require? If the content can be delivered one way, such as providing students with worksheets and books, consider e-book readers, handheld devices, and other solutions that don't have to be networked. If you require two-way delivery-transmitting data and self-authored material to and from a server in a "live" environment-you'll need a networked solution via Web-enabled handheld computers, laptops, or PCs.
- Take a test drive of the free e-book readers and titles available on the Web. Download Microsoft Reader and Adobe Acrobat eBook Reader along with copyright-free books. (See E-Reading Selections for a list of sites providing public domain books.)
- Convert one of your lesson plans into HTML format (for a Word document, select "save as" HTML) and load it into the reader software. Observe how the formatting and layout can change when converting to the new software, and how much work adapting the content might require.
- If you can't find the content you want, ask the publishers your school or district uses what their plans are to develop electronic versions of their titles. To keep up with the latest developments on e-books, visit sites such as eBookNet.com and TeleRead.org.
E-Reading Selections > > >
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