Handy4class
Getting "Handy" in the classroom with technology integration!
Teacher Created eBooks: What is an eBook?
eBooks are excellent resources for introducing your students to stories about people, places, and things, including historical topics, geographical places, cultural events, or very important people. Dictionary.com defines the term eBook as an electronic book or any book published in electronic or digital form. Thus, any written piece that is published electronically—either in PowerPoint, MS Word, web pages and available via the Internet or in electronic form for portable devices—is considered an eBook. All of those PowerPoint lectures you’ve attended would be considered eBooks, except that you were unable to read the materials by yourself! Your live presenter delivered the text! For those eBooks specifically designed to be read, there are specific eBook readers available for installation on your desktop computer. Microsoft Reader and Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader are just two of these.
So how can we use eBooks in instruction? Well, obviously we can provide our students with eBooks for use in directed reading activities. The newer eBook tools offer students the ability to highlight passages that answer questions or should be remembered for discussion purposes. Students can even electronically bookmark areas for future use and add electronic notes to remind themselves why they chose these passages. Easy access to an online dictionary and thesaurus provides students with two tools to increase comprehension.
And, there are tens of thousands of eBooks available for free on the Internet!! Here is a list of a few of the sites that provide eBooks for free download. And, of course, there are commercially available eBooks that sell for a couple of dollars up to about fifteen dollars.
Just think how much easier it is to carry eight to ten eBooks around with you on one little CD or jump drive or SD card than it is to carry 8-10 hardback or paperback books around! Explore the following Web sites for eBooks you might like to read:
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University of Virginia's eBook Library http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/ebooks/ebooklist.html
- Memoware: http://www.memoware.com/
- The eBook Directory: http://ebookdirectory.com
- Manybooks.net: http://manybooks.net
Of course, using PowerPoint to CREATE eBooks is an even more powerful means of getting students to synthesize and communicate understanding. See these samples of eBooks created by students: