Creating An E-Book: Part Three

The four of us are here in class very excited about finally testing our e-book after making a couple final tweaks to the chapter headings and table of contents.

In addition to viewing the completed e-book in Calibre and Sigil, and on the web, we've just tested it using a Kindle and iPad. It not only works, but looks great on both devices! It's awesome to know that the e-book we created is working and readable in a variety of locations.

Though our e-book unit is drawing to a close, we're looking forward to next exploring mobile technology, including apps.

Creating An E-Book: Part Two

Our team has continued to make a significant amount of progress throughout the past week, moving beyond the formulation of ideas and concepts into the more advanced development of the e-book. Below are several key highlights, along with the next set of steps we hope to accomplish by Tuesday, Oct. 11.

-- Basecamp has continued to help us easily track and update one another as we move forward. Along with continuing to share files, we’ve also utilized Basecamp to monitor our to-do list and regularly exchange messages. After gaining experience with Basecamp, I’d definitely recommend it for future projects.

-- Working together, Lia and Ellen edited the text of the e-book using Sigil, making editorial decisions as needed. For example, whenever one of the Bobbsey twins refers to “Mamma” or “Papa,” we’ve capitalized the first letter of their names. In some cases, dialog was also separated from its speech tag by a paragraph break, and we made the decision to change this.

For example:

Bert and Charley took the big sled out for a private trial on a little hill behind the barn without telling anyone about it. They slid down very swiftly, and as they were walking up again Bert said:

"I think we have a fast one all right, Charley."

We have changed to:

Bert and Charley took the big sled out for a private trial on a little hill behind the barn without telling anyone about it. They slid down very swiftly, and as they were walking up again Bert said: "I think we have a fast one all right, Charley."

-- Sarah designed two potential e-book covers for the group’s review. The selected image is revealed below.

-- I inserted a CSS style sheet into the EPUB package, integrated the cover image and worked to correct validation errors. While the Zen Garden style sheet we originally selected would not work properly, I was able to create a new style sheet with similar elements to meet our needs.

Over the next couple days, we’ll work to finalize our e-book by testing it on various devices and screening for any final glitches before presenting the finished product to the class on Tuesday. 

Creating An E-Book: Part One

As one component of our Fall 2011 e-publishing technology course, myself and three teammates -- Ellen, Sarah and Lia -- are learning how to create and style an e-book via the open-source EPUB packaging format, with the help of various technical tools to facilitate the process. We'll ultimately be responsible for demonstrating that the completed e-book displays correctly in at least two different e-reader devices.

Highlights of our progress thus far are as follows: 

-- Following our first group meeting on Sept. 27, we selected the public domain children's book The Bobbsey Twins at School as our content base for this project. By visiting Project Gutenberg online, we were able to easily download and save the HTML code for the book.

-- We are utilizing the online Basecamp project management program to schedule tasks, establish due dates, share ideas and store our files in a central location. After using the program throughout the past week, we agree that Basecamp has been a huge asset, dramatically reducing our volume of direct email communication.

-- With the help of e-book creation programs Sigil and Calibre, we've converted the initial HTML into a complete EPUB file, which we are currently in the process of editing, formatting and styling.

-- After reviewing the styling options available at ePub Zen Garden, we've selected the classic Gbs as the most visually compatible choice for our book.

In the coming week, we'll work to finalize our content, design a cover, test the finished book on a variety of devices to ensure compatibility, and outline our presentation to the class. Stay tuned for additional updates as we continue to make progress!

(Photo Credit: www.treehugger.com)

Nicholas Negroponte’s One Laptop per Child

On Monday night’s episode of The Colbert Report, Stephen interviewed Nicholas Negroponte, who has said that his One Laptop per Child program for kids in impoverished countries will ultimately kill the printed book.

While I think that’s of course going much too far, the interview does illustrate that the laptops allow children to access more books than will ever be physically shipped to these remote locations. Also, while the laptops do come at a cost of $180 each, the cost of regularly shipping physical books to many of these areas could be far more expensive. Negroponte's program has distributed two million laptops so far.

Check out the interview, seen in the second half of the episode, and the One Laptop per Child website.

Traditional Textbooks vs. The iPad

While reading the news this morning, I discovered details about a plan between several Virginia schools and Pearson to launch an iPad-based social studies program.

As participants in the first program of this type, seventh and ninth graders will rely solely on Apple’s iPad instead of traditional textbooks throughout a 12-week period. According to a Mac Observer article, students will be able to use four U.S. and world history apps designed by Pearson to create their own customized textbooks, play interactive games related to class lessons, and take tests.

What do you think about this plan? Would you have enjoyed using an iPad instead of a traditional textbook? I was always a complete history nerd to begin with, but I do think that using the iPad, supplementing the written material with games and quizzes along the way, would have made the experience much more engaging and memorable.  

As this project progresses, it will be interesting to track the results in terms of how learning is impacted, but also to see how other more logistical concerns are addressed. For example, given the high cost of the iPad, is it really feasible for a school district to consider providing one to each student? What types of accountability issues does this create, in terms of students damaging or losing the devices, not to mention cheating? How will their peers, who don’t necessarily have access to iPads and have to go on using traditional textbooks, react? Will there come a time when students are required to purchase iPads for class, the way many of us were once required to purchase graphing calculators?

I guess only time will tell.

(Photo Credit: Pearson)

Best Buy Becomes One-Stop E-Reader Shop

The following Publishers Weekly article, which I also posted to Diigo, discusses Best Buy’s plan to start selling the Kindle, becoming a “one-stop shop” for consumers who wish to compare e-reading devices. The chain's offerings also include the Nook, iPad and Sony readers.

Best Buy to Sell Kindle In Stores, Enhance E-Reader Displays